Agent pool selection

  • Last update on September 26th, 2024

Configuration Manager offers the ability to choose where your Sync operations run through the agent pool feature. While syncs typically run on Microsoft-hosted agents by default, you can select self-hosted agents for enhanced control and security compliance.

Agent pools can be selected either from:

Agent pool options

Agent Pool options include: 

  • Azure Pipelines: this option represents the default Microsoft-hosted Azure agent pool. Selecting this option will ensure the tenant Sync runs on the default Microsoft-hosted agent. 
  • Default: this option is an empty agent pool provided by Microsoft as a space to create your own self-hosted agents. By default, this pool has no agents and is not in use. 
  • Custom self-hosted agent pools: created and managed by the client, these provide control over location, IP address, and security settings, but require setup in Azure DevOps.

Benefit of using custom agent pools

The primary benefit of using different Agent Pools lies in their flexibility. Default Microsoft-hosted agents suffice for most users, but self-hosted agents allow for compliance with specific security policies, such as requiring recognized devices or IP addresses. Additionally, self-hosted agents provide greater control over the sync environment.

 
 

Select the agent pool

You can change the agent pool in Install or in Sync; alternatively, you can also set it manually.

Select agent pool in Install

You can also select the preferred agent pool during the installation process of a new tenant or when modifying an existing one. Whether you're installing a new tenant or editing an existing one, you can access the agent pool options in the advanced settings section.

During installation

During the initial tenant installation process, you can choose your preferred agent pool from these advanced settings. 

Select agent pool from dropdown menu.

Existing tenants

Similarly, for existing tenants, you can adjust the agent pool at any time by accessing the same advanced settings area.

Select agent pool from dropdown menu.
 
 

Select agent pool in Sync

To change the agent pool in the Sync interface, you have two options. 

Individual tenants

For individual tenants, locate the tenant in the Configuration Manager interface, and click on the gear icon on the right of the tenant row.

Select the “Settings” icon.

 In the pop-up that appears, select “Agent Pool”.

Select “Agent pool”

Now, click on the Agent Pool selection dropdown, and choose the desired Agent Pool. 

Select the desired agent pool from the dropdown menu

Bulk selection

For bulk selection, select multiple tenants in the Configuration Manager interface, click on the “Manage settings” option (bottom left), 

Select desired tenants.

Choose “Agent pool” from the options: 

Select “Agent pool”

Lastly, select the desired agent pool for all selected tenants using the dropdown:

Select agent pool from dropdown menu.
 
 

Change agent pool manually via the Sync.yml file

Once the agent you created is properly configured and operational, you can choose to manually select the agent by editing the Sync.yml file in Azure DevOps. 

The pool that the Sync uses is defined by the pool: key

By default, when using Microsoft hosted agents, the pool: key is set to as follows:

pool:
  vmImage: windows-latest

Use a self-hosted agent

To use a self-hosted agent, after accessing Azure DevOps:

  1. Navigate to Tenants
  2. Select “Repos”
  3. Select “Files” under “Repos”
  4. Choose “Sync.yml” 
  5. Click on the “Edit” button to modify the file
  1. Change the pool: key to the name of your pool:

pool:
  name: self-hosted
  1. Click “Commit” to finalize changes.