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  • Documentation
  • Developers
  • Administration
  • OVERVIEW
    • JFrog Connect Overview
      • Architecture Overview
        • Connect Agent
        • Connect & JFrog Platform
      • Plan Your Update Strategy
        • Software Update Objectives & Concepts
        • Software Update Process & Procedures
  • Get Started
    • Create JFrog Connect Account
    • Log in to JFrog Connect
    • Network Requirements
    • Register Device
      • Device Registration Troubleshooting
  • Fleet Management
    • Register Devices at Scale
      • Freeze Image on Device
      • Build Image with Agent
    • Register & Update Device at Once
    • Organize Your Fleet
      • Create Project
      • Move Device between Projects
      • Create Groups
        • Add Device to Group
        • Add Many Devices to Group
        • Change Group Name
        • Delete Group
      • Tag Devices
        • Remove a Tag
      • Remove Many Devices
  • Devices
    • Fleet Overview
      • Filter Devices
      • Locate Devices
    • Device Details
      • Delete a Device
      • Block Updates with Update Trigger
    • Update Connect Agent
    • Delete Many Devices
  • Deployment
    • Create Update Flow
      • Actions
        • Run Command
        • Run Script
        • Deploy File
        • Deploy Docker
          • Use Docker Image
          • Use Docker Compose
          • Get Artifactory Parameters
        • Clone Git Repository
        • Download Artifact
          • Get Artifactory Path
        • Download Release Bundle
          • Get Artifactory Parameters for Release Bundle
        • Update Image
        • Install Debian Package
          • Get Artifactory Parameters for Debian
      • Use Update Parameters
      • On Failure & Rollback
      • Vulnerability Scans
      • Sample Use Case: Build Update Flow for Reuse
    • Deploy Software
      • Set Application & Version
      • Set Alert upon Failure
      • Set Phased Rollout
      • View Deployment Progress
        • Detailed Deployment Information
        • Abort a Deployment
      • Deploy in Groups
      • Sample Use Case: Deploy Docker Images to Devices
  • Tools
    • Remote Tools
      • Use Terminal
        • Terminal Troubleshooting
      • Open Port Tunnel Session
        • Access with VNC
        • Connect with SSH
        • Access Device Web Applications
      • Run Commands Remotely
        • Run Command as Non-Root User
      • Get Device Files (Fetch Files)
    • Alerts
      • Create Channel
      • Set Webhook
    • Monitor
      • Resource Monitor
      • Process Monitor
    • Connect Server Status
  • Releases
    • What's New?
    • Connect Agent Release Notes
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On this page
  • Design
  • Connect Agent Functions & Behavior
  • Specifications and Compatibility
  • Hardware
  • Operating System
  • Required Software
  • Required Permission for Agent
  • Agent Updates
  • Device Authentication
  • What’s Next?

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  1. OVERVIEW
  2. JFrog Connect Overview
  3. Architecture Overview

Connect Agent

JFrog Connect Agent is a lightweight software service that keeps your devices connected 24/7. When you register a device with JFrog Connect, the Connect Agent is installed on the device.

PreviousArchitecture OverviewNextConnect & JFrog Platform

Last updated 22 days ago

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Design

Connect Agent was designed with a few key points in mind to give you a simple and secure experience:

  • Lightweight - Consumes about 4 MB of disk space and about 11 MB of RAM.

  • Always on - The Connect Agent service is always running in the background. Even when there is no Internet connection, the agent will always keep the device accessible remotely when the connection returns.

  • Zero dependencies - Designed to run like an add-on, i.e., no additional installations are required to make it work.

  • Smart network behavior - Only communicates as a client, using port 443 with the Connect Server. No open network ports or listening servers are required on the edge and IoT devices.

Connect Agent Functions & Behavior

Connect Agent sends regular heartbeat messages to the Server. The messages include updates on your edge device’s up/down status, CPU, RAM, and disk usage. The heartbeat messages also provide updates on any of the processes and custom data being monitored.

In addition, the Connect Agent:

  • Facilitates the software updates to the edge device according to the blocks defined in the Update Flows

  • Enables remote access and control commands to the device

  • Enables creation and configuration of firewall rules on the devices

  • Retrieves logs and any kind of data file stored on the device according to your request

The Connect Agent is project linked. This allows agents in different projects to have different configuration settings such as communication cycle and user access parameters. If you have multiple projects configured and you register a new agent, you will need to ensure that you associate the new agent with the intended project.

An agent acts as standalone software with regard to installation. If you re-install the same version of an agent on the same device, the new agent will have a different token and will be counted as a new device. In addition, the old device is not removed from the database in the Connect Server and appears in offline state in the web UI until you delete it.

Specifications and Compatibility

Connect Agent is designed for easy installation and compatibility on any Linux-based operating system and is suitable for use on a variety of hardware architectures including SOC, SOM, and SBC, as long as the OS is Linux-based.

Hardware

The Connect Agent is compatible with popular hardware platforms such as NVIDIA Jetson, BeagleBone, and Raspberry Pi, and will work with any hardware platform meeting the following specifications:

Minimum total device resources:

  • 30MB RAM

  • 30MB Disk space

Core Architecture:

  • ARM:

    • ARMv5, ARMv6, ARMv7, ARMv8 - 32 and 64 bit

    • Cortex-A required for all ARM processors

  • Intel: x86 and x86_64

Operating System

You can use a wide range of operating systems, including Windows and the following Unix-based OSs:

  • Yocto-based build

  • Ubuntu

  • Debian

  • Centos

  • Raspberry Pi OS

  • Arch

  • Custom Debian build

Required Software

  • Systemd/SysV (init.d) service manager must be installed on the client device.

  • If the ssh-client is not already on the device, the client will be installed by default when you download Connect Agent to the device.

Required Permission for Agent

The device must be configured to allow Write permission to the Connect Agent.

Agent Updates

From time to time a new version of the Connect Agent will become available. The Connect Agent updates ensure that IoT devices are running the latest software and are able to communicate with the JFrog platform effectively.

The new agent version is not deployed automatically. When a new version is available, you can initiate an OTA update process at your convenience to update the agents on your connected devices. The update process takes place in the following stages:

  1. Agent Version Management: Connect keeps track of the versions of the agents running on each device and compares them to the latest version available.

  2. Notification: When a new version of the agent is available, a notification appears in the web UI and a release note will be available.

  3. Initiation: In the Connect Agent Update page, you initiate the OTA update process.

  4. Update Verification: Connect verifies that the update has been applied successfully to each device. If a device fails to update, Connect can retry the update or alert the appropriate personnel.

  5. Post-update Verification: After the update process completes, Connect can verify that the new version of the agent is running (online/offline) on each device.

Device Authentication

JFrog Connect Agent versions 7.0 and higher employ a trust mechanism that uses JSON Web Tokens (JWT) for secure interactions between the agent and a Connect project.

What’s Next?

Learn more about JFrog Connect’s .

JFrog Connect
network and security