Install and enroll the agent

This page takes one computer from no agent to a managed endpoint that reports to your console. Each installer you download carries your Outpost’s address, the client and site the computer joins, and an enrollment token, so the computer enrolls itself when the installer runs. To deploy to many computers at once, see Deploy the agent at scale.

Before you begin

• You need the enroll:manage permission. See Roles and permissions.
• You need administrator rights (Windows) or root (Linux, FreeBSD, OpenBSD) on the computer.
• The computer must run a supported operating system and reach the internet outbound on TCP port 443. See Supported platforms.
• The installer connects the agent to the server address it carries, your Outpost’s address. That name must resolve in DNS from the computer, and the computer must be able to reach it.
• At least one site must exist. See Endpoints.
• For Windows, set your support contact first. The Windows installer shows it to the person at the computer before it installs anything.

Note

Each new endpoint counts toward your plan’s endpoint limit. Home Lab allows up to 15 managed endpoints and Essentials up to 50. During a free trial, Enterprise and MSP allow up to 100. See Plans and limits.

Download the installer

1. Go to Endpoints > All endpoints and select Enroll a device.

2. In Site, choose the site the computer belongs to. If your Outpost has one site, it is chosen for you.

3. In Platform, choose the computer’s operating system and architecture:

   Platform	You download
   Windows x64 (single file)	outpost-agent-<client-id>-setup.exe
   Windows x64 (MSI, for GPO or Intune)	outpost-agent-<client-id>-windows-amd64.zip, holding outpost-agent-setup.msi and agent.json
   Debian / Ubuntu x64 (.deb), Debian / Ubuntu arm64 (.deb)	outpost-agent-<client-id>-linux-amd64-deb.zip or outpost-agent-<client-id>-linux-arm64-deb.zip, holding the .deb package, agent.json, and INSTALL.txt
   RPM Linux x64 (.rpm), RPM Linux arm64 (.rpm)	outpost-agent-<client-id>-linux-amd64-rpm.zip or outpost-agent-<client-id>-linux-arm64-rpm.zip, holding the .rpm package, agent.json, and INSTALL.txt
   Linux x64 (tarball), Linux ARM64	outpost-agent-<client-id>-linux-amd64.tar.gz or outpost-agent-<client-id>-linux-arm64.tar.gz
   FreeBSD x64, FreeBSD ARM64	outpost-agent-<client-id>-freebsd-amd64.tar.gz or outpost-agent-<client-id>-freebsd-arm64.tar.gz
   OpenBSD x64, OpenBSD ARM64	outpost-agent-<client-id>-openbsd-amd64.tar.gz or outpost-agent-<client-id>-openbsd-arm64.tar.gz

   <client-id> is the identifier of the client the computer joins.

   The macOS options appear only when macOS installers are turned on for your Outpost. See macOS agent.

4. If the computer reaches the internet through an HTTP proxy, enter it in Proxy (optional), for example http://proxy.example.com:8080.

5. Select Download installer.

An installer downloaded this way enrolls one computer, and only within 24 hours. To use one installer on many computers or over a longer period, use Staged rollout. See Deploy the agent at scale.

Caution

The installer holds a live enrollment token. Anyone who runs it before the token is used or expires can enroll a computer into your Outpost. Copy it only to the computer you are enrolling.

Install the agent

On Windows, with the single file:

1. Copy the downloaded .exe to the computer.
2. Right-click the file and select Run as administrator.
3. The Install Outpost panel names your organization and your support contact, and warns the person at the computer about remote support scams. Read it, type AGREE in the box, and select Install.
4. When the message Outpost is installed. appears, select OK.

The agent, the watchdog, and the tray app are installed in C:\Program Files\Outpost\Agent, and the computer enrolls as soon as the agent connects.

On Windows, with the MSI:

1. Extract the whole .zip into one folder. agent.json must stay in the same folder as outpost-agent-setup.msi.

2. Run outpost-agent-setup.msi from that folder as an administrator, or run it silently:

   msiexec /i outpost-agent-setup.msi /qn

The MSI shows no consent panel. It is meant for deployment tools, which are covered in Deploy the agent at scale.

On Linux, with a .deb or .rpm package:

Use a package on Debian, Ubuntu, and RPM-based distributions such as AlmaLinux, Rocky Linux, and Red Hat Enterprise Linux. The package installs the agent and the tray app, and your package manager tracks it.

1. Copy the .zip file to the computer, and extract it into a directory only you can read.

2. From that directory, put agent.json where the agent imports it:

   sudo install -d -m 0700 /etc/outpost/import
   sudo install -m 0600 agent.json /etc/outpost/import/agent.json

3. Install the package. Replace the file name with the one in the .zip.

   On Debian or Ubuntu:

   sudo apt install ./outpost-agent-linux-amd64.deb

   On an RPM-based distribution:

   sudo dnf install ./outpost-agent-linux-amd64.rpm

4. After the endpoint appears in the console, delete the extracted agent.json and the downloaded .zip. Both hold the enrollment token.

The package imports /etc/outpost/import/agent.json as it installs, deletes it because it holds a single-use enrollment token, and enables and starts the outpost-agent service. If the import fails, the package manager prints a message saying so. Run sudo /opt/outpost/outpost-agent import-config /etc/outpost/import/agent.json, then sudo systemctl restart outpost-agent. The tray app starts at the next graphical sign-in. INSTALL.txt in the .zip repeats these steps.

On Linux without a package, FreeBSD, or OpenBSD:

1. Copy the .tar.gz file to the computer.

2. Extract it into an empty directory, and run the installer from that directory as root:

   mkdir outpost-agent
   tar -xzf outpost-agent-<client-id>-linux-amd64.tar.gz -C outpost-agent
   cd outpost-agent
   sudo ./install.sh

   Replace the file name with the one you downloaded. On OpenBSD, use doas ./install.sh.

install.sh copies the agent to /opt/outpost, applies the connection settings from the agent.json in the archive, registers the service with systemd or rc.d, and starts it. It then deletes agent.json, because the file holds the enrollment token. The tarball installs the agent only. It does not include the tray app.

Verify

1. In the console, go to Endpoints > All endpoints.
2. Find the computer by its name.
3. Open it and check that its inventory has arrived.

To check the service on the computer itself:

On Windows:

Get-Service OutpostAgent, OutpostWatchdog

Both services report Running.

On Linux:

systemctl status outpost-agent

On FreeBSD: service outpost_agent status. On OpenBSD: rcctl check outpost_agent.

If something goes wrong

Symptom	Cause	Fix
Plan limit reached when you select Issue token only, or the endpoint never appears	Your plan’s endpoint limit is reached.	See Troubleshoot the agent.
The MSI stops with agent.json was not found next to this installer.	The MSI was run from inside the .zip, or without agent.json beside it.	Extract the whole .zip into one folder and run the MSI from there.
The endpoint never appears	The token expired or was already used, or the computer cannot reach your Outpost.	See Troubleshoot the agent.

Next steps

• Deploy the agent at scale
• The Outpost tray app
• Endpoints