Extra Steps to Automatically Enroll Windows IoT Devices

Introduction

This article details the steps for installing HP Insights on Windows IoT devices, which is the same way as in Windows full-client devices. Also, learn how to disable HP Write Manager, modify environmental variables, install HP Insights, re-enable HP Write Manager, and manage updates through group policies.

Disable HP Write Manager

Before downloading and installing the HP Insights agent on the thin client device, the HP Write Manager must be disabled to allow the auto-update to be correctly disabled. To disable the HP Write Manager:

1. In the Control Panel, select the HP Write Manager Configuration application.

2. From this application, the option to enable or disable the manager is visible.

3. Once disabled, restart the thin client device and proceed with the below installation steps.

Note:

• After disabling the HP Write Manager, changes are considered permanent system configurations. Redirecting and caching writes in an overlay protects the thin client's contents and decreases wear.

• When installing the HP Insights agent, it might be necessary to temporarily change some environmental variables to point to the thin client device (C:) instead of the RAM drive (Z:). The RAM drive might be too small for the temporary files cached during the installation of some applications.

To change the environmental variables:

1. Right-click the Start button and select System from the menu.

   1. Pressing the Windows key + X will also bring up the System menu.

2. Select Advanced system settings, and then select Environmental Variables.

3. Change the value of the TEMP and TMP variables to C: \Temp.

After disabling the HP Write Manager,  select the preferred method of installing the HP Insights Windows Application and enrolling the device in an HP Workforce Experience Platform service and follow the instructions in the article:

• Automatically Enroll Windows Devices Using Microsoft SCCM (setup.exe)

• Automatically Enroll Windows Devices Using Microsoft SCCM (MSI installer)

• Installing the HP Insights Windows Application on a Windows Custom Image

• Automatically Enroll Windows Devices Using Microsoft Endpoint Manager (Setup.exe)

• Automatically Enroll Windows Devices Using an Install.cmd Batch Script Files (Setup.exe)

• Automatically Enroll Windows Devices Using Microsoft Intune (MSI Installer)

• Automatically Enroll Windows Devices Using Ivanti (MSI Installer)

• Automatically Enroll Windows Devices Using Microsoft Active Directory Group Policy (Setup.exe)

Re-Enable HP Write Manager

Once the HP Insights agent has been successfully enrolled, the HP Write Manager can be enabled to make the permanent system configuration:

1. Open the HP Write Manager Configuration application.

2. From the application, select the option to enable the manager.

3. Restart the thin client device to save the permanent system configuration.

Managing Updates after HP Insights Client Enrollment

The HP Insights Windows Application's updates are managed via a policy, which is a group of registry updates to the device. The auto-update policy can be enabled and disabled depending on whether the user wants to temporarily halt client version expiration.

Controlling HP Insights and HP Insights Analytics packages

This section provides various options for controlling the deployment and auto-upgrade of HP Insights and HP Insights Analytics packages.

Enabling auto-update policy

Managing Updates for HP Insights Windows Application provides details on how to manage software updates. Click on the link to learn more.

Note: These updates are blocked until the software expires in six months, and there is an additional one-month grace period for the Admin to correct the auto-update policy. If the auto-update policy is followed, devices will perform auto-updates exactly after the expiration of the grace period.

Disabling auto-update policy

This section provides information on how to permanently block auto-updates of HP Insights and HP Insights Analytics software unless IT Admins manually update them. With this option, the updates are entirely in a controlled environment. Users can provide a command line switch during the first-time installation of the HP Insights agent using setup.exe. For example: setup.exe/silent ZTEMODE=1 CPIN=XXXX DisableAutoUpdate=True This would update a registry entry that the HP Insights Updater will use to determine whether to auto-update HP Insights and HP Insights Analytics.

• Key: Computer\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Hewlett-Packard\HPTechPulse\GPO\InsightsVersionPolicy

• Value: DisableAutoUpdate  (set the value to True)

For devices that already have the HP Insights agent installed, customers can directly set the above registry using group policies to prevent auto-updates for agents. 

Note: The command-line switch is just an additional option to disable the auto-update at the time of installation. It also creates the same registry, which customers who use HP Insights can directly set. This functionality is supported by client version 4.23.88.0 and onwards.

Related Resources

For additional information, refer to the following articles:

• Enrolling Windows IoT Devices using Manual Company PIN (Setup.exe)

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