Windows mass deployment guide (new as of version 2.0.8)

[mneergaa]

Cisco Proximity 2.0.8 includes some changes to the Windows installation package to facilitate mass deployment. None of these changes break backwards compatibility. The changes are these added msi properties:

• LAUNCHPROXIMITY (Default: 1)
  • If set to 0, proximity will not be launched after a successful installation process.
• ACCEPTEULA (Default: 0)
  • If set to 1, Proximity acts as if the user already accepted the EULA at some previous point.
  • On a per-user install, only the current user is affected. On a per-system install, all users are affected.
• DISABLEAUTOSTART (Default: 0)
  • If set to 1, Proximity will act as if the user entered "Settings" and unchecked the "Start on logon" option.
  • On a per-user install, only the current user is affected. On a per-system install, all users are affected.
• DISABLEAUTOUPGRADE (Default: 0)
  • If set to 1, Proximity cannot be auto-updated from inside the app.
  • This option requires that the user/administrator update Proximity manually, and is only intended for mass deployment scenarios.
  • On a per-user install, only the current user is affected. On a per-system install, all users are affected.

These options can now be passed to msiexec, or applied to the installation process using your tool of choice. Example using msiexec directly:

msiexec /i Proximity.msi /qb! ALLUSERS=2 MSIINSTALLPERUSER=1 LAUNCHPROXIMITY=0 ACCEPTEULA=1 DISABLEAUTOUPGRADE=1

This would install Proximity for the current user silently, accept the EULA for that user, disable future auto-upgrades, and not launch Proximity automatically. These options are typically applied using an enterprise tool such as SSCM. For information on applying msi properties in your tool, please contact the vendor of your tool.

Another alternative for mass deploying using tooling is through Group Policy directly. To do this, you will need to build a transform file to override any properties you wish to set: Open Proximity.msi on Orca, modify the properties you wish to override, and save a transform file (.mst). To test if the transform works, you can use

msiexec /i Proximity.msi /passive TRANSFORMS=proximity-overrides.mst

[jegoyett]

With DisableAutoUpgrade disabled, will individual users continue to receive pop-up messages that a new Proximity version is available? 

[mneergaa]

Yes, @jegoyett. The entire list of possibilities:

• DISABLEAUTOUPGRADE=1 is set
  • Users are not notified of upgrades, nor are they installed, ever.
• DISABLEAUTOUPGRADE is not set
  • Per-user installation: Proximity auto-upgrades silently when inactive. If actively used, it shows a notification.
  • Per-system installation: Proximity notifies the users of new versions. Users are prompted to upgrade, as upgrading requires administrative privileges.

[fhansen]

Does any official document exist covering all the possible mass deployment options and MSI flags of Cisco Proximity 4.0 now released? Something to share to a customer's inquiry.

[mneergaa]

The only option that has been added is ALLOWPUBLICIP. If set to 0, Cisco Proximity will never connect to an IP address that doesn't conform to RFC1918.

If the option is not set to 0, the default behaviour takes effect: The client will connect to any public IP address that it confidently detects in ultrasound messages.