Specifying the Version for Auto-Updates

FlexNet Manager Suite 2019 R1 (On-Premises Edition)

The upgrade of deployed FlexNet inventory agents is controlled by settings stored in the central operations databases. For that reason, this procedure is initiated on your batch server/reconciliation server (or whichever server includes that functionality, such as your processing server, or application server in smaller implementations).

Tip: The database setting grants permission (through policy) to the FlexNet inventory agents to perform self-upgrades (or even downgrades) to the specified version. The setting, therefore, can only be put into effect on those platforms where the FlexNet inventory agent includes self-update functionality, and where new versions of the FlexNet inventory agent are included in the operations databases (these are normally updated as part of a product upgrade). Currently, FlexNet inventory agents on Debian or Ubuntu Linux do not include self-update functionality. On these platforms, you can do any of:

Deploy new versions of FlexNet inventory agent manually
Use your preferred third-party deployment tool to publish updates to FlexNet inventory agents
Uninstall the old version(s) of FlexNet inventory agent, and once again target the devices for adoption through FlexNet Manager Suite.

You can change the settings for self-update of the FlexNet inventory agent in FlexNet Manager Suite (for details, see Inventory Agent for Automatic Deployment) or using the command-line utility described below.

To configure FlexNet inventory agent self-updates by command-line utility:

Log in to your batch server using the installing user account (suggestion: fnms-admin).
Depending on the actions you want to take, the account requires either read or write access to the database.
In a command window, navigate to installation-folder\DotNet\bin.
To review a list of the FlexNet inventory agent versions to which you may upgrade:
```
.\ConfigureSystem.exe list-agent-versions
```
This lists all versions of the FlexNet inventory agent that are stored in your database and available for use as upgrades to your currently deployed agents. The list is typically updated at each release of FlexNet Manager Suite. Versions are shown by their internal major-minor-update numbering (such as 13.2.0). Because of significant improvements in the FlexNet inventory agent at version 13.1, earlier versions have been removed from the list.
To identify which version of the FlexNet inventory agent you have currently authorized as the target version for all upgrades:
```
.\ConfigureSystem.exe current-agent-upgrade
```
To authorize a new version of the FlexNet inventory agent as the target version for all upgrades:
```
.\ConfigureSystem.exe select-agent-upgrade --version versionString
```
Replace versionString with the same major-minor-update numbering as is displayed by the list-agent-versions action. This value must be an exact match for one of the available versions listed by list-agent-versions. If not, no action is taken. (Notice that there is no requirement for the new version to be greater than versions previously installed: you can specify an earlier version from the available list, which causes any later FlexNet inventory agents to downgrade to the specified earlier version.)
Tip: The same version (number) of the FlexNet inventory agent is normally installed across all platforms.
To halt all upgrades and downgrades of the FlexNet inventory agents currently deployed in your enterprise:
```
.\ConfigureSystem.exe clear-agent-upgrades
```
Tip: The result is the default state after the FlexNet Manager Suite application server(s) have been upgraded.

When your new settings are saved to the central database, they are distributed to your inventory beacons at the next update, along with the installer for the currently authorized target version of the FlexNet inventory agent for each platform. The individual FlexNet inventory agents receive the setting and (if necessary) the installer when they next check in (by default, once a day), and subsequently they self-update to the specified version.

Note: The change to a new authorized version of the FlexNet inventory agent is applied globally. Each installed FlexNet inventory agent receives the self-upgrade instruction in the same policy update, at whatever time they collect it. This may result in many client devices downloading, self-updating, and uploading new inventory in similar timeframes.

For more information about the actions available with this utility, use either of these commands:

.\ConfigureSystem.exe help 
.\ConfigureSystem.exe help action-name