Part of SysAid Asset Management, the SysAid Agent is a client side application that resides on each of your computers and runs quietly in the background (you will not notice any performance difference after it's been installed). Once deployed, the SysAid agent has many benefits:
Note: If the agent does not communicate with the SysAid server for 60 days, SysAid automatically disables the agent.
The rest of this guide explains the different methods for deploying the SysAid agent throughout your network.
Important: If your anti-virus solution maintains a white list of trusted paths, add the directory "\Program Files\SysAid" to the list. If it maintains a white list of trusted services, add the service "SysAidAgent" to the list.
The minimum requirements for the SysAid agent are:
Component | Minimum Requirement |
Computer and processor | 1.5 GHz |
RAM | 512 MB |
HD space | 50 MB*** |
RAM usage | 15 MB |
Operating system (32-bit or 64-bit) |
|
*.NET Framework 2.0 SP 2 must be installed
** Through a third-party tool. Please contact our support team for more information.
*** To enable Patch Management capabilities, an additional 1.5 GB is required.
To deploy the agent on Linux and Mac computers via the Network Discovery method , SSH with password authentication must be enabled on each Mac that you want to deploy to.
In order to take full advantage of SysAid Asset Management, you must deploy the SysAid agent.
You may deploy the SysAid agent in the following ways:
Supported OS | |||
Method | Windows | Linux | Mac |
Using the built in Network Discovery tool | X | X | X |
Using the SysAid Administrator Tools | X | ||
Using an MSI deployment package | X | ||
Using a network login script | X | ||
From an asset imported by a WMI scan | X | ||
Manually, on a per machine basis | X | X | X |
Dashboard | X | X | X |
RDS Form | X | X | X |
Each of the following sections discusses a different method of deploying the SysAid agent.
Agent Deployment Plans contain all of the information required to deploy or undeploy the agents on a set of assets. You can apply a plan to any of your deployments.
For more information, see the Agent Deployment Plan List.
One way to deploy the SysAid Agent throughout your network is group policy. This requires use of an MSI deployment package, which you can download from Settings > Network Discovery > Downloads within your SysAid. For full instructions for using this deployment package, go here.
The SysAid agent supports deployment using a network login script. In order to do so, you must first download the SysAid agent to a shared network location. You may download the SysAid Agent from Settings > Network Discovery > Downloads.
The format of the login script is as follows. Replace the text in orange with the actual parameter value:
Path to SysAidAgent.exe\SysAidAgent.exe /VERYSILENT /URL server URL /account account id /serial serial number /install once /AllowRemoteControl Y or N /SubmitSRShortcut "caption of the submit service record shortcut" /HotKey key code /Interval # in seconds /ConfirmRC Y or N /RandomMachineID Y or N /AllowSubmitSR Y or N /LogLevel # /ProxyServer proxy server URL / ProxyPort port #/ENABLESYSAIDPS Y or N |
Here is a sample script:
z:\sysaidagent.exe /VERYSILENT /URL http://10.0.0.10:8080 /account SMITH /serial 3333333 /install once /AllowRemoteControl Y /SubmitSRShortcut "SysAid Helpdesk Software" /HotKey 122 /Interval 30 /ConfirmRC N /RandomMachineID N /AllowSubmitSR N /LogLevel 3 /ProxyServer proxy.sysaid.com /ProxyPort 3128 |
Following is a table with all permitted parameters for the SysAid Agent deployment script.
Parameter | Description |
Path to SysAid Agent | The network location of the SysAidAgent.exe file. Make sure the file is accessible from the computers in your network, or the login script will fail. |
VerySilent | Makes the installation run with no user interaction (background installation). Not necessary, but highly recommended for login scripts. Does not accept any parameters. To disable, delete from login script. |
URL | URL of the server SysAid is running on. This information can be found at Settings > Network Discovery > Downloads. |
Account | Your SysAid account ID. Your account ID can be found at Settings > Network Discovery > Downloads. |
Serial | Your SysAid serial number. This can be found at Settings > Network Discovery > Downloads. |
Install once | This option will only install the SysAid Agent if it is not already installed. If the SysAid Agent is already installed, it will not be overwritten. Therefore you should delete install once if you are upgrading or redeploying SysAid. |
AllowRemoteControl | The permitted values are Y or N. Default is Y. |
SubmitSRShortcut | This is the name of the desktop shortcut created. If greater than one word, enclose it in " ". Default is "SysAid." |
HotKey | The hot key number. Once SysAid is deployed across your network, users will be able to access SysAid by clicking a hotkey, such as F11. The login script identifies the location of a keyboard key by its JavaScript key code (e.g. F11 has a value of 122). |
Interval | How often (in seconds) the agent will connect to the server to report back and retrieve messages. Default is 30 seconds. |
ConfirmRC | The permitted values are Y or N. Determines whether end users must confirm a remote control session. Default is Y. |
RandomMachineID | Generate a random machine ID instead of using the computer's serial number. The permitted values are Y or N. Generally the default will be N. |
AllowSubmitSR | The permitted values are Y or N. Determines whether the desktop shortcut will be deployed, and also whether or not the hotkey will be enabled. Default is Y. |
LogLevel | Determines the detail level of the log the SysAid Agent creates. Default is 0 (info). The permitted values are 0,1,2,3 (the higher the number, the more detailed the log is). |
ProxyServer | Hostname or IP address of your proxy server, if needed by the agent to reach the server. |
ProxyPort | The TCP port through which to connect to the proxy server. |
ENABLESYSAIDPS | Enable SysAid Password Services. To enable set the value to Y. |
Once you've created your script, make sure that all of your relevant computers run this script whenever they log onto your network. You can usually do this using group policy. Please note that this method requires you to log out and then log in on your computers in order for the Agent to be installed.
