Windows Agent - Installation Instructions

Owned by Steve Baer (Unlicensed)
Last updated: Aug 30, 2024 by Dave Laing
6 min read

Setting up on-premise Windows machines 

  • Download the Cloudamize Windows agent.

    • Click on the Windows tab in Agent Installation.

    • Click on the Cloudamize Windows Installer. An MSI file will be downloaded.

    • Before running the MSI file, please make sure that outbound TCP port 443 is open to our data collection servers:

      • am.cloudamize.com for US infrastructure, am-de.cloudamize.com for EU infrastructure, or http://am-ae.cloudamize.com for UAE infrastructure over TCP port 443 directly or through a corporate proxy. 

        • If your system locally caches DNS resolution, you may need to resolve am.cloudamize.com to 35.171.170.26 or am-de.cloudamize.com to 18.194.12.63 to allow egress traffic. This feature is not currently available for our UAE region.

    • This connection will be a direct connection to the Cloudamize server. For an indirect connection, you can specify your own proxy during the installation. In this case, our Cloudamize agent will communicate with the Cloudamize server via your proxy.

  • Select GUI or command-line installation.

1. GUI (Graphical User Interface) Installation

  • Run the MSI file by double-clicking it and click "Next".

        

  • Accept the End-User License Agreement and click “Next.”

  • Enter the customer key that was generated for you and is available on the Cloudamize Agent Installation webpage. To use your proxy server, enable "Use proxy" and type in HTTP proxy and port. If your proxy server needs user credentials, enable "Use proxy credential" and enter the User name and Password. Click "Next".

        

  • Click "Install" and give permission to Windows if requested.

        

  • Installation status and detailed information will be shown. To ensure successful deployment of the agent, connectivity to Cloudamize servers, OS corruption, and several other error scenarios are tested. For this reason, this step can take several minutes. If a problem is detected, instructions are given to help resolve the problem. If needed, please get in touch with Cloudamize for assistance at helpdesk@cloudamize.com.


        

  • Click "Finish".

        

2. Command-line Installation with GUI

This method is suitable for stand-alone servers (Windows machines without a GUI). In this case, the same pop-up dialog boxes will appear as in the GUI-based installation, as described in Section 3.1. 

Please select one of the following commands and run it as administrator  (i.e., run Command Prompt as administrator and type in one of the commands)

  • When a proxy server is not used,

    • msiexec /i <downloaded MSI file> CUSTOMERKEY="your key"

  • When a proxy server is used but proxy credentials are not used,

    • msiexec /i <downloaded MSI file> CUSTOMERKEY="your key" USE_PROXY=1 HTTPS_PROXY="https://www.your_own_proxy.com" PROXY_PORT="your_proxy_server_port"

  • When a proxy server is used and proxy credentials are used,

    • msiexec /i <downloaded MSI file> CUSTOMERKEY="your key" USE_PROXY=1 HTTPS_PROXY="https://www.your_own_proxy.com" PROXY_PORT="your_proxy_server_port" USE_PROXY_CREDENTIAL=1 PROXY_USER_NAME="user_name" PROXY_PASSWORD="password"

  • When a connection problem occurs, the installer will try to connect to the Cloudamize server for 24 hours. To limit the installation maximum duration due to a connection problem,

    • msiexec /i <downloaded MSI file> CUSTOMERKEY="your key" INSTALL_MAX_DURATION_IN_MIN=60

      • Unit of INSTALL_MAX_DURATION_IN_MIN is minute and 60 minutes are set in this example.

  • Additional options

    •  IS_PROXY_CERTIFICATE_SIGNED_BY_CA

      • 0: Skip the proxy certificate verification with the proxy server option. This is the default value.

      • 1: Verify the proxy certificate.

    • IS_SERVER_CERTIFICATE_SIGNED_BY_CA

      • 0: Skip the server certificate verification.

      • 1: Verify the server certificate. This is the default value.

    • INSTALL_SQL_SERVER_PS_MODULE

      • 0: Skip installation of the SQLServer Powershell Module (only required for advanced SQL data).

      • 1: Attempt installation of the SQLServer Powershell Module if necessary.

