The Atera Agent is the backbone of Atera’s monitoring system. Installed on every device you want to monitor, it continuously tracks performance, availability, and health — securely sending data to the cloud for real-time insights. With low system impact, built-in auto-updates, and smart reporting intervals based on big-data analysis, the Atera Agent ensures you’re alerted only when it matters. 

Note: Trial accounts are limited to 300 devices.

Note: Atera's Mac agent is available for all IT Department plans.

Note: Atera's Mac agent is available for the MSP Growth, Power, and Superpower plans.

Got a Windows device? See how to install an agent on a Windows device

Install the Atera agent

Note:

• Full admin permissions are required to install the Atera agent.
• If you’re using macOS with an M1 processor, you need to install Rosetta (a dynamic binary translator developed by Apple) before installing any agents. 
  Type the following command in Terminal: sudo softwareupdate --install-rosetta
  For more information regarding Rosetta, see these articles:
  If you need to install Rosetta on your Mac
  About the Rosetta Translation Environment

If you experience any trouble with agent installation or stability, see Troubleshoot the Atera Agent (Mac)

To download and install the agent:

1. Click Install agent in the menu bar at the top of the screen.

Note: You can also download and install the Atera agent directly from the site's page to automatically assign the agent to the particular site. 

Note: You can also download and install the Atera agent directly from the customer's page to automatically assign the agent to the customer. 

The Download agent installer window appears.

2. Select Mac OS. Then click Next.

3. Assign the agent to a site. Then click Next.

3. Assign the agent to a customer. Then click Next.

Note: You can download the agent via Terminal (recommended) or download the agent installer.

Install the agent via Terminal

Most users download and install the agent via Terminal with a simple copy/paste of the command provided.

Copy and paste the command in Terminal, then press Enter.
Note: You may be prompted to enter your password, depending on your Mac settings. This is your computer password and not your Atera password. Please note that when entering your password, keystrokes may not appear. 

Download the Agent Installer

To install and assign an agent manually:

1. Click Download to download the agent installer.

2. When the download is complete, open the agent installer package. 

Note: If prompted with the message above, do the following:

• Right-click the file > Select Open With > Installer.

• When the message appears again, select Open.

Follow the setup assistant's prompts.

3. Enter your Atera account username.
Note: To automatically assign the agent (device) to a specific site/customer, check the box next to Check to edit customer (Optional), add your account password, and select the site/customer name from the dropdown menu. If left unchecked, the device will be categorized as 'Unassigned' (you can manually assign it later).

4. Click Save.

You're all set! Within a couple of minutes, the agent will appear in the Mac Finder and Atera the platform.