Installing and Configuring the eG Agent on Windows

You can use any of the following approaches to install eG agents on Windows hosts:

  • The eG agent software for Windows is available in the eG web site as a set of self-extracting setup programs (*.exe) - one for every flavor/version of Windows that eG supports. You can download the exe that corresponds to the target Windows host from the eG web site, and manually run the executable on that host to install the eG agent. This approach is ideal if you want to deploy eG for a single organization - i.e., for the Enterprise deployment of eG. To know how to manually install the eG agent on a single Windows host, follow the procedure detailed in the Installing Windows Agents for an Enterprise Deployment of the eG Manager topic.
  • Where the eG manager is installed on-premises and is part of an Active Directory domain comprising of numerous Windows hosts, you can automatically push eG agents to multiple hosts at the same time from the eG manager. To know how to achieve this, refer to the Automated Installation of eG Agents in an Enterprise Deploymenttopic. Note that this approach again is ideal for Enterprise deployments of the eG manager.
  • The eG agent software for Windows is provided as a set of packaged applications - one for every flavor/version of Windows that eG supports. You can download the agent package that corresponds to the target Windows host from the eG manager console, extract the contents of the package to any folder in the target host, and silently run setup on each host to install the agent. If you are deploying eG Enterprise for SaaS, then it is mandatory that your tenants use this approach to install the eG agents in their environment. To know how to silently install an eG agent on individual Windows hosts, refer to the Installing Windows Agents for a SaaS Deployment of the eG Manager topic.
  • To monitor a cloud infrastructure characterized by numerous Windows hosts, it may be cumbersome and time-consuming to download and silently install eG agents on individual Windows hosts. In such cases, it is best to automate agent installation on multiple Windows hosts using the agent installer. To kow how to use the agent installer, refer to the Automated Installation of eG Agents in a SaaS Deployment topic. Note that this approach is recommended for SaaS deployments of the eG manager.

Installing Windows Agents for an Enterprise Deployment of the eG Manager

An Enterprise deployment of the eG manager is typically used to monitor only a single organization's IT infrastructure. In this case, it is recommended that the procedure detailed in this section be used to install eG agents on Windows hosts.

Before installing the eG agent on Windows, choose from the following self-extracting programs, based on what flavor/version of Windows is in use:

  • eGAgent_win2008.exe, if you are installing on a 32-bit Windows 2008 / Windows Vista/ Windows 7 host
  • eGAgent_win2008_x64.exe, if you are buon a 64-bit Windows 2008/Windows Vista/Windows 7 host
  • eGAgent_win2012.exe , if you are installing on a 32-bit Windows 8 / Windows 2012 host
  • eGAgent_win2012_x64.exe, if you are installing on a 64-bit Windows 8 / Windows 2012 host
  • eGAgent_win2016_x64.exe, if you are installing on a Windows 2016 / Windows 10 host
  • eGAgent_win2019_x64.exe, if you are installing on a Windows 2019 host
  • eGAgent_win2022_x64.exe, if you are installing on a Windows 2022/Windows 11 host

Note:

Before installing an eG agent on a Windows 2008 host, make sure that the VC 2008 (or above) runtime engine exists on that host. If not, then download and install the same. For use on a 32-bit Windows 2008 host, you need to download the 32-bit VC 2008 (or above) runtime engine from the URL, http://www.microsoft.com/download/en/details.aspx?id=29. Prior to installing the eG agent on a 64-bit Windows 2008 host, download and install the 64-bit VC 2008 (or above) runtime engine from the URL, http://www.microsoft.com/download/en/details.aspx?displaylang=en&id=15336.

  1. To start the installation process, download the corresponding exefrom the eG web site to any folder in the target Windows host. The steps for downloading are detailed in the eG Quick Installation Guide. Then, run the downloaded exe. The Welcome screen (see Figure 1) of the eG agent Setup program appears. Clicking on the Next > button at the bottom of this screen takes the user to the next step of the setup.

