mcavanagh
Back to Start: Introduction to Series
Agent to and from Beacon Communication
Below is a breakdown of files transferred from the Agent to the Beacon and the Beacon to the Agent. Your diagram should look like this. Minus any load balancers or proxies, as this will be covered separately below.
NOTE: This communication will be over port 80 or 443 by default, and both directions need to be open for communication to happen.
Incoming (To agent) from ManageSoftDL on the Beacon
The files generated by the Beacon are based on the Beacon policy file that will be discussed next. Several files will be transferred from the Beacon to the Agent. These Files include:
- Policy(.npl):
- Location: C:\ProgramData\ManageSoft Corp\ManageSoft\Policy Client\Policies\Merged\Machine
This is the initial file that an Agent will download; it contains the client files listed below.
NOTE: If during a fresh installation, this file fails to download, it will not retry. To resolve this, you will need to either restart the agent service or restart the device.
- Schedule (.osd + .nds)
This is the file that controls when the Agent will update Machine Policy, Client Settings, and Client Files. The settings that control this are located within Discovery & Inventory> Settings> Agent Schedule.
NOTE: This is also the exact location where the setting is held to generate the Inventory of the device that has the Agent installed.
- Settings (.osd + .nds)
These files control what is being inventoried, such as including/excluding folders, file types. The settings govern this within Discovery & Inventory> Settings> File Evidence.
- Failover (.osd + .nds)
These settings are if you have additional Beacons set up. Suppose the agent cannot communicate with one of the Beacons. In that case, it can send or receive packages from another Beacon on your Estate. These Beacons can be seen from the Discovery & Inventory> Beacons page, and you can also view these within Regedit under.
- HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\WOW6432Node\ManageSoft Corp\ManageSoft \Common\ DownloadSettings
- HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\WOW6432Node\ManageSoft Corp\ManageSoft\Common\UploadSettings
- Upgrade Packages (.OSD + .NDS + .NDC)
These upgrade packages are there if you wish to upgrade the agent to a newer version than what it is currently on.
- Outgoing (To Beacon) – To ManageSoftRL on the beacon
These are the files needed to inventory the machine; these come from the locations listed in each subsection.
- Logs
- Location: C:\ProgramData\ManageSoft Corp\ManageSoft\Common\Uploads\Logs
There are a few additional files such as VDI and Security Service Logs that get sent to The Beacon
- Inventory (.ndi)
- Local Location: C:\ProgramData\ManageSoft Corp\ManageSoft\Common\Uploads\Inventories
These Files are the generated inventory of the device in question. There are different kinds of. NDI files are dependent on what is being run. i.e., Oracle. These files contain the hardware and software data from the device. If file evidence is installed, it will also grab oracle applications. NDI files will include what option packs are installed on what oracle instance.
- Usage (.mmi)
- Location: C:\ProgramData\ManageSoft Corp\ManageSoft\Common\Uploads\UsageData
Captures events from the Usage Agent, which captures application usage information. The usage agent runs under the 'Flexera Inventory Manager security service' Windows Service.
Outgoing (To Beacon) – To ManageSoftRL on the beacon
These are the files needed to inventory the machine; these come from the locations listed in each subsection.
- Logs
- Location: C:\ProgramData\ManageSoft Corp\ManageSoft\Common\Uploads\Logs
A few additional files such as VDI and Security Service Logs get sent to the Beacon.
- Inventory (.ndi)
- Local Location: C:\ProgramData\ManageSoft Corp\ManageSoft\Common\Uploads\Inventories
These Files are the generated inventory of the device in question. There are different kinds of.NDI files are dependent on what is being run. i.e., Oracle. These files contain the hardware and software data from the device. If file evidence is installed, it will also grab oracle applications.NDI files will include what option packs are installed on what oracle instance.
- Usage (.mmi)
- Location: C:\ProgramData\ManageSoft Corp\ManageSoft\Common\Uploads\UsageData
Captures events from the user agent, which captures application usage information. The usage agent runs under the 'Flexera Inventory Manager security service' Windows Service.
