Carbon Black Cloud: Sensor Not Upgrading If Installed With AUTO_UPDATE=0

Products

• Carbon Black Cloud Endpoint Standard (formerly Cb Defense)

Issue/Introduction

• Sensor update pushed from Web Console
• Sensor version on endpoint remains unchanged
• Sensor version shown in Web Console remains unchanged
• confer.log file shows the following - RepUtilCheckHintIndicators: sw upgrade is disabled

Environment

• Carbon Black Cloud Web Console: All Versions
• Carbon Black Cloud Sensor: 2.0.x.x and higher
• Microsoft Windows: All Supported Versions

Cause

Sensor was installed with AUTO_UPDATE=0 switch and an update was pushed out via Web Console.

Resolution

AUTO_UPDATE is set upon installation and cannot be changed without an uninstall and re-install of the Sensor

1. Uninstall the Sensor from the impacted endpoint
2. Re-install the Sensor on the impacted endpoint

Additional Information

• This is due to AUTO_UPDATE=0 in the string. Changing this to AUTO_UPDATE=1 will allow for successful upgrades on these devices. The only workaround is to uninstall then reinstall with the correct switch. 
• The AUTO_UPDATE install switch allows or disallows Sensor upgrades to be pushed out from the Web Console. 
• When AUTO_UPDATE=0 is used, updates have to be manually downloaded and installed or the Sensor has to be uninstalled and re-installed to turn this on 
• When AUTO_UPDATE=1 is used, updates can either be pushed from the Web Console or downloaded and deployed via preferred software management procedures (manually, GPO, SCCM, etc.)