Unattended installation for .msi

[Gary Haberl]

Hi,

Is there an option to install the Agent so the desktop icon shortcut does not show up on the client computer? Is there a way to stop it from showing up in the users list of programs.  I am trying to stop users from running the program and asking questions.

Thank you,

Gary

[Paul]

Hi Gary,

You can install the agent without showing any shortcuts and without showing up in the list of programs by running the installer as a separate user on the client's machine and selecting at the installation to install for the current user only. Additionally you don't need to stop users from running the program because you can protect the configuration with a passcode by clicking on the "prevent configuration changes" (or similar text - can't remember the exact wording ) textual link from the bottom left corner of the agent.

-Paul

[Gary Haberl]

4 minutes ago, Paul said:

Hi Gary,

You can install the agent without showing any shortcuts and without showing up in the list of programs by running the installer as a separate user on the client's machine and selecting at the installation to install for the current user only. Additionally you don't need to stop users from running the program because you can protect the configuration with a passcode by clicking on the "prevent configuration changes" (or similar text - can't remember the exact wording ) textual link from the bottom left corner of the agent.

-Paul

Thank you Paul,

We will use the lock also for the program, nice to see this feature.

What about when we install on a network through the "Discovery and Deployment" link under systems? What options are installed with this feature? Does it just take the current settings of the system that did the Probe?

Gary

[Paul]

Just now, Gary Haberl said:

Thank you Paul,

We will use the lock also for the program, nice to see this feature.

What about when we install on a network through the "Discovery and Deployment" link under systems? What options are installed with this feature? Does it just take the current settings of the system that did the Probe?

Gary

You can import the settings of the probe (which is the default selection) but you can also change it to import the settings from any other online system or to come without any configuration at all (apart from the credentials of course). There is no option at the moment to prevent the creation of desktop shortcuts and to prevent it from registering as an installed application.

You can prevent users from uninstalling the agents by downgrading their users to "limited users" so they don't have administrative rights on the local machine.

-Paul

[alliedvoa]

When you are using the unattended installation method without a configuration file, is there a way to lock it so the end-user cannot change the settings?

Also, when using the /i switch you can place the download path to pulseway's servers for download:

 msiexec /i https://www.pulseway.com/download/Pulseway_x64.msi /qn ALLUSERS=1 username=UUU  password=PPP group=GGG server=SSS /L*v PulsewayInstall.log

 

Edited September 22, 2018 by alliedvoa
typo, fixed script per BartB - Thanks

[Chris]

Hi,

In order to set the lock on machines you need to do the following:

You need to configure the lock on one of the machines and then copy the values for these registry keys:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\MMSOFT Design\PC Monitor\PreventChanges
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\MMSOFT Design\PC Monitor\PreventChangesPassword
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\MMSOFT Design\PC Monitor\PreventChangesPasswordCtrl

The PowerShell commands to set the lock will look like this:

Set-ItemProperty -Path "HKLM:\Software\MMSOFT Design\PC Monitor\" -Name PreventChanges -Value "Enter the saved PreventChanges from the machine you've just configured"
Set-ItemProperty -Path "HKLM:\Software\MMSOFT Design\PC Monitor\" -Name PreventChangesPassword -Value "Enter the saved PreventChangesPassword from the machine you've just configured"
Set-ItemProperty -Path "HKLM:\Software\MMSOFT Design\PC Monitor\" -Name PreventChangesPasswordCtrl -Value "Enter the saved PreventChangesPasswordCtrl from the machine you've just configured"

Run these commands as an automated task from the Pulseway WebApp.

[BartB]

On 2/27/2018 at 12:34 PM, alliedvoa said:

 

 msiexec /i https://www.pulseway.com/download/Pulseway_x64.msi /qn /ALLUSERS=1 username=UUU  password=PPP group=GGG server=SSS /L*v PulsewayInstall.log

 

There should be no slash in front of ALLUSERS=1:

 msiexec /i https://www.pulseway.com/download/Pulseway_x64.msi /qn ALLUSERS=1 username=UUU  password=PPP group=GGG server=SSS /L*v PulsewayInstall.log

Found that out after a couple of hours fighting with the script. And any values that have a space for the username, pass, or server need to be in quotes.

 

And in case anyone is interested, this is the syntax for using Chocolatey to install the agent, and passing custom arguments to the installer:

choco install pulseway --ia "'ALLUSERS=1 username=xxx password=xxx group=""xxx xxx"" server=""xxx.xxx.xxx"" /L*v ""C:\Support\PulsewayInstall_%COMPUTERNAME%.log""'"

You need quotes around the server name, because of the periods, and yes, the odd double quoting after --ia is needed, per Chocolatey documentation. I have tested this and it works perfectly in my environment.

Edited August 30, 2018 by BartB
Capitalization

[alliedvoa]

Upgraded to the new version today. Just so happened was on-boarding a new customer. With the new group policy and token based authentication, the remote installation of an agent is very simple and much easier. Just a simple: msiexec /i <link_to_msi_installer> /qn Thanks Pulseway!

 

Edited September 25, 2018 by alliedvoa

[BBjay]

hi there,

i use 

msiexec /i "c:/Pulseway_x64.msi" /qn ALLUSERS=1 username=uuu password=ppp Group=ggg server=sss /L*v c:\PulsewayInstall.log

 

but all the endpoint would be assigned to my company's default group, no matter it is  ""organization - site -agent group" or "organization site agent group"  as group parameter. i am wondering that format i need to user to define a group. 

[Chris]

Hi @BBjay,

That is correct. Pulseway agents are no longer authenticated using username and password. However if you choose to use this method, then all systems are registered with in Default Group.

Currently you have two options:

1. download the customized installer for the specific group from the Pulseway WebApp -> Onboarding -> Doewnloads and then use it to install agent by executing this command.

msiexec /i "c:/Pulseway_x64.msi" /qn

2. or copy the URL for the customized installer from the Pulseway WebApp -> Onboarding -> Doewnloadsand then use it into the PS command:

msiexec /i "URL_for_the_Installer" /qn

[DQuiram]

We are currently moving to JumpCloud and would like it to deploy Pulseway as part of our deployment tasks. In JumpCloud, there is the ability to create and run commands on remote systems. I entered in the msiexec /i "URL_for_the_Installer" /qn for the Powershell line, but it doesn't appear to be working. It clears out in JumpCloud as successfully running, but that's all. What steps would be useful for troubleshooting this further?

Edited December 8, 2020 by DQuiram