Troubleshooting Installation Issues
If you encounter any issue installing the Agent, please check out the Troubleshooting section of the Knowledge Base.
Notes for the Mac Users
At the moment, Teramind on Mac has limited functionalities and are only supported on macOS 14 (Sonoma), macOS 13 (Ventura), macOS 12 (Monterey), macOS 11 (Big Sur), macOS 10.15 (Catalina) and macOS 10.14 (Mojave). Check out this article to learn which Teramind features are available on the Mac.
You cannot run the installer from the browser directly on Mac. You need to run it from the Launcher / Finder.
Agent Types
Teramind has two types of Agents you can choose from:
Hidden Agent, also know as the Stealth Agent
Revealed Agent, also known as the Visible or Freelance Agent
This article, What is the difference between the Revealed Agent and the Hidden Agent? describes the difference between the two agents.
Local Installation
Revealed Agent
The Revealed Agent tracks users and computers but only when the user is logged-in on the Agent. When a user launches a Revealed Agent, they have to log in using an account created in the Teramind Dashboard by an administrator. All the activities tracked will be linked to this account. Since the hours they work are clearly defined by the clock-in and clock-out times from the Revealed Teramind Agent, the payroll can be calculated, and tasks can be assigned to the users. This Agent is the perfect choice for monitoring contractors, vendors and freelancers or when you want to let your employees choose how and when they are to be monitored.
Downloading the Revealed Agent (Cloud)
To download the Revealed Agent, do the following:
1. Click your name near the top-right corner of the Teramind Dashboard. A pop-up menu will be displayed.
2. From the pop-up menu, click the Download Teramind Agent option. You will be taken to the Welcome to Teramind screen:
3. Choose Yes when asked, ‘Do you want your users to know that they are being monitored?’. You will be given two options:
4. Choose the Dashboard Invite option to create a new employee and send an invitation to the employee over their email address:
5. Enter the First name, Last name and Email address of the employee then press the ADD USER & SEND INVITATION button. Note that if you enter the email address of an existing employee, it will fail with the message “Email is already in use”.
6. Choose the Invitation Link option to copy the download links. Clicking the button will open another window:
7. You can copy one of the URLs, open it in your browser and save the installer file on a USB stick and take it to the target computer(s). The same installer can be used to install the Revealed Agent on multiple computers.
8. You can email yourself the instructions, log into the target computer and download the Agent from the links in the email.
Downloading the Revealed Agent (On-Premise)
To download the Revealed Agent, do the following:
1. Click your name near the top-right corner of the Teramind Dashboard. A pop-up menu will be displayed.
2. From the pop-up menu, click the Download Teramind Agent option. You will be taken to the Welcome to Teramind screen:
3. On the Install Agents screen, choose Direct file download.
4. Click the WINDOWS 8+ REVEALED AGENT button to download the Windows Agent.
5. Click the MACOS REVEALED AGENT button to download the Mac Agent.
Installing the Revealed Agent (Windows)
Run the Agent installer file on the computer. Note that, you will need administrator privileges to install the Agent properly.
1. Click the Begin installation button to install the Agent.
2. When the installation is complete, the user can launch the Agent from the Start Menu (Windows).
Installing the Revealed Agent (Mac)
1. Download the pkg file.
2. Rename the pkg file to include any optional parameters (see the Agent Installation/Configuration Parameters (Mac) section to learn more).
3. Open it and the installation dialog will be open:
3. Click the Continue button. You will be taken to the next step, Destination Select:
4. Click the Continue button. You will be taken to the next step, Installation Type:
5. Click Install button. You will be shown the Installer dialog:
6. Enter your username and password and then click the Install Software button. The installation will start. When it finishes, you will see the The installation was successful message:
7. Click the Close button to finish the installation.
8. After you have installed the agent, you will need to enable a few macOS permissions for the agent to be able to record screen and other activities properly. Please check out this article to learn how to enable those permissions.
Enrolling: Adding Users to the Dashboard
After you have installed the Revealed Agent on a user's computer, the user will be able to log into the revealed agent using their employee account in the Teramind dashboard. If an employee account has not yet been created, you will need to add them to the Teramind Dashboard so that they can be tracked properly. This article, How to add an employee / user / computer shows you how you can do it.
Using the Revealed Agent
Check out this article to learn how to use the Revealed Agent: How to use the Revealed Agent.
Hidden Agent
The Hidden/Stealth Agent is useful when you do not want your users to know that they are being monitored.
It tracks the user as soon as they log into Windows or macOS. Both the user and computer will appear automatically on the Dashboard once the Agent connects, which is usually within about a minute after installation or after the monitored user first logs in. The computer names are taken directly from the hostname configured in Windows or macOS. It is recommended that the computer name be unique to avoid confusion. If you plan to rename the computer, it's best to do so before installing the Agent. If a computer is renamed after the Agent is installed, Teramind will auto-update the computer name in the Dashboard as long as the previous computer account isn't deleted. However, this usually results in a new employee account being created by the Agent to reflect the current computer name.
Downloading the Hidden Agent (Cloud)
To download the Hidden Agent, do the following:
1. Click your name near the top-right corner of the Teramind Dashboard. A pop-up menu will be displayed.
2. From the pop-up menu, click the Download Teramind Agent option. You will be taken to the Welcome to Teramind screen:
3. Choose No when asked, ‘Do you want your users to know that they are being monitored?’. You will be given a few options to download the agent:
4. You can email yourself the instruction by clicking the E-MAIL INSTRUCTIONS TO ME link. After that, you can login to the target computer and download the Agent from the links in the email.
5. Click the WINDOWS / 64-BIT button to download the Windows Agent.
6. Click the MAC OSX button to download the Mac Agent. If you clicked the MAC OSX button, a pop-up window will open:
7. Copy the command displayed in the first/top field and run it in your Mac Terminal.
After you have installed the Mac Hidden Agent, you will need to enable a few macOS permissions for the agent to be able to record screen and other activities properly. Please follow the steps under the Setting the macOS Permissions for the Hidden Agent section below.
Downloading the Hidden Agent (On-Premise)
To download the Hidden Agent, do the following:
1. Click your name near the top-right corner of the Teramind Dashboard. A pop-up menu will be displayed.
2. From the pop-up menu, click the Download Teramind Agent option. You will be taken to the Welcome to Teramind screen:
3. On the Install Agents screen, choose Direct file download.
4. Click the WINDOWS 8+ 64-BIT MSI or the WINDOWS 8+ 32-BIT MSI button to download the Windows Agent.
5. Click the MACOS HIDDEN AGENT button to download the Mac Agent.
After you have installed the Mac Hidden Agent, you will need to enable a few macOS permissions for the agent to be able to record screen and other activities properly. Please follow the steps under the Setting the macOS Permissions for the Hidden Agent section below.
Installing the Hidden Agent – Command Line (Windows/Cloud)
MSIEXEC can be used in either command line or from within a script, as follows:
msiexec /i <path-to-teramind-agent.msi> TMINSTANCE=<instance name> /qn
<instance> can be the instance name or instance ID. For example, “mycompany”, or “__e67a6d86f7ebb12372c23e8f889388b3eac97fc6”
For example:
msiexec /i "C:\Temp\Install Test\teramind_agent_x64.msi" TMINSTANCE=mycompany /qn
Or:
msiexec /i "C:\Temp\Install Test\teramind_agent_x64.msi" TMINSTANCE=__e67a6d86f7ebb12372c23e8f889388b3eac97fc6 /qn
If the Agent file name already contains the instance name/ID (within a -i() parameter), and you don't include the /qn parameter (silent install), then you don't have to specify the TMINSTANCE parameter.
For example:
msiexec /i "C:\Temp\Install Test\teramind_agent_x64_s-i(mycompany).msi"
You can use optional installation parameters to configure the installation and how the agent behaves. Please see the Agent Installation Parameters (Windows) section below for more information.
Installing the Hidden Agent – Command Line (Windows/On-Premise)
To install the Hidden Agent via the command line:
1. Click your name near the top-right corner of the Teramind Dashboard. A pop-up menu will be displayed.
2. From the pop-up menu, click the Download Teramind Agent option. You will be taken to the Welcome to Teramind screen:
3. On the Install Agents screen, choose Via command line option.
4. Copy the 64-bit or 32-bit command and run it from your Windows Command Prompt (in admin mode). Note that, the commands/links will be unique to your deployment.
You can use optional installation parameters to configure the installation and how the agent behaves. Please see the Agent Installation Parameters (Windows) section below for more information.
Installing the Hidden Agent – Command Line (Mac/Cloud)
To install the Mac Hidden Agent run this command in the Terminal (Applications > Utilities > Terminal):
curl <path-to-teramind-mac-installer> | sudo bash -
You can get the <path-to-teramind-mac-installer> from the Hidden Agent’s download screen (select No at the first step, then click the MAC OSX button):
You can use optional installation parameters to configure the installation and how the agent behaves. Please see the Agent Installation Parameters (Mac) section below for more information.
After you have installed the Mac Hidden Agent, you will need to enable a few macOS permissions for the agent to be able to record screen and other activities properly. Please follow the steps under the Setting the macOS Permissions for the Hidden Agent section below.
Installing the Hidden Agent – Command Line (Mac/On-Premise)
To install the Hidden Agent via the command line:
1. Click your name near the top-right corner of the Teramind Dashboard. A pop-up menu will be displayed.
2. From the pop-up menu, click the Download Teramind Agent option. You will be taken to the Welcome to Teramind screen:
3. On the Install Agents screen, choose Via command line option.
4. Copy the command and run it from your Mac Terminal. Note that, the command/link will be unique to your deployment. You can use optional installation parameters to configure the installation and how the agent behaves. Please see the Agent Installation Parameters (Mac) section below for more information.
5. After you have installed the agent, you will need to enable a few macOS permissions for the agent to be able to record screen and other activities properly. Please check out this article to learn how to enable those permissions.
Enrolling: Adding Users to the Dashboard
The employee account will be created automatically when the Agent is installed on a user's computer - you do not need to add them manually to the Dashboard. However, you can still edit the employee’s profile.
Protecting the Agent Installation
You can optionally install the Teramind Hidden Agent in a protected mode using the DO_PROTECTION installation parameter (see below). The protection mode makes the agent installation more secure and prevents common tampering. The How to protect your Agent installation from tampering article explains it in more details.
Agent Installation/Configuration Parameters (Windows)
You can use some optional parameters as command line options or through the agent configuration file.
Agent Configuration File
Some of the installation parameters (where indicated) can also be applied through the Agent configuration file (config.cfg) post-installation. For example, you can use a command like: msiexec /i teramind_agent_v5.0.0_x64.msi TMROUTER=10.55.55.58:235 during the installation. Or, you can add this line, router=10.55.55.58:235 in the config file.
The config file is usually located in the following locations:
Hidden Agent:
C:\ProgramData\{4CEC2908-5CE4-48F0-A717-8FC833D8017A}\configRevealed Agent:
C:\ProgramData\Teramind Agent\config
Here, <agent version> is the Agent version, for example, 20.0.1084. <guid> is the globally unique identifier of the Agent. For example, {551DD8F9-2009-4565-B57B-1390B7DA6AF0}. Check out this article to learn how to find your Agent version. If the file doesn't exist, create one in a text editor.
Installation/Config File Parameter | Description |
/qn | Enables silent installation. For example, msiexec /i teramind_agent_v5.0.0_x64.msi /qn |
Installation Parameter:
TMROUTER=<ip-of-vm:port>
Config File Parameter:
router=< ip-of-vm:port> | Can be used to assign the load balancer IP and port. For example, msiexec /i teramind_agent_v5.0.0_x64.msi TMROUTER=10.55.55.58:235 Note that the |
Installation Parameter:
TMINSTANCE=<account-name>
Config File Parameter:
instance=<account-name> | Assigns the instance name. Provide an msiexec /i teramind_agent_v5.0.0_x64.msi TMINSTANCE=onsite This option isn't required for Cloud deployments since the Cloud installers already have the instance name embedded. |
TMDISABLEAUDIO=<1/0> | Turns audio monitoring on (1) or off (0). For example, msiexec /i teramind_agent_v5.0.0_x64.msi TMDISABLEAUDIO=1 This is similar to toggling the Audio option on the Monitoring Settings > Monitoring Profile screen. |
Installation Parameter:
TMDOMAINOVERRIDE=<domain-name>
Config File Parameter:
domain-override=<domain-name> | Supported on the Hidden Agent only. Can be used to override the user’s domain/computer name with the specified msiexec /i teramind_agent_v5.0.0_x64.msi TMDOMAINOVERRIDE=acme.com |
DO_PROTECTION=<yes/no> | Installs the hidden agent in protected mode. For example, msiexec /i teramind_agent_v5.0.0_x64.msi DO_PROTECTION=yes Installing the Agent in protected mode helps:
You can specify the protection password in the Settings > Security > Agent Removal Protection screen. Please see the Agent Removal Protection section on the Teramind User Guide for more information. Make sure to set the password before installing the Agent. If you set the password afterwards, there might be problems with managing the Agent and uninstalling it. |
Installation Parameter:
Config File Parameter: | Will disable auto-update of a Cloud Agent. msiexec /i teramind_agent_v0.1.249_x86.msi /TMDISABLEAUTOUPDATE=1 This is similar to disabling the ENABLE AUTOMATIC UPDATES option on the Settings > Autoupdate section of the dashboard. |
/l*v <"log-file-name"> | Enables installation logging. Replace the msiexec /i teramind_agent_v0.1.249_x86.msi /l*v "C:\Windows\Temp\TM.log" For more information, check out this article: How to collect the Teramind Agent logs. |
TMROOTDIR=<directory> | Allows you to specify a directory/folder where the agent will be installed. Replace the msiexec /i teramind_agent_v0.1.249_x86.msi TMROOTDIR="c:\myagent" |
TMDNSNAME=<new name> | The Agent has a local proxy server to receive the data from the browser proxy injections. By default, its name is msiexec /i teramind_agent_v0.1.261_x64.msi TMDNSNAME=localhost |
TMAGENTEXE=<new name> | By default, the Agent name is dwm.exe. However, Windows also has a service with the same name for its Desktop Windows Manager. We've added a new command line parameter, TMAGENTEXE so that you can change the default Agent name to something else to make it more clear and avoid confusion with Windows' own services. You can use the parameter when installing the Agent. For example, msiexec /i teramind_agent_v0.1.260.3940_x64.msi TMAGENTEXE=my_agent.exe |
TMADDENTRYTOARP=<1/0> | By default, Teramind Stealth/Hidden Agent isn't shown on the Windows list of installed programs (known as the Add or Remove Programs list or ARP list). If used, this parameter will allow you to add the Stealth/Hidden Agent to the installed programs list on Windows. For example, msiexec /i teramind_agent_v6.0.47_x64.msi TMADDENTRYTOARP=1 |
Installation Parameter:
TMHASHUSERNAMES=<1/0>
Config File Parameter:
hash-user-names=<1/0> | If enabled, this option will obfuscate the usernames with an MD5 hash so that they are anonymized. For example, msiexec /i teramind_agent_v0.1.260.3940_x64.msi TMHASHUSERNAMES=1 The user will then appear like the example below: |
Installation Parameter:
TMHIDERDPCLIENTIP=<1/0>
Config File Parameter:
hide-rdp-client-ip=<1/0> | This option will let you hide the client IP address from the server. For example, msiexec /i teramind_agent_v0.1.260.3940_x64.msi TMHIDERDPCLIENTIP=1 Usually, when you connect to a computer over an RDP session, the Agent sends the IP address of the client to the server. However, for privacy or security reasons, you might not want to expose the client IP to the server. This option will force the Agent to replace the actual IP address with 0.0.0.0. |
Installation Parameter:
TMNOFSDRV=<1/0>
Config File Parameter:
driver-flags=<on/off> | If used, this option will disable (1) or enable (0) the Teramind file driver. For example, msiexec /i teramind_agent_v0.1.260.3940_x64.msi TMNOFSDRV=1 This is similar to disabling the FILE DRIVER option on the Monitoring Settings > Advanced screen. |
Installation Parameter:
TMENCRYPTION=<1/0>
Config File Parameter:
enable-encryption=<1/0> | If used, this option will enable (1) or disable (0) end-to-end encryption. For example, msiexec /i teramind_agent_v0.1.260.3940_x64.msi TMENCRYPTION=1 For more information, please check out the What is End-to-End (E2EE) Encryption and how to use it (On-Premise)? article. |
Proxy Configuration
You can configure a proxy when installing the Agent. You can also configure them from the Agent configuration file (config.cfg) using the following parameters:
Installation Parameter | Config File Parameter | Description | Example |
TMHTTPPROXY | http-proxy | The HTTP proxy and optional, port address. | 10.1.2.1:9005 |
TMSOCKSHOST | socks-host | SOCKS Host. | 192.168.56.103 |
TMSOCKSPORT | socks-port | Port. | 1082 |
TMSOCKSUSER | socks-user | Username. This parameter is optional. | john |
TMSOCKSPASSWORD | socks-password | Password. This parameter is optional. | myP@ssword |
TMUSESOCKS5 | use-socks5 | 1 means use SOCKS 5 and 0 means use SOCKS 4. This parameter is optional. If not specified, SOCKS 5 will be used. | 1 |
Here's an example:
msiexec /i teramind_agent_v5.0.0_x64.msi TMINSTANCE=mycompany TMROUTER=10.55.55.58 TMSOCKSHOST=192.168.56.103 TMSOCKSPORT=1082 TMSOCKSUSER=john TMSOCKSPASSWORD=myP@ssword TMUSESOCKS5=1
Agent Installation/Configuration Parameters (Mac)
You can use optional parameters to change how the Mac Agent is installed or behaves. There are two ways you can set the parameters:
1. Rename the installer/package file to include the –() parameter. For example:
teramind_agent_v1.235.4632_hidden-do(acme.com).pkg
2. If the Agent is already installed, you can edit the parameters from the agent config file (agent.conf). For example:
domain-override=aceme.com
The agent.conf is located in your Agent installation folder, e.g., Macintosh HD > usr > local > teramind > agent > etc
Installation/Config File Parameter | Description |
Installation Parameter:
-i(<instance name>)
Config File Parameter:
instance=<instance name> | Assigns the instance name. Provide a Cloud instance name (which can be found from the My Account > Support Pin tab on your Teramind Dashboard) or use teramind_agent_v1.235-i(onsite).pkg This option isn't required for Cloud deployments since the Cloud installer already has the instance name embedded. |
Installation Parameter:
-r(<ip-of-vm_port>)
Config File Parameter:
router=<ip-of-vm:port> | Can be used to assign the load balancer IP and port. For example, teramind_agent_v1.235-r(10.55.55.58_235).pkg Or, in the config file: router=10.55.55.58:235 Note that the |
Installation Parameter:
-d(<0/1>)
Config File Parameter:
disable-autoupdate=<0/1> | Supported on the Cloud deployments only. The parameter enables ( teramind_agent_v1.235-d(0).pkg Note that auto-update feature is disabled by default on an instance. You will need to contact Teramind Support Team first to active the auto-update feature on your instance. After that, you will need to turn on the ENABLE AUTOMATIC UPDATES option under Settings > Autoupdate on the Dashboard. For more information check out this article. |
Installation Parameter:
-do(<domain name>)
Config File Parameter:
domain-override=<domain name> | Supported on the Hidden Agent only. Can be used to override the user’s domain/computer name with the specified teramind_agent_v1.235-do(acme.com).pkg Once set, the username will show the new domain name: |
Installation Parameter:
N/A
Config File Parameter:
network-exclude-bundles | This parameter can be used to exclude application bundles from the network driver. You will need to exclude applications by their bundle IDs. For example, network-exclude-bundles=com.apple.Safari You can add multiple bundle IDs separated by commas (no spaces), for example, network-exclude-bundles=com.operasoftware.Opera.helper,com.google.Chrome,com.apple.Safari Notes:
|
Installation Parameter:
N/A
Config File Parameters:
log-settings=file:<filename> | These parameters can be used to configure the Agent log. For example, log-settings=file:~/tmagent.log For more information about Agent logging, check out this article: How to collect the Teramind Agent logs. |
Installation Parameter:
-nmp(<port1,port2, portN>)
Config File Parameters:
network-monitored-ports=<port1, port2, portN> | This parameter will let you exclude network traffic from the Teramind Network Driver (NetApp) and the Network monitoring reports. This might be useful for troubleshooting or compatibility purposes (for example, when using an external proxy server).
There are two ways you can exclude the ports:
New Agent Installation:
In the above case, ports 8080 and 443 will be excluded from network monitoring.
Existing Agent Installation:
The Agent will now ignore traffic from ports 8080 and 443. |
Proxy Configuration
You can configure SOCKS / HTTP proxies when installing the Agent. You can also configure them from the Agent configuration file (agent.conf). Here's an example:
tmagent-stealth-1.234.4626-i(onsite)-r(192.168.1.201)-ssrv(192.168.1.202)-sprt(1080)-susr(user)-spsw(pass)-sv5(0).pkg
Note that both HTTP and SOCKS proxy should be configured. Only HTTP proxy or only SOCKS proxy isn't sufficient since they tunnel different OSI level protocols.
The table below lists the parameters and their usage:
SOCKS Proxy
Installation Parameter | Config File Parameter | Description | Example |
ssrv | socks-server | SOCKS server address. | 192.168.1.0 |
sprt | socks-port | Port. | 1082 |
susr | socks-user | Username. This parameter is optional. | john |
spsw | socks-password | Password. This parameter is optional. | myP@ssword |
sv5 | socks-version5 | 1 means use SOCKS 5 and 0 means use SOCKS 4. This parameter is optional. If not specified, SOCKS 4 will be used. | 1 |
HTTP Proxy
Installation Parameter | Config File Parameter | Description | Example |
hsrv | http-server | HTTP server address. | 192.168.1.1 |
hprt | http-port | Port. This parameter is optional. | 80 |
husr | http-user | Username. This parameter is optional. | john |
hpwd | http-password | Password. This parameter is optional. | myP@ssword |
Remote Installation
Check out one of articles below for instructions on how to remotely installation the agent based on your deployment scenario:
Antivirus and Firewall Considerations
The Teramind Agent and its drivers come digitally signed with an extended-validation certificate. We made every effort to coordinate our signature with the major antivirus vendors and, as a result, Teramind will not introduce any issue with the vast majority of antivirus software. Nevertheless, if you encounter any problems while downloading, installing, or updating the Agent, or an Agent not monitoring properly, please consult the Antivirus Configuration Guide.
For instructions on how to uninstall the agent, check out this article: How to uninstall the agent?