Deploying the agent on Windows using an Ansible script

Ensure that Ansible is installed before proceeding with the steps below.

If Ansible is not installed, follow the steps in this link - Installing Ansible on Windows via Ubuntu

Step 1: On the machine where the agent will be deployed, open PowerShell in administrator mode and execute the below command one by one.

Enable-PSRemoting -Force
reg query HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\System /v LocalAccountTokenFilterPolicy

Open port 5985 on the Machine where the agent will be deployed.

Step 2: On the machine where Ansible is running, Create a file named host.yml with the content below.

[win]
<Machine_IP>

[win:vars]
ansible_user=<UserName>
ansible_password=<Password>
ansible_connection=winrm
ansible_winrm_transport=ntlm
ansible_winrm_scheme=http
ansible_winrm_server_cert_validation=ignore
ansible_shell_type=cmd
ansible_port=5985
ansible_winrm_read_timeout_sec=300
ansible_winrm_operation_timeout_sec=150

Update the values in the file as specified below.

<Machine_IP> = The machine_IP that wants to deploy the agent

<UserName> =  Machine Username (Ensure the account has administrative privileges on the Windows machine.)

<Password> = Machine Password

Step 3: On the machine where Ansible is running, Create a file named Agent_deploy.yml with the following content.

- name: Create Directory on Windows
  hosts: win
  gather_facts: no  
  tasks:
    - name: Change to the specific directory
      win_shell: cd C:\
      args:
        chdir: C:\

    - name: Execute PowerShell command in the specific directory
      win_shell: |
        # Your PowerShell command here 
        $env:PROTOCOL='CONTROLLER_PROTOCOL';$env:IP='CONTROLLER_IP';$env:PORT='CONTROLLER_PORT';$ProgressPreference='SilentlyContinue';Invoke-WebRequest -Uri CONTROLLER_PROTOCOL://CONTROLLER_IP:CONTROLLER_PORT/applicare/standalone?filename=windowsagentinstall.ps1 -OutFile $pwd\windowsagentinstall.ps1;./windowsagentinstall.ps1;
      args:
        chdir: C:\

    - name: Run the BAT file
      win_shell: |
        .\agentscripts\createAgentTask.bat
      args:
        chdir: C:\ApplicareSingleAgentWindows
      become: yes
      become_user: <UserName> 
      become_method: runas

    - name: Start the MyScheduledTask task
      community.windows.win_scheduled_task:
        name: StartSingleAgent
        state: present
        folder: "\"ApplicareAgent\""
        actions:
          - path: C:\ApplicareSingleAgentWindows\StartAgent.bat  # Example action
            arguments: test.txt  # Optional arguments for the executable 

 Change the below values in the above file.

CONTROLLER_PROTOCOL -> http (or) https

CONTROLLER_IP -> Applicare Controller IP

CONTROLLER_PORT -> Applicare Controller Port

<UserName> =  Machine Username (Ensure the account has administrative privileges on the Windows machine.)

Step 3: Navigate to the directory where the file was created and execute the below command.

 ansible-playbook -i host.yml Agent_deploy.yml

Follow these steps only if you are updating the agent.

Step 1: On the machine where Ansible is running, Create a file named update_agent.yml with the following content.

---

- name: Check Task Status on Task Scheduler
  hosts: win
  gather_facts: false
  tasks: 

   - name: Run the BAT file
     win_shell: |
       .\agentupdate.bat
     args:
       chdir: C:\ApplicareSingleAgentWindows\agentscripts
     become: yes
     become_user: <UserName>
     become_method: runas

Update the following values in the file.

<UserName> =  Machine Username (Ensure the account has administrative privileges on the Windows machine.)

Step 2: Run the following command from the same directory where host.yml is located.

ansible-playbook -i host.yml update_agent.yml

Monitoring with Applicare