UC_EX_HOSTCHAR value resets to DEFAULT after Agent restart in AE 26.

Products

• CA Automic Workload Automation - Automation Engine
• Automic SaaS

Issue/Introduction

After upgrading to Automic Automation Engine (AE) version 26.0, changes made to the UC_EX_HOSTCHAR variable (in Client 0) to assign a specific host characteristic to an agent are not retained.

1. A specific characteristic (e.g., UNIX or LINUX) is assigned to an agent in the UC_EX_HOSTCHAR variable.
2. The agent is restarted.
3. Jobs execute correctly using the assigned characteristic immediately after the change.
4. However, upon checking UC_EX_HOSTCHAR again after the restart, the agent's value has reverted to DEFAULT automatically.

Environment

• Product: Automic Automation Engine
• Version: 26.0.0 (specifically observed in version 2026-04-09)
• Agent Type: Unix / Linux (Version 26.0)
• Previous Working Version: 24.4.3

Cause

Configuration change.

Resolution

The agent's INI file does not have a semicolon in front of the agent variable UC_EX_HOSTCHAR. Therefore, the assignment is made based on this entry. This change was needed to accommodate the agent's use in a SaaS environment.

If needed, the entry in the agent's INI file can be changed from:

UC_EX_HOSTCHAR=DEFAULT

To:

;UC_EX_HOSTCHAR=DEFAULT