In some instances, you might notice that a protected system is not functioning as expected. For example, a protected system might be backing up the wrong volume, or you might notice performance issues. You can use the agent’s configuration file (aristos.cfg) to adjust various settings.

The agent configuration file lists key parameters that control agent behavior. In most instances, you will not need to access or modify this file. However, you may need to edit this file for troubleshooting purposes, performance improvement, or to turn on advanced features.

For example, you can manage the following parameters:

1. The BACKUP_VOLUMES parameter is an inclusion list, specifying which NTFS volumes are to be backed up by the agent. By default, the value is blank, prompting a backup of all detected NTFS volumes. To define an inclusion list, enter each volume, separated by a comma.
2. The PORT parameter lists the port open between the protected system and the appliance.
3. The SERVER parameter lists the IP address of the appliance.
4. The USE_FASTDELTA parameter is used to turn on or off the Fast Delta feature. Fast Delta is a block-change scanning tool that improves the backup performance of large database applications, such as Microsoft Exchange or Microsoft SQL. By default, this parameter is set to false. This parameter should only be set to true when supporting Microsoft Exchange or Microsoft SQL servers.
5. The NUM_WORKERS parameter is not listed in the default configuration file, but it can be inserted to adjust the number of worker threads utilized by the agent. Lowering this value will reduce the speed of backups. If you are noticing CPU performance issues on a local machine with an installed agent, you can modify this value to lower CPU usage. By default, the agent uses four worker threads per processor core.

To modify the agent configuration file:

1. From the Services app on the target machine, stop and disable the Agent Service.

2. Using Windows Explorer, navigate to the Agent installation folder.

3. Open the aristos.cfg file with administrative privileges.

4. Modify the appropriate parameters.

5. Save the file when you are finished.

6. Enable and restart the Agent Service

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