Manage Windows agent upgrades

Windows agent installers can be provided through Server Backup Portal. Agents can then download the installers and upgrade themselves automatically; you do not have to manually run an installer on each computer.

To provide agent installers through Portal and start automatic agent upgrades:

• Super users specify a UNC location for saving the installers. Super users can also specify whether Admin users can start upgrades on all eligible computers in their sites and whether agent installers can be signed by another service provider. See Set up an agent installer location and permissions,

• Super users upload agent installers to the UNC location and specify which installers are active (i.e., available for automatically upgrading agents). See Set up an agent installer location and permissions, Upload agent installers and Activate, deactivate or delete an agent installer.

• Super users and Admin users, if allowed, can start agent upgrades on all eligible computers in selected sites. Admin users can also start agent upgrades on specific computers in their sites and view the agent upgrade status of each computer. See Upgrade agents on eligible computers.

To be eligible for an automatic upgrade, a computer must have Windows Agent version 8.70 or later installed. If a previous Windows Agent version is installed, the agent must be manually upgraded to version 8.70 or later before it can be upgraded automatically. The installed Windows Agent must also have a lower major, minor or patch version than an active agent installer in Portal. For example, if Windows Agent 8.70.9513 is installed on a computer, the agent can be automatically upgraded by a version 8.71, 8.8x or 9.xx installer in Portal. The first digit of an agent version number represents the major version (e.g., 8 in 8.70.9513), the second digit represents the minor version (e.g., 7 in 8.70.9513) and the third digit represents the patch version (e.g., 0 in 8.70.9513).

An agent is not eligible for an automatic upgrade if it only has a lower build number than an active installer. For example, Windows Agent 8.81.0001 cannot be automatically upgraded by a version 8.81.9999 installer in Portal. The last four digits of an agent version number represent the build number (e.g., 9513 in 8.70.9513).

An agent is not eligible for an automatic upgrade if it is installed on an unsupported Windows version, such as Windows Server 2012 R2, Windows Server 2012 and earlier Windows versions.

For an automatic upgrade to succeed, outbound port 443 must be open on the Windows server where the agent is installed.

Note: A Windows agent with the Cluster Plug-in cannot be upgraded automatically. You must upgrade agents with the Cluster Plug-in by running the installation kit.

For a description of how Windows agents are upgraded automatically, see Automatic agent upgrade process.