Upgrading the Agent software

Summary

There are two ways to upgrade a BlastShield™ Agent:

1. From the host running the Agent, by downloading the latest version of the Agent software directly to the host.
2. Directly from the Orchestrator by clicking on the Upgrade Agent Software button in the Agent Configuration settings. This requires  both the Agent and the Orchestrator to be running firmware release 1.2 or higher.

Methods for both options are given here:

• Upgrade Method 1, below provides instructions for upgrading the Agent from the server on which the agent is deployed.
• Upgrade Method 2, below describes how to upgrade the Agent software directly from the Orchestrator.

Upgrade Method 1:  Upgrade the Agent from the host on which the agent is deployed.

Step 1: Check the current firmware release of your Agent

Performed by the BlastShield Orchestrator Administrator

• Login to the Orchestrator and click on the Agent menu on the left-hand side, then from the status window on the right, click the name of the Agent you are interested in.  
• The firmware version and status will be displayed in the status window on the far right.  Make sure the Agent is online before you start the upgrade.

In this example the Agent is currently running firmware version 1.0.0 and its status is shown as 'ONLINE'.

Step 2: Download and install the new Agent software on the host

Upgrading the Windows Agent on a server

Performed on the protected server by the server Administrator

1. Download the Windows Agent installation file to your server from here
2. Run the installation file on your server
3. You will be disconnected from the Agent IP address
4. Reconnect to the Agent IP address

Upgrading a Linux Agent on a server

Performed on the protected server by the server Administrator

1. Download and update the package information:
2. Install the BlastShield™ Agent
3. You will be disconnected from the Agent IP address
4. Reconnect to the Agent IP address

Please choose the appropriate method, depending on your Linux distribution from below.

APT based OSs including Debian, Ubuntu and Raspberry Pi OS

1. sudo apt update
2. sudo apt install blastshield-agent
   

Amazon Linux2

1. sudo yum install blastshield-agent

CentOS 8

1. sudo dnf install blastshield-agent

CentOS 7

1. sudo yum install blastshield-agent
   

Step 3: Verify the upgrade

Performed by the BlastShield Orchestrator Administrator

Once the upgrade has completed, the Agent’s status will change to online and the new firmware version will be indicated.

In this example the Agent has been successfully upgraded to firmware release 1.1.0

You can now validate connectivity to the attached server via remote login.

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Upgrade Method 2: Upgrade the Agent software directly from the Orchestrator.

This requires both the Agent and the Orchestrator to be running firmware release 1.2 or higher.

Step 1:  From the Orchestrator, run the Upgrade from your Agent instance

Performed by the BlastShield Orchestrator Administrator

Note that upgrading the Agent directly from the Orchestrator requires both the Agent and the Orchestrator to be running firmware release 1.2 or higher.

1. Login to the Orchestrator and Click on the Agents menu on the left, then select the Agent you wish to upgrade.
2. The Agent dialogue window will open. Check the current release version. If a new release is available the Upgrade Agent Software button will be highlighted.
3. Click on the Upgrade Agent Software button as shown in the image below.
4. The Agent software will be downloaded and the Agent will restart.
5. When the Agent status shows Online the upgrade will be finished.
6. Verify the Client version shown is matches the release target you upgraded to.

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