Considerations When Installing an Agent using Group Policy

You can deploy a Carbon Black App Control agent using a Group Policy Object (GPO).

Using Group Policy to deploy software is a common method that is well documented. For example, see How to use Group Policy to remotely install software in Windows Server

Some network latency issues have occasionally been reported when deploying agents using a GPO. If you intend to deploy your Carbon Black App Control agents by using a GPO, please consider the following:

• Make sure that the MSI is copied to a local drive and called with a fully-qualified path.
• Do not let the deployment monitor for the presence of the expected version. This will break upgrades that are deployed through the console because SCCM, etc. will want to roll back any upgrades.
• Disable any MSI or MSP transformations inside your distribution system.
• To reduce network traffic, copy the installer first and then install the agent locally.

Finally, if you continue to experience network latency issues after implementing the previous suggestions, consider wrapping the agent installer in another script. This is most commonly done by using a batch file that copies the installer locally and then executes it. For example:

@ECHO OFF

COPY "\\network_location\folder\bit9_agent_install.msi" "%WINDIR%\Temp\bit9_agent_install.msi"

msiexec /i "%WINDIR%\Temp\bit9_agent_install.msi" /qn /l*v+"%WINDIR%\Temp\bit9_agent_install_log.txt" 

If you continue to experience problems deploying the installer using a GPO, contact Carbon Black Support.