Introduction
With workers now having the ability and choice to work from home, VSM Everywhere (VSM-E) provides customers and business partners with a tool to help monitor and diagnose unmanaged systems that are active outside of an office environment.
Setting Up VSM Everywhere
What You Will Need
Before installing the VSM-E client you will need the following:
- A Virsae Cloud Collector and the URL and Port for this collector
- A copy of the VSM-E installer
- A VSM Everywhere profile group configured in the web portal
- Administrator-level permissions on the machine where the VSM-E client will be installed.
Configuring a Cloud Collector
The VSM-E client is designed to communicate with a VSM Cloud Collector. Click here for instructions on setting up an Equipment Location with the 'Appliance' type set to Virtual (Virsae Cloud).
Once a VSM Cloud Collector has been administered please contact support@virsae.com to request the URL and Port for this collector.
Getting the Installer
Contact support@virsae.com for a copy of the VSM-E installer package.
Configuring a VSM Everywhere Profile Group
Before a VSM-E client can start tracking the performance of a system, it must first know what metrics it needs to track. This is determined by creating a VSM-E Profile group.
To create a Profile Group go to the Virsae Web Portal and then navigate to Service Desk > Equipment Locations > VSM Everywhere.
Customer View (of Equipment Locations):
Business Partner view (of Equipment Locations):
VSM Everywhere (From Equipment Locations):
Once you reach the Profile Groups page, you will see the following.
A profile group represents a set of metrics that the VSM-E client will track.
To configure a profile group, click the "+" button at the bottom of the group list to begin adding a new group.
Enter a group name and choose which metrics you wish to track. Once complete click the 'Add Group' button
The table below describes what each option represents.
| Field | Description |
|---|---|
| Group Name | The name of the profile group. |
| Set As Default Group | If a collector cannot find a group that is requested by a VSM Everywhere client, this is the group that will be used. |
| Performance Counter Probe Enable | whereEnables the Performance Counter probe. If this option is not selected, you cannot select the "Disk", "Memory", "Process", and "Processor" options. |
| Disk | Tracks the disk usage of a system. |
| Memory | Tracks the memory usage of a system. |
| Process | Tracks the running process on the host system. |
| Processor | Tracks the CPU usage of a system. |
| Speed Test Probe Enable | Enables the Speed Test Probe, which measures internet performance from the host |
Default groups have a tick beside their name in the side navigation bar.
You can edit groups at any point by pressing the "Edit Group" button. All fields are editable.
You can also delete groups at any time.
A collector MUST have a default group.
When you create your first group, it will automatically be set as the default.
When the existing default group is deleted and another group is available, it will be set as the default automatically.
Installing VSM Everywhere
The MSI installer accepts all of the default command line arguments provided by an MSI, as well as two additional arguments: CGWS and GROUP.
You can use either Command Prompt or PowerShell to install manually or Intune to automate installs.
Manual Installation
Installing Via Command Prompt
To get started with the installation we need to open Command Prompt in administrator mode.
First, press the Windows Key on your keyboard or click the Start icon on your taskbar.
Next search for "Command Prompt".
Find the "Command Prompt" option in the results.
Next press "Run As Administrator"
After opening the command-line interface, use the Installation Commands section to create an installation string.
Install Via Powershell
To get started with the installation we need to open Powershell in administrator mode.
First, press the Windows Key on your keyboard or click the Start icon on your taskbar.
Next search for "Powershell".
Find the "Powershell" option in the results.
Next press "Run As Administrator"
After opening the command-line interface, use the Installation Commands section to create an installation string.
Installation Commands
Install
The command line and powershell arguments below contain the placeholders {VIRSAE CLOUD COLLECTOR URL:PORT} and {PROFILE_GROUP}, replace these respectively with your Cloud Collector URL and Port, and Profile Group name.
The path to the *.msi file and the install.log will need to be altered to suit the location of your installation files.
