Installing and deploying NetSupport DNA Consoles

The recommended method to update your current NetSupport DNA Console installations to a newer version is using the online update. This method is only available to customers that have a current software maintenance contract.

The online update will first update the NetSupport DNA Server and then automatically update any DNA Consoles when they connect to the updated DNA Server. If the online update is unavailable, the NetSupport DNA Console can be updated manually using one of the methods below.

Note: The NetSupport DNA Console cannot be installed onto a machine that already has the NetSupport DNA Local (Server) Gateway component installed.

Using NetSupport DNA Software Distribution
NetSupport DNA version 4.50.0002 and later
When NetSupport DNA is installed, a software distribution package is created that is configured to install the NetSupport DNA Console.

1. Open the NetSupport DNA Console and log on as a user allowed to distribute software.
2. Select the “DNA Console previous version(s)” dynamic group in the hierarchy tree, right click and select Distribute.
3. From the list of packages, select NetSupport DNA Console and click OK.

4. Select when to send the package, set the retry options and click OK to start the distribution.
5. Once the package has been installed and you refresh the dynamic group, any machines that have successfully updated will be removed from the dynamic group.

Using command line installation
NetSupport DNA allows administrators to install the DNA Console from the command line using the MSI installer supplied.

1. Place the ‘NetSupport DNA Console.msi’ installation file into the same folder as the configuration file on the target machine, or an accessible share.
2. Edit the DNA.ini file to set the appropriate settings for your installation, e.g. ServerAddress=, InstallDir=
3. On the target machine, execute the installation according to the following example:
   msiexec.exe /qb /i “NetSupport DNA Console.msi” ALLUSERS=1
   ALLUSERS=”” Installs the package for the current user only.
   ALLUSERS=1 Installs the package for all local users.

There is a sample DNA.ini file that is created in your DNA Console installation directory. This allows you to customise various parameters for the MSI installation.

Console options
[All]
InstallDir= Leave blank for the default installation directory. Also applies to Application Packager installs.
ServerAddress= IP address or, preferably, DNS name of the DNA Server.

Installation via Active Directory (AD) Group Policy software deployment
NetSupport DNA allows you to deploy the NetSupport DNA Console using Active Directory.

1. Open Group Policy Management.
2. Right click the Organisational Unit that contains the machines you wish to deploy to and select Create a GPO in this domain and link it here.
3. Enter a name for the Group Policy Object when prompted, i.e. NetSupport DNA Console.
4. Select the Group Policy Object you have created and click Edit. This will open the Group Policy Object Editor.
5. In the Group Policy window, you are given two possible installation types/levels for the NetSupport DNA Console package: “Computer Configuration” and “User Configuration”.
   If you use “Computer Configuration” the package will be installed before the user is prompted to log in. The installation will use the System Service Account to install the package.
   If you use “User Configuration” the package will be installed when a user logs on. Please note that the user will require administrator rights to install the software at this level.
   We advise installing the package under “Computer Configuration” to prevent the possibility of any issues installing at “User” level.
6. Select the type of configuration you require (either “Computer Configuration” or “User Configuration”) and select Policies – Software Settings – Software Installation.
7. Right click Software Settings and select New > Package.
8. You will be prompted for the location of the package installer files (the NetSupport DNA Console.msi and DNA.ini files). This location must be accessible by all Console machines you wish to deploy to and they must have read access for these files.
9. We recommend you use a UNC path and not a mapped drive as the Console machines mapped drives may differ from machine to machine, i.e. \\server\share\NetSupport_DNA_Console.msi
10. When prompted for the deployment method, select Assigned.
11. The package will be displayed. Right click the package and select Properties.
12. Close the Group Policy Editor.
13. Right click the newly created Group Policy Object and select Enforced.

Setting installation options
The installation options required by both NetSupport DNA Console deployments can be easily set using the DNA.ini file. This file is located in the following folder on an existing DNA Console machine:

32bit C:\Program Files\NetSupport\NetSupport DNA\Console
64bit C:\Program Files (x86)\NetSupport\NetSupport DNA\Console

The DNA.ini should be copied to the folder you created for the package installer files. The deployment installation will automatically detect the presence of the file and install the application with the specified installation options.

The DNA.ini file contains the configuration of the DNA Console. Contents of DNA.ini file are below:

[All]
ServerAddress=xx.xx.xx.xx
InstallDir=
[Client]
EnableLSP=0
NOARP=0

You will need to populate the Server Address with the address of your server and you can leave the InstallDir blank to install in the default directory. Leave the client section unconfigured as this is only applicable for DNA Agent installations.