Deploying Aspia Host via GPO - configuring usernames and password automatically

[jtaggers]

Hello,
Let me first express my sincere appreciation about this project. It is a really good solution for remote access, especially on LAN.

I have a question - where the configuration of the host is located? Registry or a file?
I want to deploy the host to multiple computers via GPO for LAN remote support, thus I need to be able to set-up predefined user and password for unattended access. Seems like those settings are not in the registry, but in a config file.
Could you please elaborate how the host can be deployed with predefined settings like user and password?

[dchapyshev]

Hello. All necessary information is available in the documentation.

[jtaggers]

Hello. All necessary information is available in the documentation.

Thank you for the reply. After posting here, I checked the documentation again. Seems like I somehow missed the Automation part. In the documentation it is written that...exporting the config and running the installer from the same directory as the config imports the settings, but this may not work if deployed via Active Directory, which is exactly the method I want to test. Is this still true or if I install it via GPO with the aspia-host-config.json placed in the same directory as the MSI installer it will import the settings?

I found in one of the older threads(I know Russian) that some people just copy already configured host.json to C:\ProgramData\Aspia before installing the Aspia Host. Are there any potential issues with this method?

[dchapyshev]

I do not recommend copying the file directly to directory C:\ProgramData\Aspia. This is a working method, but I do not guarantee its functionality in the future.
If you place file aspia-host-config.json next to the installer, it will not work with AD. In order for this to work with AD, you must first copy the MSI file along with the config to a local directory on the computer and run the installation from there.
The third method is to import parameters from the command line.

[jtaggers]

I do not recommend copying the file directly to directory C:\ProgramData\Aspia. This is a working method, but I do not guarantee its functionality in the future. If you place file aspia-host-config.json next to the installer, it will not work with AD. In order for this to work with AD, you must first copy the MSI file along with the config to a local directory on the computer and run the installation from there. The third method is to import parameters from the command line.

Thank you again. I will consider everything you've said.

Wouldn't trying to import the file require running the command as Administrator(elevating the prompt leading to UAC)? Because AspiaHost.exe runs in the current user context, while AspiaService.exe runs in the SYSTEM context?

The alternative is executing the installation from the Machine context /Computer Configuration->Startup Scripts and DomainComputers having explicit access to the folder, be it Shared Folder..or copying both files to local folder from the shared folder/ by using a command script(be it bat or powershell). To ensure that the script runs only once, it can write a flag in the registry on successful execution and then check for that flag on computer startup.

[dchapyshev]

Import from the command line can only be run with administrator rights.

[jtaggers]

Import from the command line can only be run with administrator rights.

I see. Then the solution for automatic installation via AD seems to be...

1. StartUp script running from the MachineContext(ComputerConfiguration->StartUp script) copying the MSI and the config to a local directory(DomainComputers must have explicit read access to the shared directory)
2. The same script executing the installation from the local directory
3. The same script writing registry key/flag in HKLM and checking for it's existence on every StartUp to prevent the script from reinstalling the software on every StartUp(if flag exists - goto end/exit)

I use those kinds of scripts to configure many things, including deploying some software without MSI installers.

Thank you! You answers were most illuminating.

[felipeborela]

Olá, tudo bem?
Segue GPO para instalar o Aspia Host via Active Directory

Conteúdo do InstalarAspiaHost.bat:

echo off
cls
if exist "C:\Program Files\Aspia\Host\aspia_host.exe" goto exit
if exist "C:\Program Files (x86)\Aspia\Host\aspia_host.exe" goto exit

echo Copiando instalador do Aspia Host...
if not exist "C:\TI\AspiaHost" md "C:\TI\AspiaHost"
xcopy "\SERVIDOR\InstaladorAutomatico\AspiaHost" "C:\TI\AspiaHost" /d /e /y
msiexec /i C:\TI\AspiaHost\aspia-host-2.7.0-x86_64.msi /quiet /qn /norestart /log C:\TI\AspiaHost\aspia-host-2.7.0-x86_64.msi.log
del /s "C:\Users\Public\Desktop\Aspia Host Configuration.lnk"
del /s "C:\Users\Public\Desktop\Aspia Host.lnk"
REM aspia_host_config --import aspia-host-config.json
exit

Fique a vontade para alterar o script conforme sua preferência!

[jtaggers]

Olá, tudo bem? Segue GPO para instalar o Aspia Host via Active Directory
Fique a vontade para alterar o script conforme sua preferência!

:START
:REGCHECK
reg query "HKLM\Software\ASPInst" /v "flag"|find "0x1"
IF %ERRORLEVEL% == 1 GOTO BITCHECK
If %ERRORLEVEL% == 0 GOTO END
:BITCHECK
IF EXIST "C:\Program Files (x86)\" GOTO INST64
:INST32
:DIRCHECK32
IF EXIST "C:\Program Files\Aspia\Host\aspia_host.exe" GOTO END
IF EXIST "C:\Program Files (x86)\Aspia\Host\aspia_host.exe" GOTO END
MKDIR C:\ASRDP
COPY "\\FILEFS\ASPIA\aspia-host-2.7.0-x86.msi" "C:\ASRDP"
COPY "\\FILEFS\ASPIA\aspia-host-config.json" "C:\ASRDP"
start /wait "" msiexec /i "C:\ASRDP\aspia-host-2.7.0-x86.msi" /quiet /qn /norestart /log "C:\ASRDP\aspia-host-2.7.0-x86_msi.log
"C:\Program Files (x86)\Aspia\Host\aspia_host.exe" --import="C:\ASRDP\aspia-host-config.json" --silent
:INST64
:DIRCHECK64
IF EXIST "C:\Program Files\Aspia\Host\aspia_host.exe" GOTO END
IF EXIST "C:\Program Files (x86)\Aspia\Host\aspia_host.exe" GOTO END
MKDIR C:\ASRDP
COPY "\\FILEFS\ASPIA\aspia-host-2.7.0-x86_64.msi" "C:\ASRDP"
COPY "\\FILEFS\ASPIA\aspia-host-config.json" "C:\ASRDP"
start /wait "" msiexec /i "C:\ASRDP\aspia-host-2.7.0-x86_64.msi" /quiet /qn /norestart /log "C:\ASRDP\aspia-host-2.7.0-x86_64_msi.log
"C:\Program Files\Aspia\Host\aspia_host.exe" --import="C:\ASRDP\aspia-host-config.json" --silent
:CLEANUP
DEL /q "%Public%\Desktop\Aspia Host Configuration.lnk"
DEL /q "%Public%\Desktop\Aspia Host.lnk"
:WRITEREGISTRY
REG ADD "HKLM\Software\ASPInst" /v "flag" /t REG_DWORD /f /D 1
:END