    Figure 1 : Welcome screen of the eG agent setup program

  2. Now, the user can view the eG license agreement (see Figure 2). Also, the setup program seeks the confirmation of the user regarding his/her acceptance of the terms and conditions of the license agreement. It is mandatory that the user must accept the license agreement to proceed with the setup. The user now needs to go through the license agreement thoroughly and click the Yes button at the bottom of the screen to accept and proceed with the setup process.

    Figure 2 : License agreement for the eG agent

  3. If an eG manager resides on the host where the agent is being installed, then setup will automatically install the agent in the same location as the manager. In this case, a message to that effect will appear, as depicted by Figure 3. Click the OK button in Figure 3 to continue with the installation.

    Figure 3 : Installing the eG agent in the same directory as the eG manager

    On the other hand, if an eG manager does not pre-exist on the eG agent's host, then by default, the eG agent will be installed in the C:\Program Files directory on the agent host. You can however override this default setting at the time of installation, by specifying a different install location. Then, click the Next button to continue with the installation.

    Note:

    If you choose to install the eG agent in the root (C) drive directly, then note that you may compromising the security of the eG agent-related files. You would also be enabling non-admin users to modify the files, and causing privilege escalation issues to occur.

  4. Soon after the agent install directory is specified, a message box will appear requesting you to indicate whether the eG agent is to use SSL for communicating with the manager (see Figure 4). Click on the Yes button to confirm SSL support for the agent. If the eG manager is not SSL-enabled or if you do not want the agent to communicate with the manager over SSL, then click the No button.

    Figure 4 : A message box requesting the user’s confirmation to enable SSL support for the eG agent

  5. If the Yes button is clicked at step 4, then Figure 5 will appear requesting your confirmation to allow trusted certificates only. Click on the Yes button if the agent is expected to communicate only with a manager that has a trusted SSL certificate.  If you click on the No button, the agent accepts any certificate provided by the manager at the time when the SSL connection is established.

    Figure 5 : A message box requesting your confirmation to allow only trusted certificates

    Note:

    If you have chosen to allow only trusted certificates only, then ensure that the IP/hostname provided in Figure 6 matches that of the certificate. Then, follow the procedure detailed in Enabling the eG Agent to Allow Trusted Certificates topic once the agent installation is complete.

  6. Clicking on either button (in Figure 5) will reveal Figure 6 using which the manager IP/hostname and the SSL port will have to be specified.

    Figure 6 : Specifying the IP/hostname and SSL port of the eG manager

  7. However, if you click on the No button in the message box that appears at step 4, then you will jump straight to this step, where you will have to configure the IP/hostname and port (not SSL port) of the eG manager that the agent should communicate with (see Figure 7). 7077 is the default port. The hostname should be used if DNS is enabled in the target environment. Otherwise, the IP address should be used. 

    Figure 7 : Hostname and port number of the eG manager to which the agent communicates

  8. The setup process requires to know if the user needs a proxy for the eG manager - agent communication. The same has to be indicated via the dialog box depicted by Figure 8. The default option is No. If you want the eG agent to communicate with the eG manager via proxy, then click the Yes button in Figure 8.

    Figure 8 : Setup enquiring if the user wants to use a proxy server for the eG manager - agent communication

  9. If the user chooses to use a proxy, he/she has to provide the name of the proxy server followed by the port number of the proxy server in Figure 9. The default port number of a proxy server is 80. However, if the user chooses not to use a proxy server, he/she will be taken to step 12 of this setup.

    Figure 9 : Specifying the proxy server that the agent may need to use to communicate with the eG manager

  10. Some proxy servers may be setup to validate incoming requests based on the user name and password specified before forwarding the requests to other web servers. To support such cases, the setup process enquires as to whether authentication is required by the proxy server (see Figure 10). The default option is No. Click Yes if the proxy server requires authentication.

    Figure 10 : Setup seeking the confirmation regarding authentication of the proxy server

  11. If authentication is required, the eG agent setup allows the user to enter the user name and password that is used for all communications from the agent to the manager via a proxy server as in Figure 11.

