Agent Client Collector Installation

  • Release version: Australia
  • Updated March 12, 2026
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    Summary of Agent Client Collector Installation

    The Agent Client Collector (ACC) can be installed on any supported host machine and connects to a MID Server via HTTP/S, maintaining an active connection. One MID Server can manage multiple agents, while each agent connects to one MID Server at a time, switching for failover as needed. Agents select MID Servers based on a predefined list, especially when their IP address changes.

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    Ensure your server’s operating system and version are supported prior to installation. The maximum number of agents per MID Server is configurable, with a default limit of 4,000 agents. For example, a MID Server configured with 1 GiB heap supports about 700 agents, whereas an 8 GiB heap supports up to 8,000 agents. Scaling out with multiple MID Servers allows handling tens of thousands of agents concurrently.

    Key Features

    • Connection and Failover: Agents connect to a single MID Server but can switch to another for failover protection.
    • Scalability: Configurable maximum agents per MID Server and support for scaling out with multiple MID Servers.
    • Agent Software: Comes with Ruby version 3.3.2 and installs a local user account (servicenow) with basic permissions.
    • Permissions: Specific OS-level permissions are required for features like inventory, serial number retrieval, process debugging, and package upgrades. For example, Linux requires sudo for certain commands, and Windows uses LOCAL SYSTEM for some operations.
    • Security: Supports mutual TLS (mTLS) for secure authentication between MID Web Server and agents.
    • Golden Image Mode: Enables cloning of additional agent instances with modular configuration per OS.
    • Domain Separation: Agent domain aligns with the MID Server domain to maintain separation and security boundaries.
    • Air-Gapped Environments: Special configurations are available to support installations without internet connectivity.

    Practical Considerations for ServiceNow Customers

    • Before reinstalling an agent on a host, delete the existing agent record in the ServiceNow instance to allow re-registration, especially when using ITOM Cloud Services.
    • Agents that remain disconnected or down are automatically deleted after 30 days by default; this retention period can be adjusted through the Autoflush settings.
    • Use the ServiceNow Store Page to verify supported operating systems and versions for installation.
    • Follow OS-specific installation guides for Linux, macOS, and Windows to ensure proper setup and configuration.
    • Enable Websocket endpoint extensions by ensuring the user domain is the lowest (leaf) domain level.

    Expected Outcomes

    By correctly installing and configuring the Agent Client Collector, customers can efficiently collect detailed endpoint data across their infrastructure with secure, scalable, and manageable connections to MID Servers. This setup facilitates robust inventory, process monitoring, and system management tasks, integrated within the ServiceNow platform.

    You can install the Agent Client Collector on any supported host machine. The Agent Client Collector connects to a MID Server using the HTTP/S protocol, and the connection remains active after being established. One MID Server may handle several agents simultaneously, while a single agent works with one MID Server at a time and switches to a different MID Server when necessary to provide failover protection.

    When an agent's IP address changes, it selects a MID Server to connect to based on the agent's MID Server list.

    Verify that your server's OS and version is supported. For a list of supported OS's and versions, see ServiceNow Store Page

    The maximum number of agents that can be connected to a single MID Server is configurable in the sn_agent.mid.max_allowed_agents MID Server property. The default value is 4,000.

    For the list of required OS versions, see For a list of supported OS's and versions ServiceNow Store Page

    For ACC-VC, a default 1 GiB MID Server can support 700 agents concurrently. An 8 GiB configuration for a MID Server can support 8,000 agents concurrently. You can also scale out. For example, 5 MID Servers with 8 GiB of heap size can handle up to 40k agents.

    Agent Client Collector is installed with ruby version 3.3.2.

    The default user account is a local user called servicenow. This user has basic level permissions.

    The following table describes the permissions required to work with various features associated with the agent, per OS. An asterisk (*) indicates that no special permissions are required.
    Table 1. Agent on Endpoints Deployment
    Feature Windows Linux macOS
    Basic inventory * * *
    Serial number(s) *

    sudo

    dmidecode

    		 *
    Running processes Debug programs * *
    Mapping TCP connections to running processes * sudo ss *
    Storage devices LOCAL SYSTEM * *
    Logged-in users LOCAL SYSTEM * *
    Package self-upgrade LOCAL SYSTEM sudo rpm/dpkg Not supported

    If you completely reinstall the agent on a single host server, and you're using ITOM Cloud Services, you must delete the agent record to allow for re-registration. Delete the original agent on the Agent Client Collectors page (All > Agent Client Collector > Agents).

    Agents whose Status = Down or Disconnected which haven't been deleted are deleted automatically after 30 days. You can modify this setting on the Autoflush form page (see Autoflush form).

    Use the Manual Transport Layer Security protocol (mTLS) for secure authentication between your MID Web Server and the agent (the client). For details, see Connect the agent to the MID Server using mTLS.

    For details on using Agent Client Collector in an air-gapped environment, see the Agent Client Collector Framework Air Gapped Configuration Item Management Solution [KB1585753] article in the Now Support Knowledge Base.

    Golden image mode enables cloning of additional instances. Setting golden image mode is described in the installation procedure prerequisites for each OS. For information on the structure and modularity of the golden image plugin by operating system, see Golden image structure and modularity.

    Agent Client Collector supports domain separation. The domain of the agent and the CIs it creates is determined by the domain of the MID Server that the agent is connected to. The user's domain must be the lowest domain level (known as a leaf domain) to enable creating a Websocket endpoint extension for the MID Server.