August 2022 Summaries

Orbit, now in its first official release, serves as an agent manager designed to simplify the installation and updating of Fleet's agents, such as osquery and Fleet Desktop, on user hosts. It automates the management of agents by regularly checking the Fleet instance for updates and adjusting the agents to match the desired configuration, eliminating the need for manual interventions. Installation of Orbit is facilitated by a generated installer package, which can be deployed individually or at scale using tools like Munki. Currently, Orbit ensures the installation and automatic upgrading of agents to the latest Fleet-compatible versions, with an option to pin agents to specific versions if necessary. Looking ahead, Orbit aims to expand its functionality by integrating new features, including updating osquery’s command line flags and managing extensions, to become a comprehensive solution for agent management within the Fleet ecosystem. Users are encouraged to contribute suggestions for its development via the osquery Slack channel or Github.

Fleet Desktop has officially exited its beta phase and is now available for production deployment on macOS, Windows, and Linux, providing end users with visibility into their device's security posture. By allowing users to identify and resolve policy compliance issues independently, Fleet Desktop reduces the demand on IT and security teams while also increasing transparency between users and IT regarding data monitoring capabilities. The application includes a self-remediation feature that alerts users when their device falls out of compliance and guides them through resolving these issues, and a scope transparency feature that clarifies what can and cannot be monitored on their devices, alleviating privacy concerns. Deployment requires generating a fleetd agent for installation on devices, with version management handled by the Orbit agent manager, ensuring ongoing updates and maintenance.