Qualys Cloud Agent Application 2.0
February 14, 2025
New Features
We are introducing the following new features and enhancements with this release of the Cloud Agent user interface.
Revamped Configuration Profile Tab
With this release, we have revamped the Configuration Profile.
Integrated Application Configuration Page
We have integrated all the application configuration workflows into a single page, Application Configuration. This enhancement helps you configure scan settings for all the active Qualys applications on a single page and manage your scans more efficiently.
Enable Cloud Agent Self-Protection
We have added an option to enable self-protection while creating or editing a configuration profile. When the configuration profile is assigned to a single or multiple agents, self-protection is automatically enabled on the selected Cloud Agents. Earlier, you had to allow self-protection for each Cloud Agent separately.
To enable self-protection while creating or editing a configuration profile, in the Basic Details page, select the Enable Self Protection checkbox.
Enhanced Reduced Activity Period
With the Reduced Activity Period, which was available as Blackout Windows in the old configuration profile, you can configure a time window during which the Cloud Agent activities are temporarily restricted. You can specify whether to restrict scan-based or remediation-based activities and whether to prevent data collection, network transmission, or both.
The differences between legacy Blackout Windows and Reduced Activity Period are detailed in the Blackout Windows vs. Reduced Activity Period section.
For supported Cloud Agent versions, refer to the Features by Agent Version section in the Cloud Agent Platform Availability Matrix.
This feature helps minimize disruptions and mitigate risks by preventing potential conflicts or errors that could arise from concurrent agent activities during sensitive periods. To learn more about this feature, refer to Reduced Activity Period.
Both the old and new Cloud Agent APIs support creating new configuration profiles. However, you can create a configuration profile with the Reduced Activity Period feature enabled only with the new Cloud Agent APIs.
Legacy Blackout Window vs. Reduced Activity Period
With the Enterprise TruRisk™ Platform version 3.20.0.0, the following Cloud Agent versions will automatically switch to the new Reduced Activity Period when the configuration profile is modified:
- Cloud Agent for Windows 5.4
- Cloud Agent for Linux Intel 6.2
- Cloud Agent for Linux ARM 6.0
The following table compares the Blackout Window (in the old configuration profile) and the Reduced Activity Period (RAP).
| Feature | Legacy Blackout Windows | Reduced Activity Period (RAP) |
|---|---|---|
| Purpose | Completely blocks Agent network connectivity, preventing it from reporting data or receiving updates. | Provides granular control over Agent activities, allowing selective restrictions while keeping critical functions running. |
| Control over Activity | No flexibility—the Agent still scans and collects data, but all communication is blocked. This can result in delayed results and missed updates. | Fine-tuned control—can pause scanning, data collection, or network transmission independently based on operational needs. |
| Configuration options | - Define blackout days and times. - All network communication is blocked, leading to potential delays in security and compliance updates. |
- Define RAP days and times. - Select the activities to be restricted, that is, scanning, data collection, or network transmission, and have minimal disruption. |
| Flexibility | Less flexible—blocks all communication, preventing real-time updates, but still allows uncontrolled scanning that could impact performance. | Highly flexible—lets you control what happens during restricted periods without completely cutting off Agent functionality. |
| Post Behavior | Creates a backlog of scan data, causing a sudden surge in network traffic when the blackout window ends, which may overload systems. | Resumes smoothly, factoring in Scan Delay and Scan Randomize to avoid spikes in resource usage. |
| Agent status updates | No status received—the agent cannot download new configurations, manifest updates, or security fixes during the blackout period. | Agent Status Interval still runs, ensuring the Agent receives new settings and manifest updates even during RAP. |
Reorder Configuration Profiles
Sometimes, multiple configuration profiles are assigned to the same host. In this case, the host honors the configuration profile with the highest priority for configuration settings.
With this release, we are providing an option to reorder configuration profiles assigned to the host. This helps you select a configuration profile to assign to a target host. By default, the Initial Profile (system generated) has the highest priority.
To set the configuration profile priority, navigate to Configuration Profile > Reorder.
Enhanced Assign Cloud Agent Hosts Page
We have redesigned the Assign Hosts page as Assign Cloud Agent Hosts. This new page has the following significant changes.
| User Interface Enhancements | Description |
|---|---|
| New Select Tags page | The Select Tags page lists all the available tags for your configuration profile to assign the configuration profile to associated host assets. The Select Tags page also contains the Recent & Favorites sections to help you select the correct tags.
|
| A search bar to find agent hosts | We introduced a search bar under the Include Cloud Agent hosts section of the Assign Cloud Agent Hosts page. You can use this search bar to find a specific asset among selected host assets. This search bar is available only when you add some assets to your configuration profile.
|
| Add Agent Hosts button | We have replaced the  button in Include Cloud Agent hosts with  button. |
| Pagination for Select Assets page | We have added pagination for Include Cloud Agent hosts > Add Agent Hosts > Select Assets page. Now, 50 asset records are displayed per page. This enhancement fixes the user interface unresponsiveness issue while selecting the host assets for a configuration profile. |
New Feature - Download Cloud Agent Logs
With this release, we are adding support for downloading agent logs from the Cloud Agent user interface. This enhancement allows you to create a log download request and track the request status. To know more about creating a log download request, refer to Enterprise TruRisk™ Platform 3.19.1 Release Notes.
To track the status of your log download request, navigate to Agent Management > Agent Logs tab. The Agent Logs tab lists all the log download requests. The log download requests are archived from this page after the expiry time. By default, the expiry time is set to seven days after the request generation date. You can delete the request or download Cloud Agent logs only if the request status is Completed.
Configuration Profile Permission Controls
With this release of Cloud Agent, we have updated the permission controls for managing configuration profiles. Using these permission controls, a CA Manager user can control user activity and ensure that only authorized users can edit or delete a configuration profile.
The following table maps the Configuration Profile permissions matrix:
| Configuration Profile Permissions | Allowed Actions | Prohibited Actions |
|---|---|---|
| View | You can view the configuration profile list. | You cannot create, edit, delete, reorder, or clone a configuration profile. |
| View + Create | You can view, create, and clone a configuration profile. | You cannot edit, reorder, and delete a configuration profile. |
| View + Edit | You can edit and reorder configuration profiles. | You cannot create or delete a configuration profile. |
| View + Delete | You can view or delete an existing configuration profile. | You cannot create or edit a configuration profile. |
You must have View permission to perform edit or delete actions on a configuration profile.
Enable Qualys Anti-malware Protection
With this release, you can enable Qualys Anti-malware Protection (EPP) in the configuration profile, regardless of whether the Qualys Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR) is enabled. This enhancement provides an option to allow only EPP for your host assets.
Earlier, the option to enable EPP was available only when EDR was enabled.
Behavior Changes
There are no behavior changes for this release.
Platform Coverage Support
No new platform support is provided with this release.
Issues Addressed
No notable and important issues are fixed in this release.
Know Issues, Limitations, and Workarounds
There are no known issues for this release.