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NS task / filter for off box DS agent deployment

Updated: 26 Aug 2010 | 4 comments
gjlamb's picture
gjlamb
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Does anybody have a task and filter for creating a task to deploy/upgrade DS DAgent / Aclient to  all Altiris managed clients?  Our DS server is off box and we will eventually be setting an AD policy to install the SMP client.  We normally only send subagents to clients with SMP clients on them so I wanted a policy and task to send the DS agent out.  Is this a good way to set it up or should I just deploy both SMP and DS agents via AD policy?  For the moment though while we are still migrating to AD, we need some way of getting both agents install without having to get support staff to install 2 agents.

Thanks in advance.

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EugeneFT's picture
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Feb
2010
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EugeneFT
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Hi there, What version of

Hi there,

What version of NS are you running? 6 or 7.
If 6, see below: An extract from http://kb.altiris.com

Article ID: 27484

How to push the installation of AClient, with the correct AClient settings, using Notification Server

Applies To

 
  • Deployment Solution 6.1, 6.5, 6.8

 

 

Question

 
 

How do I push the installation of the AClient using Notification Server, using the correct AClient settings?

 

Answer

 
  These are the steps to create the answer file for the AClient and install it from the Notification Server Console.
  1. Open the Deployment Solution Console and then go to Tools > Remote Agent Installer.
  2. Provide credentials to access the AClient configuration and then click Next. 
  3. On the next screen, define the path to install,that is, in C:\Program Files\Altiris\AClient\. 
  4. Go to Change Settings and configure the client the way you want it. 
  5. Once you are done with the configuration, click OK and then click Next.
  6. You can tell the AClient to be added to a specific group or the default group. Click Next. 
  7. Click Add. 
  8. You can choose a computer from the list or just give a dummy computer name in the window and then click OK. 
  9. The computer name will appear in the next window for selected clients. 
  10. Click on Export and save the file to your Desktop or any other location except the Deployment Server folder. 
  11. Go to the location where you saved the file, and you will find two files: computer name.rci and computer name.inp. 
  12. Delete the .rci file; it's not needed. 
  13. Open the .inp file with Notepad or Wordpad and make sure that the configuration is correct. 
  14. Rename the .inp file to AClient.inp.
  15. Copy the AClient.inp to <Install DIR>\Program Files\Altiris\Notification Server\NSCap\Bin\Win32\X86\AClient Package. If you want to make certain you're delivering the most current version of Aclient, copy the latest version from DS <Install DIR> or C:\Program Files\Altiris\eXpress\Deployment Server\Agents\Aclient\ to NS <Install DIR> or C:\Program Files\Altiris\Notification Server\NSCap\Bin\Win32\X86\AClient Package.(You'll need to make sure to rename the file to Aclient.exe instead of altiris-aclient-6.x.x.x86.exe) 
  16. Under the Notification ServerConsole, go to Configuration tab, Configuration > Solutions Settings > Deploy and Migrate > Deployment > Deployment Server AClient Configuration -> Deployment Server AClient Package, on the right pane, click Programs. Under the Command, change the existing from "AClient.exe -silent"  to "AClient.exe -silent -install AClient.inp".
  17. Click on Update Distribution Points and then Apply.

You can now use Notification Server Console to deploy the AClient with the custom settings defined in the .inp file.
gjlamb's picture
24
Feb
2010
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gjlamb

 My bad.....it's NS7 with DS

 My bad.....it's NS7 with DS 6.9.  We still haven't gone to DS7 as it didn't (or still doesn't) have PXE.

EugeneFT's picture
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Feb
2010
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EugeneFT
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Some time

Hi,

I will have a look on our system today to see if the function stayed the same or not, i can't recall that i've seen it. Will get back to you in a while.

E

EugeneFT's picture
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Feb
2010
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EugeneFT
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Workaround

Hi,

I had a look at NS 7 and the only default policy is for the DS 7 agent install.
I would suggest to create a Software Management task, using the Aclient.exe package found on your NsCap share on NS6 or on the eXpress share.

Keep in mind that your execution command will look similat to this: "AClient.exe -silent -install AClient.inp" based on the above article.
You should also create a custom filter to only contain machines without the agent installed.

I will probably be doing the same in a few weeks. Let me know how it went or if you have any other solutions.

Eugene

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