Installing RSA Authentication Agent 7.x for Windows on Microsoft Windows Server Core Edition using msiexec.exe

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Article Number

000036881

Applies To

Product Set: SecurID
RSA Product/Service Type: Authentication Agent for Windows
RSA Version/Condition: 7.3.3.x and 7.4
O/S Version: Windows 2012 R2 and 2016

Issue

This article provide the steps required to install RSA Authentication Agent for Windows on Microsoft Windows Server Core Edition 2012 R2 and 2016.

Resolution

1. Download the appropriate RSA Authentication Agent for Windows release for your deployment.
2. From the primary's Security Console:
   1. Generate an agent configuration file named sdconf.rec
      1. Navigate to Access > Authentication Agents > Generate Configuration File). 
      2. Click Generate Config File to generate the AM_Config.zip. 
      3. Click Download Now to download the file locally.
   2. Download the server certificate named server.cer (Required only if you plan to use the agent auto registration utility).
      1. Navigate to Access > Authentication Agents > Download Server Certificate File.
      2. Click Download Now to download the file.

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Installing the agent

1. On any Windows machine with a GUI, use the Configuration Wizard to generate a new installer package .msi file. 

Please make sure to use the default name for the new installer to avoid running into any issue while updating the agent later.  See 000031668 - "Error 1316. the specified account already exists" in RSA Authentication Windows Agent update 7.2.1 for more information.

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2. Copy new installer package to the target machine.

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3. Move to the target machine and run powershell.exe.
4. Navigate to the location where the new installer is saved. 
5. Validate the location of the new installer by running ls to list the folder content.

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6. Run the following command:

msiexec /qn /i "RSA Authentication Agent x64.msi" /lv C:\Users\Administrator.EXAMPLE\Desktop\Agent-Installation.txt

7. Inspect the installation log file named Agent-Installation.txt, If the installation was successful a log message similar to the one below will be written in the log file. 

MSI (s) (18:5C) [14:00:45:791]: Product: RSA Authentication Agent -- Installation operation completed successfully.

MSI (s) (18:5C) [14:00:45:791]: Windows Installer installed the product. Product Name: RSA Authentication Agent. Product Version: 7.4.0.40. Product Language: 1033. Manufacturer: RSA. Installation success or error status: 0.

8. The following command will list in a .csv file all installed software. Make sure the RSA Authentication Agent is one of them.

wmic /output:C:\InstallList.csv product get /format:csv

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Configuring the agent

1. Configure agent challenge settings and other aspects of the RSA Authentication Agent from Group Policy Objects after importing the Administrative template from in the Policy Templates directory, available in the RSA Agent source file.

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Notes

• Execute the following command using PowerShell to switch to server core:

Get-WindowsFeature -Name *gui* | Remove-WindowsFeature –Restart

• Execute the following command using PowerShell to switch to GUI:

Get-WindowsFeature -Name *gui* | Install-WindowsFeature -Restart

• If needed, use the following command to run PowerShell as Admin:

runas /user:administrator powershell.exe