Agent Configuration

The PatchCTL agent is configured via a JSON file at /etc/patchctl/config.json.

Configuration File

Location

/etc/patchctl/config.json

Default Configuration

{
  "license_key": "YOUR_LICENSE_KEY",
  "api_endpoint": "https://api.patchctl.com",
  "heartbeat_interval": 300,
  "log_level": "info"
}

Configuration Options

Option	Type	Default	Description
license_key	string	required	Your PatchCTL license key
api_endpoint	string	https://api.patchctl.com	API endpoint URL
heartbeat_interval	int	300	Seconds between heartbeats
log_level	string	info	Logging verbosity
machine_id	string	auto-generated	Unique server identifier

license_key

Your organization's license key, obtained from the dashboard under Settings → Account.

{
  "license_key": "pk_live_abc123..."
}

api_endpoint

The PatchCTL API URL. Only change this if directed by support or for testing.

{
  "api_endpoint": "https://api.patchctl.com"
}

heartbeat_interval

How often (in seconds) the agent checks in with the API. Default is 300 seconds (5 minutes).

{
  "heartbeat_interval": 300
}

Don't Set Too Low

Setting this below 60 seconds may cause rate limiting. The default of 300 seconds is recommended.

log_level

Controls logging verbosity:

Level	Description
debug	Verbose debugging information
info	Normal operational messages
warn	Warning conditions
error	Error conditions only

{
  "log_level": "info"
}

machine_id

A unique identifier for this server. Auto-generated on first run if not specified.

{
  "machine_id": "550e8400-e29b-41d4-a716-446655440000"
}

Don't Change

Changing the machine_id will cause the server to appear as a new server in the dashboard.

Environment Variables

Some settings can also be configured via environment variables:

Variable	Config Equivalent
PATCHCTL_LICENSE_KEY	license_key
PATCHCTL_API_ENDPOINT	api_endpoint
PATCHCTL_LOG_LEVEL	log_level
HTTPS_PROXY	Proxy for API requests

Environment variables take precedence over the config file.

Proxy Configuration

Via Environment

Add to the systemd service file:

[Service]
Environment="HTTPS_PROXY=http://proxy.example.com:8080"
Environment="NO_PROXY=localhost,127.0.0.1"

Then reload:

sudo systemctl daemon-reload
sudo systemctl restart patchctl

Via System Environment

Add to /etc/environment:

HTTPS_PROXY=http://proxy.example.com:8080
NO_PROXY=localhost,127.0.0.1

Applying Configuration Changes

After modifying the configuration:

# Restart the agent to apply changes
sudo systemctl restart patchctl

# Verify the agent started successfully
sudo systemctl status patchctl

Viewing Current Configuration

# View config file
sudo cat /etc/patchctl/config.json

# View effective configuration (from logs)
sudo journalctl -u patchctl | grep "Configuration loaded"

Configuration Security

The config file contains your license key and should be protected:

# Set proper permissions
sudo chmod 600 /etc/patchctl/config.json
sudo chown root:root /etc/patchctl/config.json

# Verify permissions
ls -la /etc/patchctl/config.json
# Should show: -rw------- 1 root root