---
title: "Wake-on-LAN"
description: "Wake one offline endpoint, a selection, or a whole site or device group from the console, and wake endpoints on their own before maintenance."
url: "https://support.outpostplatform.com/endpoints/wake-on-lan/"
product: "depot"
type: "how-to"
status: "draft"
ai_summary: "Outpost Wake-on-LAN: another online agent on the same network sends the magic packet. Wake one endpoint (Wake or Wake anyway), a selection of up to 500, or a site or device group (Wake offline endpoints). Disabled reasons, bulk skip reasons, Last wake status, the power.* profile settings with wake before maintenance and return to sleep, Fast Startup, and per-OS support. Needs endpoint:action."
availability:
  plans: ["home-lab", "essentials", "enterprise", "msp"]
  platforms: ["windows", "linux", "macos"]
  permission: "endpoint:action"
  preview: false
source: "https://gitlab.com/outpostplatform/docs/-/edit/main/src/content/docs/endpoints/wake-on-lan.md"
license: "CC BY 4.0"
---

# Wake-on-LAN

Wake-on-LAN lets you turn on an endpoint that is asleep or shut down, from the
console, so you can work on it without someone at the desk. You can wake one
endpoint, a selection, or every offline endpoint in a site or device group,
and you can have Outpost wake endpoints on their own shortly before a patch
window or a scheduled script.

## How a wake works

Outpost never sends anything onto your network itself. It asks another online
Outpost agent on the same network as the sleeping endpoint to send the
Wake-on-LAN packet. So a wake needs:

- A wired network adapter on the endpoint that can receive a wake packet
- A network the endpoint was seen on in the last 30 days
- Another Outpost agent online on that network

The console reads what the endpoint last reported about its own network
adapters, not what a profile says. An adapter armed in the firmware or by hand
counts. When the endpoint connects within 10 minutes of the wake, the wake is
recorded as **Woke**. Otherwise it is recorded as **No response**.

The endpoint's **Overview** tab shows the most recent wake in **Last wake**, for
example **Woke** followed by how long ago.

## Before you begin

- You need `endpoint:action`. Among the built-in roles, the Owner, Support
  Manager, and Field Technician hold it.
- Turn on Wake-on-LAN in the endpoints' firmware (BIOS or UEFI). Outpost does
  not change firmware settings.
- To have Outpost arm the endpoints' network adapters, turn on
  `power.wake_on_lan_enabled` in a profile. See
  [Wake-on-LAN profile settings](#wake-on-lan-profile-settings).

## Wake one endpoint

1. Open the endpoint, and select **Actions** > **Wake**.
2. Select **Wake** in the confirmation.

The console shows **Wake packet sent to** and the endpoint's name. The endpoint
connects within a few minutes if it can wake.

When an endpoint has a path for the packet but has not reported its adapter as
armed, the item reads **Wake anyway**, with the note **Wake-on-LAN is not
confirmed on this device.** Select **Wake anyway** in the confirmation. The
packet is sent, but the endpoint may not wake.

When **Wake** is unavailable, point at it to see why:

| Reason shown | What to do |
| --- | --- |
| **This endpoint is already online.** | Nothing. |
| **This endpoint is retired.** | Nothing. A retired endpoint cannot be woken. |
| **A wake was sent in the last 10 minutes. Waiting for the endpoint to connect.** | Wait for the first wake to finish. |
| **This endpoint has no wired network adapter that can receive a wake packet.** | Connect the endpoint by cable. |
| **Outpost has not seen this endpoint's network in the last 30 days.** | The endpoint has been away too long for Outpost to know where to send the packet. |
| **No other online Outpost agent is on this endpoint's network to send the wake packet.** | Make sure another endpoint on that network is online. |

:::note
On Windows, when Fast Startup is on, the confirmation adds **Fast Startup is
on. If this PC was shut down rather than put to sleep, it may not wake.** Turn
off Fast Startup with `power.fast_startup_enabled` for endpoints you need to
wake from shut down.
:::

## Wake several endpoints

1. Go to **Endpoints** > **All endpoints**.
2. Select the endpoints to wake. See
   [Select several endpoints](/endpoints/endpoint-list/#select-several-endpoints).
3. In the selection bar, select **Wake** followed by the count.
4. Select **Wake** in the confirmation.

A selection wakes only endpoints that are offline and have Wake-on-LAN armed.
It can hold up to 500 endpoints.

## Wake a site or a device group

1. Open the site from **Endpoints** > **Sites**, or the group from
   **Endpoints** > **Device groups**.
2. Select **Wake offline endpoints**.
3. Select **Wake** in the confirmation.