    Figure 11 : Username and password to be used for communication via a proxy server

    Note:

    If the eG agent is configured to communicate with the eG manager via a proxy server, then, whenever the eG agent attempts to remotely monitor an application by connecting to it via HTTP/HTTPS, it may automatically use the proxy server to establish this connection; this in tun may cause problems while monitoring those applications. To avoid this, before configuring the eG agent-manager communication via a proxy, make sure that the agent will be able to connect to remote applications also via the same proxy.

  12. The next step displays all the details that have been provided so far by the user as in Figure 12.

    Figure 12 : Information specified by the user at the various stages of the setup process

  13. Next, the user has to decide whether to assign a nick name for the eG agent.  In many environments, servers and routers may not be assigned host names. Furthermore, the host names may not be easy to remember or recall. It is not easy to refer to servers and network devices using their IP addresses. To make it easy for administrators/operators to refer to the monitored servers/devices, the eG manager and agents can identify these devices using “nick names”. A nick name is a logical, easy to understand name assigned to a server/device. Nick names can be assigned to a server when installing the agent. The nick name assigned to a server when installing an agent must also be specified in the eG admin interface when adding an application on that server. Figure 13 provides the user the option of specifying a nick name.

    Figure 13 : Setup requesting the user’s confirmation to assign a nick name for the eG agent

  14. Clicking on the Yes button in Figure 13 will then require the user to specify the nick name (see Figure 14).

    Figure 14 : Assigning a nick name for the eG agent’s host

    Note:

    Once a nick name is specified for a host, the user has the option of managing applications running on the host by using the nick name/ IP address. While providing multiple nick names, ensure that they are separated by a ‘:’. Also, ensure that a nick name does not contain any white spaces, and that all nick names are in lower case.

  15. If the configuration process succeeds, the following screen will be displayed (see Figure 15). Clicking on the Finish button will exit the Setup.

    Figure 15 : The completion of the eG agent setup

Installing Windows Agents for a SaaS Deployment of the eG Manager

As stated earlier, where eG Enterprise needs to support multiple tenants - eg., MSP environments with multiple customers, enterprises with multiple departments/domains - the individual tenants should use only this approach to deploy the eG agent on the Windows hosts in their specific environments.

A key pre-requisite of this approach is that the eG manager should already be deployed and running.

To enable a tenant to install eG agents, the administrator should first make sure that the agent packages that correspond to the tenant's environment are accessible to the tenant from the eG manager console. For that, the administrator should do the following:

  1. Login to the system hosting the eG manager.
  2. From a browser, connect to the URL: https://www.eginnovations.com/eval<current_version_num>/AgentPackages
  3. In this location, you will find a set of zip files. Each zip file is an agent package that corresponds to every operating system on which an eG agent can be installed.

  4. Download the agent packages / zip files that correspond to the hosts in your tenant's environment, to any folder on the eG manager host. The Windows-specific packages are as follows:

    • Windows_2008.zip for 32-bit Windows 2008 / Windows Vista/ Windows 7 hosts
    • Windows_2008_x64.zip for 64-bit Windows 2008 / Windows Vista/ Windows 7 hosts
    • Windows_2012.zip for 32-bit Windows 8 / Windows 2012 hosts
    • Windows_2012_x64.zip for 64-bit Windows 8 / Windows 2012 hosts
    • Windows_2016_x64.zip for Windows 2016 / Windows 10 hosts
    • Windows_2019_x64.zip for Windows 2019 hosts
    • Windows_2022_x64.zip for Windows 2022/Windows 11 hosts
  5. Copy the downloaded packages to the <EG_MANAGER_INSTALL_DIR>\agents\Universal\Latest folder.

The tenant can now proceed to install the eG agent using the procedure discussed hereunder:

Note:

Before installing an eG agent on a Windows 2008 host, make sure that the VC 2008 (or above) runtime engine exists on that host. If not, then download and install the same. For use on a 32-bit Windows 2008 host, you need to download the 32-bit VC 2008 (or above) runtime engine from the URL, http://www.microsoft.com/download/en/details.aspx?id=29. Prior to installing the eG agent on a 64-bit Windows 2008 host, download and install the 64-bit VC 2008 (or above) runtime engine from the URL, http://www.microsoft.com/download/en/details.aspx?displaylang=en&id=15336.

