Installing the Windows collector using the command line

This article describes how to install a Windows collector using the command line option. If you want to use the Windows installer option, click here.

• Installing the Windows service
• Uninstalling the Windows service

In addition to Auvik’s OVA and bash script installation options, Auvik can also run as a native service on Microsoft 64-bit supported Windows machines; Windows 10 or higher or Windows Server 2016 or higher .

1. Register for a trial.
2. Add a new client.

Have a supported Microsoft Windows system ready:

Host Operating Systems

The Windows service can be installed on any Microsoft Windows desktop running a 64-bit version of Windows 10 Version 22H2 or higher or any server running a 64-bit version of Windows Server 2016 or higher. For more information on OS End of Service and the Auvik Collector, click here.

The system should dedicate 2 GHz dual core processor thread 4GB of RAM, and 20GB of available disk space. The host Windows machine should have at least 4 CPUs, 4GB of RAM, and 16 GB. Larger installations will require greater dedicated resources, with a minimum of 4 CPU threads, 8GB of memory, and 8GB of free space. Therefore, the host machine should also be sized accordingly to handle this requirement.

4. Sign into your Auvik account and access a new client to download the Windows service executable or start your download here. *

 

Download

 

* The file is around 10MB so it should only take a few seconds to download.

If you’ve developed a script to install the Windows collector on new clients, please note you’ll need to update the script to answer an additional question on proxy configuration. 

To bypass proxy configuration, type n when prompted  Would you like to provide proxy configuration (y/n) [default: n]? 

If you answer y, you’ll be prompted to provide proxy details. As the details differ from client to client, you may want to have a proxy-specific script. The additional questions to be answered are:

Would you like to provide proxy configuration (y/n) [default: n]?
Please enter the address of the proxy:
Please enter the port of the proxy:
Please enter the type of authentication used to connect to the proxy (none, basic):
Please enter the username to connect to the proxy:
Please enter the password to connect to the proxy:

How to install the Windows service

Installing the Windows service adds two new services (Control Panel > Administrative Tools > Services) and an entry to the registry. The new services are set to automatically start, so you don’t need to worry about starting or stopping the services yourself.

We've included a quick video to demonstrate and guide you through the Windows Service Installation process:

Detailed instructions shown in the video are listed below:

Be aware that for any site, the Windows service will bind to ports 21 (TCP) and 69 (UDP). We recommend that you install the service on a system that doesn’t already have services bound to these ports. Moreover, for collectors running on Performance sites Auvik will also bind to the following UDP ports: 514, 2055, 2056, 4432, 4739, 6343, 9995 and 9996. Port 514 will be used to receive Syslog data, and the others to collect flow data for TrafficInsights.

If you install the service on a system with multiple network cards, all cards will be used. There’s currently no way to specify which card (IP address) should be used for the Window service. For one of the network cards, if it’s a subnet that shouldn't be scanned, mark it as Don't Scan or Delete the subnet from Discovery > Manage Networks. If it’s a subnet that should be scanned and it wasn't discovered, Add the subnet from Discovery > Manage Networks.

Although you should never need to update the registry, it can be found in one of two locations:

• 64-bit machines: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\WOW6432Node\Auvik\Agent\1.0

To execute the script, you’ll need:

• A valid Auvik user and the user’s API key.
• A domain prefix (e.g., sample.my.auvik.com) for the client where the collector is being installed
• Read/write/create permissions for the local system user (SYSTEM) on the workstation or server.

Steps 5 and 6 below assume the virtual machine is set up for DNS and is not relying on the proxy.

1. From the start menu, search for Command Prompt (cmd).
2. Right-click and select Run as administrator.
3. From the command prompt window, change the directory to where the executable was downloaded. For example: cd Downloads or cd ..\..\Users\nanook\Downloads
4. Copy and paste the following command into the command prompt window:

   AuvikService -install -no prompt -dir c:\auvik -tenant https://DOMAINPREFIX.my.auvik.com

Usability tip: Enable the Command Prompt’s Quick Edit mode to easily make substitutions. If you want the service and logs to be on a different drive, change c:\ to your drive letter of choice.

Note: You can include -user EMAIL -password apiKey in the command if you’d prefer not to enter them separately. Otherwise, you’ll be asked to enter your Auvik email address and API key in a later step.

If you’d like to suppress any prompts that appear during the installation process, you can add -noprompt in the command. This command can be helpful if, for example, you’ve created scripts for mass deployment of Windows services using tools such as ConnectWise Automate.

Be sure to edit the following parameters within the command:

DOMAINPREFIX should be the Auvik domain prefix (e.g., sample is the prefix for https://sample.my.auvik.com/agents/installer) for the client where the collector is being installed.

5. You’ll be prompted to answer Would you like to provide proxy configuration (y/n) [default: n]? If you have a proxy set up on the network, enter y and click Enter. Otherwise enter n and click Enter. 
6. If you select y for proxy configuration, you’ll be required to provide the following details in subsequent steps:
• Address of the proxy
• Port of the proxy
• Type of authentication used to connect to the proxy (none, basic)
• Username to connect to the proxy
• Password to connect to the proxy

When requested, enter your Auvik email address and API key. The email address must be for a user who has authorization on the Auvik domain the service is being installed for.

The output from the installation should appear something like this.  (This output assumes you entered y for proxy configuration.)

C:\Users\nanook\Downloads>AuvikService -install -dir c:\auvik -tenant https://nanook.my.auvik.com
Installing c:\auvik\AuvikAgentService.exe
Installing c:\auvik\AuvikWatchdogService.exe
Would you like to provide proxy configuration (y/n) [default: n]?
Please enter the address of the proxy:
Please enter the port of the proxy:
Please enter the type of authentication used to connect to the proxy (none, basic):
Please enter the username to connect to the proxy:
Please enter the password to connect to the proxy:
Please enter your Auvik login email address: nanook@auvik.com
Please enter your Auvik API key:
Provisioning service from https://nanook.my.auvik.com...
Successfully provisioned for https://nanook.my.auvik.com
Starting AuvikAgent
Starting AuvikWatchdog

 

How to uninstall the Windows service

Uninstalling the Windows service requires you to:

• Instruct the AuvikService to uninstall and terminate itself.
• Delete the appropriate registry key on the machine.
• Delete the Auvik service installation folder.

We urge caution when deleting anything from the Windows registry.

1. From the start menu, search for Command Prompt (cmd).
2. Right-click and select Run as administrator.
3. From the command prompt window, change the directory to where the Auvik service was installed (c:\auvik by default)
4. Run the following command: AuvikAgentService -remove

The output for removing the service should appear something like this:

C:\auvik>AuvikAgentService -remove
Stopping AuvikAgent.
AuvikAgent is stopped.
Stopping AuvikWatchdog.
AuvikWatchdog is stopped.

5. From the command prompt, enter regedit.
6. From the registry editor, find the Auvik folder.

64-bit machines: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Auvik\Agent\1.0

7. Right-click the Auvik folder and select Delete.
8. Click Yes to confirm the registry key should be deleted.
9. Close the registry editor.
10. Close the command prompt.
11. Open Windows Explorer and browse to the location the service was installed. E.g., the c:\ drive
12. Right-click the Auvik folder and select Delete.