Agent.Service
The Agent.Service allows automatic updates of the agent.
Agent Auto-Update
The Agent.Service enables automatic updates of the agent when Broadcast Suite is updated. This eliminates the need to manually update each agent.
Agent.Service must be installed and run as a Windows background service under the Local System account.
Version Check
The keep alive ping between the Agent.Gui and the core is required for the version check. The ping response includes the current version of the core.
If the core version differs from the Agent.Gui version, the agent detects this and informs the Agent.Service.
Informing the Agent.Service
To initiate the update, the Agent.Gui informs the Agent.Service over the loopback interface (127.0.0.1).
The Agent.Service WebServer listens on the configured ApiPort.
The default port is 8071
The Agent.Service listens only on the loopback address and requires an authentication token for any communication.
This ensures that only the locally installed Agent.Gui can communicate with the Agent.Service.
Downloading the Installer
After successful authentication, the Agent.Service downloads the agent installer from the Broadcast Suite GUI. It uses the URL from the External URL setting to reach the Broadcast Suite GUI.
The downloaded installer will be verified to ensure that it is signed with a valid certificate issued by SLG Broadcast AG.
Update Process
After successful verification, the Agent.Service creates a Windows Scheduled Task to start the Agent.Gui. It then launches the installer.
The installer automatically closes both the Agent.Gui and the Agent.Service to perform the update. Once the installer has finished, it starts the Agent.Service. After the Agent.Service is running again, it executes the Scheduled Task to start the Agent.Gui.
Due to Windows security restrictions, it is not possible to launch a desktop GUI application directly from a Windows background service.
As a workaround, the Agent.Service uses a Scheduled Task (SLG Broadcast Suite Agent.Gui Starter) to ensure the Agent.Gui is started correctly after the update.
Disclaimer
The auto-update functionality has been thoroughly tested and works reliably under standard Windows environments.
However, due to the wide variety of system configurations and security settings across different environments,
unexpected issues may still occur during the update process.
Automatic updates in such diverse conditions can be a technical challenge. If you encounter any problems, please inform your system administrator about the issue.