Some Console features and services are available if you don't deploy a Console agent:

In standard mode, the Console requires a Console agent for:

¹ You can access these services without a Console agent, but a Console agent is required to initiate actions.

You always need a Console agent to use the Console in restricted mode.

Console agents are a fundamental part of the NetApp Console. It's your responsibility (the customer) to ensure that relevant agents are up, operational, and accessible at all times. The Console can handle short agent outages, but you must fix infrastructure failures quickly.

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You can install agents in the following locations:

The agent uses TLS 1.3 for all communication to AWS, Azure, and Google Cloud.

To use the Console in restricted mode, you install a Console agent and access the Console interface that's running locally on the Console agent.

Learn about NetApp Console deployment modes.

You can install a Console agent directly from the Console, from your cloud provider's marketplace, or by manually installing the software on your own Linux host or in your VCenter environment. How you get started depends on whether you're using the Console in standard mode or restricted mode.

You need specific permissions to create the Console agent directly from the NetApp Console and another set of permissions for the Console agent instance itself. If you create the Console agent in AWS or Azure directly from the Console, then the Console creates the Console agent with the permissions that it needs.

When using the Console in standard mode, how you provide permissions depends on how you plan to create the Console agent.

To learn how to set up permissions, refer to the following:

To view the exact permissions that the Console agent needs for day-to-day operations, refer to the following pages:

It's your responsibility to update the Console agent policies as new permissions are added in subsequent releases. The release notes list new permissions.

NetApp updates agent software monthly to add features and improve stability. Some Console features, like Cloud Volumes ONTAP and on-premises ONTAP cluster management, rely on the Console agent version and settings.

In standard or restricted mode, the Console agent updates automatically if it has internet access.

Maintaining the operating system on the Console agent host is your (customer's) responsibility. For example, you (customer) should apply security updates to the operating system on the Console agent host by following your company's standard procedures for operating system distribution.

Note that you (customer) don't need to stop any services on the Console gent host when applying minor security updates.

If you (customer) need to stop and then start the Console agent VM, you should do so from your cloud provider's console or by using the standard procedures for on-premises management.

The Console agent must be operational at all times.

An agent can manage multiple systems and support data services in the Console. You can use a single agent to manage multiple systems based on deployment size and the data services you use.

For large-scale deployments, work with your NetApp representative to size your environment. Contact NetApp Support if you experience issues.

Here are a few examples of agent deployments: