How to download and install the Teramind Agent

June 02, 2023 04:25

i	Troubleshooting Installation Issues
If you encounter any issue installing the Agent, please check out the Troubleshooting section of the Knowledge Base.

i	Notes for the Teramind Mac Users
At the moment, Teramind on Mac has limited functionalities and are only supported on 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

You can download and install the Teramind Agent from the User Menu:

Click the Username near the top-right corner of the Teramind Dashboard. A pop-up menu will be displayed.
From the pop-up menu, select an item from: Download Teramind Agent.

You can then choose from the two agent types: Revealed/Visible Agent or the Hidden/Stealth Agent.

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 login 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

To download the Revealed Agent, do the following:

On the Download Teramind Agent screen, choose Yes when asked, ‘Do you want your users to know that they are being monitored?’. You will be given the option to choose an Agent version.

You can open the Teramind Dashboard on the target PC and download the Agent directly from this page. Or you can do the following:

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.
You can email yourself the instruction, login to the target computer and download the Agent from the links in the email.

Installing the Revealed Agent (Windows)

Run the Agent installer file on the computer. Notice that, you will need administrator privilege to install the Agent properly.

Click the Begin installation button to install the Agent.

When the installation is complete, the user can launch the Agent from the Start Menu (Windows).

Installing the Revealed Agent (Mac)

Download the pkg file.
Rename the pkg file to include any optional parameters (see the Agent Installation Parameters (Mac) section to learn more).
Open it and the installation dialog will be open:

Click the Continue button. You will be taken to the next step, Destination Select:

Click the Continue button. You will be taken to the next step, Installation Type:

Click Install button. You will be shown the Installer dialog:

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:

Click the Close button to finish the installation.

i	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 follow the steps below to enable the permissions.

Setting the macOS Permissions for the Revealed Agent

Open the Launchpad and then select the Teramind Agent application. The Agent will launch and you will be shown a Accessibility Access pop-up window on top of the Teramind App:

Click the Open System Preferences button, you will be taken to the Security & Privacy window:

Click the Accessibility tab and click the Teramind Agent app to enable accessibility permission for it.

Click the Screen Recording tab and click the Teramind Agent app to enable screen recording permission for it.
Restart the application if requested.

For Agent Version 234 and Newer

To monitor network activities, you will need to enable permission for NetApp. Teramind uses this extension to monitor network traffic. Run the following command on your Terminal (type everything in a single line):

sudo "/usr/local/teramind/agent/bin/Teramind Agent.app/Contents/MacOS/Teramind Agent" network_permissions;sleep 1;killall "Teramind Agent"

You will see the NetApp permission request dialog:

Click the Open Security Preferences button. You will be taken to the Security & Privacy screen:

Click the Allow button next to the System software from application “.NetApp” was blocked from loading message. A pop-up window will open:

Click the Allow button to confirm adding proxy configurations by NetApp.

Enrolling: Adding Users to the Dashboard

After you have installed the Revealed Agent on a user's computer, 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 tracks the user as soon as they log into their computer. Both the user and computer will appear automatically on the dashboard. The names are taken directly from the registered machines. It is recommendable that Computer names should be unique to not create confusion. If a computer is renamed, Teramind will auto-update. The Hidden Agent is useful when you do not want your users to know that they are being monitored.

Simple vs Advanced Installation

There are two ways you can install the hidden agent: Simple and Advanced. The Simple installer will show a confirmation message after the installation is finished while the Advanced installer will install in the background without showing any message. The Advanced installation option also offers more remote deployment choices. For the Macs, the Advanced option also gives you the ability to install the agent from the command line.

Downloading the Simple Hidden Agent

To download and install the Hidden Agent, do the following:

On the Download Teramind Agent screen, choose No when asked, ‘Do you want your users to know that they are being monitored?’. You will be given the option to choose the installation process.

When asked, ‘Which kind of installation process do you prefer?’, select Simple Installation.

Download one of the Agent installers, copy it to the target machine. Alternatively, you can open the Teramind Dashboard on the target PC and download it directly from this page.
You can also email yourself the instruction, login to the target computer and download the Agent from the links in the email.

Installing the Simple Hidden Agent (Windows)

Run the Agent installer the same way you would install a Revealed Agent. The only exception is that, the Agent will not show up as an application after installation is finished.

