Preparation

Download the 1E Client Deployment Assistant zip from the 1E Support Portal. The contents of the zip are:

  • README.txt: Lists CDA features and release history.

  • 1E_License_Agreement.rtf: The text for the 1E license agreement displayed in the CDA wizard.

  • 1EClientDeploymentAssistant.exe: Executable that runs the CDA wizard.

  • 1EClientDeploymentAssistant.exe.config: Configuration file for the executable, mainly used for debugging.

  • 1EClientDeploymentAssistantWizard.dll: Library supporting the executable.

  • AppImport.xml: The answer file that provides default settings for clients and deployments.

  • GenerateMST.exe: Creates MST transform files for the installers.

  • GenerateMST.exe.config: Controls the behavior of the GenerateMST.exe application.

  • licenses.txt: Edit this file if you want to provide default values for the clients that require licensing (required only for 1E NightWatchman Agent).

  • Microsoft.Deployment.Compression.Cab.dll: WiX tool used to create the .cab files.

  • Microsoft.Deployment.Compression.dll: WiX tool used to create the .cab files.

  • SACommon.dll: Common utilities used in the solution accelerators.

  • Wix Toolset source.zip: Files related to the Wix toolkit.

The zip file also contains the following:

  • Agent Installation Files: Contains the client .msi installer files, .msp accumulated hotfix files, and base .mst transform files.

  • Images: Contains Client Deployment Assistant.png.

In this documentation, Configuration Manager (CM) means either Microsoft Endpoint Configuration Manager (MECM), or its predecessor Microsoft System Center Configuration Manager (SCCM).

To run CDA

Host computer

The host computer used to run the CDA wizard can be the Configuration Manager site server or another computer that has the following installed:

  • Configuration Manager console.

  • Microsoft ADK with WinPE addon, but only if the CDA wizard is used to create PXE Everywhere applications.

  • It will need to have .Net Framework v4.8 Runtime installed, a check when the wizard runs checks for this being installed, and will if not already installed, provide a link to https://dotnet.microsoft.com/en-us/download/dotnet-framework/net48?cid=getdotnetframework where you will need to download and run the .Net Framework v4.8 Runtime. The link is provided should you wish to install this prior to running the wizard. The installation does require a reboot to complete.

If you are installing PXE Everywhere you must install the Deployment Tools feature from the Microsoft Assessment and Deployment Kit (ADK), and the WinPE addon. The user running the CDA wizard must have local administrator privileges because the CDA wizard uses dism.exe to mount a PXE .wim file in order to extract boot image files. Start the wizard using Run as Administrator.

To download and install the Windows ADK go to https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-hardware/get-started/adk-install. Starting with Windows 10, version 1809, WinPE is an add-on to the ADK, previously it was included in the ADK. First install the ADK, and then install the WinPE addon. Approximately 7GB disk space is required.

Domain Accounts

  • Installer account: Used to run the CDA wizard on the host computer, must have local administrator rights on the host computer. If you run the CDA wizard on the Configuration Manager site server, the installer account must also have at least the Application Administrator role in Configuration Manager. Start the wizard using Run as Administrator.

  • Configuration Manager user: If you run the CDA wizard on a remote computer (other than the Configuration Manager site server), you must specify the user account that will create objects in Configuration Manager. This can be the same as the installer account or any other domain user account that has at least an Application Administrator role in Configuration Manager.

If the installer account and Configuration Manager user are different accounts then you must specify the Configuration Manager user in the Configuration Manager connection screen.

Configuration Manager site

  • Connection to a Configuration Manager site is required even if you only want to use the CDA wizard to create the MST transform files. The site must have software distribution features enabled.

  • CDA helps create everything you need to deploy clients and agents in your Configuration Manager environment. If you prefer, you can use CDA in a lab or other environment to create the Configuration Manager application and/or package content (including MST transform files). Then you can copy the content to your production environment and manually create your deployments.

