Bes agent version

I’ve always thought that the BES Agent version should be less than or equal to the BES Relay/Root server version. But is that true? If I have BES Root & Relay software on v9.5.13 can I deploy a newer agent versiont on other clients (i.e. 9.5.14)? I think if the fixlets are relevant to upgrade to any 9.x then it should be ok ?

yes it is best practice to have the agent, relay, versions the same as your Bigfix platform. Although it does work it is not supported or recommended to install the newer agent when the platform has not been updated.

Update bigfix platform server first
top level relays next
relay
and last agents

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Then shouldn’t the client upgrade fixlets only be relevant when the registration server is at that same client version?

I would say no, as there may be a reason to install a newer client. Testing, problem solving, environment prep, or maybe the endpoint will be migrated from one environment to another. The software client is just software, like anything else… you can deploy the version you would like.

Just because best practice says not to, doesn’t mean there aren’t reasons… now if it breaks the environment, then yes for sure… it would be nice. :slight_smile:

@cstoneba, the requirement for BES Agents being at the same or older versions vs. the BigFix infrastructure was true through approximately v9.5.6. While you can now run a newer version of the BESClient vs. BigFix infrastructure, any new inspectors or features may not be available until the infrastructure has been upgraded to the same or newer version.

In part, this was done because of the BESClient version dependency and new OS versions.

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Ok. that makes sense. I ask because our infrastructure is at version 9.5.13 and I want to enable the RHEL8 site. However, the site relevance says the client must be 9.5.14+. So I think it is then okay to leave my infrastructure at v9.5.13 but have my RHEL 8 clients on v9.5.14 (or newer v9.5.x)

That correct. Please just keep in mind that not all features of the 9.5.14 BESClient may work until the infrastructure is also updated to v9.5.14 or later.

Yup, makes sense. thanks