Installing the Simple Hidden Agent (Mac)

The steps are similar to the Revealed Agent. Please follow the instructions under Installing the Revealed Agent (Mac) section above. After installing, you may need to set up some macOS permissions. Please follow the instruction below to do so.

Setting the macOS Permissions for the Hidden Agent

Type the following command on the Terminal window and press Enter (type everything in a single line):

sudo killall "System Monitoring"; open "/usr/local/teramind/agent/bin/System Monitoring.app" --args permissions

A pop-up window will appear:

Click the Open System Preferences button. You will be taken to the Security & Privacy window:

Click the Accessibility tab and click the System Monitoring app to enable accessibility permission for it. You will be shown a warning message:

Click the Open System Preference button.

Provide access permission to System Monitor for Screen Recording this time. You will be asked to restart the application:

Click the Quit & Reopen button to apply screen recording capabilities.

For Agent Version 234 and Newer

To monitor network activities, you will need to enable permission for NetApp. Teramind uses this extension to monitor network traffic. Run the following command on your Terminal (type everything in a single line):

sudo "/usr/local/teramind/agent/bin/System Monitoring.app/Contents/MacOS/System Monitoring" network_permissions;sleep 1;killall "System Monitoring"

Then you will see the NetApp permission request dialog:

Click the Open Security Preferences button. You will be taken to the Security & Privacy screen:

Click the Allow button next to the System software from application “.NetApp” was blocked from loading message. A pop-up window will open:

Click the Allow button to confirm adding proxy configurations by NetApp.

Downloading the Advanced Hidden Agent

To download and install the Advanced versions of the Hidden Agent, do the following:

On the Download Teramind Agent screen, choose No when asked, ‘Do you want your users to know that they are being monitored?’. You will be given the option to choose the installation process.

When asked, ‘Which kind of installation process do you prefer?’, select Advanced Installation.

Download one of the Agent installers, copy it to the target machine. Alternatively, you can open the Teramind Dashboard on the target PC and download it directly from this page.
You can also email yourself the instruction, login to the target computer and download the Agent from the links in the email.

Installing the Advanced Hidden Agent – GUI Method (Windows)

Note that this option is available on Windows only.

Run the Agent installer MSI the same way you would install a Revealed Agent. The only exception is that, apart from some pop ups from the OS asking for permissions for the installation, there is no other user input. After the installation, the computer is monitored immediately.

Installing the Advanced Hidden Agent – Command Line Method (Windows)

MSIEXEC can be used in either command line or from within a script, as follows:

C:\> msiexec /i <//path-to/teramind/agent.msi>

Where <//path-to/teramind/agent.msi> is either a URL, network, or local path to the Teramind Agent MSI file.

With the command line method, 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 Advanced Hidden Agent – Command Line Method (Mac)

To install macOS Hidden Teramind 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 Advanced Hidden Agent’s download screen by clicking the MAC OSX button:

i	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 follow the instructions under the Setting the macOS Permissions for the Hidden Agent section to enable the permissions.

Enrolling: Adding Users to the Dashboard

The users will be created automatically when the agent is installed on their computers - 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 agent installation? article explains it in more details.

Agent Installation Parameters (Windows)

You can use these optional parameters when installing the Windows Agent:

/qn	Enables silent installation. For example, msiexec /i teramind_agent_v5.0.0_x64.msi /qn
TMROUTER=*<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 `port` is optional. If not assigned, the default port (443) will be used. Please see the SETTINGS > Server Management section on the Teramind User Guide for more information.
TMINSTANCE=<account-name>	Assigns the instance name. Provide an `<account-name>` or use `onsite` for on-premise deployment. For example, 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	Turns audio monitoring on (0) 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.
TMDOMAINOVERRIDE=<domain-name>	Supported on the Hidden Agent only. Can be used to override the user’s domain/computer name with the specified `<domain-name>`. For example, msiexec /i teramind_agent_v5.0.0_x64.msi TMDOMAINOVERRIDE=acme.com
DO_PROTECTION=yes	Installs the hidden agent in protected mode. For example, msiexec /i teramind_agent_v5.0.0_x64.msi DO_PROTECT=yes Installing the Agent in protected mode helps: prevent users from seeing the Agent in system services list prevent the stopping of the service using commands such as: ‘sc stop’ prevents corruption of the service registration prevent uninstall by unauthorized admins You can specify the protection password in the SETTINGS > Security > Agent Removal Protection section on the Teramind User Guide for more information.
/lv <"log-file-name">*	Enables installation logging. Replace the `<log-file-name>` with your file name. For example, msiexec /i teramind_agent_v0.1.249_x86.msi */lv "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 `<directory>` with your directory/folder. For example, msiexec /i teramind_agent_v0.1.249_x86.msi TMROOTDIR=”c:\myagent”
TMDNSNAME=<new name>	The Agent has local web server to receive the data from the browser proxy injections. By default its name is `tm.filter`, but you can use the TMDNSNAME parameter to override it. For example, 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	By default, Teramind Stealth/Hidden Agent isn't shown on the Windows list of installed programs (knows as the Add or remove programs 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
TMHASHUSERNAMES=1	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 You can also manually add this line to the config file (config.cfg): hash-user-names = 1 The user will then appear like the example below:
TMHIDERDPCLIENTIP=1	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 You can also manually add this line to the config file (config.cfg): hide-rdp-client-ip = 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.
TMNOFSDRV=1	If used, this option will disable the Teramind file driver. For example, msiexec /i teramind_agent_v0.1.260.3940_x64.msi TMNOFSDRV=1 You can also manually add this line to the config file (config.cfg): driver-flags = off This is similar to disabling the FILE DRIVER option on the Monitoring Settings > Advanced screen.

SOCKS Proxy Configuration

You can configure the SOCKS proxy when installing the Agent. You can also configure them from the Teramind configuration file (config.cfg) using the following parameters:

Installer Parameter	Config File Parameter	Type	Example
TMHTTPPROXY	http-proxy	String	10.1.2.1:9005
TMSOCKSHOST	socks-host	String	192.168.56.103
TMSOCKSPORT	socks-port	String	1082
TMSOCKSUSER	socks-user	String	test_user
TMSOCKSPASSWORD	socks-password	String	test_pass
TMUSESOCKS5	use-socks5	Boolean	1

Here's an example:

msiexec /i teramind_agent_v5.0.0_x64.msi TMROUTER=10.55.55.58 TMSOCKSHOST=192.168.56.103 TMSOCKSPORT=1082 TMSOCKSUSER=test_user TMSOCKSPASSWORD=test_password TMUSESOCKS5=1

Agent Installation 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:

Rename the installer/package file to include the –() parameter. For example:
```
teramind_agent_v1.235.4632_hidden-do(acme.com).pkg
```
If the Agent is already installed, you can edit the parameters from the agent config file (agent.conf). For example:
```
domain-override=aceme.com
```
i
The agent.conf is located in your Agent installation folder, e.g., Macintosh HD > usr > local > teramind > agent > etc

Installer/Config File Parameter	Description
-i(<instance name>) instance=<instance name>	Assigns the instance name. Provide a `<account-name>` or use `onsite` for an On-Premise deployment. Examples: `teramind_agent_v1.235-i(onsite).pkg` `instance=onsite` This option isn't required for Cloud deployments since the Cloud installer already has the instance name embedded.
-r(<ip-of-vm:port>) router=<ip-of-vm:port>	Can be used to assign the load balancer IP and port. Examples: `teramind_agent_v1.235-r(10.55.55.58:235).pkg` `router=10.55.55.58` Note that the `port` is optional. If not assigned, the default port (443) will be used. Please see the Server Management section of the Teramind User Guide for more information.
-d(<0/1>) disable-autoupdate=<0/1>	Supported on the Cloud deployments only. The parameter enables (`1`) or disables (`0`) the auto update of the Agent. Examples: `teramind_agent_v1.235-d(0).pkg` `disable-autoupdate=0`
-do(<domain name>) domain-override=<domain name>	Supported on the Hidden Agent only. Can be used to override the user’s domain/computer name with the specified `<domain-name>`. Examples: `teramind_agent_v1.235-do(acme.com).pkg` `domain-override=acme.com` Once set, the username will show the new domain name:

Remote Installation (Windows Only)

Check out one of articles below for instructions on how to remotely installation the agent based on your deployment scenario:

Antivirus and Firewall Considerations

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, consult the Antivirus Configuration Guide.

i	For instructions on how to uninstall the agent, check out this article: How to uninstall the agent?