Install the Backblaze Client Silently (Windows)

For Microsoft’s line of Windows operating systems, pushing an application to hundreds of users generally involves an MSI package installer. The installers have a mechanism for copying to and running on supported machines, either by itself or as part of a script.

The Backblaze MSI installer, when run on a user account, can determine the user’s email address from the domain’s Active Directory. The MSI installation process can then provide the authorization to install the backup client with the elevated privileges that are required for a backup program.

Decentralized Deployment (User-Managed Account)

You should not provide an email address at runtime. Since email addresses are different per endpoint, the installer pulls them from Active Directory.

• You must set up an Active Directory environment. 
• If you do not have an Active Directory environment, you must fill in a relevant email for each deployment. You can use custom scripting with the PowerShell script that is mentioned below to actively pass these values in at runtime. 

Decentralized deployments involve an account for each endpoint that is part of the business group that manages payment and admin activity (if enabled). In this scenario, the end user has access to their own data through the Backblaze portal.

Centralized Deployment (IT Managed Account)

You should hard code the primary email because it stays static.

• This process skips the querying of Active Directory.

For centralized deployments in which every endpoint is logged into a primary Backblaze account that is managed by IT, the end user does not have access to their data on Backblaze. They must contact the manager of that centralized account. These deployments are quite simple because the email that is passed to the installer does not change per endpoint.

Use the MSI Package Installer

Before you begin: You must have the following prerequisites.

• Windows OS 7 or newer
• An active Backblaze Group
• A groupID and a groupToken
  These two values are required across all types of deployments. You can retrieve them from your Backblaze portal.

Retrieve your groupID and groupToken

MSI Installer

You can find the most current version of the MSI installer here: https://secure.backblaze.com/win32/install_backblazemsi.msi.

The MSI package is controlled through the following parameters that you pass through the command line.

Install Mode: /i

msiexec.exe /i install_backblazemsi.msi [email protected] BZGROUPID=***** BZGROUPTOKEN=***************

• (Optional)  BZEMAIL=email
• (Required) BZGROUPID=groupID
• (Required) BZGROUPTOKEN=groupToken

Uninstall Mode: /uninstall or /x

msiexec.exe /uninstall install_backblazemsi.msi

Use a PowerShell Script

The MSI package is convenient for applications in which the use is static across all installations. The PowerShell script adapts to large deployments in which special considerations need to be made for endpoints. Most deployment tools allow pushes of PowerShell scripts to be run on endpoints. The script downloads the latest installer to a temporary directory (or a directory of your choice) from which it will run an installation, update, or uninstallation. 

By using the PowerShell script around it, you can perform the following operations:

• Create an account and install using hardcoded email values
• Sign in an account and install using hardcoded email values
• Create an account and install using email address values that are pulled from Active Directory
• Sign in an account and install using email address values that are pulled from Active Directory
• Update current installation
• Uninstall current installation

param( 
    [string] $groupID = "",
    [string] $groupToken = "",
    [string] $userEmail = "",
    [string] $workingDirectory,
    [string] $uninstall = "false"
)

#Create log if it doesnt already exist
$LOGNAME = "Backblaze Powershell Deployment"
if ( -not ( [System.Diagnostics.EventLog]::SourceExists($LOGNAME) ) ) {
    New-EventLog -LogName Application -Source $LOGNAME
}

[int]$global:eventIx = 1

##############################FUNCTIONS#################################################
function logOutput {
    param( [string]$out )
    if ( $debug ) {
        write-host "[debug[${global:eventIx}]] $out"
    }
}

function global:echoOutput {
    param( [string]$out )
    Write-EventLog -LogName Application -Source $LOGNAME -EntryType Information -EventID $eventIX -Message $out
    logOutput "event ${global:eventIx}: $out"
    $global:eventIx = $global:eventIx + 1
}

function MyThrow {
    param( [string]$throwMessage )
    echoOutput $throwMessage
    Throw $throwMessage
}

function updateCheck {
    $software = "Backblaze";
    $installed = (Get-ItemProperty HKLM:\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall\* | Where { $_.DisplayName -eq $software }) -ne $null

