Noob help

[lomenak]

Hello everybody,

I only just found out about Autoit as I am trying to figure out how to help our team with ESET activation for about 200 machines without an ERA server. I am really sorry to ask but I would really need quite a bit of handholding with my question as I have no idea where to start with autoit. Desperate times, desperate measures - you know how it goes..

So we have around 200 machines using an antivirus that is expiring in a few days so we need to install ESET on them. We dont use the ERA so we have to activate the antivirus manually with a license key. 

We are using Kaseya for the remote support that all of us here are quite new to. I have played around with the built in 'agent procedures' to create some automation but the software deployment is not working for me at the moment - I have an open ticket with the support to get this sorted asap but as far as I can tell, it will not be of much help with activating the software automatically.

What I wanted to ask for your help with would be if you could help me with creating a script that would cover the following:

• downloading ESET installation file
• running the installation as administrator with pre-configured installation steps (couple of radio and 'next' buttons)
• once completed navigate to the ESET icon in system tray, right click and choose 'activate product'
• paste our license key in the license key field and click 'activate'

I am sure this all will be quite simple for some of you and I would love to know how to do this as well but I am quite under a lot of pressure at the moment so any help with this would be truly appreciated!

Thanks heaps!

[Jfish]

There are a lot of netadmin wizards on this forum who are experts with remote installs.  I am not one of them - but I do know that folks don't usually write code unless the OP shows what they have tried so far.  Maybe you could take a look at inetget (download files), the run and shellexecute functions (for running), with the icon - perhaps execute whatever program it links to instead of navigating to it, and winwaitactivate with send (sends key strokes) or better controlsend if you can get the input handle can send the activation keys.  You should also see if you can do a silent install.  There are some pretty great examples in the help file for all these things.  You can also search the forum for examples of remote install ... there should be plenty.  If you can post an attempt a lot of folks will probably jump in to help.

[JLogan3o13]

@lomenak, let's start with the basics. Please answer a couple of questions so we can best assist you:

• Name and version of the A/V you're uninstalling (yes, it does matter)
• What method do you normally use for software distribution? (SCCM, Altiris, manual, etc.)
• Are the 200 machines in one geographic location or multiple?
• Are the machines Win7, Win 10, or god-forbid XP

[NitNG4le]

Sounds like a great project!  The only downside I can see will be the time restraints.  I know it can be tough to learn something new while under pressure.

You can rest in the fact that you have found the BEST automation software for Windows.......period.  While the learning experience may be frustrating, just stick with it.

Jfish hit the nail on the head.  Browse the help file for examples in automation.  There are a couple of ways to identify the windows and controls you want to interact with.  If you need administrative privileges, simply add "#requireadmin" at the top of your script.

Probably download the ESET software once, and place it into the script directory.

I may be over-complicating things a bit, but it would be very helpful to have a database (maybe SQLite) for all your machines; including their respective IP's, software license keys, etc.

Auto-It has some great built-in functions for remote control; however, IMHO, where Auto-It really begins to shine, are the UDF's.  Make sure you search the help file thoroughly, and run some of the example scripts.  Try changing some of the values around to see how it affects the output.  This also helps with learning syntax and debugging.

The guys on this forum are VERY helpful.  The more information you can provide about your situation, the more they'll be able to help.

[lomenak]

4 hours ago, JLogan3o13 said:

@lomenak, let's start with the basics. Please answer a couple of questions so we can best assist you:

• Name and version of the A/V you're uninstalling (yes, it does matter)
• What method do you normally use for software distribution? (SCCM, Altiris, manual, etc.)
• Are the 200 machines in one geographic location or multiple?
• Are the machines Win7, Win 10, or god-forbid XP

Thanks for taking your time. A bit more detail for you:

• We are uninstalling TrendMicro
• We (the 3rd party IT support anyway) used to use LabTech, we are currently using Kaseya
• The machines are all over the country on separate networks as part of workgroup
• The machines are running Win 7, 8.1 and 10

We may be able to get the TrendMicro and the ESET installed via LabTech (if we are given access to scripts in LabTech). In that case I would only need to get a script written that will activate the ESET. But as we stand now, would be good to know how to write the script for the whole process.

 

[SadBunny]

So, another question would be, why not go with ERA? It was made with this specific goal in mind.

[lomenak]

3 hours ago, SadBunny said:

So, another question would be, why not go with ERA? It was made with this specific goal in mind.

From what I read this would be more hassle than what I need above.