Installing the NetSupport DNA Agent via Active Directory Group Policy software deployment

 NetSupport DNA allows you to deploy the NetSupport DNA Agent using Active Directory.

  1. Open Group Policy Management.
  2. Right click the Organisational Unit that contains the machines you wish to deploy to and select Create a GPO in this domain and link it here.
  3. Enter a name for the Group Policy Object when prompted, i.e. NetSupport DNA Agent.
  4. Select the Group Policy Object you have created and click Edit. This will open the Group Policy Object Editor.
  5. In the Group Policy window, you are given two possible installation types/levels for the NetSupport DNA Agent package: “Computer Configuration” and “User Configuration”.

If you use “Computer Configuration” the package will be installed before the user is prompted to log in. The installation will use the System Service Account to install the package.

If you use “User Configuration” the package will be installed when a user logs on. Please note that the user will require administrator rights to install the software at this level.

We would advise installing the package under “Computer Configuration” to prevent the possibility of any issues installing at “User” level.

  1. Select the type of configuration you require (either “Computer Configuration” or “User Configuration”) and select Policies – Software Settings – Software Installation.
  2. Right click Software Settings and select New > Package.
  3. You will be prompted for the location of the package installer files (the NetSupport DNA Agent.msi and DNA.ini files). This location must be accessible by all Agent machines you wish to deploy to and they must have read access for these files.
  4. We recommend you use a UNC path and not a mapped drive as the Agent machines mapped drives may differ from machine to machine, i.e. \\server\share\NetSupport_DNA_Agent.msi
  5. When prompted for the deployment method, select Assigned.
  6. The package will be displayed. Right click the package and select Properties.
  7. Close the Group Policy Editor.
  8. Right click the newly created Group Policy Object and select Enforced.

Setting installation options
The installation options required by both NetSupport DNA Agent deployments can be easily set using the DNA.ini file. This file is located in the following folder on a DNA Console machine:

32bit C:\Program Files\NetSupport\NetSupport DNA\Console
64bit C:\Program Files (x86)\NetSupport\NetSupport DNA\Console

The DNA.ini should be copied to the folder you created for the package installer files. The deployment installation will automatically detect the presence of the file and install the application with the specified installation options.

The DNA.ini file contains the configuration of the DNA Agent. Contents of DNA.ini file are below:

[All]
ServerAddress=xx.xx.xx.xx
InstallDir=
[Client]
EnableLSP=0
NOARP=0

ServerAddress: IP address or hostname of the computer where DNA Server application resides.
EnableLSP: 1=Install LSP, 0=Do not install LSP.
NOARP: 0=Allow Add/Remove Programs entry, 1=No Add/Remove Programs entry.