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ESET
Remote
Administrator
Installation Manual
and User Guide
contents
Copyright © 2009 by ESET, spol. s r. o.
ESET Smart Security was developed by ESET, spol. s r.o.
For more information visit www.eset.com.
All rights reserved. No part of this documentation may be
reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any
form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying,
recording, scanning, or otherwise without permission in
writing from the author.
ESET, spol. s r.o. reserves the right to change any of the
described application software without prior notice.
Customer Care Worldwide: www.eset.eu/support
Customer Care North America: www.eset.com/support
REV.
1. Introduction ..........................................4
1.1 Program architecture .................................................... 4
.. ERA Server ERAS ..................................................
.. ERA Console ERAC ...............................................
2. Installation of ERA Server and ERA Console 5
2.1 Requirements ............................................................... 5
.. Hardware requirements .........................................
.. Ports used .............................................................
2.2 Basic Installation guide .................................................. 6
.. Environment overview network structure .............
.. Before installation .................................................
.. Installation ............................................................
... Installation of ERA Server .......................................
... Installation of ERA Console ....................................
... How to enable and configure the Mirror ..................
... Database types supported by ERA Server ................
.... Basic requirements ................................................
.... Database connection setup ....................................
.... Installing over an existing database ........................
... Remote install to client workstations in the network
... Remote install on notebooks currently not present in
the network ........................................................
2.3 Scenario – Installation in an Enterprise environment .......10
.. Environment overview network structure ...........
.. Installation ..........................................................
... Installation at headquarters .................................
... Branch oce: Installation of ERA Server .................
... Branch oce: Installation of HTTP Mirror server .....
.. Other requirements for Enterprise environments ....
3. Working with ERAC ............................ 13
3.1 Connecting to ERAS ................................................. 13
3.2 ERAC – main window .................................................... 13
3.3 Information filtering .....................................................14
.. Groups .................................................................
.. Filter ....................................................................
.. Context menu.......................................................
3.4 Tabs in ERAC ................................................................ 16
.. General description of tabs and clients ...................
.. Replication & information in individual tabs ...........
.. Clients tab ............................................................
.. Threat Log tab .....................................................
.. Firewall Log Tab ....................................................
.. Event Log tab ........................................................
.. Scan Log tab .........................................................
.. Tasks tab .............................................................
.. Reports tab .........................................................
.. Remote install tab ...............................................
3.5 ERA Console setup .......................................................22
.. Connection tab ....................................................
.. Columns Show / Hide tab ...................................
.. Colors tab ............................................................
.. Paths tab .............................................................
.. Date / Time tab ....................................................
.. Other settings tab................................................
3.6 Display modes .............................................................24
3.7 ESET Configuration Editor .............................................24
.. Configuration layering .........................................
.. Key configuration entries .....................................
4. Installation of ESET client solutions ....... 27
4.1 Direct installation ........................................................27
4.2 Remote installation ..................................................... 27
.. Requirements ......................................................
.. Configuring the environment for remote installation
.. Remote Push Install .............................................
.. Logon /email remote install ..................................
.. Custom remote install ..........................................
ESET Remote Administrator
.. Avoiding repeated installations.............................
4.3 Installation in an Enterprise environment .......................36
5. Administering client computers ............. 38
5.1 Tasks ..........................................................................38
.. Configuration Task ...............................................
.. Ondemand Scan task ..........................................
.. Update Now task .................................................
.. SysInspector Script Task .......................................
5.2 Groups ........................................................................39
5.3 Policies ...................................................................... 40
.. Basic principles and operation ..............................
.. How to create policies ..........................................
.. Virtual policies ......................................................
.. Policies and structure of ESET Configuration Editor
.. Viewing policies ...................................................
.. Assigning policies to clients ..................................
... Default Primary Clients Policy ...............................
... Manual assigning .................................................
... Policy Rules .........................................................
.. Deleting policies ..................................................
.. Special settings ....................................................
.. Policy deployment scenarios .................................
... Each server is a standalone unit and policies are
defined locally .....................................................
... Each server is administered individually policies
are managed locally but the Default Parent Policy is
inherited from the upper server ............................
... Inheriting policies from an upper server .................
... Assigning policies only from the upper server.........
... Using policy rules .................................................
... Using local groups................................................
5.4 Notifications .............................................................. 49
.. Notification Manager ...........................................
... Notifications via SNMP TRAP ................................
.. Rule creation .......................................................
5.5 Detailed information from clients ................................. 55
6. Reports ............................................... 56
7. ESET Remote Administrator Server (ERAS)
setup .................................................. 58
7.1 Security tab ................................................................ 58
7.2 Server Maintenance tab ............................................... 58
7.3 Mirror server .............................................................. 59
.. Operation of the Mirror server ..............................
.. Types of updates ..................................................
.. How to enable and configure the Mirror ................
.. Mirror for clients with NOD version .x ...............
7.4 Replication tab ........................................................... 62
7.5 Logging tab ................................................................ 64
7.6 License management .................................................. 64
7.7 Advanced settings ....................................................... 65
7.8 Other settings tab ....................................................... 65
.. SMTP settings ......................................................
.. Ports ...................................................................
.. New clients .........................................................
.. ThreatSense. Net .................................................
8. ERA Maintenance Tool .......................... 67
8.1 ERA Server Information ................................................67
8.2 Task Type ....................................................................67
.. Stop ERA Server ...................................................
.. Start ERA Server ..................................................
.. Database Transfer ................................................
.. Database Backup .................................................
