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Uninstall Windows Roaming Client v2.0.1 or higher

Minetta Gould
  • Updated

    In this article

Uninstall the Windows Roaming Client v2.0.1 and higher directly from the DNSFilter dashboard. Uninstalling requires admin permissions or higher. The download and installation for this version follow standard methods.

Prerequisites

The following requirements apply:

  • An x64 build of Windows
  • .NET 4.8.0 and higher
  • Windows Roaming Client v2.0.1 and higher

Uninstall from the DNSFilter dashboard

  1. From the DNSFilter dashboard, navigate to Deployments > Roaming Clients.
  2. Select the Roaming Clients to uninstall:
    • For one Roaming Client, select More Actions (the three dots) in the Actions column, then select Delete & Uninstall.
    • For several Roaming Clients, select the checkbox next to the Hostname of each one, then select Delete.
  3. In the dialog, type DELETE in the confirmation field.
  4. Select Delete & Uninstall.

The Roaming Client(s) move to a Pending Uninstall status, which saves the uninstall configuration to the server. The next time the agent checks in, it retrieves and runs the uninstall, typically within five minutes. This process can take longer when an agent is offline because the agent stays in Pending Uninstall status until it wakes up and checks in with the dashboard.

The Roaming Client no longer appears in the dashboard when the uninstall is complete.

What happens if I try to uninstall an older Roaming Client version?

The Roaming Client dashboard issues the uninstall command only to supported agent versions. If supported and unsupported versions are selected together, the dashboard displays a warning that the unsupported agents will be removed but not uninstalled and creates two lists for review:

  • Roaming Clients to Delete, where remote uninstall is not supported
  • Roaming Clients to Delete & Uninstall, where remote uninstall is supported

The dialog also notes that a device that is online when deleted may lose internet access until the Roaming Client restarts.

RemoveRCs.png

Uninstall manually

Use these steps if the dashboard uninstall did not work, or if a scripted, GPO, or RMM uninstall configuration is preferred for the environment. 

  1. Copy the GUID from these registry keys:
    • Computer\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\DNSFilter\Agent
    • Computer\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\DNSAgent\Agent

  2. Insert the GUID into this prompt and run it from an administrator command prompt:

    msiexec /X{GUIDHERE} REGCLEAN=true/false (to remove and clean up registry or not)

The Roaming Client is uninstalled when the command finishes.

Create a log file

If an error occurs during the uninstall process, run the command again with these edits to create a log file that DNSFilter Support can review:

msiexec /X{GUIDHERE} REGCLEAN=true/false (to remove and clean up registry or not) /L*vx! FOLDERANDLOGFILE (eg: C:\Temp\dns_agent_uninstall.log)

Comments

6 comments

Date Votes
  • Christopher Harris

    Not sure if this was just because my test machine was in the MSP/WhiteLabel/beta track (v2.0.3 at the time of this comment), but my registry key for the GUID (manual uninstall method) was actually in Computer\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\DNSAgent\Agent not \SOFTWARE\DNSFilter\Agent. I got the right GUID by running the powershell command Get-WMIObject -Classname Win32_Product | Where-Object Name -Match ‘DNS Agent’ that I got from the “Uninstall Windows Roaming Client v1.15.3 and older” page :)

    0
  • Minetta Gould Community Team DNSFilter Staff

    Hi Christopher Harris , thanks for the callout! We missed adding the whitelabel registry key to this guide, but got it all fixed up. Nice work finding it in the other article, and thanks for your help in improving our content! 

    0
  • Mike South

    Is it possible to post the exact command prompt code without having to alter it?  No matter what I try it's not working for the white label version.   The uninstall commands from the DNS Filter dashboard leave the DNS server info behind on the network adapter settings leaving the computer blocked from accessing the network.   I would rather try the manual uninstall using our RMM tool.    Thanks.

    0
  • Minetta Gould Community Team DNSFilter Staff

    Hi Mike South thanks for reaching out, and sorry you're having this issue! Our team isn't aware of a method to uninstall the agent that doesn't require the GUID listed in these commands, but there may be something else going on here that they'd like to help troubleshoot. 

    I'm going to start a support ticket for you: please reply to that ticket with diagnostic logs from an impacted device to help the troubleshooting process. Someone from the Support Team will connect with you to help resolve the issue!

    0
  • Doug

    I, too, am trying to build a script to uninstall via my RMM. Does anyone have anything that works?

    0
  • Minetta Gould Community Team DNSFilter Staff

    Hey Doug! The manual uninstall section of this article has what you need—the msiexec command with the GUID pulled from the registry is the standard path for scripted RMM uninstalls. 

    Could you share a bit more about what you're running into? Knowing where things are getting stuck will help us point you in the right direction. Thanks!

    0

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