2.6The update agent service

The installer registers a Windows service named SYNERGY Management Gateway Update Agent (SynergyManagementGatewayUpdateAgent). It:

• runs as LocalSystem and starts automatically with Windows, and is restarted automatically if it fails;
• checks the Synergy licensing service for new releases, using your installation's licence key;
• can download a new release and install it in the maintenance window you set, or when an administrator selects Install now;
• stops the application pool, runs the installer, starts the pool again and then verifies the installed version and the readiness check;
• writes its own log to C:\Logs\update-agent-*.log.

The agent reads the database and settings from the API's own configuration file, so changing the database in the setup wizard changes it for the agent too. The wizard restarts the agent when it applies a configuration.

Whether updates are checked for, when they are installed and whether they are installed without asking is set on the System > Updates screen in the console. Viewing it requires updates:read and changing it updates:manage. The screen itself is not licence-gated, but the update feed is authenticated by your licence key, so update checks only succeed once a licence is activated. See Chapter 19, Licence, updates and backups.

The agent installs only release packages whose publisher signature it can verify. If it reports that a package was refused because its publisher could not be verified, install that release by downloading and running the MSI by hand.

Important: Do not switch off the agent's signature check (UpdateAgent:RequireSignedPackage). It is the only check between a file downloaded from the internet and an installer running with full rights on your server.

Stopping the update agent does not affect the product. It only stops updates from being found and installed.

Uninstalling

To uninstall the product:

1. 1Back up the product's database if you might need its data later.
2. 2Open Settings > Apps (or Control Panel > Programs and Features) on the server.
3. 3Select SYNERGY Management Gateway and choose Uninstall.

The uninstaller removes the files the installer added — the API, the web console files, the setup wizard and the update agent — together with the update agent service and the Start menu entry. It does not remove things that were created outside the installer, which you can remove by hand if you no longer need them:

• the product's database;
• the IIS application and application pool created by the setup wizard, and any IIS Windows authentication settings it applied;
• the configuration file appsettings.Production.json, its backups and SETUP-NOTES.md;
• the environment variables of the application pool;
• the log files in C:\Logs.