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How the Agent Works

PatchPilotAgent.exe is a self-contained Windows binary that runs as a Windows Service. It operates on a pull model: the agent always initiates connections to the server. No inbound ports are needed on client machines.

What the agent does​

On each check-in cycle, the agent:

  1. Reads the machine's installed software inventory
  2. Detects which installed applications have pending updates available
  3. Sends a heartbeat to the server with this information
  4. Checks whether the server has queued any update jobs for this machine
  5. Runs any queued update jobs silently in the background
  6. Reports the result back to the server

End users are not interrupted. Updates install silently with no prompts.

Machine identification​

Each machine is identified by a stable hardware identifier that persists across hostname changes and typical hardware configurations.

Pull model rationale​

  • No inbound firewall rules are needed on client machines
  • Works behind NAT and corporate proxies
  • The server cannot initiate arbitrary commands on client machines

GravityZone compatibility​

See GravityZone coexistence for AV exclusion setup.