  1. Using a browser, connect to the URL of the eG management console.
  2. Login to the eG management console using the credentials you used (corporate email ID and password) to register with eG Enterprise for SaaS.

  3. First, click the Get Started Now link in Figure 16.

  4. If the Yes option is chosen in , then Figure 16 will appear. Here, you need to provide the details of the proxy server used for agent-manager communication.

    Figure 16 : Configuring agent-manager communication via a proxy server

  1. Specify the following in Figure 16:

    • Proxy Server IP/Hostname: Mention the IP address/hostname of the proxy server used for agent-manager communication.
    • Proxy Server Port: Specify the port number at which the proxy server listens.
    • Does the proxy server require authentication?: Indicate whether/not the proxy server requires authentication. Select the No option if authentication is required, and Yes if it is.
    • Username, Password, and Confirm Password: If the proxy server requires authentication, then provide the credentials of a valid proxy server user against the Username and Password text boxes. Confirm the password by retyping it in the Confirm Password text box.

    • Finally, click the Submit button to confirm the proxy server specifications and proceed with the downloading of the eG agent.

  2. Figure 17 will appear.

    Figure 17 : Downloading the eG monitor

  3. Figure 17 allows you the flexibility to choose an Installation Method. An agent can be installed using any of the following methods:

    • Using the Command line

    • Using the Agent Installer

    The Installation Method you choose will determine the course of the installation process. The sub-sections below will discuss each of these methods in detail.

Using ZIP/TAR Package for Agent Installation

To use this option, follow the steps below:

  1. First, download the ZIP/TAR file that includes the eG agent installable from the eG manager to your local host. For this, login to the system hosting the eG manager.

  2. From a browser, connect to the URL: https://www.eginnovations.com/eval728/AgentPackages

  3. In this location, you will find a set of zip files. Each zip file is an agent package that corresponds to every operating system on which an eG agent can be installed.

  4. Download the agent packages / zip files that correspond to the hosts in your tenant's environment, to any folder on the eG manager host.

  5. Copy the downloaded packages to the <EG_MANAGER_INSTALL_DIR>\agents\Universal\Latest folder.

  6. Then, login to the eG management console as a user with administrative rights.

  7. If the host to which you have downloaded the package is the target Windows host for agent installation, then login to that Windows host. On the other hand, if you want to install the eG agent on a host different from the one on which the package has been downloaded, then first copy the agent package to any location on the target Windows host. Then, login to that host.

  8. Open the folder to which the zip file has been copied/downloaded, and extract the contents of the file. The extracted contents will be as depicted by Figure 18.

    Figure 18 : The contents extracted from the agent package zip file

  9. As is evident from Figure 18, the following files are extracted:

    • eGAgent_<winflavor>_<win_bitrate>: This is the eG agent installable (exe) that corresponds to the version/flavor/bit rate of the target Windows host.
    • setup.bat: This is the batch file that drives the silent installation of the eG agent. Running setup invokes the eG agent executable and silently installs the agent on the target host.

    • eg_uaid: In a multi-tenant setup, once a tenant - eg., a user representing a customer / a department / a domain - registers with eG Enterprise to use its monitoring services, eG automatically generates a unique UAID and assigns the same to that tenant. If that tenant later logs into the eG management console using the registered credentials (email ID and password) and downloads the agents, each agent so downloaded is automatically tagged with that UAID. The downloaded agents, once installed and configured, will automatically start discovering applications on their respective hosts. eG Enterprise auto-manages the discovered applications and auto-assigns them to the user who has the same UAID as the eG agent that discovered these applications. The eg_uaid file contains the UAID of the tenant who downloaded agent packages from the eG management console; this is the same UAID that will be assigned to each agent installed by that tenant.