Waking a site also wakes the offline endpoints in its child sites. Only
endpoints with Wake-on-LAN armed and another online agent on their network
are woken.

### What the result shows

After a bulk wake, the **Wake sent** dialog reports **Wake sent to** a number
**of** a total, and lists the endpoints it skipped, grouped by reason:

| Group | Meaning |
| --- | --- |
| **Already online** | The endpoint is connected. |
| **Retired** | The endpoint is retired. |
| **Wake already in progress** | A wake was sent in the last 10 minutes. |
| **No wired network adapter** | The endpoint has no adapter that can receive a wake packet. |
| **Network not seen in 30 days** | Outpost does not know where to send the packet. |
| **No online agent on its network** | No agent is online to send the packet. |
| **Wake-on-LAN not confirmed** | The adapter is not reported as armed. Use **Wake anyway** on the endpoint itself. |
| **Could not be processed** | Something went wrong for that endpoint. |

## Wake before maintenance

With `power.wake_for_maintenance` on, Outpost wakes a sleeping or shut-down
endpoint shortly before its patch window opens or a scheduled script is due,
so the maintenance runs on time. It wakes only endpoints whose wired adapter
reports Wake-on-LAN armed. A patch window wakes the endpoint only when patch
installation is turned on for it. A script that runs at sign-in never wakes an
endpoint.

With `power.return_to_sleep_after_maintenance` also on, the endpoint goes back
to sleep after the maintenance, or shuts down again if it was woken from shut
down. The endpoint decides, and stays awake when:

- Someone signs in after the wake
- An Outpost remote session or console is open
- A restart is still owed
- The maintenance is still running 2 hours after it was due

The **Last wake** line on the **Overview** tab then reads **Went back to
sleep**, **Shut down again**, or **Stayed awake** with the reason.

## Wake-on-LAN profile settings

These settings are in the **Power** category of a profile. See
[Profiles](/automation/profiles/). For each one, the most specific profile wins.

| Setting | Default | Effect |
| --- | --- | --- |
| `power.wake_on_lan_enabled` | Off | Arms the endpoint's wired network adapters to wake on a Wake-on-LAN packet. Off leaves the adapters as they are: Outpost never disarms an adapter, and turning this off restores what the adapter had before Outpost armed it. |
| `power.fast_startup_enabled` | On | Windows Fast Startup. On leaves each computer's own setting alone. Off turns Fast Startup off, which helps computers wake from shut down. Turning it back on restores the computer's previous setting. |
| `power.wake_for_maintenance` | Off | Wakes the endpoint before its patch window or a scheduled script. |
| `power.wake_lead_minutes` | `10` | How many minutes before the maintenance to wake the endpoint, from 2 to 60. A value outside that range is clamped. |
| `power.return_to_sleep_after_maintenance` | Off | Puts the endpoint back to sleep, or shuts it down again, after a maintenance wake. |

## Support by operating system

| | Windows | Linux | macOS (Preview) | FreeBSD and OpenBSD |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Arming the adapter (`power.wake_on_lan_enabled`) | Yes, wired physical adapters | Yes, wired adapters whose driver supports magic packets | Yes, with the **Wake for network access** setting | No, reported as unsupported |
| Fast Startup (`power.fast_startup_enabled`) | Yes | Not applicable | Not applicable | Not applicable |
| Return to sleep after maintenance | Yes | Yes | Yes | No |

A Linux adapter whose driver has no magic packet support, such as a Hyper-V
virtual adapter, reports Wake-on-LAN as unsupported. A Mac whose hardware has
no **Wake for network access** setting reports the same.

## Verify

Put an endpoint to sleep and wake it from the console. Within a few minutes its
status returns to **Connected**, and its **Overview** tab shows **Last wake**
as **Woke**.

## If something goes wrong

| Symptom | Cause | Fix |
| --- | --- | --- |
| **No response** after a wake | The adapter or the firmware is not armed, or the computer was shut down with Fast Startup on. | Turn on Wake-on-LAN in the firmware, turn on `power.wake_on_lan_enabled`, and turn off `power.fast_startup_enabled`. |
| Every wake on a network is refused for **No other online Outpost agent** | Nothing else on that network runs the agent. | Keep one always-on endpoint, such as a server, on each network. |
| A bulk wake skips endpoints as **Wake-on-LAN not confirmed** | Their adapters do not report as armed. | Arm them with `power.wake_on_lan_enabled`, or wake each one with **Wake anyway**. |

## Next steps

- [Patching](/automation/patching/)
- [Scripts](/automation/scripting/)
- [Network discovery](/endpoints/network-discovery/)