Agent updates
How Lodestar keeps itself up to date on Macs and Windows PCs, and how to switch it off.
Lodestar updates itself on Macs and Windows PCs. When Panoptic publishes a new version, each device installs it after its next report, usually within a day. Agent updates are on by default. An admin can switch them off for the whole organisation on Settings.
Devices need Lodestar 0.5.1 or later to update themselves. Update an older device once by your usual method: the one-line install, your RMM script or your MDM.
What happens
- The device reports to the console. If a newer version is published and agent updates are on, the console offers it.
- The agent downloads the installer from
https://downloads.lodestarapp.ai. It refuses any other address. - It checks the installer's checksum, and that Panoptic signed it. On a Mac, Apple must also accept it as notarised.
- It runs the installer, which replaces Lodestar and restarts the agent. The new version reports straight away.
The agent never installs an older version than the one it has.
On a Mac, the update replaces the app, the agent and the network monitor. The network monitor is replaced straight away if someone is logged in, otherwise at the next login. If a user has the Lodestar app open, it closes during the update and opens again afterwards.
On Windows, the update replaces the Lodestar Agent service.
The catalogue of AI tools updates separately. Switching agent updates off does not stop it.
Linux is not available yet, so it is offered no updates.
Switch agent updates off or on
Only admins can change this. It applies to every client and device in the organisation.
Open Settings.
Under Agent updates, select Switch off, or Switch on.
The card shows On or Off. With agent updates off, devices stay on the version they have. Switched back on, devices update after their next report. The activity log records each change.
Switching agent updates off does not stop an RMM script. A scheduled script still installs the current release, unless you attach an installer to it. See Hold devices on one version.
If Panoptic finds a problem with a release, it stops offering it. Devices are not offered that version, even with agent updates on.
Macs and PCs deployed with an MDM
Agent updates work the same way on devices your MDM deployed. The agent installs the new version itself.
On a Mac, the client's MDM profile approves the network monitor by Panoptic's team and the monitor's ID, not by version. A new version needs no approval, and users see no prompts.
Your MDM may report Lodestar's install as failed once Lodestar has updated itself to a newer version. Intune can. If you would rather update Lodestar through your MDM, switch agent updates off and upload each new installer there. See Intune or JumpCloud.
See which devices are up to date
On the client's Devices tab and on a device's page, an agent older than the published version shows in amber with the newer version, for example "agent 0.5.2 (0.5.3 available)".
The device's page also shows the last update attempt, and when:
| Shown | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Updated itself to 0.5.3 | The update finished and the new version reported. |
| Installing 0.5.3 | The installer is running. |
| Couldn't update to 0.5.3, with the reason | The update failed. The device keeps its version. |
If an update fails
The agent tries the same version again after 1 hour, then 2 hours, then 4, and so on, up to once a day. It tries a newer version straight away. An installer that has not finished within an hour counts as failed.
Check the device can reach https://downloads.lodestarapp.ai. The agent log records each attempt and its reason. The installer's own output goes to the update log:
| Platform | Agent log | Update log |
|---|---|---|
| Mac | /Library/Logs/Lodestar/agent.log | /Library/Logs/Lodestar/update.log |
| Windows | %ProgramData%\Lodestar\agent.log | %ProgramData%\Lodestar\update.log |
To update the device now, run your usual install again, for example the one-line install.