.. Database Restore ................................................
.. Delete Tables .......................................................
.. Install New License Key ........................................
.. Modify server configuration .................................
9. Troubleshooting ...................................69
9.1 FAQ ........................................................................... 69
.. Problems installing ESET Remote Administrator to
Windows server / ..................................
.. What is the meaning of the GLE error code? ...........
9.2 Frequently encountered error codes .............................. 69
.. Error messages displayed when using ESET Remote
Administrator to remotely install ESET Smart Security
or ESET NOD Antivirus ......................................
.. Frequently encountered error codes in era.log .......
9.3 How to diagnose problems with ERAS? ...........................70
10. Hints & tips ...........................................71
10.1 Scheduler .................................................................... 71
10.2 Removing existing profiles ............................................ 73
10.3 Export and other features of client XML configuration .....73
10.4 Combined update for notebooks .................................... 73
10.5 Installation of third‑party products using ERA .................75
1. Introduction
ESET Remote Administrator ERA is an application which allows you to manage ESET’s products in a networked
environment, including workstations and servers from one central location. With ESET Remote Administrator‘s
builtin task management system, you can install ESET security solutions on remote computers and quickly respond
to new problems and threats.
ESET Remote Administrator itself does not provide any other form of protection against malicious code. ERA
depends on the presence of an ESET security solution on workstations or servers, such as ESET NOD Antivirus or
ESET Smart Security.
To perform a complete deployment of an ESET security solutions portfolio, the following steps must be taken:
• InstallationofERAServer(ERAS),
• InstallationofERAConsole(ERAC),
• Installationofclientcomputers(ESETNOD32Antivirus,ESETSmartSecurity,LinuxESETSecurityclient,etc…).
NOTE: Some parts of this document use system variables which refer to an exact location of folders and files:
%ProgramFiles % = typically C:\Program Files
%ALLUSERSPROFILE % = typically C:\Documents and Settings\All Users
1.1 Program architecture
Technically, ESET Remote Administrator consists of two separate components: ERA Server ERAS and ERA Console
ERAC. You can run an unlimited number of ERA Servers and Consoles on your network as there are no limitations
in the license agreement for their use. The only limitation is the total number of clients your installation of ERA can
administer see section .., ”License keys”.
1.1.1 ERA Server (ERAS)
The server component of ERA runs as a service under the following Microsoft Windows® NTbased operating
systems: NT, , XP, , Vista and . The main task of this service is to collect information from clients and
to send them various requests. These requests, including configuration tasks, remote installation requests, etc., are
created through the ERA Console ERAC. ERAS is a meeting point between ERAC and client computers a place
where all information is processed, maintained or modified before being transferred to clients or to ERAC.
1.1.2 ERA Console (ERAC)
ERAC is the client component of ERA and is usually installed on a workstation. This workstation is used by the
administrator to remotely control ESET solutions on individual clients. Using ERAC, the administrator can connect
to the server component of ERA on TCP port . The communication is controlled by the process console.exe,
which is usually located in the following directory:
%ProgramFiles %\ESET\ESET Remote Administrator\Console
When installing ERAC, you may need to enter the name of an ERAS. Upon startup, the console will automatically
connect to this server. ERAC can also be configured after installation.
ERAC outputs graphical logs in HTML that are saved locally. All other information is sent from ERAS on TCP port
.
2. Installation of ERA Server
and ERA Console
2.1 Requirements
ERAS works as a service, and therefore requires a Microsoft Windows NTbased operating system NT, , XP,
, Vista or . The Microsoft Windows Server Edition is not necessary for ERAS to work. A computer with
ERAS installed on it should always be online and accessible via computer network by:
• Clients(usuallyworkstations)
• PCwithERAConsole
• OtherinstancesofERAS(ifreplicated)
2.1.1 Hardware requirements
The eect on system performance is minimal. However, it depends on the number of clients, the type of database
used by ERAS, on the logging level, etc. The minimum HW configuration for the deployment of ERAS is also the
minimum recommended configuration for the Microsoft Windows operating system used on the machine.
2.1.2 Ports used
The chart below lists the possible network communications used when ERAS is installed. The process EHttpSrv.
exe listens on TCP port and the process era.exe listens on TCP ports , , and . Other
communications occur using native operating system processes e.g., ”NetBIOS over TCP/IP”.
Protocol Port Description
TCP ERAS listening
Default port used by the
Mirror feature integrated in
ERAS HTTP version
TCP ERAS listening
Communication between
clients and ERAS
TCP ERAS listening
Communication between
ERAC and ERAS
If using all features of the program, the following network ports need to be open:
Protocol Port Description
TCP ERAS listening
Communication between the
agent einstaller.exe and ERAS
during remote install
TCP ERAS listening ERAS replication.
TCP
target port from the
point of view of ERAS
Copying of the agent
einstaller.exe from ERAS
to a client using the share
admin
UDP
target port from the
point of view of ERAS
“Name resolving” during
remote install.
UDP
target port from the
point of view of ERAS
“Browsing” during remote
install
TCP
target port from the
point of view of ERAS
Direct access to shared
resources using TCP/IP during
remote install an alternative
to TCP
The predefined ports , , , , and can be changed in the event that they are already in use by
other applications.
To change the default ports used by ERA, click Tools > Server Options…To change port , select the Updates
tab and change the HTTP server port value. Ports , , , and can be modified in the Ports section
on the Other settings tab.
The predefined ports , , and can also be modified during the advanced install mode ERAS.
