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Agent Configuration

Installing your Agents

Agent installation and configuration

In this section, we will deep dive into deploying the Pia Agent into your environment.

The Pia Agent is required to be installed on any device which is to be supported in terms of running packages on the device. At present, Pia is supported on the following Operating Systems and Classes:

  • Windows Server 2016 or higher
  • Windows 10 or higher
For ConnectWise Automate, we have constructed a package which can be imported into your instance to facilitate with the deployment.

This packages includes the following:

  • An EDF to define Pia values per Client
  • Install, uninstall and reinstall scripts
  • Searches for determining whether Pia is installed
  • Groups to categorise endpoints based on the search above

You can download this package from here: https://piavideos.blob.core.windows.net/videos/CW%20Automate%20Pia%20Deployment%20Setup%20+%20Scripts.zip

info

Note 1: As the .xml contents of the package are not readable to determine the actions prior to import, we have provided screenshots in the .zip file to show the expected result after import.

Note 2: Please import the .xml file called "Group - Pia.xml" first BEFORE importing any of the other .xml files provided in the .zip file. Not doing so risks causing database corruption.

  1. Import the .xml files by going to System > General > Import > XML Expansion

23-cwa-xml1.png

  1. After importing each .xml file, please check the Groups, Searches, Scripts and EDF sections to confirm that the items are visible as per the provided screenshots.

  2. The imported scripts to install and reinstall Pia require editing to point to your Pia Tenant FQDN. Navigate to Automation > Scripts > View Scripts

24-cwa-script1.png

  1. Select the "Pia" folder under the scripts pane. You will see the scripts for Pia listed in the main pane.

25-cwa-script3.png

  1. Right-click on the "Pia - Install Agent" script and choose "Open".

  2. In the script, navigate to the "Then" section and double-click on step number 8. You will see the install string has the -tenantname argument entered as "tenantname.pia.ai" - change this to your tenant name FQDN(same as the Pia Portal).

  3. Save the changes to the script.

  4. Repeat steps 4 to 6 for the scripts called "Pia - Reinstall Agent" and "Pia - Reinstall Agent - Clear Certificate"(step numbers to update the tenantname are different in these scripts).

25-cwa-script2.png

note

In the above screenshot, the link displayed in Statement 7 is to an Azure Blob Storage located in Australia. If you have geo-filtering enabled and are in the United States, we have the following US Azure Storage Blob which is hosted locally that you can utilise:

https://piatenantadminprodus.blob.core.windows.net/piareleases/Pia.OrchestratorAgentService.exe

Replace the link in Statement 7 of the screenshot with the above link if you are in United States.

  1. At this point, it is time to commence filling out the EDF for Clients. In the Clients list, right-click on a Client and choose "Open". Then in the Client Properties window which appears, navigate to Info > Pia tab.

  2. In the Pia tab you will be presented with 2 options, a tickbox to deploy the Pia Agent and a Client ID. Tick the box to Deploy Pia Agent and enter in the Pia Client ID Number. For a list of your Pia Client Id's , please refer to the Id column on the Clients page in your Pia tenant portal.

2022-12-14_09_21_15-cwautomate-edf.png

  1. After entering in the information, click "Save Additional Information".

  2. After some time, the endpoints for the Client will appear in the "Pia - Not installed" group after the search has ran.

  3. When you are ready to deploy the Pia Agent to your endpoints, the final step is to configure a scheduled script on the "Pia - Not installed" group.

  4. Navigate to Browse > Groups(tab) > Pia(folder) > Pia - Not Installed

26-cwa-group.png

  1. Right-click on "Pia - Not Installed" and choose "Open".

  2. In the "AutoJoin Searches" section under the "Computers" dropdown, choose the group "Pia\Pia - Not Installed" from the list and tick "Limit to Search". Then, click on the "Computers" tab.

26-cwa-group1.png

  1. Click on the "Scheduled Scripts" tab.

  2. Set the script to "Pia\Pia - install Agent" and then set the "Limit to Search" dropdown to "Pia\Pia - Not Installed". We recommend a weekly schedule starting at 9am and running over normal business hours.

26-cwa-group2.png

  1. Click "Save" once completed.

  2. Monitor your endpoints to confirm the Pia agent is being deployed and machines are moving from the "Pia - Not Installed" group into the "Pia - Installed" group.

Agent Activation​

In the Pia Portal, the Installed Agents must be manually activated before it can start communicating with Pia. Follow the steps below to learn how you can activate Pia Agents in the Pia Portal:

  1. Go to Configuration in the left hand menu and navigate to the Agents option.

  2. Click on the sort button in the Activated column so that you can see ALL the Agents that are installed but de-activated. You can also search for the Agent using the Search bar.

  3. Select the Agents you wish to activate. You can also use the top-left checkbox to select All.

  4. Click on 'Activate' button. This will activate the Agents.

Alternatively, you can follow the steps below to activate a single agent:

  1. Click on the Device Name. This will open up additional options for the device

  2. The Activated drop-down will have two options. Select "Activated" option

  3. Click on "Save Details" button

Uninstalling and Reinstalling​

Uninstall and reinstall scripts have been provided. With these, there are two options, a standard uninstall and reinstall script respectively and another which also clears the certificate. Unless advised by Pia Support, we recommend using the script which doesn't clear the certificate. These can simply be run on an endpoint inside Automate, same as any standard script.