Scope Action – How to incorporate third party agents in your scope actions

In this tutorial we will demonstrate the ability to incorporate two commonly used agents in your scope actions.

To be able to implement this tutorial, you will need access to the full version of Goverlan Reach and its IT Process Automation framework.

If you don’t currently own a valid license, you can download a free version of our remote access software on our website. The 15-day trial is free and no credit card is required.

If you have never created a Scope Action before, please refer to the below video and the Scope Action Creation Basics article for more information.

Information

Goverlan Scope Actions has the ability to start processes or run scripts on your remote machine. This provides the ability to add other management software actions to your scope actions.

For example: If you have a virus outbreak and you need to make sure you AV agents are up to date immediately, use a scope action to run the AV agents EXE and force them to take their latest definitions.

McAfee Agent Example

One example of this is the McAfee ePo agent. Here is an excerpt from the McAfee KBAs.
https://kc.mcafee.com/corporate/index?page=content&id=KB52707

You can use the following switches with CmdAgent.exe on Windows clients.

McAfee Agent 5.x:

NOTE: The switches are case-sensitive.

/p	Collect and send properties to the ePO server
/e	Enforce policies locally
/c	Check for new polices. The agent contacts the ePO server for new or updated policies, then enforces them immediately upon receipt.
/s	Display the Agent Monitor
/i	Display McAfee Agent information
/h	List all the switches with their description
/l	Set the location of the log file

McAfee Agent 4.x:

NOTE: The switches are not case-sensitive.

/P	Collect and send properties to the ePO server
/E	Enforce policies locally
/C	Check for new polices. The agent contacts the ePO server for new or updated policies, then enforces them immediately upon receipt.
/S	Display the Agent Monitor

Use a Goverlan Scope Action to kick off the /C switch.
In your scope action, select Add \ Remove –> Execute Computer Action –> Processes –> Run a new process.

In the argument window, specify the process name as C:\Program Files\McAfee\Common Framework\CmdAgent.exe
Specify the appropriate switch in the Process Argument String argument. In this case it is /C.
Specify a run as account if necessary.
Set the “Hide Execution Window” value to True. This will make sure there is no CMD window shown during execution.

SCCM Client Example

Use Goverlan to force the Config Manager machine policy retrieval cycle. For this you will need to export a PowerShell or VB script with WMIXv3.

For more information on generating scripts with WMIXv3, see this user guide article.

Once the script has been generated, import it using the Goverlan Objects manager.
Use the newly created script package as an action in your scope action.
Add \ New –> Execute Computer Action –> Processes –> Run a batch or script package.
Select the package that was created.

These are just two examples of how you can integrate other management solutions into your Goverlan Scope Action automation. Research the vendors website to find out of your systems agent has command line arguments.

Also create these action modules under Custom Actions as well for ad-hoc execution of your third party agents.