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Remotely Updating Remote Probe Installations for IPCheck Server Monitor

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Since the remote probe software version needs to match the IPCheck host software version it is always necessary to update the probe's software each time the host's software is updated. In order to automate the process and to update the software in such a manner that the actual users working on the target machines barely notice the process, the following steps can be taken for a "silent" install.

1. Stopping the remote probe service using the "sc" command

In order to update the service, it is first necessary to stop the service - otherwise, the updated software install routine can not be executed remotely. For such purposes it is best to use the included Microsoft "SC" functionality. The proper nomenclature used to stop the service would then be: 
sc \\targetmachine stop servicename
where "\\targetmachine" stands for the UNC description of the target machine and "servicename" stands for the respective service to be stopped. In the case of the IPCheck remote probe service, this would be "IPCProbeService".

2. Silently installing the updated probe service usint psexec

In order to install the service silently, including copying the necessary files to the target machine, we recommend using the psexec functionality which is part of Microsoft's PsTools (formerly known as Sysinternals Tools). The semantics for the process would be: 
psexec -u username -p password \\targetmachine -c drive:filename
where "username" and "password" stand for the authentication data of the target machine, "targetmachine" stands for the target machine itself, and "drive:filename" stand for the local drive and the file which is meant to be copied and executed on the target machine. The "-c" switch is used to copy the file from the local to the target machine. In the instance of the remote probe software please include the switch "/verysilent" after the filename (e.g. "IPCheck Server Monitor 5.3.3.644 - Remote Probe Setup.exe") in order to properly execute the installation routine. As such, the command prompt line should look somewhat like this: 
psexec -u username -p password \\targetmachine -c d:\IPCheck Server Monitor 5.3.3.644 - Remote Probe Setup.exe /verysilent
After the software has been installed, the following message will be returned: 
program exited on targetmachine with error code 0
where "program" will be replaced by the respective program name (e.g. IPCheck Server Monitor 5.3.3.644 - Remote Probe Setup.exe) and "targetmachine" will show the actual target machine's name.

3. Starting the remote probe service using the "sc" command

Last, but not least, it is necessary to start the newly installed service. This works analogous to stopping the service and is done using the sc functionality. The proper nomenclature used to start the service would then be: 
sc \\targetmachine start servicename
where "\\targetmachine" stands for the UNC description of the target machine and "servicename" stands for the respective service to be stopped. In the case of the IPCheck remote probe service, this would be "IPCProbeService". The probe should now be updated and can be used in conjunction with the same version of the IPCheck host software.

Comments

  • The description above does not take firewalling issues into account, this would make this article way too complicated. So we assume that the target machine can be fully controlled over the network. Hardware firewalls, routers, software firewalls and other security mechanisms may interfere with the process, if they are used in your network.
  • More information as regards the SC functionality can be found on the Microsoft website.

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