Before you create distributed repositories, it is important to understand which type of repository to use in your managed environment.
The ePO - On-prem server always acts as the Main Repository. It keeps the primary copy of all content needed by your agents. The server replicates content to each of the repositories distributed throughout your environment. As a result, your agents can retrieve updated content from an alternate and closer source.
Note
Your ePO - On-prem server does not require configuration to make it the Main Repository. It is the Main Repository by default.
Distributed repository types include:
FTP repositories
Note
For FTP repositories, ePO - On-prem supports Standard FTP in Active Mode only.
HTTP repositories
UNC share repositories
SuperAgents
Consider the following when planning your distributed repositories:
The ePO - On-prem server requires that you use certain protocols for the repositories, but any server vendor can provide those protocols. For example, if you use an HTTP repository, you can use either Microsoft Internet Information Services (IIS) or Apache server (Apache is the faster option).
There is no operating system requirement for the systems that host your repository. As long as your ePO - On-prem server can access the folders you specify to copy its content to, and as long as the agents can connect to these folders to download their updates, everything works as expected.
Your agent updates and ePO - On-prem replication tasks are only as good as your repositories. If you are already using one of these repositories and your environment works well, do not change the configuration.
Note
If you are starting with a new installation with no repositories, use a SuperAgent because they are easy to configure and are reliable.
Unmanaged repositories
If you are unable to use managed systems as distributed repositories, you can create and maintain unmanaged distributed repositories but a local administrator must keep the distributed files up-to-date manually.
Once the distributed repository is created, use ePO - On-prem to configure managed systems of a specific System Tree group to update from it.