Remote Install Tool systemhound 2007
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Contents |
Introduction
The install wizard can be used to deploy the msi remotely but its use is limited with the prevalence of firewalls with Windows XP SP2 and Windows Vista. As of systemhound 2007, this is no longer the recommended way to install clients to Win NT/2000/XP Pro/2003/Vista machines. The preferred deployment mechanism is via Active Directory policy.
You must use an administrator account to use the Install Wizard.
- When deploying within a Windows WORKGROUP rather than a DOMAIN network environment you must ensure that the target machines do not enforce Guest access from the network. This is enabled as a default on Windows XP PRO and Windows VISTA. MS290403
- The remote installation tool will need to access the remote machines file-system and remote management interface. Firewalls should be configured appropriately. MS840634
- The remote installation tool attempts to access the machine using the file share ADMIN$. This is not available on some 'home' operating systems such as Windows XP Home / Windows VISTA Home and an alternative deployment option should be used. Category:Deployment
- Virus protection on the remote machine may prevent the systemhound remote installation service from being installed. This has been seen to occur when Symantec or McAffee application protection products are installed.
Launching the application
On the systemhound server, go to Start/Programs/systemhound/Tools/Install Wizard/systemhound console. This will open up the systemhound console. From within this application click the 'deploy' button under 'remotely install systemhound' tp open the remote install utility as shown in Figure 1. Alternatively run the program from the file system at "Program Files\systemhound\Utils\RemoteInstall\shwizMSI.exe"
Figure 1
Choose the Install mode (this is selected by default) and click Next
Target Selection
The next screen (Figure 2) shows the domain / workgroups installed across your Microsoft Windows Network and allows you to select computers to install the systemhound client to. You can select individual machines, a domain or machines by IP range.
Figure 2
To select individual machines, click on the ’+’ sign next to the domain. Highlight a machine from the list and click on Add. This machine will now appear in the target client list on the right. If you are not logged in to the domain the machine belongs to, you will be prompted to enter an administration username and password for that domain. This must be entered using the domain\username format. Note that only Win NT/2000/XP/2003 machines can be installed using the Install Tool; you will not be able to select any Win 9x machines.
Alternatively, you can find a machine on the network by name or IP address by choosing the Find option as shown in Figure 3.
Figure 3
Add by Domain
To select a domain or workgroup to install systemhound clients to, instead of individual machines, highlight the domain/workgroup and choose Add Level. This will add all WinNT/2000/XP/2003 machines shown under that domain / workgroup to the list of target clients on the right. It is recommended to check the Batch Mode option; this prevents all pop up boxes from showing and eliminates the need for any user input, thus speeding the process of machine selection.
Pop up boxes will appear if a username/password is required (Figure 4) or to display error messages; these could result from Win 9x machines being discovered on the domain/workgroup that is selected, or if the Install Tool is unable to access the registry on the target machine. Once the machines have been selected and the clients are installed, you can return to those machines with installation issues. Note that selecting an entire domain can take some time as each machine’s suitability for a client install has to be determined; a progress bar (Figure 5) will display as this is being carried out.
Figure 4
Figure 5
Add by IP Range
Clients can also be selected by IP Range. Choose the Add IP Range option to discover all suitable machines within a given IP range. Input an IP range into the dialog box as shown in Figure 6. Click OK to initiate the discovery process, as shown in Figure 7. Once this is complete, it will then proceed to check each machine to determine its suitability for a client installation (Figure 8). As with using the Add Level option, you may find it better to use the Batch Mode option to prevent pop up boxes from showing.
Figure 6
Figure 7
Figure 8
Confirmation
Any machine that is selected for client installation will have an icon to its left which indicates whether a systemhound client has been installed on the machine or not. Hover the mouse over an icon for more details.
 | blue | Indicates no systemhound client is installed. |
 | green | Indicates systemhound client is already present. |
 | red | Indicates systemhound client is present but not running due to a problem. |
Central Server Details
Once machines for installation have been selected, click Next. The next screen shown in Figure 9 will indicate the systemhound central server automatically. The central server can be defined by DNS Name or IP. Identification of the server via DNS abstraction is the most flexible option and recommended. By default, the central server name is displayed.
Figure 9
The following Batch Install Options shown are available:
- Do not install software where server already has systemhound installed
The client software will not be installed on the user machine if already present. Uncheck this box if you are re-installing a client.
- Report installation errors as they occur
Indicates that installation will stop at the first error, but you will have the option to carry on. If it is unchecked, the installation will continue to the end even if errors occur. For example, if the 56th machine failed, it would still install machines 57-100. The installation log file will record details for all client installations.
Click Next to be shown the list of machines selected for installation, as shown in Figure 10.
Figure 10
Click on Install to start the installation process. The client software will now be installed on to the remote user machines.
Completion Screen
Fig 11 shows the end of a successful install process. A log file of the install process is created as indicated, in the Program Files\systemhound\logs folder.
Figure 11
Note: A successful installation does not necessarily indicate that client data will be sent to the central server. It simply means the client software has been remotely installed successfully on the target machine. The client machine may not be able to communicate with the server. If there is a networking issue, the systemhound client may be unable to send data, which means it will not show on the systemhound reporting. When a client has been successfully installed but does not appear on the reporting, check upload.log on the problem client machine in the first instance, for details of any errors. The remote install agent also writes to the event log (source name of ’systemhound ri’) on the target machine so please also review the event entries to check for errors.