Note that these command lines are the same as those given in Section 3.3, except that they are missing the "/qn" at the end.

3. Command-line Installation with silent mode and without GUI

We recommend first attempting installation with the GUI. Once installation is successful on a handful of machines, the command-line method can be used.

Please select one of the following commands and run it as administrator.  

  • When a proxy server is not used,

    • msiexec /i <downloaded MSI file> CUSTOMERKEY="your key" /qn

  • When a proxy server is used but proxy credentials are not used,

    • msiexec /i <downloaded MSI file> CUSTOMERKEY="your key" USE_PROXY=1 HTTPS_PROXY="http://www.your_own_proxy.com" PROXY_PORT="your_proxy_server_port" /qn

  • When a proxy server is used and proxy credentials are used,

    • msiexec /i <downloaded MSI file> CUSTOMERKEY="your key" USE_PROXY=1 HTTPS_PROXY="http://www.your_own_proxy.com" PROXY_PORT="your_proxy_server_port" USE_PROXY_CREDENTIAL=1 PROXY_USER_NAME="user_name" PROXY_PASSWORD="password" /qn

  • When a connection problem occurs, the installer will try to connect to the Cloudamize server for 24 hours. To limit the installation maximum duration due to a connection problem,

    • msiexec /i <downloaded MSI file> CUSTOMERKEY="your key" INSTALL_MAX_DURATION_IN_MIN=60 /qn

      • Unit of INSTALL_MAX_DURATION_IN_MIN is minute and 60 minutes are set in this example.

  • Additional options

    •  IS_PROXY_CERTIFICATE_SIGNED_BY_CA

      • 0: Skip the proxy certificate verification with proxy server option. This is the default value.

      • 1: Verify the proxy certificate.

    • IS_SERVER_CERTIFICATE_SIGNED_BY_CA

      • 0: Skip the server certificate verification.

      • 1: Verify the server certificate. This is the default value.

    • INSTALL_SQL_SERVER_PS_MODULE

      • 0: Skip installation of the SQLServer Powershell Module (only required for advanced SQL data).

      • 1: Attempt installation of the SQLServer Powershell Module if necessary.

Note that in many cases, the installation command will return immediately and does not provide any indication of success or failure. In some cases, the msiexec command fails, for example, when the MSI file is not accessible or missing. If the command returns without an error, then the installation will progress and could take some time to complete. In this case, the success or failure can be determined with the Windows EventViewer as follows.

  1. Execute the EventViewer,

  2. Click Windows Logs → Application. 

  3. Filter Current Log and set Event Source to "MsiInstaller." One of three outcomes is possible:

    1. An event is found with a message indicating the successful installation of the agent, for example, the message text includes "Product: Cloudamize Windows Agent -- Installation completed successfully."

    2. An event is found with a message indicating failure, for example, the message text includes "Product: Cloudamize Windows Agent -- Installation failed." 

      • In this case, detailed error messages can be found in the Event Log by search for Windows Logs → Application, setting Event Source to "Cloudamize Windows Installation" 

      • If any event is found, please follow the instructions shown in the event details. If needed, please contact Cloudamize for assistance at helpdesk@cloudamize.com.

    3. Neither of the above events is found, in which case the installation is still underway. 

      • In order to ensure successful installation, problems with connectivity are resolved by reattempting connections. These reattempts will continue for up to 24 hours, allowing installation to withstand significant network outages. For this reason, it is possible that neither of the above events will appear for 24 hours. 

      • If problems are encountered, Warning messages are sent to the EventViewer (with source "Cloudamize Windows Installation"). The event message provides information about the problem encountered. 

      • Generally, some message regarding success, failure, or a problem will appear in the Event Log within 10 minutes after the msiexec command is executed.

      • One problem that can arise is when a proxy is used and the user name or password are set incorrectly, In this case, connectivity through the proxy is reattempted for 24 hours. In this case, a warning message can be observed with the EventViewer. To fix the problem, reattempt installation after the failure message appears in the Event Log. Alternatively, installation can be manually terminated. However, when manually terminating installation, it is critical that all msiexec processes are terminated and the processes are terminated in the correct order (refer to Manual cancellation of Cloudamize Windows agent installation).