Testing a new version of the agent

If automatic agent updates are disabled for your account, you can test a new agent version on some test devices before upgrading your account to the new version.

To test a new version of the agent:

  1. Disable automatic agent updates. This action prevents the automatic update of the agent when a new agent version is released.

    IMPORTANT  You must complete this step before the next release of the Secure Endpoint Agent.

  2. If you have not already done so, create a new policy group and add a set of test devices to the group.
  3. After a new version of the agent is released, do the following:

    1. Log in to the Secure Endpoint Console as a user with Manage permissions for Version Control. All default Administrator roles are granted this permission.
    2. On the navigation bar, click Settings > Agent Management.

      The Agent management page opens to show the Latest agent version, the Default agent version, and all agent versions currently assigned to at least one policy group. The Allow Absolute to manage agent updates slider is set to Off (gray).

      NOTE  If the slider is set to On (green), the prerequisite for this task is not met.

      For each agent version in use, the following icons show:

      Icon

      Description

      The number of policy groups assigned to the agent version

      The number of devices assigned to the agent version

      NOTE  If the Unsupported label shows next to an agent version, the version was released more than 18 months ago and it is no longer supported. For the policy groups that are currently assigned to this agent version, it's best practice that you assign them to a higher, supported version at your earliest convenience.

    3. [Optional] Select the Show unused versions checkbox. The page refreshes to show all agent versions that are available for assignment to your devices.
    4. Next to the agent version that you want to test, click either or > Release Notes. The applicable Secure Endpoint Agent release notes open.
    5. Review the release notes to learn about the new features, functionality, and fixes introduced in this version of the agent.
    6. Assign the new agent version to the policy group that you created in step 2.

    The devices in the test policy group are automatically updated to the new agent version on their next agent connection to the Absolute Monitoring Center.

  4. To confirm that the new agent version is deployed to your test devices:

    1. On the navigation bar, click Devices.
    2. Filter the page to show the devices in the policy group you created.
    3. Review each device's Last connected The date and time when a device's Secure Endpoint Agent last checked in to the Absolute Monitoring Center. date and time to ensure that an agent connection has occurred since you assigned the new agent version to the device's policy group. An agent connection typically occurs every 15 minutes, if the device is online.
  5. Using the Secure Endpoint Console, test the features and functionality introduced in the new agent version as they apply to your deployment of Absolute.
  6. When you are finished testing, do one of the following:

    • To move all devices to the new agent version, assign all policy groups to the agent version.
    • To move some devices to the new agent version, assign the devices' policy groups to the agent version.
    • To remain on a lower version of the agent, delete the policy group that you created. All test devices are moved to the Global Policy Group and the devices' agent reverts to the agent version assigned to the Global Policy Group.