Preparing the agent's deployment

Step 1: Extracting installation packages

You need to create a shared folder that will contain the installation packages (provided as .msi files), and extract the packages there.

  1. On the domain controller (or any other machine in the domain), create a folder—for example: D:\Acronis
  2. Start the Acronis Backup setup program.
  3. Click Extract installation files.
  4. Select the Agent for Windows (AcronisAgentWindows.msi) and Agent Core (AcronisAgentCore.msi) check boxes.
  5. In Extract to, type the name of the folder that you just created, or click Browse and select the folder.
  6. Click Extract.
  7. Share the folder where you placed the installation packages. Make sure that domain users can access the shared folder—for example, by leaving the default sharing settings for Everyone.

Step 2: Configuring the installation packages

Important: Skip this step when reinstalling or updating the agent.

You need to configure the installation packages of the Agent Core and Agent for Windows components by running the configuration script. The script is installed along with the management console. By default, the script is located in the folder %ProgramFiles%\Acronis\BackupAndRecoveryConsole or %ProgramFiles(x86)%\Acronis\BackupAndRecoveryConsole. If the management console is installed on a different machine, you can copy the configuration script from that machine.

The configuration script creates a transform (also known as a modification, a modification file, or an .mst file) for an installation package.

  1. In the Start menu, click Run, and then type: cmd
  2. Click OK.
  3. Change the current folder to the one where the configuration script mst_gen.vbs is located, by running commands such as:

    C:
    cd "C:\Program Files\Acronis\BackupAndRecoveryConsole"

  4. Run the configuration script for the Agent Core and for the Agent for Windows components; for example, as follows:

    mst_gen.vbs /msi_path D:\Acronis\AcronisAgentCore.msi

    mst_gen.vbs /msi_path D:\Acronis\AcronisAgentWindows.msi /license_server licensesrv /product AS

    Note: You must include a complete path to the installation package, even if the package is in the same folder as the configuration script.

    For the complete syntax of the configuration script, see "Configuration script parameters". See also “Examples of creating a transform” in "Unattended installation".

The installation packages are ready for deployment. You now need to create Group Policy objects, as described in "Setting up the Group Policy objects".