  • If you don't want CDA to create objects in Configuration Manager then you can use Microsoft's Orca to edit the base MST transform files supplied with CDA, and manually create your deployments.

    Orca is a Microsoft tool for creating and editing Windows Installer packages (MSI) and merging modules (MST transforms) https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/desktop/msi/orca-exe.

Application and Package content source shares

The CDA wizard requires you to specify share names that Configuration Manager uses as application and package content source shares. The CDA wizard creates folders in each share and copies files to them, and Configuration Manager will copy the files and distribute them to Distribution Points. Typically, you will already have these shares, or you can create new ones.

Each content source share must have at least the following share permissions and NTFS security:

  • Read access by the Configuration Manager site server computer$ account.

  • Write access by the installer account used to run the CDA wizard.

The UNC of each content source share must be provided in the General settings screen. For example, your applications UNC may be: \\acme-server\dsl$\Applications and your packages UNC may be: \\acme-server\dsl$\Packages.

Configuration Manager Distribution Point Group

You must have at least one Distribution Point Group defined in Configuration Manager if you want to enable the Distribute Content option in the General settings screen. This option causes Configuration Manager to distribute application and package source to the Distribution Points after the wizard has been run.

Licenses.txt file

A license file is required to run CDA, even if it has incorrect license keys. A default file is supplied in the release root folder which can be modified to include your own license key(s), which is useful if you don't want to type them manually each time you run CDA.

At this time a license key is only required for 1E NightWatchman Agent, therefore if you are not using the Agent then please use the default file.

  • The file format is a simple name=value pair with one license per line where the name is the name of the application as it appears in the answer file. For example, the contents of the file will look like this 1E NightWatchman Agent=ACMEXX-5555-6666-JKLM-NOPQ. You must update this file if you intend to use the CDA wizard in unattended mode.

  • If the license file does not exist or if you have not updated it with the license for a particular client agent, you will need to manually type the license key into the Agent selection screen in the CDA wizard.

  • 1E license keys have the format: <name>-<4Chars>-<4Chars>-<4Chars>-<4Chars>

    A license key may be reported as invalid if hyphens or other characters have been converted into symbols or Unicode, which can happen if copy+pasted.

  • 1E Client does not have a license key. Even so, you must adhere to the terms of your license agreement.

Infrastructure requirements

When using the CDA wizard you will be required to enter details of your server infrastructure. The following table describes the server infrastructure required if you intend to deploy the corresponding clients or agents.

Server

Used by

Requirements

1E Platform

1E and other client settings

Content Distribution client settings

If you intend to use 1E, the 1E client screen in the CDA wizard requires details of the 1E Switch and Background Channel. These are normally installed on a single 1E server and therefore use the same DNS Name. Large environments (over 50,000) may have a 1E Master Stack server and one or more separate Response Stack servers. These may share the same DNS Name or have different DNS Names. The names required by the 1E client screen will depend on the design of your 1E system.

The 1E Master Stack server requires a license obtained from 1E, but details of this are not required by the CDA wizard.

Content Distribution client uses the Content Distribution feature of 1E Platform, which replaces ActiveEfficiency Server used by earlier versions of Content Distribution client. You must enable the client if you want Nomad to use any of the following Nomad features.

Although not a requirement for generally using Content Distribution, 1E Platform must be installed and available before you can use certain Content Distribution features.

The following Content Distribution features use Content Distribution and require 1E Platform and 1E features of 1E Client to be enabled:

The following features were provided in versions of Content Distribution older than 7.1:

  • 1E Client Health - now provided by the Endpoint Automation feature of the 1E Platform

  • Content Distribution Dashboard - now provided by Content Distribution app feature of the 1E Platform.

Content Distribution can also be used to provide content distribution features for clients, as well as Configuration Manager.

PXE Everywhere Central

PXE Everywhere settings

The CDA wizard requires the URL of the PXE Everywhere Central web service when deploying PXE Everywhere Local client. PXE Everywhere Central is installed on a Configuration Manager Site server, or other Windows server.

