Connect
Agent clusters
Agent clusters allow you to group agents to optimize performance. Clusters ensure that the processing work is spread across the associated worker agents in the most efficient manner.
When creating agent clusters, consider network-connected regions in your environment. You can then assign agents to clusters based on their availability to that network and the sources and repositories on which they work. If you want to delete an agent cluster, you must first reassign agents within the cluster to another cluster or revoke the agent (move to unassigned).
On the Agent Clusters page, you can filter the list of clusters by agent cluster name and by agent status. The agent status is represented by a colored circle icon.
Agent status icons in the agent cluster list
| Agent status icon | Description |
|---|---|
|
The agent is idle. |
|
The agent's most recent processing activity completed successfully. |
|
The agent's most recent processing activity completed with warnings. |
|
The agent's most recent processing activity completed with errors. |
Once created, you can open the agent cluster detail panel (
) to view the cluster description and to edit or delete the agent cluster.
File Analysis Suite includes a cloud cluster that allows for processing of data from cloud based resources, such as Office 365 Exchange and SharePoint Online. The cloud cluster is not tracked or viewable on the Agents cluster page.
To create an agent cluster
-
From the primary navigation panel, click Agents > Agent clusters.
The Agent Clusters page opens.
-
Click NEW AGENT CLUSTER.
The New Agent Cluster dialog opens.
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Complete the following basic options for the new agent cluster.
Option Description Agent Cluster Name Enter a unique name for the new agent cluster.
Limits: Maximum 50 characters.
Description Enter a meaningful description for the new agent cluster.
Limits: Maximum 250 characters.
Enable OCR capabilities Select whether to enable OCR (optical character recognition) for agents in this cluster. Click the toggle to select (
) or deselect (
) the option. -
When enabled (selected), OCR can be optionally performed against items originating from repositories assigned to this agent cluster.
-
When not enabled (deselected), OCR cannot be performed against items originating from repositories assigned to this agent cluster.
NOTE: Once the cluster is created, this option cannot be edited.
TIP: OCR is an optional, add-on feature. At least one agent host in the cluster must configured for OCR.
For more information about OCR configuration using Media server, see Media Server connection.
Click NEXT.
The Default Schedule page opens.
-
-
Define the default schedule for processing the repositories associated with this agent cluster.
Option Description Only run during this time range Define the details for when the scan runs.
- Select the days of the week that the scan will run.
-
Define the Daily start time (UTC) and Daily end time (UTC) for the scan.
The time defined is relative to server on which you will install the agent.
Any task currently running is stopped; items in mid-processing are allowed to complete.
-
Specify to Run once every day or Run continuously with delay interval.
If running continuously with a delay interval, the task runs repeatedly during the defined days and times and pauses between runs for the defined interval (runs every n minutes).
Blackout period (never run during this time range) (Optional) Define the details for when the scan must not run.
- Select the days of the week that the scan will not run.
-
Define the Daily Start Time (UTC) and Daily End Time (UTC) for the scan.
The time defined is relative to server on which you will install the agent.
-
Click FINISH.
The new agent cluster is created and displays in the list of agent clusters.
To edit an agent cluster
-
On the Agent Clusters page, click the name of the agent cluster (
) you want to edit.TIP: You can also do one of the following:
-
Click or hover over the row for the desired agent cluster and then click the edit icon (
). -
Click the row for the desired agent cluster, click the open detail panel icon (
), and then click EDIT.
The Edit Agent Cluster dialog opens.
-
-
Make the desired changes.
-
Click FINISH.
The agent cluster information is edited.
To delete an agent cluster
-
On the Agent Clusters page, click or hover over the row for the desired agent cluster (
). Icons display in the right column. Click the delete icon (
). If the delete icon is not present, agents are assigned to this cluster and the cluster cannot be deleted.TIP: You can also click the row for the desired cluster, click the open detail panel icon (
), and then click DELETE. -
In the confirmation dialog, click YES to confirm the action.
