Article ID: 5302
Reviewed: 2018-02-21

Product Version:
AhsayACB / AhsayOBM: 7.5.2.2 to 7.x
OS: Windows

ATTENTION 1st January, 2022: v7 officially End-of-Life [details]

This document contains information on the silent install command (e.g. client installation without user interaction) for AhsayOBM / ACB.

Table of Contents:

• Installer name
• Automate client user login and backup
• Silent install command and options

Installer name:
Before you can perform a silent install (directly via command prompt or a script), the AhsayOBM / ACB installer must be renamed to include the application type, backup server URL, backup protocol, backup port and owner settings:

For example, AhsayOBM, backup server URL 10.1.0.20, backup protocol https, backup port 443, and owner ID 123, the installer must be renamed to

obm-win-443-10.1.0.20-https-123O.exe

The naming convention of the installation file is

${application_type}-win-${backup_port}-${backup_server_url}-${backup_protocol}-${owner_id}O.exe

• application_type (obm / acb)
  AhsayOBM or AhsayACB client installer.


• backup_port
  HTTP / HTTPS port of the backup server which the client will connect to.


• backup_server_url
  Backup Server URL of the backup server which the client will connect to.


• backup_protocol (http / https)
  Backup Protocol of the backup server which the client will connect to.
  
  Note:
  The Backup Server URL, Backup Protocol and Backup Port settings, correspond to the settings configured under AhsayCBS web console at
  
  
  1. On the main menu, under System Settings, select Basic.
  
  
  2. Select Administrative Access, the system account, and then Rebrand Clients.
  
  
  3. Settings under Application Settings - OBM or Application Settings - ACB.
     
     
  
  
• owner_id
  Owner ID of the system account that the backup user belongs to.
  
  Obtain the owner ID of a system account on the AhsayCBS web console at:
  
  
  1. On the main menu, under System Settings, select Basic.
  
  
  2. Select Administrative Access, then the system account.
  
  
  3. Copy the URL from the browser to a text editor, the owner ID is listed at the end of id=
     
     http://backup_server_url/cbs/system/config/accounts/EditSysUser.do?id=ower_id
     
     For example
     
     http://10.1.0.20/cbs/system/config/accounts/EditSysUser.do?id=1480067614863
     
     The owner ID is 1480067614863

Automate client user login and backup:
Important: This feature is only available for AhsayOBM / ACB version 7.15.2.2 or above.

You can automate the user login and backup process (e.g. for mass deployment) by creating the backup user, backup sets, and local user settings file "config.ini" on the corresponding client computer, before installing AhsayOBM / ACB (for both silent and normal installation method).

The config.ini file contains backup client settings, such as the backup server URL, backup protocol, username, user password, save password setting, and most importantly, encryption settings of all backup sets of the backup user, are read by AhsayOBM / ACB upon completion to the installation process, AhsayOBM / ACB services restart, or client user interface login.

Scheduled backup jobs can then be perform and backup sets' ownership are handled automatically with absolutely no user interaction (e.g. scheduled backup job are performed in the background without the need for the end user to login to AhsayOBM / ACB).

Refer to the following steps to create the backup user, backup sets, and config.ini file

1. Login to the AhsayCBS web console.


2. On the main menu, under Backup / Restore, select Users, Groups & Policies.


3. Create the backup user account.
   
   Note:
   Refer to the AhsayCBS Administrator’s Guide for details on how to create a backup user:
   https://www.ahsay.com/download/download_document_cbs-admin.jsp


4. Create backup set for the backup user.
   
   Note:
   Refer to the AhsayCBS User’s Guide for details on how to create a backup set:
   https://www.ahsay.com/download/download_document_cbs-user.jsp
   
   Create a Backup Schedule for the backup set if you want to automate the backup process.


5. Obtain the backup set ID of the newly created backup set on the AhsayCBS web console at:
   
   
   • On the main menu, under Backup / Restore, select Users, Groups & Policies.
   • Under Backup User, select the corresponding backup user, and then Backup Set.
   • Select the backup set under Manage Backup Set.
   • The backup set ID is listed under General
     
     Perform the same steps for each backup set created.
   
   
6. On the client computer, create the ".obm" / ".acb" folder under the corresponding Windows user’s profile, for example, at
   
   C:\Users\Administrator\.obm
   
   Note:
   It is important that the .obm / .acb folder is created at the correct location (e.g. the Windows user to be running AhsayOBM / ACB).


7. Create a "home.txt" file containing the path to the .obm / .acb folder (created in the previous step), for example
   
   C:\Users\Administrator\.obm
   
   Create the following directories path and place the home.txt file in
   
   C:\ProgramData\AhsayOBM\home.txt  or
   C:\ProgramData\AhsayACB\home.txt
   
   Note:
   ProgramData is a hidden folder, you may need to change the folder settings in Windows Explorer in order to see it.


8. Create the local user settings file "config.ini" with a text editor.
   
   Format of contents in the config.ini file
   
   ID=${username}
   PWD=${password}
   LANG=en
   HOST=${backup_server_url}
   PROTOCOL=${backup_protocol}
   SAVE_PWD=${Y/N}
   BSET-${backupset_id}=PKCS7Padding,${encryption_algorithm-bits},${encryption_method},${encryption_key}
   
   
   • ID
     Username of the corresponding backup user.
   