    if($installed) {
        runUpdate
        exit
    }
}

function runUpdate {
    
}

function installBackblaze {
    $installCommand = "msiexec.exe /i install_backblazemsi.msi /quiet /l*vx! $BACKBLAZE_LOG_DIR BZEMAIL=$userEmail BZGROUPID=$groupID BZGROUPTOKEN=$groupToken"
    Invoke-Expression $installCommand
}

function installADBackblaze {
    $installADCommand = "msiexec.exe /i install_backblazemsi.msi /quiet /l*vx! $BACKBLAZE_LOG_DIR BZGROUPID=$groupID BZGROUPTOKEN=$groupToken"
    Invoke-Expression $installADCommand
}

function uninstallBackblaze {
    $uninstallCommand = "msiexec.exe /uninstall install_backblazemsi.msi /quiet"
    Invoke-Expression $uninstallCommand
    exit
}

########################################################################################

#Update Check

#Uninstall Check
if ( $uninstall -eq "true") {
    uninstallBackblaze
    exit
}

#Set installer filename
$BACKBLAZE_INSTALLER = 'install_backblazemsi.msi'
$BACKBLAZE_LOG = 'output.log'

#Set install path
if ( $workingDirectory ) {
    $BACKBLAZE_INSTALL_DIR = $workingDirectory
    $BACKBLAZE_LOG_DIR = join-path $BACKBLAZE_INSTALL_DIR $BACKBLAZE_LOG
} else {
    $BACKBLAZE_INSTALL_DIR = "C:\tmp\backblaze_install_dir"
    $BACKBLAZE_LOG_DIR = "C:\tmp\backblaze_install_dir\output.log"
}

#Install path exists?
$ret = test-path $BACKBLAZE_INSTALL_DIR
echoOutput "BACKBLAZE_INSTALL_DIR [$BACKBLAZE_INSTALL_DIR] existence returned as ret [$ret]"
if( -not $ret ) {
    New-Item -ItemType directory -Path $BACKBLAZE_INSTALL_DIR
    echoOutput "Temp directory created at [$BACKBLAZE_INSTALL_DIR]"
}

$msiPath = join-path $BACKBLAZE_INSTALL_DIR $BACKBLAZE_INSTALLER

#Backblaze installer is present?
if ( -not ( test-path -path "$msiPath" ) ) {
    Invoke-WebRequest -Uri "https://secure.backblaze.com/win32/install_backblazemsi.msi" -OutFile $msiPath
    echoOutput "Latest installer download to [$BACKBLAZE_INSTALL_DIR]"
}

#Check parameters
if( -not $groupID ) {
    MyThrow "Error: groupID missing"
}

if( -not $groupToken ) {
    MyThrow "Error: groupToken missing"
}

Set-Location $BACKBLAZE_INSTALL_DIR

if ( $userEmail ) {
    installBackblaze
} else {
    installADBackblaze
}

Before you run the script, you must hard code a few values depending on the type of deployment you need:

param( 
    [string] $groupID = "groupID", REQUIRED
    [string] $groupToken = "groupToken", REQUIRED
    [string] $userEmail = "email", OPTIONAL
    [string] $workingDirectory, OPTIONAL
    [string] $uninstall = "false"
)

<$groupID> and <$groupToken> are required parameters for the script to run properly.

<$userEmail > is an optional parameter. If you leave this value blank, the script triggers the MSI installer to pull from Active Directory. If you do not have an Active Directory environment set up, then the email parameter is required.  

This is where you can run custom scripting to port in emails at runtime from your own source.

<$workingDirectory> is an optional parameter. Using this parameter, the script downloads and runs the installer at the specified directory. By default, the script creates a temporary working directory at:

C:\tmp\backblaze_install_dir

<$uninstall> is an optional parameter. Changing this to true sets the script to run an uninstallation of the Backblaze program on the endpoint.

The script automatically runs an update on any endpoint if it finds that Backblaze is already installed. 

Troubleshooting

If you are unable to successfully install or you see a different error, contact the Support team. Provide Support with the install log from the computer on which you attempted a silent installation.