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Update staging

The Update staging page offers options for deploying different versions of Bitdefender Endpoint Security Tools (BEST) to user-controlled update rings. This feature enables you to test and assess updates before rolling them out to production environments. There are three user-controlled update rings: Test ring 1, Test ring 2, and Production ring.

Note

Update staging is available with the following GravityZone products:

  • GravityZone Business Security Enterprise

  • GravityZone Security for Endpoints Physical Workstations

  • GravityZone Security for Endpoints Physical Servers

  • GravityZone Security for Virtualized Environments VDI

  • GravityZone Security for Virtualized Environments VS

  • GravityZone Security for Workstations

  • GravityZone Security for Servers

  • Bitdefender Bitdefender MDR, including Bitdefender MDR Premium and Bitdefender MDR Plus

Customer companies can view and use the Update staging page only with the necessary license. As a partner, you can always view and manage this feature for customer companies even you do not have the license for your own company.

update_staging_page_best_windows_945060_en.png

The Update staging page includes two major areas:

  1. The Products left-side panel allows you to select the BEST by operating system.

  2. The details grid offers you the options for configuring the update rings where different BEST versions will be deployed.

In the upper-right corner of the page, the Product changelog link redirects you to the BEST release notes.

Note

Additional settings for user-controlled update rings are on the Installation packages page and in the policy settings, under General > Update > Update Ring.

The Products panel

On the Products panel, you select the security agent by operating system for which you want to assign update rings. The available options are:

  • BEST (Windows)

  • BEST (macOS)

  • BEST (Linux)

Each product has a different grid with its own list of versions. Therefore, you must configure the update rings for each security agent individually.

The details grid

In the details grid, you can view and assign BEST versions to the update rings.

The details grid contains the following columns:

  • Version - displays the versions of the security agent available to assign or already assigned to the update rings. The latest versions released by Bitdefender to fast and slow rings are indicated as such in brackets.

    GravityZone checks for updates every hour. When Bitdefender releases a new version, it is displayed at the top of the list.

    The number of the versions displayed in the grid depends on the rings they were deployed to. The grid will always contain at least one version of BEST, which will be on the fast ring. As newer versions are released, older ones are shifted downward in the list and are eventually removed if they are not deployed to any rings.

  • Staging rings - displays the update rings where BEST has been deployed. A version can be assigned to one or more rings simultaneously.

  • Released - displays the date and time when Bitdefender released a BEST version, either on the fast or the slow ring.

  • Last modified - displays the date and time when a version of BEST was assigned to or removed from a staging ring.

  • Installation kit - indicates if a BEST version is available for installation using the setup downloader file. The setup downloader files are published by Bitdefender periodically. For more information on the setup downloader, refer to the Installation packages page.

Additionally, the moreIcon.png More button contains the Edit option for assigning the corresponding BEST version.

Assigning a BEST version to staging rings

You can assign and publish a Bitdefender Endpoint Security Tools (BEST) version to one or more staging rings at the same time.

To assign a BEST version, follow these steps:

  1. In the Products panel, select the BEST by operating system.

  2. In the grid, click the moreIcon.png More icon.

  3. Click Edit.

  4. In the Staging rings column, select one or more options in the drop-down list.

    update_staging_page_best_linux_edit_945060_en.png

  5. Click Apply.

  6. Click the ok-icon.png OK button to confirm the changes.

    To close the editing mode without making changes, click the delete_gray_icon.png OK button.

After you assign the BEST version, the security agent will update on the endpoints after receiving the new settings.

Unassigning a BEST version from staging rings

When you make a different selection inline, the BEST version is automatically unassigned and unpublished from the staging ring.

Alternatively, you can specifically unassign a BEST version by following these steps:

  1. In the Products panel, select BEST by operating system.

  2. In the grid, click the moreIcon.png More icon.

  3. Click Edit.

  4. In the Staging rings column, deselect any ring in the drop-down list.

  5. Click Apply.

  6. Click the ok-icon.png OK icon to confirm the changes.

    To close the editing mode without making changes, click the delete_gray_icon.png Cancel icon.

After unassigning the staging ring, the security agent will continue receiving updates according the to the default policy settings.

When a BEST version does not have any staging rings assigned, it is removed from the grid.

Monitoring changes in User activity

You can monitor the changes to the staging ring assignment on the Accounts > User activity page.

Follow these steps:

  1. On the User activity page, select a company.

  2. For Area, select Update staging.

  3. Optionally, for Target, specify a BEST version number.

  4. In the results list, click an entry to view details, which include the agent version, the endpoint operating system, and the staging ring where the change has occurred.

Using the setup downloader options for staging rings

On the Installation packages page, you can access setup downloader files for each staging ring, provided they are available as specified on the Configuration Profiles > Update Staging page.

To view the setup downloader options for an installation package, follow these steps:

  1. On the Installation packages page, make a selection in the list.

  2. Click the Download button.

  3. In the menu, review the list of installers by operating system.

    If a setup downloader file is unavailable for a staging ring, the corresponding options is grayed out.

    update_staging_installation_packages_945060_en.png

    Note

    The setup downloader options do not appear in the menu if you are not using the update staging feature.

For more information about installation packages, refer to Install security agents - standard procedure.

Configuring download links for a staging ring

On the Installation packages page, you can configure the download links to install Bitdefender Endpoint Security Tools on endpoints in a specific staging ring. By default, the download links use the slow ring.

For details about the download links, refer to Install security agents - standard procedure.

Assigning endpoints to a staging ring based on policy settings

To assign an endpoint to a staging ring by using the policy settings, follow these steps:

  1. In the main GravityZone menu, go the the Policies page.

  2. Open the policy applied to the endpoint or click to create a new one.

  3. Go to General > Update > Update Ring.

  4. In the drop-down list, select Production ring, Test ring 1, or Test ring 2.

    update_staging_policy_settings_945060_en.png

    Note

    An endpoint can be part of an single staging ring at one time.

  5. Save the policy.

When applying the policy, it overwrites the previous settings present on the endpoints.

For details on the update settings in the policy, refer to Update.

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