Working with the Agent Catalog

Written By Cindy Johnson (Super Administrator)

Updated at September 15th, 2021

The agents screen (also known as the Agent Catalog) is a listing of agents, properties, and other information that can be accessed in multiple ways. You can access agent information by site or by policy from the agents tab by viewing a site or policy, respectively, on the Admin Console. 

Agent Catalog Screen

This section describes the elements of the agent catalog screen.

Tips

  • The column headings are dynamic, allowing you to move their order and sort by a category within that column. Click the filter icon on a column heading to select a filtering option. See Filtering Views for more information on using the available filters.
  • You can sort the information in the table by dragging a column header to the top area of the window.


Agent Status

The Agent Status column indicates all status types for the agents, located here.

Right-Click Menu

Right-clicking anywhere in the agent catalog displays the right-click menu. The options in the menu are explained further in Agents - Right-Click Menu and include basic viewing and printing options and the ability to perform various agent commands for managing agents.

Adding Columns

You can choose the selection of columns to be displayed by right-clicking anywhere on the header of the catalog screen and selecting Column Chooser. The Customization box is displayed. The columns are listed alphabetically. Add columns to the agent catalog by dragging/dropping a listed heading to the desired location in the header.

Agent Details

You can display the Agent Details dialog box two ways: right-click on an agent and select Agent Details, or double-click on an agent. This screen displays all the information available on the particular agent selected. In addition to Agent Details, there are also tabs on this screen for displaying quarantined items, scan history, AP history, email AV history, and system messages for the particular agent selected.

See the Agent Detailscreen for more information.

Grouped Views

There are default views for the agent catalog, but the views are fully user-configurable. In addition to resizing and dragging columns, you can group columns in the grouping area for different views. The agent catalog groups information by statuses, allowing you to expand particular choices.

See Grouped Views for more information.

Filtered Views

You can also filter within each column by clicking the filter icon next to a column heading and selecting one of the options. The agent catalog will only display those agents meeting the criteria selected. You can filter through the standard filtering options, or through column specific criteria. The most useful filtering option is the "Custom" option, which allows you to do a Boolean search. You can also filter through multiple columns, further refining your search.

See Filtering Views for more information.

Agents - Right-Click Menu

These right-click menu options are available for the agents' screen.

Tip

You can select the columns that will display and in what order before printing, emailing, or exporting.


  • 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.
  • 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 the 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 VIPRE Endpoint Security 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 the 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 Security)
  • Install Approved Patches:starts installing the approved patches related to the selected agent(s).
    • Important! If there are approved patches pending installation, the agent Status displays Installing Patches
  • Scan for Available Updates: starts scanning software applications installed on the selected agent(s) for missing patches 
    • Important! 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.
  • 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.