Command Line Arguments

 

Introduction

ISL AlwaysOn is controlled through command line parameters. When installing ISL AlwaysOn through product pages, the same parameters are used as a whole command line in the CGI parameter cmdline.

Important: These command line arguments are discarded when passed to push upgrade of ISL AlwaysOn from ISL Conference Proxy, so you cannot use them when doing a push upgrade. They are also not used when the ISL AlwaysOn management dialog or setup is started from a non-admin or non-system account. In order to allow the ISL AlwaysOn management dialog (and use command line arguments) under system account please add the command line option ignore_system_account.

Easiest way to obtain a valid ISL AlwaysOn grant link is shown in the following manual: Set Unattended Access via Link

The link will have one of the following formats:

https://www.islonline.net/start/ISLAlwaysOn?cmdline=grant+%22GRANTBLOB%22

or

https://alwayson.islonline.net/start/ISLAlwaysOn?cmdline=grant+%22GRANTBLOB%22

where GRANTBLOB represents your unique grant blob, telling the program to which user to add the computer. Wherever you see a reference to a blob or grant blob in the examples below, replace it with the appropriate value for your case.

Note: ".../start /..." in the link above means the ISL AlwaysOn will be downloaded during the installation process, which is not recommended if you will be using it as part of mass deployment tools. For that purpose, the 'start' should be replaced with 'download'.

Command Line Arguments

grant | grant_silent
 grant is inserted by default together with GRANTBLOB and defines who will be given access remote access to the computer. If you replace grant with grant_silentthen the final step of the ISL AlwayOn installation procedure where the user has to manually click "Grant" to allow remote connection for a specific user is skipped and connection is granted automatically.
Note: This is a verification step where the local user can verify who will be given access to the current computer, and should be disabled only in specific situations - e.g. automatic deployment of ISL AlwaysOn where you don't want or can't have a user interaction during the installation procedure.

 
/SILENT
  Installer will not display the wizard and the background window.
Note: The setup will not be started if ISL AlwaysOn is already installed on that computer.
 
/VERYSILENT
  Installer will not display the wizard and the background window. The installation progress window will not be shown as well.
Note: The setup will not be started if ISL AlwaysOn is already installed on that computer.
 
password <default password>
 Set the Main Access Password of the computer if the password has not been set yet.
Important: We strongly recommend changing the Access Password once you have completed the installation of unattended access. If ISL AlwaysOn is already installed on the remote computer, the Connection Access Password will be set instead, while the Main Access Password will remain unchanged.

 
password_md5 <md5[default password]>
 Set the Main Access Password of the computer by providing a md5 hash of the selected password instead of providing it via plaintext.
Important: We strongly recommend changing the Access Password once you have completed the installation of unattended access. If ISL AlwaysOn is already installed on the remote computer, the Connection Access Password will be set instead, while the Main Access Password will remain unchanged.

You can use one of the following commands to obtain the md5 hash:
Important: Make sure you are using single quotes (') and not double quotes (") - using double quotes (") may result in incorrect MD5 hash being generated.
Linux Terminal:
 echo -n '<your-password>' | md5sum
Note: Only copy the hash, without "-" character at the end of the output - that represents the input (stdin) and is not part of the md5 hash.
MacOS Terminal:
 echo -n '<your-password>' | md5
Windows PowerShell:
 Get-FileHash .\<file-with-your-password> -Algorithm MD5

Note: To use the Get-FileHash function on Windows, you need to type your desired password in an empty file, and then call the function with the file as the input.

 
description <computer description>
 Specify the description of the computer. Description text can also specify environment variables that are available to the ISL AlwaysOn process and some additional variables. Variables have the following for $[<variable-name>]:
  • name (computer name as it would be seen in ISL AlwaysOn web page without "description" command line option) (e.g. description "My PC - $[name]")
  • system variables:
    • You can access any environmental variable on the computer, on Windows machines they can be listed with the command set in the command prompt and on Linux machines they can be listed using the env command in the terminal. Some examples:
      • $[OS] - Windows - OS version of the Windows machine
      • $[USERNAME] - Windows - Username of the user registering the AON computer
      • $[LOGNAME] - Linux - Username of the user registering the AON computer
      • example: description "PC - $[OS] - $[USERNAME]" will be shown as PC - Windows_NT - User 
Note: When using system variables in computer Name/Alias field be aware that environmental variables could potentially contain sensitive information you might not want to appear in the application.
 
