automating enablement of PCs to receive push install

Push install has the appeal of not having to walk the network to individually install. I did my first push install to a test PC from the Remote Administrator.

But apparently the need remains to walk the network. Because you must prep the nodes for the push. The documentation lists 11 prerequisites like "server service enabled," 2221-2224 must be unblocked by firewall, administrative share $ADMIN enabled, etc.

I did it on my test machine through the usual Windows graphical interface, doing 11 little jobs. 4 or 5 of the settings needed changes. I'm a linux guy, where I would write a script for something like this and turn the 11 jobs I must do at each PC into one job (running the script). In Windows I don't know how.

What do NOD32 AV admins do to get push install to shortcut the need for individual operations on every PC in the network, instead of substituting one individual need for another??

 

I've never had to visit computers to do this. In fact I've pushed 3 installs just this morning.

If the computers are in a domain then (I think) the Admin$ share is enabled by default. That's all you need, as ESET copies the appropriate files.

I've used push on XP, Vista and W7, x86 and x64, to over 200 PCs....and there's no way I'd have visited them all (especially as some are on a remote site 500 miles away!)



Jim

 

Same here... For really weird setups, there's always stuff like GPO to push, plus psexec for remote execution if needed. Never was needed here for NOD32 though.

 

> If the computers are in a domain
Thank you. The computers are in a workgroup, this office doesn't have a domain (though they could, since they have 2008 Windows Server).

Maybe NOD32 or its main features require that there be a domain?

My other uncertainty, possibly related, is how the Remote Administrator determines what the identities of the target PC population are. In my one-PC initial test, I manually gave RA the IP of the target PC. But RA's "Find Unregistered Computers" button comes up empty (not sure what "unregistered" denotes). Maybe for finding the PC population also, NOD32 presumes a domain?

 

AFAIK it just uses the computer browser service on the machine you're working on. So you'll see the same machines as appear in Network Neighbourhood. 'Unregistered' just means that it's visible on the network but hasn't reported as having NOD32 installed.

A domain environment isn't a prerequisite for ERA, but it just makes things like services, Windows firewall, etc. easier to manage centrally. If you don't want to go round to each machine though you might be better off using the Pull install methods for your setup.

 

Hello,

It may be the Locator Service that's used to search out those machines. And as dannyboy points out, pull install methods, ie. logon script or via email might be better suited for you.

BFG