As of SMP 7.6, the NS Agent for Mac includes a native pkg file to install the agent. This method is in addition to the previous methods of installing the NS Agent for Mac using a bootstrap or the native package files.
One purpose for providing a pkg installation file is to allow end users to install the agent without opening the Terminal.app. Most end users are already familiar with installing applications using a pkg file. Note that an end user must have an administrator type account on the mac client in order to install the NS Agent for Mac. The install process requires an administrator account in order to switch to the root user behind the scenes to peform the actual agent installation.
Location of PKG file in the NS console and the NS file system
To find the pkg installation page in the NS console: - Browse to Settings, All Settings, Agents/Plug-ins, Symantec Management Agent, Settings, Agent Install
- Click on the tab labeled 'Install Agent for Unix, Linux and Mac' - In the section labeled 'Download Page URL for UNIX< Linux and Mac Users'
- Select 'Mac' as the platform
- Allow the page to reload
- Then, click the 'View page' link to see a popup window with a link to downlad the pkg and bootstrap files.
The actual pkg file location on the NS server is:
\Program Files\Altiris\Notification Server\NSCap\bin\UNIX\AgentInstall\Mac\AgentInstaller\Symantec_Management_Agent_Installer.pkg
Downloading and Installing the Agent using the PKG file:
Note that the download link provided in the above page downloads the pkg installer file PLUS a set of native package files. The native package files must be included or the pkg file installation will fail. So, it is not sufficient to distribute the pkg file alone.
Note that the Resource directory, created from the zip file on the NS server, contains a .aex-agent-install-config.xml file. This file contains configuration data required for a completely configured installation of the agent. Among other things, the file specifies the name of the NS server that the client should communicate with and be managed by. So, if there are multiple NS servers, i.e., a hierarchy, be sure to use the package from the appropriate NS server to guarantee that the client communicates with the correct NS server.
The most efficient method of having end users install the agent is to provide them with the download link. The actual link is:
http://<NS Server Name>/Altiris/UnixAgent/AltirisUnixAgentDownload.aspx?Id=Mac
If desired, the pkg and native files can be distributed to end users or to their machines using any available means including email, scp, Apple Remote Desktop, USB drive, etc.
Other than downloading the installation files and starting the pkg installation, there are no additional requirements to use the pkg file to install the agent. This is in contrast to using the bootstrap which requires execution of the 'chmod' command before running the bootstrap from the Terminal.app.
The bootstrap and native package installation processes continue as before. On the download popup page, click the link labeled 'Click to expand instructions to perform installation using bootstrap' to expand the page content and view the instructions for the bootstrap method.