Microsoft Active Directory Group Policy Objects (GPO) application deployment is a remote installation method used to install apps to multiple devices from a single, centralized platform. Apps can be installed in the background without disrupting users' workflows.
Employees added through Active Directory GPO will be able to use multiple devices and all gathered data will go to their accounts no matter which device is being used as long as they have signed in with their credentials.
To deploy Insightful to your employees using company-managed devices remotely via Microsoft Active Directory GPO Software Installation please follow these steps.
Requirements and preconditions
Before proceeding with deployment please check the requirements and preconditions for installing Insightful through Active Directory GPO.
Microsoft .NET Framework 4.0 or later is required (this is installed by default on Windows 8 or later).
Insightful for company computers is running as a Windows service, requiring higher privileges to install. That’s the reason why it has to be installed per machine (computer).
Active directory group should be with type security.
General Steps
Obtain Insightful .msi file (installation file)
Place the Insightful .msi file on the network
Create GPO for Scheduled Task
Deploy GPOSteps
Steps in Detail
1. Obtain Insightful .msi file
Go to Employees Dashboard.
Click on Add New Employee.
Select Company Computers.
Select Windows.
Installation in the form of .msi file will be downloaded on the device, commonly in the Downloads folder.
2. Place the .msi file on the network
Insightful .msi file has to be shared via network so that every computer can pull it during the installation process.
To achieve this here are the steps:
Create a folder where you will keep .msi files. We recommend creating this on the controller or on one of your data servers.
Right click on the folder, go to Properties and choose the Sharing tab. Click on Share, allow read permission for Everyone and then choose Advanced Sharing in the Sharing tab and check Share this folder.
Place the Insightful .msi file to the shared folder and save UNC path to the package.
3. Create GPO with Software installation
Open Group Policy Management and create a new GPO in your domain. You can choose any name, we’ve chosen Insightful (Workpuls)
Once the policy is created, find it, right click on it and choose Edit.
A new window of the Group Policy Management Editor will popup. Under Computer Configuration navigate to the Software installation, right click on it and choose New and then Package.
Now navigate to the folder where you placed the Insightful .msi file, the one created in Step 2 of this guide. Don’t forget to use the UNC path, and not the local path to get to that folder.
In the next step there is usually no need to go with the advanced method, you should be good with Assigned.
This is how GPO should look like
4. Deploy GPO
In the previous steps we have created GPO. Now is the time to decide where you want to deploy it to. You have multiple options but the two most common ones are Organization unit (OU) and Whole domain.
Both options can work, but we decided to go with OU as the example. Find the OU where you want to deploy it. Right click on it and select Link and existing GPO and select previously created GPO.
Tips & Tricks
Speed up the deployment
To speedup the process of GPO propagation you can use the following command:
gpupdate /force
It should ask you to restart your machine.
Installation during boot time
Since this is a machine (computer) based policy it will be installed during the boot time, which means that the computer will need to have access to the UNC path to the Insightful .msi file (created in the step 2) during boot time.
Workaround for remote devices
If devices are remote (people working from home, or in the distant office, or in the field), it is highly likely that they won’t have access to the UNC path during the boot time since they will be connecting to the VPN after login usually. The workaround for this scenario is to:
Use SCCM
Use some 3rd part deployment software like PDQ, Ninite, etc.
Use our alternative guide working with Scheduled Task deployment
Don't Edit GPOs
Editing GPOs is not something we recommend, if you come by the case when you need to do this, we recommend removing the previous policy and creating the new one, with a slightly different name.
Scheduled task/PowerShell script installation
If for whatever reason using a "regular" GPO Software Installation method is not your preference, using a Microsoft Active Directory GPO Scheduled task/PowerShell script installation method.