If an asset has been imported into SysAid from a WMI scan, you can easily deploy the SysAid Agent to that computer. You may do this in one of two ways:
Option 1: Go to Assets > Asset Management > Asset List. Using the check boxes, select one or more assets with Source = WMI, and click the Deploy Agent icon.
Option 2: Open the asset form for any asset. If that asset was imported from WMI, the Source field will have a link to deploy the agent. Click on it. (If the source field is not displayed on the asset form, you may add it using the design form icon .)
Note: When SysAid is installed on a Linux machine, the Remote Discover Service (RDS) is required for agent deployments. For more information, see the SysAid Remote Discovery Service Guide.
You can manually deploy the SysAid Agent to any machine you choose. This includes Windows, Linux, and Mac computers. Go to Settings > Network Discovery > Downloads, and select Download SysAid Agent for *operating system of your choice.*
There may be some cases where none of the other deployment methods are suitable for deploying the agent to a particular computer. In these cases, you may install the agent manually. To manually install the SysAid Agent to a Windows computer:
Note: If the "Allow only SSL connections to SysAid (https)" check box is checked in Account Defaults, make sure to add an "s" to "http" in the url so it will comply with the https protocol.
Enter account information for your SysAid server
There may be some cases where none of the other deployment methods are suitable for deploying the agent to a particular computer. In these cases, you may install the agent manually. To manually install the SysAid Agent to a Mac computer:
After you install the Mac agent, you can modify its server parameters.
To change the server parameters
Agent Settings Management allows you to store Agent Settings configurations that you can then apply to your agent deployments.
For more information, see the Agent Settings List.
Credentials Management allows you to store Agent Settings configurations that you can then automatically apply to your agent deployments. Predefined asset credentials are required for all Agent deployments on those assets.
For more information, see the Credentials List.
SysAid includes an external deployment tool that can be installed onto any computer and used to deploy the agent. The Deployment Tool is included in the SysAid Administrators Tools. Go to Settings > Network Discovery > Downloads, and you will see a link to download the Administrator Tools. For installation instructions for the Administrator Tools, go here.
Before deploying the Agent using the SysAid Deployment Tool, the following ports must be opened between the deploying computer and the target computers: TCP 139, TCP 445, UDP 137, UDP 138, and UDP 8193. After the Agent is deployed, only port 8193 needs to be kept open*. The other ports are only used in the deployment process. You must also ensure that the following three services are running on each computer you are deploying to:
Please note that remote registry starts by default in Windows XP and Windows Server 2003, but not in Windows Vista, Windows 7, and Windows Server 2008.
*The Agent will work if this port is closed, but you will lose certain functionality.
After installing the Administrator Tools, open the Deployment Tool. If you did not change the defaults during installation, the Deployment Tool can be accessed from the Windows start menu under Programs > SysAid > Deploy SysAid.
SysAid Deployment Tool
When you first open the Deployment Tool, you will see a network browser. The network browser detects your network in real-time as you open each individual branch of your network tree. Open the appropriate branch, and you will see a list of your domains. Open a domain and you will see a list of computers on the domain. For each computer, you will see the computer name and either what version of the SysAid agent is running or a message indicating that the Agent is not running.
Before performing a deployment or undeployment, you must first select the desired computers:
All actions and functions in the Deployment Tool are performed via the upper menu bar.
