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Updating Agents from the Pluton Dashboard

What This Does​

Pluton can update the agent on a remote device for you, from the Devices page in the dashboard.

Without it, keeping agents current means signing in to every machine over SSH or Remote Desktop and running an installer by hand. That is manageable for two devices and painful for twenty. With this, you click the version badge on a device and Pluton takes care of the rest: the device fetches the new release, checks that it is genuine, replaces its own files, restarts, and reconnects. You can do this for one device, or for every connected device at once.

The device does the work itself. Pluton only sends the instruction, so the download never passes through your Pluton server and never crosses your desk.

If anything goes wrong partway through, the device puts the previous version back and keeps running on it, so a failed update leaves you where you started rather than with an offline machine.

Requirements​

Before you can update a device from the dashboard:

  • Pluton PRO 0.20.0 or later on the server
  • Pluton Agent v0.12.0 or later on the device
  • the device must be connected
  • the device needs outbound HTTPS access to dl.usepluton.com

Agents older than v0.12.0 cannot be updated remotely and must be updated once by hand. After that first manual update, they can be updated from the dashboard like any other device.

The Main device is the Pluton server itself. It is updated with the server, not from the Devices page.

How Pluton Knows an Update Exists​

  • Each agent reports its own version whenever it connects, and Pluton stores it with the device.
  • The dashboard reads the latest published agent version from Pluton's release server and caches it for a few minutes.
  • If a device reports an older version than the published one, its version badge gains an up arrow.

Every device row and the device detail page show the version badge. Hover it to see what is installed, and what is available.

If your browser cannot reach the release server, for example on an isolated network or behind a strict proxy, no update indicator appears at all. This is not an error state; the dashboard simply has nothing to compare against.

Updating a Single Device​

From the Devices Page​

  1. Open Devices.
  2. Find the device. Its version badge shows the installed version with an ↑ when an update is available.
  3. Click the badge.
  4. Read the confirmation, then click Yes, Update Device Agent.

From the Device Page​

  1. Open the device.
  2. Click the version badge in the header, or open the options menu and choose Update Agent.
  3. Confirm the update.

Either way, a spinner appears next to the version while the update runs, and turns into a green check once the device reports the new version.

Updating Every Device at Once​

The Devices page header has an Update Agents button that updates every eligible device in one action.

A device is included when it is connected, is not the Main device, already runs v0.12.0 or later, and reports an older version than the latest release. Devices that do not qualify are left out. The button is disabled when there is nothing to update, and its tooltip then reads that every connected agent is up to date.

  1. Click Update Agents.
  2. Confirm the count shown in the dialog.
  3. Watch the badges on each device row.

While the run is in progress:

  • updates start a few at a time rather than all at once, so a slow or unreachable device does not hold up the rest
  • each device shows its own badge: updating, done, or failed
  • you can leave the Devices page and come back; the run continues and the badges are still there
  • when everything has finished, a message tells you how many agents were updated, and how many could not be

What Happens on the Device​

  1. Pluton sends the update instruction over the connection the agent already holds. No new port and no inbound access to the device is needed.
  2. The agent confirms receipt, then starts the updater as a separate task, deliberately outside its own process. This matters: the agent is about to be restarted, and an updater running inside it would be killed halfway through.
  3. The updater downloads the release built for that machine's operating system and processor.
  4. It verifies the download against the published checksum. On Windows it also verifies the code signature. A file that does not match is deleted and the update stops.
  5. It runs the new program once and confirms that it reports the expected version.
  6. It stops the agent service, replaces the agent and its bundled tools, and starts the service again.
  7. It waits to confirm the service stays up, and that the installed version is the one that was requested.
  8. The previous program file is kept on the device for one update cycle, in case you need it.

If the service fails to start, or does not stay up, the updater puts the previous files back, starts the service again, and reports the failure. The device keeps running the version it had.

The device reconnects to Pluton after the restart and reports its new version, which is what clears the spinner in the dashboard.

How Long It Takes​

Most updates finish in a few minutes. The download size, the device's connection, and how long the service takes to restart all affect it.

The dashboard waits up to five minutes for a device to report the new version. If that time passes with no change, the update is marked as failed in the UI. This does not stop anything on the device. A slow device may still finish and report the new version shortly after, and the badge corrects itself on the next refresh.

When an Update Cannot Start​

Pluton checks before sending anything and tells you why an update is blocked.

The device is not connected

The dialog says the device is not connected to Pluton. Bring the device online, confirm it appears as connected on the Devices page, then start the update again.

The agent is older than v0.12.0

The dialog says a manual update is necessary and links to the installation instructions. Update that agent once by hand using the guide for its platform, then use the dashboard from then on.

Start remote updates for old agents from the Devices page rather than the device page. The Devices page checks the version first and tells you what to do. The device page sends the command, and a pre-v0.12.0 agent will accept it without ever completing, so you simply wait out the five-minute timeout for no result.

If an Update Fails​

The device rolls back on its own and keeps running the version it had, so the first thing to check is whether the device is back online and reporting its old version. If it is, nothing is broken and you can investigate at your own pace.

Check the Update Log​

The full output of the update is written on the device:

  • Linux and macOS: /var/lib/pluton-agent/update.log
  • Windows: %ProgramData%\Pluton Agent\update.log

On Linux systems using systemd, the update may instead be recorded in the system journal:

sudo journalctl -u pluton-agent-selfupdate

Run the Update on the Device​

Signing in to the device and running the update by hand shows you the failure directly:

sudo pluton-agent selfupdate

Common causes:

  • the device cannot reach dl.usepluton.com, usually a firewall or proxy rule
  • there is not enough free disk space where the agent is installed
  • the license key is not available to the agent

Agents Installed Before This Feature​

An agent installed before v0.12.0 does not have the permissions the remote update needs, even after you upgrade the software on it, because those permissions are granted by the installer.

If remote updates keep failing on an older device, run the installer or the manual selfupdate command on it once. That restores the permission, and later dashboard updates work normally.

Updating from the Command Line​

Every agent can also update itself locally, which is useful for scripting, for a device that is not currently connected, and for installing a specific version.

Check for an update without installing anything:

pluton-agent version

Install the latest release:

sudo pluton-agent selfupdate

Useful options:

OptionDescription
--checkReport whether an update is available and exit
--version X.Y.ZInstall a specific version instead of the latest
--forceUpdate even when the version is the same or older
--yes / -yDo not ask for confirmation
--no-restartDo not restart the service after the update

On Windows, run these from an Administrator prompt without sudo.

The command performs the same download, verification, replacement, restart, and rollback steps described above.

Things to Know​

  • Dashboard updates always install the latest release. To install a specific version, use pluton-agent selfupdate --version on the device.
  • The update replaces the agent and the backup tools bundled with it. Your agent configuration, credentials, and device identity are preserved.
  • There is no setting to turn remote updating off.
  • Backups are not paused for you. Update during a quiet window if a device runs frequent plans, since the agent restarts partway through.
  • Agent updates are not recorded as notifications or in a history log. The badges and messages in the dashboard are the only record of a run.
  • The dashboard reports that an update was accepted, not that it succeeded. Success is confirmed only when the device reports its new version.

Network Requirements​

Allow outbound HTTPS on port 443 to dl.usepluton.com from:

  • every device running the Pluton Agent, so it can download releases
  • the machine running your browser, so the dashboard can see which version is current

No inbound access to your devices is required. The update instruction travels over the connection the agent already maintains with your Pluton server.

Next Steps​