OPNMGR updates and the agent lifecycle
Two rollouts run through OPNMGR (OPNManager): OPNsense firmware updates as ringed campaigns that are safe for CARP pairs, and the OPNMGR agent itself, which is built, signed, held and promoted by name. This course goes deep on both, and on how agents stay alive (supervision, the watchdog, the command queue) and what to check when one doesn't.
- Level
- Intermediate
- Length
- About 45 minutes
- Contents
- 3 lessons · 1 video · final exam
- Status
- Published · updated 2 Oct 2026
- OPNMGR · open source
Skills you'll practise
- Prepare a fleet for an update campaign: choose canary firewalls, confirm CARP pairing and read why a dispatch is held
- Explain the agent rollout stages (held, pilot, fleet) and promote a published agent version deliberately
- Describe how agent updates are verified on the firewall and what happens when verification fails
- Diagnose a stopped agent using its logs, supervision, the watchdog's rules and the command queue
- Tell an OPNsense update campaign apart from an agent package rollout
Course outline
- 1.OPNMGR updates and the agent lifecycleVideo · 2 min
- 2.OPNsense update campaigns in practiceLesson · 15 min
- 3.Agent packages: build, sign, hold, promoteLesson · 15 min
- 4.Keeping agents aliveLesson · 15 min
- 5.OPNMGR updates and the agent lifecycle: knowledge checkKnowledge check · 16 questions
- 6.Final exam8 questions · passing it completes the course, so people who already know the material can test out
Sources it draws on
The lessons and questions are written from these references, so learners can go back to the original.
- OPNMGR README: compatibility and feature availability, known limitations, upgrading
- OPNMGR CHANGELOG.md: release-by-release history (3.12.0 to 3.77.2)
- OPNMGR docs/UPGRADING.md: upgrading the server and the agent fleet
- OPNMGR SECURITY.md: agent authentication, secrets at rest, remote commands, roles, sessions, audit log
- OPNMGR plugin/os-opnmanager-agent/README.md: agent plugin, CLI commands and log file
- OPNMGR docs/SCREENSHOTS.md: captioned tour of every page
- OPNsense documentation: Configure CARP (high availability, master and backup)
- OPNsense documentation: Updates
See it with your own jobs and topics
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