Agent setting | Description |
Account | This is your SysAid Account ID. You entered this during installation of the Admin Tools. |
Source Directory | This is the location of the Administrator Tools (including the Deployment Tool). There shouldn't be any need to change this. |
Destination Directory | When the Deployment Tool deploys the SysAid Agent, it will deploy to this directory on the destination computer. |
Server URL | This is the URL of your SysAid Server. You entered this during installation of the Admin Tools. There is no need to change this unless you change the URL for your SysAid Server. |
Message URL | This is the URL the Agent connects to when it contacts the SysAid Server. There is no need to change this unless you change the URL for your SysAid Server. |
Proxy Server | If your agents will be communicating to the SysAid Server using a proxy, please enter the proxy server hostname/IP address here. |
Proxy Port | This is the port number used to access the proxy server. |
Shortcut Name | After deploying the SysAid Agent to a computer, a shortcut icon to access the SysAid Server will be added to the desktop on that computer. You can use this field to choose the name of the shortcut. |
Hot Key | Choose the key combination for the SysAid Hotkey. The default hotkey is F11. |
Log Level | Determines how much detail is recorded in the SysAid Agent log. There is no need to change this unless instructed to by SysAid Support. |
Custom Shortcut Icon | After deploying the SysAid Agent to a computer, a shortcut icon to access the SysAid Server will be added to the desktop on that computer. You can choose the icon that will display for this shortcut. Click Upload icon to select an icon. Click Remove custom icon if you've uploaded an icon but would like to return to the default SysAid shortcut icon. |
Run as Service, Refresh Interval | If this option is selected, the Agent runs on each computer as a service. Every X seconds, it contacts the SysAid Server briefly to check if there are any waiting requests. Requests can be for remote control, for chat, etc. It's recommended to keep the number of seconds at 30. If you increase this number too much, remote control sessions or chat sessions initiated by an administrator can take a long time to start. |
Run using Task Scheduler, every day on | If this option is selected, the Agent contacts the SysAid Server once a day at the time you select. This option will ensure that your inventory information is always up-to-date, but will prevent you from using peer to peer remote control and initiating chats with end users, as well as other Agent features that require regular communication between the Agent and the SysAid Server. This option is not recommended. |
Run during login process | If this option is selected, the Agent contacts the SysAid Server when the computer logs onto the network. This option can ensure that your inventory information is always up-to-date, but will prevent you from using peer to peer remote control and initiating chats with end users, as well as other Agent features that require regular communication between the Agent and the SysAid Server. Also, if the computer never logs off, this option may result in long periods of time without any update to asset data. This option is not recommended. |
Install Submit Service Record Shortcut | This allows you to choose whether or not to install a shortcut on the desktop of each computer you deploy to. The shortcut opens the SysAid End-User Portal so that end users can submit service records, check the FAQ, etc. If this is checked, you can select the shortcut name and icon using the appropriate settings above. |
Install SysAid Password Services Credential Provider | (Password Services Module) If you would like your users to be able to access Password Self Service from the Windows login screen, you must install this component. This box is unchecked by default. Read more about this feature in our Password Services Guide. Password Services must be enabled for this option to appear. |
Generate Random Asset ID | By default, SysAid uses the computer serial number as the asset ID when it automatically creates an asset for a computer with the agent installed. There may be instances where multiple computers on your network have the same serial number. In this case, SysAid would only create one asset entry for all of these computers. To prevent this from happening, select Generate Random Asset ID. When this option is selected, each time an agent runs for the first time on a computer, a new asset entry will be created in SysAid with a random Asset ID. |
Remote Control Settings | Please see the Additional Remote Control Settings section of the Remote Control Guide for an explanation of these settings. |
Once you've deployed the Agent to your computers, SysAid collects full hardware and software information for these computers. You can view this information from Assets > Asset Management > Asset List by clicking on any computer in the list. (Note that it can take up to five minutes after deployment before computers begin to appear in the Asset list.) You also have access to all SysAid agent functionalities described in the introduction to this guide.
Please consult the Getting Started Guide for an overview of what SysAid Asset Management offers you, and consult the Online help for an in-depth explanation of all SysAid Asset Management capabilities.
You can use the SysAid Agent Healthcheck Utility to perform a set of tests on most of the basic functionalities of the agent and provide a report with the tests results. Customers that are experiencing issues with the agent deployment, communication, upgrades, etc. can run this utility before contacting support to uncover information regarding the agent's environment.
Healthcheck tests include:
Click here to download SysAid Healthcheck.
SysAid welcomes your questions and suggestions. We can be reached via phone and email:
Toll Free phone center (U.S): 800-686-7047
Tel (U.S): +1 617-231-0124
Fax (U.S): +1 617 507 2559
Tel (Israel): +972 3 533 3675
Fax (Israel): +972 3 761 7205
Email: helpdesk@sysaid.com
SysAid community: http://www.sysaid.com/Sysforums/forums/home.page
You can also view our full support page at http://www.sysaid.com/contact_support.htm