tags "tag1, tag2, tag3"
 Comma separated tags that should be added to the computer and are accessible when viewing the computer list. 
push_upgrade (true|false)
 Enable or disable automatic software updates initiated from the ISL Conference Proxy server - this option is useful for corporate environments where the administrator wants to update multiple computers simultaneously. 
record <path to recordings>
 Specify the session recordings folder. When an ISL Light session is recorded the recordings will be placed in the specified folder. 
shutdown|shutdown_silent
 Specifying the shutdown parameter will stop all ISL AlwaysOn services on the local computer. Use shutdown_silent to disable user interaction. 
grant_password <connection_password>
 Define a new granted Connection Access Password. 
grant_password_md5 <md5[connection_password]>
 Define a new granted Connection Access Password by providing a md5 hash of it instead of providing it via plaintext.
You can use one of the following commands to obtain the md5 hash:
Important: Make sure you are using single quotes (') and not double quotes (") - using double quotes (") may result in incorrect MD5 hash being generated.
Linux Terminal:
 echo -n '<your-password>' | md5sum
Note: Only copy the hash, without "-" character at the end of the output - that represents the input (stdin) and is not part of the md5 hash.
MacOS Terminal:
 echo -n '<your-password>' | md5
Windows PowerShell:
 Get-FileHash .\<file-with-your-password> -Algorithm MD5

Note: To use the Get-FileHash funciton on Windows, you need to type your desired password in an empty file, then call the function with the file as the input.


 
ignore_system_account
 Specify this option to allow the ISL AlwaysOn management dialog (and use of command line arguments) when running the executable from a non-privileged account. 
skip_check_start
 Upgrade the ISL AlwaysOn program first and then perform actions that are specified with parameters. 
share <path>
 Option share is used to add a shared folder - during installation, a dialog for adding a new file share will pop up, with the provided location already entered, allowing you to set the authentication and access parameters, then confirm it by clicking OK.


Steps for preparing a custom executable

These are general steps that need to be done:

  1. Get the default link for granting access to your user as described in the introduction section above, this will be your starting point.
  2. Make a list of the desired command line arguments that you wish to use (check the syntax section).
  3. URL-encode your command line arguments from the previous step. You can use any URL-encoding page, but we also have a page for this purpose: Link for URL encoding
  4. Insert the command line arguments before the grant+%22GRANTBLOB%22 part of the link replace grant with grant_silent if desired.

Note: To ensure the command line arguments are passed and handled correctly the grant/grnt_silent argument should be the last part of the generated link. 

Example

The following example will show you how to create a silent installer which could be used for deployment:

  1. Obtain an ISL AlwaysOn grant link as shown in the introduction:
https://www.islonline.net/start/ISLAlwaysOn?cmdline=grant+%22GRANTBLOB%22
  1. Select your password and obtain an md5 hash of it:
tim@Desktop:~$ echo -n topsecret | md5sum
ea847988ba59727dbf4e34ee75726dc3  -
  1. Select the other command line parameters. We will use the following, to make the install silent and set the description and password of the computer:
/VERYSILENT password_md5 "ea847988ba59727dbf4e34ee75726dc3" description "Deployed: $[name] - $[OS]"
  1. URL Encode command line parameters:
%2FVERYSILENT+password_md5+%22ea847988ba59727dbf4e34ee75726dc3%22+description+%22Deployed%3A+%24%5Bname%5D+-+%24%5BOS%5D%22
  1. Add encoded arguments to the link. Insert them at the beginning of the cmdline section and add a trailing + (encoded space):
https://www.islonline.net/start/ISLAlwaysOn?cmdline=%2FVERYSILENT+password_md5+%22ea847988ba59727dbf4e34ee75726dc3%22+description+%22Deployed%3A+%24%5Bname%5D+-+%24%5BOS%5D%22+grant+%22GRANTBLOB%22
  1. To make the installer completely silent, replace grant with grant_silent (this will skip the last step in installation where user has to click "Grant"):
https://www.islonline.net/start/ISLAlwaysOn?cmdline=%2FVERYSILENT+password_md5+%22ea847988ba59727dbf4e34ee75726dc3%22+description+%22Deployed%3A+%24%5Bname%5D+-+%24%5BOS%5D%22+grant_silent+%22GRANTBLOB%22
  1. Deploy the executable to the remote machine and run it. The computer(s) will appear in the list with a customized name and an access password set.


Connect to computer using command line arguments

It is possible to connect to remote computer with specific options to be passed to ISL Light 4.0.4+.

Please see the command line argument page in the ISL Light manual for more information on what can be used with ISL Light.

The command to be used for connecting to an unattended remote computer is --stream-options. Below table shows the parameters that can be passed.

--stream-options <options> (ISL Light 4.0.4+)
 Disable or enable specific stream options when connecting to an ISL AlwaysOn computer using command line arguments. Users can specify the following options:
_download_client=false (disable/enable downloading of ISL Light Client, ISL Light fast will be used - false/true)
small_foot=false (disable/enable small footprint GUI on a remote computer - false/true)
total_control=false (disable/enable total control option - option to disable/enable the user to use keyboard and mouse - false/true)
black_screen=false (disable/enable black screen once connected to a remote computer - false/true)
leave_background=false (disable/enable remote desktop background when connected - false/true)
stream_high_color=false (disable/enable the remote computer to stream in high color - false/true)
minimized_client=false (disable/enable minimizing of ISL Light client on the remote side once connected to the computer - false/true)
User-defined stream options can also be disabled here
Tags: isl alwayson, customization, command line arguments, url, syntax, custom executable

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