cyber-101

What are the Zscaler Client Connector update intervals?

Defining agility of change updates on ZCC.

20 Sep 2025 — 1 min read

💡

This is part of an on-going series in cybersecurity foundations. Check the cyber 101 article tag index from time to time for more content.

Today's topic is a quick one: let's unpack how often the Zscaler Client Connector is checking for updates/changes.

There are 5 major refresh intervals and "triggers" for client connector:

Trigger: Network Change - If a network connection changes, it stands to reason that the client connector may need to operate differently. Perhaps the end user was connected in their corporate office but now is working at home. Perhaps something happened on the local network (power outage, switch failure, etc) and now traffic is routing differently. Any number of random things could happen to prompt a network disconnect and if/when that DOES happen, the Zscaler client refreshes the essential components (e.g. App Profile, Forwarding Profile, PAC Files, Policy Updates, etc).
Periodic PAC File Download - Every 15 minutes, the Zscaler Client Connector will check to see if a new PAC file is available to use.
Policy Updates - Every 80 minutes the Client Connector will check for new policy updates (e.g. app profiles and forwarding profiles).
Trigger: PAC file URL change - When the client connector notices that the PAC file URL has been modified on the local system, it'll place the system in queue to update the PAC file during Policy Updates (every 80 minutes).
Software agent update check - Every 2 hours, the client connector will check to see if administrators have authorized a new software update to be performed.

For more information on this topic, check the following documentation:

Read more