In this article

Follow this article to silent install the Windows Roaming Client through a command-line script or trigger using an Remote Monitoring and Management (RMM) tool. See the macOS deployment guide for silent install steps.

Installing the Roaming Client via silent install is useful for environments with repeated installations, multiple computers to deploy at once, or to keep end users out of the installation process.   

Windows Roaming Client 3.0 and higher require .NET 8. Confirm the .NET 8 Runtime is present if the installer reports a missing dependency. Future builds may remove this requirement as NativeAoT becomes available.

Windows agent silent install

Deploy the Windows Roaming Client via a command prompt to complete a silent install. 

1. Follow the Roaming Client deployment guide for details to setup a Site, copy the Site Secret Key, and download the installer
2. Install the Roaming Client with all default options
3. Open an Administrative Prompt
4. Add the Site Secret Key and run this command:

   • msiexec /qn /i "C:\path\to\DNSFilter_Agent_Setup.msi" NKEY="SITESECRETKEY"

   • msiexec /qn /i "C:\path\to\DNS_Agent_Setup.msi" NKEY="SITESECRETKEY"

Additional Command-line options

Customize the silent install with these additional command-line options. 

Windows agent RMM install

If using an RMM or other tool to install the Roaming Client, use this PowerShell script to download and install the Roaming Client without the need to distribute the MSI file to the computers.

Follow the Roaming Client deployment guide for steps to create a Site and copy the Site Secret Key for this script.

• mkdir C:\temp
  Invoke-WebRequest -Uri "https://download.dnsfilter.com/User_Agent/Windows/DNSFilter_Agent_Setup.msi" -OutFile "C:\temp\DNSFilter_Agent_Setup.msi"
  msiexec /qn /i "C:\temp\DNSFilter_Agent_Setup.msi" NKEY="SITESECRETKEY"

• mkdir C:\temp
  Invoke-WebRequest -Uri "https://download.dnsfilter.com/User_Agent/Windows/DNS_Agent_Setup.msi" -OutFile "C:\temp\DNS_Agent_Setup.msi"
  msiexec /qn /i "C:\temp\DNS_Agent_Setup.msi" NKEY="SITESECRETKEY"

Here are other helpful scripts and instructions designed for specific tools. Deploy the Windows agent via Entra ID by following the linked steps. 

• Distribute the Windows agent MSI file with customizations as an Orca transform file. This is useful for mass deployments without using Entra ID to perform the installation, e.g. MSPs that use RMM software.

  Follow the silent install steps above to generate an MST file and deploy with this command or RMM equivalent:

  msiexec /qn /i "C:\path\to\DNSFilter_Agent_Setup.msi" TRANSFORMS="C:\path\to\orcatransformed.mst"

• Installing the Roaming Client must be the last step of the image setup process if using a standardized image to deploy or reinstall computers.

  If the Roaming Client is installed with an active network connection and allowed to register with our API, the Roaming Client will not receive a unique ID on each computer that received the standardized image.

  Follow these steps to install the agent without registration.

  1. Download the Roaming Client Installer from the DNSFilter dashboard
  2. Disconnect all active network connections
  3. Install the Roaming Client
  4. Finalize Image

• Ensure Site Key variables called from Datto RMM pass appropriately with this command:

  # Set variable for site key from Datto Variable
  $siteKey = $env:SITESECRETKEY
  
  # Create C:\temp
  mkdir C:\temp
  
  # Download DNSAgent.msi to c:/temp
  Invoke-WebRequest -Uri "https://download.dnsfilter.com/User_Agent/Windows/DNS_Agent_Setup.msi" -OutFile "C:\temp\DNSFilter_Agent_Setup.msi"
  
  # Install DNSAgent
  msiexec /qn /i "C:\temp\DNSFilter_Agent_Setup.msi" NKEY="$siteKey"

Third-Party deployment support

Recommendations

We recommend testing any third-party solutions before use. For additional support, consult vendor documentation or search and post in our Community for content specific to your tool.

• Active Directory
• ConnectWise
• Intune