Installing the NS Agent for Mac using the PKG Installation File
Article ID: 178626
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As of SMP 7.6, the NS Agent for Mac includes a native pkg file to install the agent. This method is in addition to the previous methods of installing the NS Agent for Mac using a bootstrap or the native package files.
One purpose for providing a pkg installation file is to allow end users to install the agent without opening the Terminal.app. Most end users are already familiar with installing applications using a pkg file.
Note that an end user must have an administrator type account on the mac client in order to install the NS Agent for Mac. The install process requires an administrator account in order to switch to the root user behind the scenes to perform the actual agent installation.
Location of pkg-based installation files in the NS console and the NS file system
To find the pkg installation page in the NS console:
- Browse to Settings, All Settings, Agents/Plug-ins, Symantec Management Agent, Settings, Agent Install
- Click on the tab labeled 'Install Agent for Unix, Linux and Mac'
- In the section labeled 'Download Page URL for UNIX< Linux and Mac Users'
- Select 'Mac' as the platform
- Allow the page to reload
- Then, click the 'View page' link to see a popup window with a link to downlad the pkg and bootstrap files.
- Click the '1. Download the Symantec Management Agent Installer open the contents.' link. (This creates a zip file containing all required files.)
The location of the pkg file on the NS server is: \Program Files\Altiris\Notification Server\NSCap\bin\UNIX\AgentInstall\Mac\AgentInstaller\Symantec_Management_Agent_Installer.pkg
The location of the installation files on the NS server is: \Program Files\Altiris\Notification Server\NSCap\bin\UNIX\Agent\Mac\x86\*
The combined zip file contains both the pkg file and the actual installation files. The pkg file is simply a wrapper to walk a user through the installation files and execute the install scripts. The 'Resources' directory within the zip file contains all the installation files plus a .aex-agent-install-config.xml file, which contains the name of the ns server that the agent should communicate with and other install settings from the console.
Files from both directories are required in order to successfully install the NS Agent for Mac. (The pkg file by itself will not install the agent.)
Note: Deleting the zip file, in the location shown below, and clicking the download link again, as shown above, will recreate the zip file with a new . aex-agent-install-config.xml file. This is useful in cases where agent installation settings have been changed. And, it is the only way to get the new installation settings into the NS Agent for Mac installation zip file.
Downloading and Installing the Agent using the PKG file:
Note that the download link provided in the above page downloads a zip file which contains both the pkg installer file PLUS a set of native package files. The pkg file is simply a wrapper to walk a user through the installation process and execute the actual install scripts located in the 'Resources' directory.
The zip file must be used for stand-alone installations.
Note that the Resource directory, created from the zip file on the NS server, contains a .aex-agent-install-config.xml file. This file contains configuration data required for a completely configured installation of the agent. Among other things, the file specifies the name of the NS server that the client should communicate with and be managed by. So, if there are multiple NS servers, i.e., a hierarchy, be sure to use the package from the appropriate NS server to guarantee that the client communicates with the correct NS server.
The most efficient method of having end users install the agent is to provide them with the download link. The actual link is:
http://
If desired, the pkg and native files can be distributed to end users or to their machines using any available means including email, scp, Apple Remote Desktop, USB drive, etc.
Other than downloading the installation files and starting the pkg installation, there are no additional requirements to use the pkg file to install the agent. This is in contrast to using the bootstrap which requires execution of the 'chmod' command before running the bootstrap from the Terminal.app.
The bootstrap and native package installation processes continue as before. On the download popup page, click the link labeled 'Click to expand instructions to perform installation using bootstrap' to expand the page content and view the instructions for the bootstrap method.
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