Computers that are being protected by an agent are displayed under the Protected Computers tab of any selected security policy. From this tab, you can manage and interact with single or multiple agents at one time.

Group Computer Information

The information in this tab can be grouped by any of the existing columns. Drag a column heading and drop it in the provided area above the headings row. You can add multiple column headings. Each heading that is added, becomes a sub-group of the preceding heading.

Agents Right-Click Menu

To interact with agents from the Protected Computers tab:

1. Select one or more agents. Use Ctrl or Shift for multiple selections.
2. Right-click one of the selected agents and select any of the following options:

• Refresh: select to refresh the data on the screen.
• Print/Email/Export: select to print, email, or export the entire contents of the grid. Once selected, a preview pane displays how the grid will be printed. From the preview pane, you can modify the background (including the color or watermark), change the print settings, export the grid as a PDF document, and send it via email in any of several formats, including PDF, MHT, RTF, Excel, CSV, TXT, or an image file. You can select the columns that will display and in what order before printing, emailing, or exporting.
• Expand All: select to expand the outline and see more entries.
• Collapse All: select to collapse the outline and see fewer entries.

Agent Commands:

• Purge Deferred Work Item(s): select to purge all work waiting to be sent to the agent from VSS.
• Say Hello: select to force an agent to say hello. This can be used for agents that didn't get an update to pick up the deferred work.
• Check for Policy Update: click for the agent to check that it has the latest update to its assigned policy.
• Ping Agent: select to send an ICMP ping to the agent. This tells you if the VIPRE service on the agent machine is running or not.
• Shutdown Agent(s): select to stop the selected agent(s). This applies to all versions of agents.
• Start Agent(s): select to start the selected agent(s). This only applies to agents that are version 3.x and higher.
• Issue Remote Restart Command: this can be used when an agent is showing that it needs to Reboot in the console and for non-agent related issues. This command does not require an agent to exist on the remote computer for the restart command to be issued.

Agent Updates:

• Check for Agent Software Updates: select to have the agent(s) check for—and get if available— the latest software updates for the selected agent(s). If an agent is running an outdated software version, it will be highlighted orange in the grid. You will also be prompted to update old agents to Endpoint Server when checking for updates.
• Schedule Agent Upgrades: allows you to tell end-users to leave their computers on overnight or over a weekend and to schedule software updates during off-hours so that the end-users won’t be affected by the upgrade if a reboot is needed. Time is in military time. You may also choose for the agent to upgrade "As soon as possible".
• Check for Threat Definitions Updates: select to check for—and get if available—the latest threat definitions for the selected agent(s).
• Force Full Threat Definitions Update: select to force the agent to get the full threat database for the selected agent(s). This will take longer than a definition update.
• Agent Details: select to display Agent Details.
• Edit Note: click to display a text box to enter a note for selected agent. You can only enter a note for one agent at a time.

Scanning:

• Full Scan: immediately initiates a full scan for the selected agent(s).
• Quick Scan: immediately initiates a quick scan for the selected agent(s).
• Abort Scan: select to completely terminate the current scan for the selected agent(s).
• Pause Scan: select to temporarily pause the current scan for the selected agent(s).
• Resume Scan: select to continue the paused scan for the selected agent(s).
• Patch Management: (Premium or Endpoint Server)
  • Install Approved Patches: starts installing the approved patches related to the selected agent(s).
  • Scan for Available Updates: starts scanning software applications installed on the selected agent(s) for missing patches. If there are approved patches pending installation, the agent Status displays Installing Patches. To verify that the scan started, ensure the agent Status is Patch Scanning.
• Reassign Agent to Policy: select to assign the agent to a different policy.
• Disposition: select to clear the Disposition Needed column in the Agent Catalog.
• Add and Install Agent(s): select to display the Installing VIPRE to your Computers dialog box and add agents to the Agent Catalog and install them on computers.
• Uninstall Agent(s): select to uninstall an agent from a workstation. Click Yes when prompted. Click No to close the window and leave the agent installed.
• Add to Agent Installation Scopes: click to add an agent to the list of agents in the Automatic Agent Installation queue.
• Remove Agent(s) from Catalog: select and click Yes to remove the selected agents. Click No to close the Remove Agents dialog box without removing any agents.
• Grid Colors: select to open the Agent Grid Colors dialog box where you can modify the colors in the grid.

Possible Agent Statuses

It is essential to check the Status column to monitor the availability and security state of an agent. For a full list of possible agent statuses, see our content on Agent Statuses.