The agent cluster is deleted.
Once you have created agent clusters, you can then assign agents to those clusters. After an agent is initially created, the agent is listed in the Unassigned Agents grouping on the Agent Clusters page. This lets you quickly see what agents are not assigned to a cluster and take appropriate action. You can reassign agents to another cluster as needed, as well as revoke (unassign) an agent.
The status of an agent cluster reflects the status of the agents within the cluster. Expand the cluster to view the status of the individual agents.
Once created, you can open the agent detail panel () to view additional information and to initiate actions.
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On the STATUS tab of the agent detail panel, view the details about the agent status, last activity type and initiation date, agent version, and the CPU usage, memory usage, and disk usage per drive.
Click the buttons to reassign (includes revoke) or delete the agent.
-
On the ACTIVITY tab of the agent detail panel, view the details of the last 10 activities performed, including the repository against which the action taken, the action taken, the date the action was initiated, the action status, and the duration of the action. If more than 10 activities have been performed, click the MORE link to see the full list on the Agent Activity page.
Click the buttons to reassign (includes revoke) or delete the agent.
To add an unassigned agent to an agent cluster
- On the Agent Clusters page, expand the Unassigned Agents grouping.
-
Click or hover over the row for the desired unassigned agent (
). Icons display in the right column.Click the assign icon (
) to open the list of available agent clusters.TIP: You can also click the row for the desired unassigned agent, click the open detail panel icon (
), and then click ASSIGN. -
In the list of agent clusters, the desired cluster.
-
The agent is assigned to the selected cluster.
To reassign an agent to a different agent cluster
NOTE: If the agent is actively processing, the edit options are not available.
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On the Agent Clusters page, expand the agent cluster to which the desired agent is currently assigned.
-
Click or hover over the row for the desired agent (
). Icons display in the right column. Click the reassign icon (
) to open the list of alternate agent clusters.TIP: You can also click the row for the desired agent, click the open detail panel icon (
), and then click REASSIGN. -
In the list of alternate agent clusters, click the desired cluster.
The agent is reassigned to the selected cluster.
To remove an agent from an agent cluster
-
On the Agent Clusters page, expand the agent cluster to which the desired agent is currently assigned.
-
Click or hover over the row for the desired agent (
). Icons display in the right column.Click the reassign icon (
) to open the list of alternate agent clusters.TIP: You can also click the row for the desired agent, click the open detail panel icon (
), and then click REASSIGN. -
In the list of alternate clusters, click Revoke Agent.
TIP: Revoke Agent is the last item in the list of alternate clusters. If you have many clusters, you may need to scroll to this option.
The agent is removed from the current cluster and is listed under Unassigned Agents in the agent cluster list. You can then reassign the agent as desired.
If you have agents that you no longer use, these agents should be uninstalled and unregistered from . This ensures that the agent cannot mistakenly be used going forward. The delete action does not uninstall the agent itself; it only deletes the registration with File Analysis Suite.
CAUTION: Uninstall the agent prior to deleting the registration through the UI. If the agent's registration is deleted but the agent itself is still running, the agent will automatically be re-registered.
Verify that the FAS SQL databases were dropped; if not, manually drop the databases. If you installed SQL Express as part of the agent installation and plan to reinstall an agent on the host in the future, also manually uninstall SQL Express.
To delete an agent's registration with File Analysis Suite
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On the Agent Clusters page, do one of the following:
-
For an unassigned agent, click or hover over the row for the desired agent (
). Icons display in the right column. -
For an agent that is assigned to a cluster, expand the agent cluster to which the desired agent is currently assigned.
Click or hover over the row for the desired agent (
). Icons display to the right of the agent status column.
-
-
Click the delete icon (
).TIP: You can also click the row for the desired agent, click the open detail panel icon (
), and then click DELETE.The agent is unregistered from File Analysis Suite and no longer displays in the list of available agents.