The components that can be updated are the following:
- Panda Adaptive Defense 360 protection engine
- Communications Agent
- Knowledge (signature files)
- Administration console
Protection Engine Updates
To configure protection engine updates, you must create and assign a Per-computer settings profile. To do this, go to the Settings menu at the top of the console and select Per-computer settings from the left menu.
You can configure the update of the protection engine by date, days, month, hour ranges, etc. You can also define the restart logic in case it is necessary.
Communication Agent Updates
The Panda agent update is executed on demand. Panda Adaptive Defense 360 will include a notification in the management console indicating the existence of a new version of the agent, and the administrator will be able to launch the update at any time.
Updating the Panda agent does not require a reboot of the user's computer and usually involves changes and enhancements to the management console that make security management easier.
Communication agent updates can be downloaded directly from the Internet or through a Panda Proxy or cache computer, except in Linux, which does not allow downloading installers through Panda Adaptive Defense 360's cache or proxy computers.
Knowledge Updates
The knowledge update procedure and options vary depending on the operating system of the device to update.
Windows, Linux and Android devices
- Go to Settings at the top of the console, and select Workstations and servers from the left-hand sidemenu.
- Go to General and here you will see the following options
- Automatic knowledge updates: allows you to enable or disable signature file downloads. If you clear this option, the signature file will never get updated.
- Run a background scan every time there is a knowledge update: lets you automatically run a scan every time a signature file is downloaded to the computer. These scans have minimum priority so as not to interfere with the user's work
- Automatic knowledge updates: allows you to enable or disable signature file downloads. If you clear this option, the signature file will never get updated.
- Go to Settings at the top of the console, and select Android devices from the left-hand side menu.
- Panda Adaptive Defense 360 lets you restrict software updates so that they don't consume mobile data.
- Select the Only update over Wi-Fi option to restrict updates to those occasions when there is an available Wi-Fi connection for the target smartphone or tablet.
Network administrators can choose when to start the process of upgrading the management console on the Panda Security servers. Otherwise, Panda Security will automatically upgrade the management console to the latest available version.
Considerations prior to updating the console version
- Although this is a process that takes place entirely on the Panda Security servers, upgrading the console version can result in high traffic loads and the need to restart the computers on the network in some cases.
- The user account used to access the management console requires Full Control role.
- Click the Web notifications icon on the upper-right side of the top menu. The unread notifications appear.
- If there is a console upgrade available, a message entitled New management console version is shown, along with the New features and improvements link, the version to which the console will be updated, and the Upgrade console now button.
- After the button is clicked, the update request is queued on the server, waiting to be processed. The maximum time the request remains queued on the server is 10 minutes.
- After the request has been processed, the upgrade process starts and the notification shows the text Upgrade in progress. If any user account tries to log in to the console, access is denied. For the duration of the update process, it is not possible to log in to the management console.
- After some time, which depends on the number of managed computers and the data stored on the console, the update process will finish.
If a console upgrade exists in the request queue that has not started yet, a message entitled New management console version is shown, along with the New features and improvements link and the possibility to remove the update request from the queue through the Cancel upgrade button.
Recommendations
Panda Security maintains the three latest versions of the software. After a new version is released, all clients are automatically upgraded to the latest version within a few months of the release following this schedule:
| Phase | Accounts | Type of Update | Notification | Estimated Duration |
| Early Adopters | Early adopters with fewer than 250 endpoints* | Mandatory Upgrade | None | 1 month (occurs prior to the release of the new version) |
| On-demand Update | Customers who want to upgrade early ? starts with customers with fewer than 250 endpoints | On demand | Notification in the management UI or through your Sales Representative | 3 to 6 months |
| Automatic Updates (Phase 1) | Customers with 1 to 250 endpoints | Automatic | Notification appears in the management UI at least two weeks before product release | 2 months |
| Automatic Updates (Phase 2) | Clientes with more than 250 endpoints | Automatic | Notification appears in the management UI at least two weeks before product release | 2 months |
*Contact your Partner or Sales Representative if you want to become an early adopter.
IMPORTANT: Since each environment is unique, we recommend that you plan a Controlled Update Process to reduce the risk of potential problems.