RUNCMD setting in mgssetup.ini for FlexNet Inventory Agent installation

[kyle_wolff]

I am trying to find a universal way to force the FlexNet Inventory Agent to run the "ndtrack.exe -t machine" (forcing a scan) command upon installation completion, self-contained within the bootstrap file itself (mgssetup.ini). Yes, I know this is possible other ways through various deployment tools/methods/processes.

I was directed to the section of the mgssetup.ini file "; Arbitrary command to run at completion of installation." and told adding RUNCMD = "C:\Program Files (x86)\ManageSoft\Tracker\ndtrack.exe –t machine” would do this. Several resources have advised me that this works and is documented.

Upon extensive self-testing (several hours), running every possible command variation I could think of (quotes in various locations, etc.) I can confidently say that RUNCMD = does not work the way I have been told it works / would have expected.

I tried all the following with every variation of quotation of the command possible, for each variation, also referencing https://ss64.com/nt/cmd.html and https://stackoverflow.com/questions/12891383/correct-quoting-for-cmd-exe-for-multiple-arguments. This post would be too long if I tried to submit every possible variation, so I am just sharing the general starting formats:

; Arbitrary command to run at completion of installation.

RUNCMD = "C:\Program Files (x86)\ManageSoft\Tracker\ndtrack.exe –t machine"

; Arbitrary command to run at completion of installation.

RUNCMD = "C:\Program Files (x86)\ManageSoft\Tracker\ndtrack.exe”

RUNCMDARGS = “-t machine”

; Arbitrary command to run at completion of installation.

RUNCMD = cmd /c “"C:\Program Files (x86)\ManageSoft\Tracker\ndtrack.exe” “–t machine"”

I digress…

The only success I had was creating a RUNCMD.cmd file placed in c:\temp on the local system, and calling it using the RUNCMD = line in the mgssetup.ini

Example mgssetup.ini file:

; Arbitrary command to run at completion of installation.

RUNCMD = C:\temp\RUNCMD.cmd

Example RUNCMD.cmd file:

cmd /c “”C:\Program Files (x86)\ManageSoft\Tracker\ndtrack.exe” –t machine””

It also worked with the following:

pushd “C:\Program Files (x86)\ManageSoft\Tracker\”

ndtrack.exe –t machine

At the end of all of this my questions are:

• Does documentation exist on this setting in the mgssetup.ini?
• Can someone from Engineering give a detailed response regarding what is possible with the RUNCMD = setting in the mgssetup.ini? What are the guidelines and specific formatting required?
• Has anyone else done testing with this option and had different results?
• Was this working at some point, but in the latest version 2019 R1, deprecated?

Thank you in advance for your comments and feedback.

[MurrayPeters · Accepted solution]

Hi Kyle,

I use the following:

; Arbitrary command to run at completion of installation.
RUNCMD = cmd.exe
RUNCMDARGS = /C start ndtrack -t Machine -o UploadLocation=http://flexbeacon.flexdem.com/ManageSoftRL

regards,
Murray

[ChrisG]

The approach suggested by @MurrayPeters is pragmatic and a typical approach used to trigger inventory gathering as part of the agent installation process.

For a more complex (and more flexible) agent installation process that uses an MSI transform to trigger inventory gathering (as well as various other bootstrap operations), see the following post: https://community.flexera.com/t5/FlexNet-Manager-forum/FNMS-Inventory-Agent-Deployment/m-p/97436/highlight/true#M581

[steve_young]

This works for me

RUNCMD = C:\Program Files (x86)\ManageSoft\Tracker\ndtrack.exe
RUNCMDARGS = -t Machine -o UploadLocation="http://<Inventory Beacon FQDN>/ManageSoftRL"

[kyle_wolff]

@MurrayPeters This exact command, even without specifying the -o UploadLocation works. You do need to set the DEPLOYSERVERURL in order for it to work without setting -o UploadLocation though. Thank you!