Manually installing the Altiris Agent for Macintosh using the aex-nsclt file

Products

• IT Management Suite

Issue/Introduction

After running an install through Apple Remote Desktop (ARD), there is an error in the log on the target computer.

ERROR: No configuration file found. File:.aex-agent-install-config.xml
Search Path: /mpt:/var:/Applications/Utilities/Altiris
No upgrade possible, and Interactive mode disabled.
To configure install interactively, run the aex-configure exe (located in the Agent's bin directory).
Install not complete, Setting return status to 1 (configure failed).

This was on the target, after dragging the package file to a target computer in ARD.

Environment

Altiris Agent for Macintosh 8.x

Cause

The aex-nsclt package is looking for a config.xml file, and it is not available. The file aex-bootstrap contains all default settings when run with the Notification Server hostname as a command-line parameter. There is no way to do this with the aex-nsclt package, which extracts to AltirisAgent.pkg. The only way to configure the agent settings when using the aex-nsclt package is to include a .aex-agent-install-config.xml or to manually run 'aex-configure -iconfigure' after the installation.

Resolution

The following steps will work to install the Altiris Agent for Macintosh using the aex-nsclt package:

1. On a Macintosh client, unzip and run “aex-bootstrap http://<ns hostname>”. Be sure to not do this as root or, if you are root, do not use sudo. The install will fail since you do not have root privileges, and it will create a .aex-agent-install-config.xml in the /tmp directory. Note that it’s a hidden file as it starts with a period (.), so you’ll need to run ‘ls –al’ to see it from a shell prompt.
2. Create a tmp directory called something like /tmp/macagent, copy the .aex-agent-install-config.xml, and put the uncompressed aex-nsclt package into this directory. The file should be called AltirisAgent.pkg. (Optionally, create a UNIX script to run the following command line.)
3. Using ARD, copy the entire directory to the Macintosh client computers.
4. Run “sudo installer –pkg AltirisAgent.pkg –target /”.

The agent should install, configure itself, and begin communicating with the appropriate Notification Server.

Additional Information

Reference links:  

NS Agent for Unix, Linux and Macintosh commands and command-line parameters: KB 176609

Frequently used commands with the SMP Agent for Unix, Linux and Mac: KB 178936