Self-executing file on a timer

CaptainLaddie

dj paul pfieffer
SoSH Member
Sep 6, 2004
36,692
where the darn libs live
Long story short, our remote access software (ScreenConnect) uninstalled itself without reinstalling on all of our machines. I haven't spoken to SC yet but I'm already trying to figure out ways to get them back online without having to fly all over the country in the next 24 hours.

Basically here's the deal: we have dropbox access to all of these machines, which means we can still send files over. Is there a way to create a file that will run itself after a certain amount of time? All the machines have Administrator access, and the file you need to install doesn't require clicking through any menus - you run it once and it's gold.

If I can drop a file into dropbox and have it run at a certain time (5 minutes after landing in the dropbox), that saves me a massive headache.

Is this possible in some way?
 

AlNipper49

Huge Member
Dope
SoSH Member
Apr 3, 2001
44,855
Mtigawi
Nope. Even if it theoretically did they be permissioning/AV/UAC/etc issues to contend with.

If it got uninstalled it wasn't SC unless it issued a remove command which would be a first for me.

This is why you use RMM tools. I had sent you a freebie one last time...Commodo or something? There are others but are usually ones that cost money. We use one and it costs us a ton, but it's worth every penny

You can also cobble together the same functionality with open source stuff like Nagios (NPRE) but I don't remind that route, too much pain-in-the-ass factor.
 

Blacken

Robespierre in a Cape
SoSH Member
Jul 24, 2007
12,152
He's looking for a convergence tool like Chef or Ansible that will establish and maintain a baseline state, not Task Scheduler. Anybody in charge of more than five computers should be using a tool like that generally, though, not just for this situation. Describe the characteristics that the machine should have, then use Task Scheduler or cron to re-run the converger to make sure it stays that way.
 

CaptainLaddie

dj paul pfieffer
SoSH Member
Sep 6, 2004
36,692
where the darn libs live
Basically TIFU by not having redundancies.

Also SC should *tell you* that if you go back in time in your server that you shouldn't reinstall your clients as well. Just leave them. Because that's what I did, and it fucked me. Now I'm flying to Las Vegas, Chicago, and LA in the next three days.
 

CaptainLaddie

dj paul pfieffer
SoSH Member
Sep 6, 2004
36,692
where the darn libs live
Also, I'm not really looking for either of those. I'm looking for a way to dropbox a script + executable file onto a computer so that the script checks to see if something is installed, then executes the file if it isn't.

I can imagine a way to make this work if I basically programmed a virus, but I don't have the time/resources.
 

AlNipper49

Huge Member
Dope
SoSH Member
Apr 3, 2001
44,855
Mtigawi
Laddie, can you get a partner to go out there and do it for you? Something like elance?

And if you're going out there you'll want to get rmm onto those machines while you're at it. The Commodo one that I referenced about is a freebie that our smaller competitors will use, then you step up to stuff like GFI, then you get to stuff like Kaseya, Continuum and Labtech.

You do get what you pay for to some degree, but then again it's not like you'll use this tool every single day.
 

CaptainLaddie

dj paul pfieffer
SoSH Member
Sep 6, 2004
36,692
where the darn libs live
Yeah, I've got Comodo RMM up and running and a backup remote desktop control with up to 300 clients at $49 a month as well. I plan on installing all three on each machine going forward.

I don't want to hire someone via elance mainly because I don't trust them to do it right. It's a really easy process but for now I'd rather handle things like this myself, since I know the people on the other end fairly well.