If VSM Everywhere is installed with no group name, or if the collector could not find the requested group, the default Profile Group will be used instead.
// Command Prompt
> msiexec /i "C:\Path\To\MachineProxyAgentE_Installer.msi" /qn /norestart /L*v "C:\path\to\install.log" CGWS="{VIRSAE CLOUD COLLECTOR URL:PORT}" GROUP="{PROFILE_GROUP}"
//Powershell
> Start-Process msiexec.exe -Wait -ArgumentList '/i C:\Path\To\MachineProxyAgentE_Installer.msi /qn /norestart /L*v C:\path\to\install.log CGWS={VIRSAE CLOUD COLLECTOR URL:PORT} GROUP={PROFILE_GROUP}'
The following example will perform a silent install of VSM-E with logging. The Virsae Cloud Collector URL and port are 'a356dhgj4g5j690f9e333a60da991.vl-beta.virsae.io:443' and the VSM Everywhere profile group is 'NZ/AUS'
// Command Prompt > msiexec /i "C:\Path\To\MachineProxyAgentE_Installer.msi" /qn /norestart /L*v "C:\path\to\install.log" CGWS="a356dhgj4g5j690f9e333a60da991.vl-beta.virsae.io:443" GROUP="NZ/AUS" //Powershell > Start-Process msiexec.exe -Wait -ArgumentList '/i C:\Path\To\MachineProxyAgentE_Installer.msi /qn /norestart /L*v C:\path\to\install.log CGWS=a356dhgj4g5j690f9e333a60da991.vl-beta.virsae.io:443 GROUP=NZ/AUS'
Uninstall Command
To uninstall the VSM Everywhere Client from a command line, use one of the following commands.
The path to the *.msi file and the uninstall.log will need to be altered to suit the location of your installation files.
// Command Prompt > msiexec /x "C:\Path\To\MachineProxyAgentE_Installer.msi" /qn /norestart /L*v "C:\path\to\uninstall.log" //Powershell > Start-Process msiexec.exe -Wait -ArgumentList '/x C:\Path\To\MachineProxyAgentE_Installer.msi /qn /norestart /L*v C:\path\to\uninstall.log'
Upgrading VSM Everywhere
To upgrade, simply install over the VSM Everywhere Client by using the latest installer and the same installation commands that were used to install the client previously.
Upgrades should only be performed via installing over the existing client.
Uninstalling and re-installing the client with the latest installer will cause data loss.
Install Via Microsoft Intune
Prepare a Win32 App For Intune
To install the VSM Everywhere client using Microsoft Intune, you will need to convert the .msi installer into the .intunewin type.
Follow the instructions detailed inside of the Prepare Win32 app content for upload article with the MachineProxyAgentE_Installer.msi installer.
Add A Win32 App
Once the .intunewin file has been created, we can add it to Microsoft Intune which will automate the installation of the VSM Everywhere client to devices.
Use the Add, assign, and monitor a Win32 app in Microsoft Intune tutorial to add the installer to Microsoft Intune.
For "Step 2: Program", in the above tutorial, use the Installations Commands section on this page to define your install and uninstall commands.
Use the following GUID for the uninstall command: {FCC97786-7AD7-49B0-98C2-131F864C6BA1} .
I.e. the uninstall command will be:
msiexec /x "{FCC97786-7AD7-49B0-98C2-131F864C6BA1}"
For "Step 4: Detection Rules", use the "File" option and check for the folder "C:\Program Files\Virsae Group\Machine Proxy Agent E".
Collecting Logs
If an installation fails, use the Win32 app installation troubleshooting guide to collect logs from where you have defined logs to be sent in the installation command that was defined
in the Add a Win32 App section.
Logs will only be available if installations have FAILED.
App Availability and End User Notifications
To control what notifications an end-user receives and when the VSM Everywhere client should be installed by, see the section linked here: "Set Win32 app availability and notifications".