You have an ERA 6.x environment running with ERA Proxy (on a Virtual Appliance) component and you want upgrade to ESET Security Management Center (ESMC) 7, which does not support ERA Proxy. You can replace your appliance with a new one and enable Apache HTTP Proxy to substitute the role of ERA Proxy in the infrastructure. The transition must follow strict rules described in this article.

Are you using ERA Proxy on a Windows host?

ESMC 7 introduces a new generation of the Agent - Server communication protocol. The new replication protocol uses TLS and HTTP2 protocols so it can go through Proxy servers. There are also new self-recovery features and a persistent connection which improves overall communication performance.

New communication protocol does not support connection using ERA 6.x Proxy.

ESET provides pre-configured Apache installer. The user can also use other proxy solution (besides Apache HTTP Proxy) which fulfills the following conditions:

•can forward SSL communication

•supports HTTP CONNECT

• can work without authentication (ESET Management Agent does not support authentication with proxy)
 

However, the configuration of other proxy solutions is not provided or supported by ESET. Other than Apache proxy solutions may not support caching of the ESET Dynamic Threat Defense communication.

Connection limitations

• ERA 6.x Agents can connect to ESMC 7 Server.
• ESET Management (EM) Agent (version 7) cannot connect to ESMC Server via ERA Proxy.
• EM Agent (version 7) cannot connect to ERA 6.x Server.
• Do not upgrade ERA 6.x Agents before a proper proxy solution is set up.
• It is not possible to run the Agent deployment task on clients which ESMC server can reach only via Apache HTTP Proxy.
   

I. Prepare your ERA 6.x environment

1. Back up your ERA Server (backup database, CA and certificates).
    
2. Upgrade your ERA Server to ESMC 7 via Remote Administrator Components Upgrade Task. (Server, Agent and Web Console are upgraded). When assigning a target for the task, select only the machine with the ERA Server.
    
3. Wait approximately 24 hours to make sure that the upgraded environment runs smoothly.

Figure 1-1

II. Deploy the new Virtual Appliance and connect it to your ESMC Server

1. Download ESET Security Management Center 7 Virtual Appliance from the ESET download page.
    
2. Deploy the ESMC 7 VA on your hypervisor.
    
3. Configure the new Appliance as ESMC Server.
   • Keep the password you set-up here safe. You will need it later.
   • Enable HTTP Forward Proxy during the configuration.
      
4. When the Appliance is deployed and configured, you have to reinstall EM Agent on this Appliance to connect to you main ESMC Server. Open the virtual machine with your ESMC VA > Enter Management mode > enter your password > Login > Exit to terminal.
    
5. The Agent installer is located: /root/eset_installers/Agent-Linux-x86_64.sh
   Reinstall the Agent to connect to your main ESMC Server. We recomment to use the server-assisted installation. E.g.:
   

   /root/eset_installers/Agent-Linux-x86_64.sh \
--skip-license \
--hostname=10.1.179.36 \
--port=2222 \
--webconsole-user=Administrator \
--webconsole-password=aB45$45c \
--webconsole-port=2223

   Replace the hostname and password values with actual values from your main ESMC Server. Read more Agent installation.

Figure 2-1

6. Optional: You can stop certain services on the new Appliance to save resources.
   Run following commands (System V init or Systemd command, according to what you use) in the Terminal.
   
   

   System V init	Systemd
   service eraserver stop	systemctl stop eraserver
   service mysql stop	systemctl stop mysql
   service tomcat stop	systemctl stop tomcat

   To prevent ESMC and MySQL services to start after reboot, disable them:

   Systemd
   systemctl disable eraserver
   systemctl disable mysql
   systemctl disable tomcat

7. Modify the Apache HTTP Proxy configuration file /etc/httpd/conf.d/proxy.conf. You can use nano editor in the Terminal or access the file using the Webmin. For nano use command:
   
   nano /etc/httpd/conf.d/proxy.conf
   1. If you have changed the default port (2222) for the Agent, find the line AllowCONNECT 443 2222 and change 2222 to the number of your port.
       
   2. Add the hostname or IP address of your ESMC Server to the configuration file. The hostname you add must be exactly the same as Agents use to connect the ESMC Server. You can add IP address, hostname or both. How to write a ProxyMatch expression?
       
   3. Close the file (Ctrl + x) and save the changes.
       
   4. Restart the Apache HTTP Proxy service.
      
      systemctl restart httpd
8. Check on your main ESMC Web Console, if the new Agent is connecting. You can use it for the future maintenance of the proxy machine.

III. Assign a transition policy to a test client

1. Create a new policy on your ESMC Server. In the ESMC Web Console click Policies > Create New.
    
2. In the Basic section, type a Name for the policy.
    
3. In the Settings section select ESET Management Agent.
    
4. Navigate to Connection > Server connects to > Edit server list.
    
5. Click Add and enter the address (the address must match what Agent use in the configuration) of your ESMC Server in the Host field. Click OK.
    
6. Change the operator from Replace to Append.
    

Figure 3-1

6. Click Save.
    
7. Navigate to Advanced Settings > HTTP Proxy and set Proxy Configuration to Different Proxy Per Service.
    
8. Click Replication > Edit and enable the Use proxy server option.
    
9. Type the IP address of the proxy machine to the Host field.
    
10. Leave the default value 3128 for the Port.
     
11. Click Save and Finish to save the policy. Do not assign it to any computer yet.

13. Choose one computer which is connected via ERA Proxy and assign the new policy to that test client.
     
14. Wait a few minutes until the policy is applied and check if the computer is still connecting the ESMC Server.
     

IV. Upgrade ERA Agents on client computers

1. Run the Security management Center Components Upgrade Task to upgrade the selected test client computer.
    
2. After the client is upgraded to version 7, check if it is still connecting to the ESMC Server. If the computer is successfully connecting after the upgrade, continue to upgrade other computers.

3. Apply the policy (from the part III.) to the other computers connected via the ERA Proxy.

Figure 4-1

4. Wait a few minutes until the policy is applied and check if clients are still connecting to the ESMC Server.
    
5. Run the Security management Center Components Upgrade Task on these clients.
    
6. If all clients are connecting to the ESMC Server after the upgrade is finished, you can proceed with next steps.
    

V. Remove ERA Proxy address from the list of servers

1. Modify the policy (from the part III.): navigate to Policies > click the gear icon next to the policy you want to modify and click Edit.
    
2. In the Settings > Connection change the operator from Append to Replace.
    

Figure 5-1

1. Click Save.
    
2. Click Finish to save and apply the policy.
    
3. You can remove the ERA Proxy Virtual Appliance (remove the virtual machine from hypervisor).

Figure 5-2