  10. Next, to install the eG agent on a Windows host silently, open Windows explorer and go to the folder to which the contents of the zip file have been extracted.

  11. Right-click on the setup.bat file in that folder, and click the Run as administrator option in the shortcut menu that pops up.

    Figure 19 : Running the setup.bat file as administrator

  12. This will automatically install an eG agent on the target Windows host. This eG agent will automatically report metrics to the eG manager from which the agent package was downloaded. Also, the hostname of such an agent is automatically set as its nick name.

Note:

In a multi-tenant setup, a hostname may not be unique across tenant environments. To avoid nick name duplication, eG Enterprise automatically employs the following algorithm when assigning nick names:

  • At the time of setting the hostname of an agent host as its nick name, eG first checks if that hostname has already been assigned to any existing agent.
  • If it finds that the hostname has already been taken, then it will attempt to assign the FQDN - the fully qualified domain name - of the agent host as the nick name.
  • In the process, if eG finds that the FQDN is also in use, then it will break-down the FQDN into smaller strings, and try to assign each of these strings, one after another, to the agent.
  • If all these FQDN strings have already been assigned to other agents, then the eG agent will suffix the hostname of the agent host with the number 0, and try to assign this as the nick name of the eG agent. For instance, if the hostname of the eG agent host is winpc, then the nick name assigned to that agent will be winpc0.

  • If this nick name is also taken, then eG will increment the number 0, which suffixes the hostname, by 1, and will try to assign the resultant string to the eG agent,. This way, eG will keep incrementing the number suffix until an unused string is found. Such a string will finally be assigned to the agent as its nick name.

    In a SaaS deployment, if a tenant manually adds components to be monitored by an eG agent, then that agent's nick name should only be added as the nick name of each of those components.

Using the Command Line to Install an eG Agent

For this, you need to execute the PowerShell script (for Windows) / Curl command (for Linux) that eG Enterprise provides, from the Windows PowerShell / Linux Shell prompt (as the case may be) of the target host. The script/command will automatically instal and start the eG agent on that host. Also, the agent will be automatically configured to report to the cloud manager.

To install an eG agent on a Windows host using the PowerShell script, do the following:

  • In Figure 3, set Command Line as the Installation Method.

  • Then, pick Windows as the Operating System.

  • Next, pick the Windows version and bit-rate from the Environment drop-down. The PowerShell script that corresponds to your specification will then be displayed, as depicted by Figure 3.

    Figure 20 : Installing an eG agent on a Windows host using the PowerShell script provided by eG

  • Click on the Copy button below the script to copy the script to the clipboard.

  • Next, open the PowerShell prompt on the target host, paste the script therein, and run it as an administrator.

  • The script, upon execution, will automatically install, start, and configure the eG agent. Later, the eG agent so installed, will automatically discover the environment and auto-manage the discovered components.

  • Repeat the steps above on each Windows host to install the eG agent on it.

Note:

Before attempting to use the Command line option for agent installation on a Windows host, make sure that PowerShell v5,0 (or above) exists on the target host.

To install the eG agent on Linux using the eG-provided Curl command, do the following:

  • In Figure 3, set Command Line as the Installation Method.

  • Then, pick Linux as the Operating System.

  • Next, pick the Linux version and bit-rate from the Environment drop-down. The Curl command that corresponds to your specification will then be displayed, as depicted by Figure 21.

    Figure 21 : Installing the eG agent on a Linux host by running a Curl command on the target host

  • Click on the Copy button below the command to copy it to the clipboard.

  • Next, open the Shell prompt on the target host, paste the command therein, and run it with root user privileges.

  • The command, upon execution, will automatically install and start the eG agent on the target host, and will also auto-configure the eG agent to report to the cloud manager. Later, the eG agent so installed, will also automatically discover the environment and auto-manage the discovered components.

  • Repeat the steps above on each Linux host to install the eG agent on it.

Note:

Before attempting to use the Command line option for agent installation on a Linux host, make sure that curl package exists on the target host.

