Retire or uninstall the agent

Retiring takes an endpoint out of management in the console. Uninstalling removes the agent from the computer. Most of the time you want both: when a computer is replaced, sold, or scrapped, uninstall the agent if you still can, and make sure the endpoint is retired. This page covers each.

	Retire	Uninstall
Where	The console	The computer
Effect on the endpoint record	Kept, with the status retired, for the audit trail	Retired as well, on most install types
Effect on the agent	Its certificate is revoked, so it can no longer connect	Removed from the computer
Billing	The endpoint stops counting toward your plan	The same, once it is retired

Before you begin

• Retiring needs the endpoint:write permission. See Roles and permissions.
• Uninstalling needs administrator rights (Windows) or root on the computer.
• You cannot undo a retirement in the console. To manage the computer again, you enroll it again with a new token.

Caution

Uninstalling deletes the endpoint’s certificate and private key from the computer, except where noted below. A reinstall then enrolls as a fresh identity. Use --keep-data when you are reinstalling in place and want the endpoint to keep its identity.

Retire an endpoint in the console

Use this when the computer is gone, or when you uninstall the agent in a way that does not retire it.

1. Go to Endpoints > All endpoints and open the endpoint.
2. Open the Actions menu and, under Lifecycle, select Retire endpoint.
3. Read the dialog. It explains that retiring revokes the endpoint’s certificate and stops it being billed, and that its record stays for the audit trail.
4. Optionally, enter a Reason. It is kept in the audit log.
5. Select Retire endpoint.

The console returns to the endpoint list and shows that the endpoint was retired and its certificate revoked. The agent on the computer stays installed but can no longer connect. Uninstall it as described below if you can reach the computer.

Retirement resolves the endpoint’s open and acknowledged alerts as Endpoint retired and stops pending escalations. This records that the endpoint left management, not that the triggering conditions were remediated. Alert views show current endpoints by default. Select Include retired endpoints to review their alerts. See Alerts.

Uninstall from Windows

If you installed with the single-file installer (outpost-agent-setup.exe):

• In Windows, open the list of installed apps, select Outpost Agent, and uninstall it, or

• Run the uninstaller from an elevated command prompt or your deployment tool:

  & "C:\Program Files\Outpost\Agent\outpost-setup.exe" --uninstall

The uninstaller removes the services, the tray app and its sign-in startup entry, and the program folder. It then tells your Outpost the endpoint is retired and deletes C:\ProgramData\Outpost, which holds the configuration, certificate, and private key. Add --keep-data to keep that folder. Exit code 0 means it finished. Its log is outpost-setup.log in the temporary folder of the account that ran it.

If you installed with the MSI:

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

Or remove it with the deployment tool that installed it. Removing the MSI removes the services and program files, but it keeps C:\ProgramData\Outpost and does not retire the endpoint. Retire the endpoint in the console, and delete C:\ProgramData\Outpost if the computer is leaving your organization.

Uninstall from Linux, FreeBSD, or OpenBSD

1. Run the uninstall as root:

   sudo /opt/outpost/outpost-agent uninstall

   On OpenBSD, use doas. The command stops and removes the service, tells your Outpost the endpoint is retired, and deletes /etc/outpost. Add --keep-data to keep /etc/outpost.

2. Delete the program directory, which uninstall leaves in place:

   sudo rm -rf /opt/outpost

If the agent was installed from a .deb or .rpm package, uninstall refuses and names the package command to use instead: apt remove outpost-agent or dnf remove outpost-agent. Removing the package keeps /etc/outpost and does not retire the endpoint. apt purge outpost-agent also deletes /etc/outpost. Retire the endpoint in the console.

Uninstall from macOS (Preview)

sudo /usr/local/outpost/outpost-agent uninstall

The command removes the agent’s LaunchDaemon and the LaunchAgents for the tray app and the remote desktop helper, tells your Outpost the endpoint is retired, and deletes /etc/outpost. Add --keep-data to keep it. Delete /usr/local/outpost and /Applications/Outpost Tray.app afterwards.

Verify

1. In the console, go to Endpoints > All endpoints.
2. Select the Retired view. The endpoint is listed there and no longer appears in In service.

If the uninstall could not reach your Outpost, its output or log says could not tell the Depot this endpoint is retired and asks you to retire it from the console. Do that, as described above.

Bring a computer back

Install the agent again with a new installer or token. See Install and enroll the agent. When a retired computer enrolls again, Outpost recognizes its hardware and returns its existing record to service instead of creating a second endpoint. It counts toward your plan’s endpoint limit again.

Next steps

• Endpoints
• Troubleshoot the agent