WAPT Enterprise offers Organizational Unit package functionality.
unit packages automate software and configuration installations based on the Active Directory tree.
It is a very powerful feature when used properly.
Unit packages are not explicitly assigned to the host (i.e. as dependencies in the host package) but are implicitly taken into account by the WAPT agent dependency engine during the WAPT upgrade.
Note
If the computer is removed from an Organizational Unit, obsolete unit packages are removed.
The WAPT Agent is aware of its position in the Active Directory tree structure, therefore it knows the hierarchy of Organizational Units that concerns it, for example:
If a unit package is defined on each Organisational Unit level, the WAPT Agent will automatically download WAPT packages and configurations that are attached to each level.
Using inheritance, WAPT will apply WAPT packages and dependencies that are attached to each Organizational Unit.
The Check updates on all hosts of this OU menu item
Allows to upload the current state of the host to the WAPT Server and force the WAPT Server to display whether the hosts in the selected OU have pending updates.
The Apply upgrades on all hosts of the OU menu item
Allows to apply waiting WAPT updates and upgrades on the all hosts in the OU.
Note
You may filter how hosts are displayed based on the Active Directory OU they belong to.
The checkbox Include hosts in subfolders allows to display hosts in subfolders.
It can happen that some specific hosts cannot be joined to an Active Directory domain.
Therefore, these hosts do not show up in the Active Directory Organizational Units in the WAPT Console.
To make all hosts show up in the WAPT Console under the right Organizational Unit, whether they are joined to an AD domain or not, WAPT allows to specify a fake Organizational Unit in the WAPT Agent configuration file.
The benefits of this very useful trick are:
You can manage out-of-domain, workgroup and Windows Home Edition hosts with WAPT as if they were joined to the Active Directory.
Out-of-domain, workgroup and Windows Home Edition hosts are now showing up in the Active Directory tree view in the WAPT Console.
Note
You can also change the ad location of the machine if you want to visually change its location on the WAPT console. (This package is only visual, in no way does it change the actual location of the machine in the active directory).
To setup a fake Organizational Unit on hosts, create an Hostagentdynamicconfiguration, then go to AdvancedEditing > host_organizational_unit_dn.
Forced installation refers to re-executing the setup.py script of a WAPT package, even if the package is already marked as installed on the system.
Why Use Forced Installation ?
A forced installation can verify that any outdated configuration or remnants from a previous version of the package have been properly removed.
If a package is installed but corrupted, reinstallation ensures a fresh setup without requiring a version change.
WAPT typically relies on registry keys or other markers to determine if a package is installed.
If these markers are present but the software is not functioning correctly, WAPT might skip reinstallation unless forced.
Warning
Forced installations should be performed carefully, as they may overwrite local configurations or disrupt ongoing processes.
Ensure that the potential impact is evaluated before proceeding.
How to force a package installation ?
For one computer :
Navigate to the Overview tab in the WAPT Console, right-click on the desired package and select Force_Install.
For multiple computer :
Go to the WAPT Packages section. Locate the package you want to force. Right-click on the package and select Edit_Package.
Enable the Show More Attributes option. Set a past date in the Force Install Before field.
The choice was made in favour of TOTP (Time-Based One-time Password).
This is a temporary code generated by an algorithm and linked to the current time. The code is generated for thirty seconds.
Hint
It is important that your wapt server and the management consoles are in the same time because the TOTP generates a code every thirty seconds.
Note
Since the 2.6.0.16676, in the CSPN toe or if you add require_totp_for_admin option in the wapt-get.ini.
This applies to password-based authentication (admin, passwd, ldap, token).
Without require_totp_for_admin, admin rights are stripped unless TOTP is verified.
WAPT Enterprise offers an Active Directory profile bundle functionality.
Note
For performance reasons, this feature is enabled only if the use_ad_groups option is enabled in the wapt-get.ini configuration file of the WAPT Agent.
The profile bundle automates the installation of WAPT packages and configuration packages on hosts based on their membership to Active Directory Computer Security Groups.
The WAPT Agent will report to the WAPT Server the Active Directory groups to which the host belongs.
If a profile package has the same name (case sensitive) as an Active Directory group, then the WAPT agent will install automatically the profile package for the Active Directory group of which the host is a member.
If the host is no longer a member of its Active Directory group, then the matching profilepackage will be uninstalled.
Profile packages are not explicitly assigned to the host (i.e. as dependencies in the *host* package) but are implicitly taken into account by the WAPT Agent dependency engine during WAPT upgrades.
Important
The Active Directory Computers security groups and sub-groups contain Computers, not Users.
Window showing the Computers group in Active Directory¶
Warning
Automatically installing software and configurations based on user and user group membership is not implemented with WAPT and such implementation is not desirable.
The use case of installing software based on user profile is better served with the differentiated self-service feature that is also available with WAPT Enterprise.