Using the Agent Installer

You can download, install, and use eG's proprietary Agent Installer to automatically install eG agents on multiple Windows hosts from a centralized interface. To know how to deploy the installer and use it to push eG agents to targets, refer to the Automated Installation of eG Agents in a SaaS Deployment topic.

Note:

In a SaaS installation of eG Enterprise, if you are downloading an agent for installation on an imaging system (e.g. for Citrix Provisioning services), or on a snapshot (for Citrix Machine Creation Services), or on a VM template for virtual servers, then, make sure that you first enable the Installation on a golden image / VM template flag in Figure 21 and then proceed with the downloading. If this is done, then after the agent so downloaded is installed, setup will stop that agent. Also, setup will auto-delete the eg_nick.ini file of that agent, so that no nick name is assigned to that agent.

On the other hand, if you download and install an agent on an imaging system / snapshot / VM template WITHOUT ENABLING the Installation on a golden image / VM template flag in Figure 21, then the installation will automatically start the agent and assign the hostname of the system as the nick name automatically. In such a case, you need to do the following:

  • On the snapshot / golden image / master VM, open the eg_nick.ini file in the <EG_AGENT_INSTALL_DIR>\agent\config directory.
  • Check to see if the Nick parameter in that file is set to any value. If this parameter has no value, it implies that no nick name was set for the eG agent on that snapshot / golden image / master VM. On the other hand, if the Nick parameter has a value, it indicates that a nick name was set for the eG agent. In this case, make sure that you delete the eg_nick.ini file on the snapshot / golden image / master VM before you proceed further.
  • Likewise, delete the contents of the <EG_AGENT_INSTALL_DIR>\agent\data folder and the <EG_AGENT_INSTALL_DIR>\agent\logs folder are deleted.
  • Finally, stop the eG agent.

Note:

  • It is not necessary to reboot a server after installing the eG agent on Windows.

  • If certain supported Microsoft operating systems and applications are to be monitored in an agentless manner, then, in order to enable the eG remote agent to collect measurements from these applications using Perfmon counters, the following are required:

    • A remote agent can monitor a Windows environment only if it is installed with a domain administrator’s privileges.
    • NetBIOS should be enabled on the target host.
    • PerfMon should have at least READ access to the Perflib\LanguageID subkey on the remote computer (which allows external access to PerfMon). The Perflib\LanguageID subkey is located in the following Registry path: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\WindowsNT\CurrentVersion\Perflib\LanguageID. The LanguageID is a numeric code for the spoken language of the installed operating system. A computer with a LanguageID of 009 (the English LanguageID) has the following Perflib\Language subkey: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Perflib\009.
    • The Disk Performance Statistics Driver (diskperf) should exist on the target computer; allow READ access explicitly to the user account for the following registry key and all subkeys: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\Diskperf.

Note:

  • The monitored computer should be able to connect to IPC$. The following registry entry enables connecting to IPC$:

    • Hive: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM
    • Key: CurrentControlSet\Services\LanmanServer\Parameters
    • Name: AutoShareWks
    • Type: REG_DWORD
    • Value: 1
  • At least READ access should be granted to the following registry subkey (allowing it to remotely connect to the Windows registry): HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\SecurePipeServers\winreg. This permission determines who can remotely connect to a registry. If this subkey does not exist, all users can remotely connect to the registry. To remotely connect to a registry, a user must have at least READ access to the winreg subkey on the target computer.

  • At least READ access should be granted to the following registry keys on the remote computer:

    • HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\SecurePipeServ ers\winreg
    • HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\WindowsNT\CurrentVersion\Perflib

  • To monitor Windows 2000 and Windows XP, the user name must have access granted by the following group policies:

    • Profile single process
    • Profile system performance

    Both group policies are security settings that you can set from the Local Policies => User Rights option in the Administrative Tools of the Control Panel.

  • To monitor Windows XP, if the systemroot is on an NTFS partition, the user name must have at least READ access to the following two files:

    • %SystemRoot%\System32\Perfc009.dat
    • %SystemRoot%\System32\Perfh009.dat