Agent Installation Guide › Installing an Agent on a Windows System › How to Install Silently › Prepare a Response File for Re-use

Prepare a Response File for Re-use

Setting up a response file minimizes installation time when installing many agents. You do not have to type in each parameter manually for each installation. For example, if you want to install an agent on 1000 systems, you can automate the process by reusing the first response file you create as a template.

When you create a new agent user account on a target server, keeping the same name and password specified in the response file may offer an advantage. When the account credentials match the response file, you can reuse it without change, because the agent registers with the same CA User Activity Reporting Module server. This means that the authentication key does not change.

To prepare to reuse the response file

1. Log on to the Windows server where you created the response file.
2. Navigate to the directory where the original response file resides.

   The default directory is %WINDIR%, for example, C:\WINDOWS or C:\WINNT or it may be on the C:\ drive.

3. Copy the response file and give it a different name.

   Ensure that the file has the extension, *.iss. (You will later copy the new file to the target server.)

4. Log in to a different Windows server.
5. Create a Windows user account for the agent.
6. Copy the response file to the %WINDIR% directory.
7. Edit the file to customize it for your requirements. Examples of the response file data that you can modify includes the following:
   • Change the installation directory path, where the path to change is displayed in bold type.

     szDir=C:\Program Files\CA\elmagent\

   • Change the IP address of the CA User Activity Reporting Module server or the agent authentication key.

     szEdit1=127.0.0.1

     szEdit2=This_is_default_authentication_key

   • Change the User account credentials for the agent

     szEdit1=elmagentusr

     szEdit1=elmagentpwd

More information:

Invoke the Silent Install