3.5.2. Creating WAPT profile bundles in the WAPT Console¶
You can create profile bundle WAPT packages by clicking on Make package template from setup file ‣ AD profile.
The profile AD group name and the profile package MUST be the same (case sensitive).
You can utilize the AD (boxed in green in the screenshot below) button to search for your Active Directory computer group, thereby avoiding any potential typing errors.
Example:
AD Security group: hw_laptops;
WAPT profile bundle: hw_laptops.
A window opens and you are prompted to choose which WAPT packages are to be included in the newly created profile bundle.
Adding WAPT packages to a profile bundle in the WAPT Console¶
Save the profile bundle and it will be uploaded to the WAPT Server.
The WAPT System Tray utility is a systray program working in user context.
The WAPT System Tray utility launches at logon if you enable it with the following package: tis-enable-wapttray.
The icon will show up in the Windows tray toolbar.
One can also launch the WAPT System Tray utility manually on C:\ProgramFiles(x86)\wapt\wapttray.exe.
3.7.1. Functionalities of the WAPT System Tray utility¶
List of functionalities of the WAPT System Tray utility¶
Action
Description
View software status
Launches the local web interface in a web browser.
Update software inventory
Refreshes the list of available WAPT packages.
Double-clicking on the tray icon brings about the same effect.
Install updates
Launches the installation of pending upgrades.
Run WAPT Self-service
Launches the WAPT Self-Service.
Run WAPT Console
Launches the WAPT Console.
Configuration
See following table for detailed list of options.
Configuring all installed packages for your own session
Launches a session-setup to configure user environment for all packages installed on the host.
View tasks
Display the task list on the local web interface in the web browser.
Cancel current task
Cancels a running task on WAPT Agent.
Cancel all current tasks
Cancels all running tasks on WAPT Agent.
WAPT service running
Stops and reloads the WAPT service.
Quit
Closes the tray icon without stopping the local WAPT service.
List of configuration options for the WAPT System Tray utility¶
Action
Description
View configuration file
Opens the C:\ProgramFiles(x86)\wapt\wapt-get.ini file with Local Administrator privileges (credentials may be asked).
Reload network related service configuration
Reloads the connection to the WAPT Server in the event of a network reconfiguration.
Save this host to the WAPT Server
Updates the host’s inventory with the WAPT Server.
About this host
Launches the local web interface in a browser file with Local Administrator privileges (credentials may be asked) to display the host inventory.
All running software that are upgraded may be killed with possible loss of data.
The WAPT Exit utility may fail to upgrade a software program if a software that you are upgrading is in the impacted_process list of the control file.
See below for more information.
The method of triggering the WAPT Exit utility at a scheduled time is the least recommended method for desktops.
It is better to let the WAPT Exit utility execute at shutdown or on user request.
3.8.2. The WAPT Exit utility settings in wapt-get.ini¶
To tell WAPT not to run an upgrade of software titles currently running on the host (impacted_process attribute of the WAPT package), the WAPT Exit utility may be run with the argument -only_if_not_process_running.
waptexit.exe-only_if_not_process_running=True
If not specified, the WAPT Exit utility will take the value indicated in C:\ProgramFiles(x86)\wapt\wapt-get.ini.
3.8.3.4. Launching the installation of WAPT packages with a special level of priority¶
To tell WAPT to only upgrade WAPT packages with a specific priority, you can run the WAPT Exit utility with the argument -priorities.
waptexit.exe-priorities=high
3.8.3.5. Registering/ unregistering the WAPT Exit utility¶
To register or unregister the WAPT Exit utility in local shutdown group strategy scripts, use:
to enable the WAPT Exit utility at host shutdown:
wapt-getadd-upgrade-shutdown
to disable the WAPT Exit utility at host shutdown:
These files are automatically generated when the waptconsole is first launched and it is generated from the wapt-get.ini file configured on the Administrator’s workstation.
Others sections present on C:\Users\%username%\AppData\Roaming\waptconsole\waptconsole.ini are not editable manually, therefore they are not detailed.
Warning
For parameters both present in wapt-get.ini and waptconsole.ini, values are set in wapt-get.ini and copied to waptconsole.ini.
Do not edit manually these parameters.
3.10.2. Description of available options by section¶
You may add several external repositories by adding [sections] in C:\Users\%username%\AppData\Local\waptconsole\waptconsole.ini.
Warning
This parameter can be configured both in the WAPT Agent configuration and in the WAPT Console configuration C:\Users\%username%\AppData\Local\waptconsole\waptconsole.ini.
For information on configuring the WAPT Agent, please refer to this point.
When importing a WAPT package in a multi-WAPT console context, the package will be imported into the global repositories, not all WAPT servers.
Warning
When using the multi-WAPT console context, ensure that the number of machines in the license matches across all servers. For example, if your license for Server 1 is 100 and for Server 2 is 50, you will need 100 licenses for Server 2 as well.