   
   • PWD
     Login password of the corresponding backup user.
   
   
   • HOST
     Backup Server URL of the backup server which the client will connect to.
   
   
   • PROTOCOL (http / https)
     Backup Protocol of the backup server which the client will connect to.
   
   
   • SAVE_PWD (Y / N)
     Save password setting of AhsayOBM / ACB. This option correspond to the following option on the user interface:
     
     
     
     
   • BSET-${backupset_id}
     The backupset_id can be obtained with the instruction provided in Step 5 above.
     
     Encryption setting of backup set can be configured with the following parameters
     
     BSET-${backupset_id}=PKCS7Padding,${encyrption_algorithm-bits},${encryption_method},${encryption_key}
     
     
     • encyrption_algorithm-bits (Twofish-128 / Twofish-256 / DESede-128 / DESede-256 / AES-128 / AES-256)
       Encryption Algorithm and Key Length for the backup set.
     
     
     • encryption_method (ECB / CBC)
       Encryption Method of the backup set.
     
     
     • encryption_key
       Encryption Key of the backup set.
     
     For example
     
     To configure a backup set with ID 1518496233192, Encryption Algorithm AES, Key Length 256-bit, Encryption Method CBC and Encryption Key 123456
     
     BSET-1518496233192=PKCS7Padding,AES-256,CBC,123456
     
     To configure a backup set with ID 1518502501989, No Encryption
     
     BSET-1518502501989=,,,
   
   Create the config.ini file according to the server, user login credentials and backup set(s) that you have created.
   
   For example, with the following server, user login credentials, and encryption settings
   
   Username = username
   User password = P@ssw0rd
   Backup Server URL = 10.1.0.20
   Backup Protocol = https
   Save Password = No
   Backup Set ID = 1518496233192
   Encryption Algorithm = AES
   Key Length = 256-bit
   Encryption Method = CBC
   Encryption Key = 123456
   
   Content of the config.ini file will look like this
   
   ID=username
   PWD=P@ssw0rd
   LANG=en
   HOST=10.1.0.20
   PROTOCOL=https
   SAVE_PWD=N
   BSET-1518496233192=PKCS7Padding,AES-256,CBC,123456
   
   Note:
   For backup user with multiple backup sets, simply list the encryption settings at the end of the file.
   
   For example
   …
   PROTOCOL=https
   SAVE_PWD=N
   BSET-1518496233192=PKCS7Padding,AES-256,CBC,123456
   BSET-1518502501989=PKCS7Padding,AES-256,ECB,abc123
   BSET-1518502439761=PKCS7Padding,AES-256,CBC,xyz456
   
   
   
9. Place the "config.ini" file in the .obm / .acb folder created in Step 6, for example, at
   
   C:\Users\Administrator\.obm\config\config.ini
   
   Note:
   It is important that the config.ini file is placed in the correct location (e.g. in the .obm / .acb folder of the Windows user to be running AhsayOBM / ACB).


10. Refer to the next section to perform the silent installation of AhsayOBM / ACB.

Silent install command and options:
Execute the following command to perform a silent installation

${installer_name} /${install_mode} /LANG=en /TASKS=${"program_group"} /DIR=${"installation_path"}

• install_mode (silent / verysilent)
  There are two silent install modes for AhsayOBM / ACB, they are called the Silent mode (silent), and Very Silent mode (verysilent).
  
  
  • Silent mode
    
    When AhsayOBM / ACB is installed with the silent install command in Silent mode, the installation progress will be displayed on screen, but no user interaction is required.
    
    
  
  
  • Very Silent mode
    
    When AhsayOBM / ACB is installed with the silent install command in Very Silent mode, there will be no visual feedback on screen.
  
  For example
  
  To install AhsayOBM in Silent mode
  >obm-win-443-10.1.0.20-https-0O.exe /silent /LANG=en /TASKS="EveryOne"
  
  To install AhsayACB in Very Silent mode
  >acb-win-443-10.1.0.20-https-0O.exe /verysilent /LANG=en /TASKS="EveryOne"
  
  
• program_group ("EveryOne" / "meOnly")
  There are two options available for program_group, they are the "Anyone who uses this computer" (EveryOne) program group or "Me Only" (meOnly) program group.
  
  These two options correspond to the following options on the user interface when AhsayOBM / ACB is installed normally:
  
  
  
  For example
  
  To install AhsayOBM for "Anyone who uses this computer"
  >obm-win-443-10.1.0.20-https-0O.exe /silent /LANG=en /TASKS="EveryOne"
  
  To install AhsayACB for "Me Only"
  >acb-win-443-10.3.1.8-https-0O.exe /silent /LANG=en /TASKS="meOnly"


• DIR
  Optional parameter to install AhsayOBM / ACB to a non-default path, supply the DIR option.
  
  For example
  
  To install AhsayOBM to a non-default path C:\custom_path
  >obm-win-443-10.1.0.20-https-0O.exe /silent /LANG=en /TASKS="EveryOne" /DIR="C:\custom_path"
  
  To install AhsayACB to a non-default path C:\custom_path2
  >acb-win-443-10.1.0.20-https-0O.exe /silent /LANG=en /TASKS="EveryOne" /DIR="C:\custom_path2"
  
  Note:
  If the DIR option is not supplied, the client application will be installed to the default path (e.g. C:\Program Files).