Working With Agent Handlers - McAfee EPOLICY ORCHESTRATOR 4.5 Product Manual

Configuring ePolicy Orchestrator
Agent Handlers and what they do
Grouping handlers and assigning priority is customizable, so you can meet the needs of your
specific environment. Two common scenarios for grouping handlers are:
• Using multiple handlers for load balancing
You might have a large number of managed systems in your network, for which you want
to distribute the workload of agent-server communications and policy enforcement. You can
configure the handler list so that agents randomly pick the handler communicate with.
• Setting up a fallback plan to ensure agent-server communication
You might have systems distributed over a wide geographic area. By assigning a priority to
each handler dispersed throughout this area, you can specify which handler the agents
communicate with, and in what order. This can help ensure that managed systems on your
network stay up-to-date by creating a fallback agent communication, much the same as
fallback repositories ensure that new updates are available to your agents. If the handler
with the highest priority is unavailable, the agent will fall back to the handler with the next
highest priority.
In addition to assigning handler priority within a group of handlers, you can also set handler
assignment priority across several groups of handlers. This adds an additional layer of redundancy
to your environment to further ensure that your agents can always receive the information they
need.
Sitelist files
The agent uses the sitelist.xml and sitelist.info files to decide which handler to communicate
with. Each time handler assignments and priorities are updated, these files are updated on the
managed system. Once these files are updated, the agent implements the new assignment or
priority on the next scheduled agent-server communication.

Working with Agent Handlers

Use these tasks to configure and manage Agent Handlers.
Before you begin
You must have Agent Handlers installed in your network to complete these tasks. For information
on Agent Handler installation, see the McAfee ePolicy Orchestrator 4.5 Installation Guide .
Tasks
Assigning agents to Agent Handlers
Managing Agent Handler assignments
Setting up Agent Handler groups
Managing Agent Handler groups
Assigning agents to Agent Handlers
Use this task to assign agents to specific handlers. You can assign systems individually, by
group, and by subnet. Handler assignments can specify an individual handler or a list of handlers
to use. The list that you specify can be made up of individual handlers or groups of handlers.
Task
For option definitions, click ? in the interface.
McAfee ePolicy Orchestrator 4.5 Product Guide 53