Hi Mike, Sorry you are still having trouble. Here are some clarifications:
/conf is a directory, not a file. When you install HQ 4.0, here is where your properties file is.
agent-4.x.n/conf/agent.properties. Here is an excerpt from the 4.0 documentation that may help:
Supported Locations for agent.properties
When you install the HQ 4.0 Agent, agent.properties is placed in AgentHome/conf.
On Unix-based platforms, the agent honors an external (from the agent installation) location for the properties file: an .hq directory under the home directory of the user under which the agent runs.
Storing agent.properties external to the agent installation directory is useful, because some upgrade scenarios will overwrite the /conf directory. Specifically, upgrading an agent by installing a full agent package will overwrite your previous agent installation. This is relevant when you first upgrade an agent from 3.2.x or 3.1.x to 4.x, or if you choose to upgrade a 4.x agent to a later version by installing a full agent package. In these cases, if you don't keep the properties file in the .hq/ directory, back it up prior to upgrade, and restore it after upgrade.
The agent looks for the properties file first in the .hq directory, then in the /conf directory. If it finds the file in the prior location, it uses the configuration there, and doesn't look in the /conf directory. If you choose to persist the properties in the .hq directory, you need to copy from the /conf directory to the .hq directory.
Then, you can compare the contents of your 3.2.x agent.properties file to the contents of the 4.0 file. If you have previously added optional properties to the 3.2.x file, or changed the values of the properties to reflect your configuration preferences, you should replicate those differences in the 4.0 propertes file.
Hope this helps.
m