Push installing the Windows agents

The agent push feature installs the Unitrends protection software on Windows clients automatically, greatly reducing setup time. When you add a Windows client to the backup system, lightweight core and bare metal agents are automatically installed and you can immediately begin protecting the client. The push feature can also be used to update agents on existing Windows clients. See Updating the Windows agents for details.

A push install is initiated when you add a new Windows client to the backup system, as described in About adding clients. If the requirements described below have not been met and you attempt to push install, you receive the message Please download and install the latest agent release on your Windows server from the Unitrends website. After installation, uncheck 'Establish Trust' when setting up your client. Proceed to Manually installing the Windows agents and manually install both the Windows core and bare metal agents.

The agent is installed to the C:\PCBP directory. If you wish to install to another volume or location, you will need to install the agent manually.

Agent push install requirements

In addition to the items described in Windows agent requirements, the following prerequisites must be met before push installing the Windows agent:

Item	Description
Windows versions supported	Windows XP, 2003 and later versions listed in the Compatibility and Interoperability Matrix are supported (32- and 64-bit). For unsupported versions, you must install the agent manually. See Manually installing the Windows agents for details.
Unitrends system version	Release 7.0 and higher (8.2 and higher for Windows Server 2012 R2 and Windows 8.1).
Backup system installation type	Push installations are only supported on systems configured with the local backup system, replication target, and local backup system and replication target installation types (see About the installation type). Legacy vault and cross-vault configurations do not support agent push installations.
Credentials	Trust credentials must be defined for the client on the backup system. See Client trust credentials for details.
Windows environment	The Windows client must be configured as described in Windows configuration requirements.

Windows configuration requirements

The following Windows configuration settings are required for the agent push feature:

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Workstation and Server services must be running and set to automatic restart.

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For Windows Vista and later, Network discovery and Printer and File Sharing must be enabled for the current network profile (in Control Panel > Network and Sharing Center).

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For Windows XP Professional and 2003, File and Printer Sharing for Windows Networks must be enabled for the network adapter itself. Select Control Panel > Network and Sharing Center > Change Adapter Settings, right-click the adapter, select Properties and check File and Printer Sharing for Microsoft Networks.

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For Windows XP Professional, turn off Simple sharing in Control Panel > Folder Options > View > Use simple file sharing.

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Trust credentials entered on the Unitrends Add Client page must have administrative privileges. On systems with user account controls (UAC) enabled, at least one of the following must also apply:

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The trust credentials entered are for a domain administrator account.

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The trust credentials entered are for a system administrator account. Being a different member of the Administrators group is insufficient. If the administrator account is disabled, enable it by executing the following in an elevated command prompt: net user administrator /active:yes

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Registry key LocalAccountTokenFilterPolicy must exist and be set to 1.

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Firewall rules must allow inbound and outbound traffic between both machines. Default Windows firewall rules limit many services to the subnet. If the backup system is outside the client subnet, modify firewall Printer and File Sharing settings (TCP ports 139 and 445) to allow communication between the systems.

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For 32-bit clients only, the Windows client must be configured with English as the default language. Select non-English default languages are supported for 64-bit clients. For a list of supported languages, see the Unitrends Compatibility and Interoperability Matrix.