Agent Installation for Windows

Use the information in the following sections to install the Discovery Agent on a single Windows computer. After you complete the deployment and setup procedures on one computer, you can perform a mass deployment to install the agent on host devices throughout your organization.

Prerequisites

The Discovery Agent is supported on the following platforms:

• Windows 7.x

• Windows 8.x

• Windows 10

SolarWinds supports the following Windows Server operating systems:

• Windows Server 2008 R2 (October 2009)

• Windows Server 2012 (September 2012)

• Windows Server 2012 R2 (October 2013)

• Windows Server 2016 (September 2016)

• Windows Server 2019 (October 2018)

Firewall requirements

The following domains and ports must be allowed.

Installation

The first step in the installation process is to download the Discovery Agent. After downloading, you have the following options for installing it on a single computer:

• Run the Discovery Agent Setup wizard.

• Perform a silent installation using a command line.

Download the agent setup for Windows

1. Navigate to Setup > Discovery & Assets > Installation.

   

2. Download the Discovery Agent setup file and save it to your local computer.

Run the Discovery Agent Setup wizard

1. Review the installation prerequisites and employ all required corporate security measures in your deployment.

2. Launch the Discovery Agent wizard.

3. At the Welcome message, click Next to begin.

   

4. If you agree with the license agreement, select I accept the agreement, and then click Next.

   

5. In the Ready to Install dialog, click Next.

   

6. When prompted, click Finish to complete the installation.

   

   When the installation is complete, the Discovery Agent runs an inventory scan for the first time. This may take several minutes to complete.

   The agent then begins reporting on the preconfigured parameters (for example, hardware and software). It may take a few moments for the information to appear in your SWSD instance.

Perform silent installation using a command line

If you want to install the Discovery Agent using a Windows command line, perform the following steps:

1. Open Terminal.

2. Navigate to the Download folder.

3. Execute the installer with the following command line arguments.

   Copy

   "<folder>\Solarwinds_Discovery_Agent_<version>_installer.exe" --mode unattended 

   enable_proxy 1 --proxy_address *[address]* --proxy_port *[port]* --proxy_username *[username]* --proxy_password *[password]* (Replace [address], [port], [username], [password] with the appropriate information based on the related proxy.)

You can use an MSI file to deploy the agent to other computers. SolarWinds suggests that you use an MSI Wrapper tool to convert the Discovery Agent EXE file to an MSI file.

It is possible to convert the Discovery agent EXE file to an MSI and push the file using Micrsoft Endpoint Manager (Intune) or some other similar method. However, SolarWinds does not support this method.

You can convert the Discovery Agent EXE file to an MSI and push the file using Intune (part of Microsoft Endpoint Manager) or some other similar method. In this situation, SolarWinds recommends that you download the Discovery Agent EXE file and use an MSI Wrapper tool to convert the EXE file to an MSI file.

Several MSI wrappers are available online. They may provide instructions on how to convert an EXE file to an MSI file. For example, Getting started - MSI Wrapper Convert EXE to MSI package (exemsi.com) explains the process using a Firefox executable.

You can also use optional command line parameters for a silent installation.

Conversion tool settings

Follow the instructions included with the tool. In some wrapping tools you are not required to customize other properties, parameters, or actions.

The following settings may be useful in creating an MSI file:

• Visibility of MSI Package: Visible

• Visibility of wrapped installer: Hidden

• Security context for launching the executable: Installing User

• Elevation when launching the executable: Always elevate

• MSI installation context: Auto

• Application Id: Look up and then select SolarWinds Discovery Agent

  

• Upgrade code: Create New

• For an optional silent installation, set the parameter for Install arguments to: --mode unattended

After you build the MSI file using your selected tool, use the tool to distribute the Discovery Agent to all targeted computers in your environment.

Uninstall the Discovery Agent

To uninstall the Discovery Agent, go to Control Panel > Programs and Features > Uninstall a program. Select the agent and complete the uninstall procedure.

"C:\Program Files (x86)\Solarwinds Discovery Agent\uninstall.exe"

For silent uninstall use:

"C:\Program Files (x86)\Solarwinds Discovery Agent\uninstall.exe" --mode unattended

Force an inventory refresh for the new Discovery Agent

After you enable the Discovery Agent, the agent inventory automatically updates every 24 hours. The agent runs as a Windows service and triggers a refresh based on that schedule.

To optimize for outbound bandwidth utilization, the agents randomize the next inventory refresh within a 24-hour timeframe. This process prevents all agents from reporting at the same time.

Optionally, you can force the agent on a targeted machine to manually push an update. To push the update, open a Command Prompt window and run the following commands or copy the code into the prompt. If the prompt does not return an error message, the procedure completed successfully.

sudo /Applications/Solarwinds\ Discovery\ Agent.app/Contents/Resources/agent/ruby/bin/ruby  /Applications/Solarwinds\ Discovery\ \Agent.app/Contents/Resources/agent/src/mini_kernel/cmd.rb -f

Related topics

Discovery & Assets

Agent installation for Mac

Agent installation for mass deployment

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