If there is a need to upgrade a device agent, doing it remotely is the norm with an MDM solution. In the unfortunate case that remote upgrade is not possible for a particular combination of agent/firmare version,  recalling the device becomes the last resort.

In general, devices running in kiosk mode can have the device agent upgraded remotely just the same as other non-kiosk mode cases.  No unlocking is needed during the upgrade.   However, it is always best practice to perform a pilot run with a test device (of EACH device model/firmware/old-device-agent combination) on hand before proceeding with the actual bulk upgrade.

For most device platforms supported by MobiControl, there is an "agent upgrade" action icon in the device view to initiate such remote upgrade with the DEFAULT device agent installed on your server for the corresponding device brand. If this simplest one-click approach doesn't work for some older device, some possible workarounds will be to transfer the device agent file to the device (e.g with file sync rule or package deployment rule) followed by appropriate script to install the file. (If you have two or more device models of the same brand and  they need different device agent versions for best performance/stability, then you have to make a choice which device agent version should be the DEFAULT device agent for that brand on your server.  The models that need device agent different from this default normally need to be upgraded with workaround different from the above-mentioned one-click upgrade step).

There is NO need to upgrade for every new device agent released.  Upgrade only if

1. the new device agent fix bug(s) on feature that you ARE USING on YOUR devices

OR

2. the new device agent includes new (and tested by YOU as functional and stable) feature(s) that you want to be used on YOUR devices after a successful upgrade.

If possible, having a spare device on hand for each brand/model deployed remotely would be great, as a test on the remote upgrade flow can be done first.  If something goes wrong, debugging and more tests on possible upgrade workaound can be done with such device next to you. In addition, you can verify whether all used MDM policies remain functional with the new device agent before deciding whether to go ahead with the bulk device-agent upgrade for all the other remote devices.

Hi Ray,

Great post, I enjoyed reading it. To add to it though, for AE the process is slightly different. It's best practice to utilize an Application Catalog and from there you can upgrade agents for AE. It's not recommended to use File Sync to upgrade an AE device's agent version.

Ray let us know if there's anything else you would like to understand about upgrading MobiControl agents. If you consider everything is covered, please mark the appropriate post as the solution.

Useful References:

https://www.soti.net/mc/help/v15.2/en/setup/upgrading/agent_upgrade.html

https://www.soti.net/mc/help/v15.2/en/console/reference/dialogs/globalsettings/androidagents.html

https://www.soti.net/mc/help/v15.2/en/console/devices/managing/enrollment/androidplus/update_device_agent_android.html

Regards,