Deploy a Netreo Remote Agent on a Device

There are currently 2 registration options for deploying remote agents for Netreo, listed below. (Registration is the process of creating a managed device in Netreo and downloading/installing the agent that will interact with it onto the target device to be monitored.)

• Manual registration (for a single device) - Allows complete control over configuration of an agent.
• Auto registration (for mass deployment or for a single device) - Auto-configures an agent.

The steps for using each option are outlined below.

Manual Registration

Manual registration allows you to specify a name for the agent and select the site device group that it will belong to. The name specified by the user is the name (as it will be seen in dashboards and reports) of the managed device that will represent the agent in Netreo.

Deploying a remote agent using manual registration involves two steps (similar to how a service engine is deployed);

1. Creating the remote agent managed device in Netreo.
2. Then downloading and installing the actual agent on the device you wish to monitor.

Procedure

Create the remote agent in Netreo

1. Log in to Netreo as a user with the SuperAdmin access level.
2. Ensure that API access in enabled and that "Require Authentication" is on by following the procedure in How to Enable Netreo API Access.
3. Go to the main menu and select Administration > System > Remote Agents to navigate to the Remote Agent Administration page.
   
4. Select the plus (+) button to add a new remote agent.
5. In the pop-up dialog that appears:
   
   1. Select the manual registration option.
   2. In the NAME  field enter a name for your new remote agent to identify it in Netreo.
      • It is recommended to use the name of the system on which the agent is to be deployed since this is what will be displayed in Netreo dashboards.
   3. In the SITE field use the pull-down menu to select the site with which the agent should be associated.
   4. In the PLATFORM field use the pull-down menu to select the OS platform on which the agent is to be run.
   5. Select Create.
6. Netreo creates a managed device  that will represent the device you are monitoring.
   • (The actual remote agent application will automatically connect to Netreo and become associated to this managed device when it is installed on the target device in a later step.)
7. Copy the API key provided in the message at the top of the page after your new agent is created and store it safely somewhere. You will need this key when installing the remote agent on the target system. You will not see this key again. (If you fail to copy the API key now, you will need to delete the created remote agent from the table and start again.)
   
8. Locate your new agent in the Remote Agents table and select its download icon in the ACTIONS column to begin downloading the agent installation script (provided in compressed .zip format). Save the file to a convenient location.
9. Proceed to the next section.

Install the remote agent on the target device

1. Unzip the compressed file downloaded in the previous steps and copy the installation script to the system on which the agent is to be installed.
2. Run the installation script using whatever process is appropriate for the system OS.
   • When executed, the script will:
     • Automatically connect to Netreo's cloud servers to download and install the required components and start the installed agent application on the target device.
     • Communicate with the Netreo system to register the agent application with the managed device created in the previous steps. (For Netreo on-premises deployments, see warning box above.)
3. After installation, Netreo begins receiving telemetry from the remote agent allowing it to monitor the device on which the agent is installed.

Once the remote agent is fully deployed, you may select its name anywhere in Netreo to view its Device Dashboard like any other managed device.

Auto Registration

Auto registration allows for faster and less involved deployments of remote agents, the trade-off being loss of control over initial configuration options. With no options to configure, auto registration also allows for a silent install of the agent on the target device to be monitored. This is useful for the mass deployment of agents by network administrators.

When deployed using this option, the managed device that will represent the agent in Netreo is created for you automatically. The agent is named using the name of the device on which the agent is installed. (This name is what appears in dashboards and reports.) Agents deployed this way are not assigned to a specific site device group, and may be found in the "Unknown" site after deployment.

Procedure

1. Log in to Netreo as a user with the SuperAdmin access level.
2. Ensure that API access in enabled and that "Require Authentication" is on by following the procedure in How to Enable Netreo API Access.
3. Go to the main menu and select Administration > System > Remote Agents to navigate to the Remote Agent Administration page.
   
4. Select the plus (+) button to add a new remote agent.
5. In the pop-up dialog that appears:
   
   1. Select the auto-registration option.
   2. In the PLATFORM field use the pull-down menu to select the OS platform on which the agent is to be run.
   3. Select Download and save the compressed .zip file to a convenient location.
6. Unzip the compressed file and copy the installation script to any target devices on which the agent is to be installed.
7. Run the installation script using whatever process is appropriate for the OS of the target device. (This operation is a silent install and requires no input from the user.)
   • When executed, the script will:
     • Automatically connect to Netreo's cloud servers to download and install the required components and start the installed agent application on the target device.
     • Communicate with Netreo and create the remote agent managed device in Netreo using the name of the target device on which the agent is installed. (Note: Remote agent managed devices created using auto registration are placed in the "Unknown" site device group.)
     • Communicate with the Netreo system to register the agent application with that managed device. (For Netreo on-premises deployments, see warning box above.)
8. After installation, Netreo begins receiving telemetry from the remote agent allowing it to monitor the device on which the agent is installed.

Once the remote agent is fully deployed, you may select its name anywhere in Netreo to view its Device Dashboard like any other managed device.

Uninstall remote agent from target device

To uninstall the remote agent application from a device on which it is installed, you must have the compressed .zip file that you originally downloaded for that device. If you do not have that file, it may be downloaded again using the appropriate steps above.

To uninstall, simply extract the uninstall.bat script from the compressed file and run it on the device from which you would like to uninstall the remote agent.