NightWatchman Management Center

1E and other client settings

1E NightWatchman Agent settings

NightWatchman Management Center server is required if implementing NightWatchman or WakeUp solutions.

The CDA wizard requires the name of the NightWatchman web server (specifically the web server hosting the AFWebService).

WakeUp Server

1E and other client settings

If implementing WakeUp, or Content Distribution integration with WakeUp, then you require a WakeUp Server.

If you have Configuration Manager, you require a WakeUp Server on each Site server that has clients reporting into it.

If you do not have Configuration Manager, you require one or more independent WakeUp Servers.

Ideally, you would install the WakeUp Server before deploying the 1E Client with the WakeUp client module enabled, but that is not a prerequisite for using the CDA wizard.

Shopping Central

1E and other client settings

The CDA wizard requires the URL of the Shopping Central self-service portal when configuring the Shopping client module of the 1E Client. A Shopping solution requires a Shopping Central server on a web server, and a Shopping Receiver installed on each Configuration Manager Site server that has a client reporting to it, and on a CAS if using Shopping for OS Deployment. You can deploy the 1E Client without 1E servers or 1E license.

If users are using Edge or Metro browsers, then you must enable the loopback feature option in the CDA wizard. This feature implements a mechanism for passing information between the Shopping client, the browser's secure sandboxed environment and the local machine. This mechanism affects these browsers as a whole and is not just restricted for use by Shopping.

Before enabling the Edge/Windows App browser support option, check your security policy on enabling loopback and be aware of the implications of allowing access between browsers and the local machine.

Configuration Manager objects

For each 1E Client, the CDA wizard allows you to choose whether to create the following objects in Configuration Manager:

  • Application and Deployment Type.

  • Package and Program.

  • Device Collection and Deployment for the Application(these are not created for packages, because packages are generally used only in Task Sequences).

Refer to Configuration Manager objects.

Each 1E Client agent has Specify application and/or package information screen with the following options:

Installation Files Directory

Mandatory

Tells the CDA wizard where to locate the 1E Client source files that you extracted when you unzipped the 1E Client Deployment Assistant (CDA) files. These are used to create Configuration Manager applications and packages.

Create Application

Optional

Determines if an application for the client is created in Configuration Manager.

You must check Create Application and/or Create Package option to enable and click on the Next button.

If this option is not checked, then the CDA Wizard will not copy files and create an MST transform in the Application Content Source specified in the General settings screen.

Create Application Deployment

Optional

Only enabled if you choose Create Application and determine whether a required deployment type for the application is created in Configuration Manager.

Create/Select Device Collection

Mandatory if Create Application Deployment is enabled

The device collection is used to deploy the application. If specified, then the CDA wizard will also create a deployment for the application's deployment types and the specified collection.

A default name is suggested, which you can change. If the name you entered for Create/Select Device Collection does not exist, one is created. You must manually populate the created device collection after running the CDA wizard.

You can click Browse to choose from a list of existing collections that you have access to using Configuration Manager RBAC. If you do this, you will not have the option to associate the device collection with a Limiting Collection.

Limiting Collection

Mandatory if Create Application Deployment is enabled

If you are creating a new device collection, you must also choose an associated Limiting Collection.

This limits administrators to populating the new device collection with devices only from the selected Limiting Collection. By default, this is All Systems, but you can click Browse to choose from a list of existing collections that you have access to using Configuration Manager RBAC.

Create Package

Optional

Determines if a legacy package and associated install and uninstall programs for the client are created in Configuration Manager.

You must check Create Application and/or Create Package options to enable and click on the Next button.

If this option is not checked, then the CDA wizard will not copy files and create an MST transform in the Package Content Source specified in the General settings screen.

Packages are created primarily for use in Task Sequences, therefore the CDA wizard sets the Allow this program to be installed from the Install Package task sequence without being deployed property, and does not create collections or deployments.

Do not use this option unless you require a package to be created. You can re-run CDA wizard later to create one if required.