Configuring Restarts

Tasks will only run on the assigned devices when those devices are online and communicating with the console. If a one-time task is skipped on a device due to the device being unreachable, it will run when the device becomes reachable again. In case of multiple missed instances of a recurring task, the task will run only once and then continue on the schedule. In case of one-time/recurring restart or shutdown tasks, however, the missed ones will not be run again.

 

Via the Policies page of your console, you can control whether devices will automatically restart when a service requires such action (e.g. patches and Antivirus updates often require a system reboot after being installed). You can also set up periodic restarts, which are not dependent on any service and instead occur according to the frequency you define.

To access these settings:

1. Open the Policies page
2. Click the desired policy to open its Detail drawer
3. Select the Settings tab, then General
4. Expand the Restart Options section

Required Restarts

For required restarts, you can choose from the following options:

• Restart at a specific time: Users will be notified 60 minutes before the restart, which will happen on the day of the week and time of day you specify here. You can choose whether users can postpone or cancel the restart.
  • The Same day option refers to the day a service requiring a restart is deployed.
  • The configuration uses the devices' local time.

• Restart after logging out: Users will be notified about the upcoming restart, which will happen once they log out. If no user is logged in, the restart will happen immediately.
• Restart immediately: Users will be notified 60 minutes before the restart. You can choose whether users can postpone or cancel the restart.
• Do not restart: Automatic restarts will be disabled. Devices will need to be restarted manually when needed, either from the console (see Shutting Down and Restarting Devices) or locally.
  • Choosing this option could affect future patch or update deployments if there is a restart pending on Windows OS.
  • For policies created with the Avast recommended policy for Servers template in the Hub, the default restart option is set to Do not restart.

Periodic Restarts

If you want to restart your devices periodically, choose one of the available frequency options:

• Daily (then specify time of the day)
• Weekly (then specify day and time of the week)
• Monthly (then specify day and time of the month)
  • For monthly scans, please ensure the day of the month you’ve chosen occurs every month. For example, do not choose the 31st day of the month unless you specifically want to skip scanning on months shorter than 31 days.

You can allow your users to postpone or cancel the restart by ticking the respective checkboxes under Restart prompt.

If you don't want to set up any periodic restarts, simply leave the frequency set to Never.