docs: clarify Windows client updates need no user admin on the service path - #944
docs: clarify Windows client updates need no user admin on the service path#944SunsetDrifter wants to merge 2 commits into
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…e path The 'update needs admin' confusion comes from mixing two paths. Clarify both: - auto-update: accepting a prompted update is installed by the NetBird service (system privileges), not the logged-in user, so no admin rights are needed. Only the manual download-link path is a per-machine install that requires elevation. - Windows install: silent install/upgrade needs an elevated (SYSTEM) context, which RMM/MDM tools provide; a standard user gets 1625. Add an Updating section: the same installer upgrades in place (no separate update package), pushed via the same RMM/MDM tool; downgrades are blocked. All claims lab-verified 2026-08-20 (WS2022, v0.76.0 -> v0.77.0).
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📝 WalkthroughWalkthroughWindows installation documentation now describes elevation requirements, silent-installation failures, in-place upgrades, downgrade blocking, preserved configuration, and service-managed updates. ChangesWindows installation and update documentation
Estimated code review effort: 2 (Simple) | ~10 minutes Merge Risk: 🟡 Moderate · up to The documentation could mislead deployments into running without an elevated administrator or SYSTEM context, causing exit code 1625, or using a workflow that skips upgrades for existing installations. These instructions should be corrected before merging. Possibly related PRs
Suggested reviewers: Poem
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Inline comments:
In `@src/pages/get-started/install/windows.mdx`:
- Around line 21-24: Update the Note describing silent Windows installation in
the installation documentation to state that deployment jobs must run in an
elevated administrator or SYSTEM context. Qualify the references to PDQ, Intune,
and Group Policy so they are not presented as universally running as SYSTEM, and
preserve the existing behavior and exit-code details for non-elevated execution.
- Around line 71-75: Update the Windows installation guidance around the newer
MSI command so upgrades use an upgrade-capable deployment job rather than the
install-only GPO workflow, or adjust that workflow to invoke msiexec for
existing installations. Preserve the documented in-place upgrade behavior and
peer registration/configuration.
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src/pages/get-started/install/windows.mdxsrc/pages/manage/peers/auto-update.mdx
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…p upgrades - Not every deployment configuration runs as SYSTEM; a user-context job fails with 1625. Say the job must run elevated. - The GPO deployment script exits when NetBird is already installed, so it is install-only. Warn that upgrades need an upgrade-capable job.
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What
Clarifies that updating the Windows client does not require the end user to have administrator rights, and documents how to push updates through RMM/MDM tools. This comes up repeatedly in support: the "update needs admin" confusion is caused by mixing two different update paths.
Changes
manage/peers/auto-update.mdxget-started/install/windows.mdxSYSTEM) context, which deployment tools already provide, and that a standard user running it silently gets exit code1625.1603.Why
Answers a recurring deployment question from customers who install the client per-machine (all-users MSI) via RMM/MDM and then hit UAC when a user clicks Update in the client, or find that re-pushing the MSI does not appear to upgrade in place.
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