Install the FOG client¶
The FOG client is an agent running on the machines you are managing with
Fog. With the FOG client you can perform various tasks such as managing
printers, change the host name and join Active Directory (for Windows
machines) and install software via 'snapins'.
All these tasks are managed centrally from the FOG Web UI. The FOG
Client 'polls' the FOG server to see if tasks need to be done and if
so, executes them.
The purpose of this guide is to show you the process of installing the
FOG client, register the host on the FOG server (if not already done
during image deployment) and let the client perform some tasks via the
FOG Web UI.
Prerequisites¶
We're assuming that you have a running FOG server that was installed
according to the instruction above in this manual
The machine that you're installing the FOG client on is a Windows 10
machine.
Info
- .NET Framework version 4.0+ (Note: .NET 4 client profile will NOT work)
- You can download the framework from here:
Microsoft .NET Framework 4.5.1 (Offline Installer) for Windows Vista SP2, Windows 7 SP1, Windows 8, Windows Server 2008 SP2 Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1 and Windows Server 2012 - Windows 10 comes with a version of .Net that will work.
Fog Client Installation¶
The following are the steps to install the client on a host
Download The Fog Client¶
- Log in on the client machine, open a browser and browse to the Fog
Web UI. - On the bottom of the Web UI, click on the link 'FOG Client' (you
don't have to log in). - Select Your installer
MSI Installer¶
- Click on the link 'MSI -- Network Installer' to run the MSI
package (can also be used with gpo software deployment and other
silent installs).- The url to download this is
http://fogserver/fog/client/download.php?newclient
Smart Installer¶
- Click on the Smart Installer link to download and run the smart
installer. This is a cross-platform installation that detects your
operating system- The url to download this is
http://fogserver/fog/client/download.php?smartinstaller
Run The Installer¶
Info
The following steps follow the msi installer wizard. The Smart Installer wizard is similar
Note
You may get a 'Windows protected your PC' popup. In that case you have to convince windows that this installer is safe to run. Click on 'More info' and 'Run anyway'.
- At the Welcome screen, click on 'Next'
-
Accept the terms in the License Agreement (it's the GPL license, so
why not) and click on 'Next' -
Fill in required fields:
- Server Address: type in the hostname or IP address of the FOG
Server. - Web Root: leave this to /fog
- Leave the other options as they are
- Click 'Next'
- Leave the destination folder as it is and click 'Next'
- Server Address: type in the hostname or IP address of the FOG
- Click on 'Install' and say 'Yes' at the UAC prompt.
- Once the wizard has been installed, click on 'Finish'.
Now the FOG client has been installed. In the Task bar there should be a
new icon:
This icon tells you the version of the FOG Client and helps handle the
notifications to the end user.
The first time the FOG client service runs on a machine, it will create
a set of encryption keys and then tries to register itself at the FOG
server.
This may take some time, as the startup type of the FOG client service
is set to 'Automatic - Delayed'. You may want to force start the FOG
client directly after installation or reboot the machine.
Installer issue¶
When things go wrong and the setup is not able to install the fog-client
software on your computer you want to check the log file in
C:\Windows\Temp\FOGService.install.log
for more details on why it
failed.
Approve the machine¶
- Start a browser, go to the Fog Web UI and log in
- Go to 'Host Management' 'List all Hosts' and click on the
machine you have just installed the FOG client on.
If the Windows OS was not deployed with FOG, then the FOG client is not
yet registered at FOG and the client is not trusted by the FOG Server.
We need to manually approve this machine:
- Click on 'Approve this host ?'
If the Windows OS was deployed with FOG, then the machine will already
be in FOG as we registered it during image deployment. The FOG client is
considered as 'trusted' by the FOG server and will be already
approved.
An approved host looks like this:
The FOG client can now execute tasks we're assigning to it in the FOG
Web UI.
Fog Client Silent Installation¶
If you would like to create a silent installation to deploy the fog
client here is an example of a powershell script that would do that for
you
Note
This script assumes that you can access your fogserver by the default name of fogserver
which can be a hostname or a dns alias
#download the client installer to C:\fogtemp\fog.msi
$webclient = New-Object System.Net.WebClient
$webClient.downloadfile("http://fogserver/fog/client/download.php?newclient","C:\fogtemp\fog.msi")
#run the installer with msiexec and pass the command line args of /quiet /qn /norestart
Start-Process -FilePath msiexec -ArgumentList @('/i','C:\fogtemp\fog,msi','/quiet','/qn','/norestart') -NoNewWindow -Wait;
MSI Switches¶
Switch | Values |
---|---|
USETRAY | defaults to "1", if "0" the tray will be hidden |
HTTPS | defaults to "0", if "1" the client will use HTTPS (not recommended) |
WEBADDRESS | defaults to "fogserver", this is the ip/dns name of your server |
WEBROOT | defaults to "/fog" |
ROOTLOG | defaults to "1", if "0" the fog.log will be at %PROGRAMFILES%\FOG\fog.log , otherwise C:\fog.log |
Reference:
https://forums.fogproject.org/topic/6222/msi-silent-install-without-tray-icon/2
Smart Installer Switches¶
Tip
All switches with --{OPTION} can also be used as /{OPTION}
Universal swtiches¶
Switch | Description |
---|---|
--server | Specify the server address. Default is fogserver |
--webroot | Specify the webroot. Default is /fog |
-h or -https | Use https for server communication |
-r or -rootlog | Put fog.log in the root of the filesystem |
-s or --start | Automatically start the service after installation. |
Linux only switches¶
Switch | Value |
---|---|
-t or --tray | Enabled the FOG Tray and notifications |
-u or --uninstall | Uninstall the client |
--upgrade | Upgrade the client |
-l= or --log= | Specify where to put the SmartInstaller log |
See also https://news.fogproject.org/fog-client-v0-11-0-released-2/
Additional info¶
There are 2 services and 2 log files that run on windows.
Windows Services¶
the FogService and the FogUserService. The user service is run in a
user's context and helps with notification popups and user level tasks.
Most operations are done by the FogService that runs as the system
account.
Logs¶
You can find the fog log at C:\Fog.log
and the user service log at
C:\users\username\.fog_user.log