Step-by-Step Guide to Automating ConnectWise ScreenConnect Installation on Linux

In today’s IT landscape, remote support tools are indispensable for Managed Service Providers (MSPs) and IT professionals. These tools facilitate efficient troubleshooting and management of remote devices, reducing downtime and enhancing productivity.

ConnectWise ScreenConnect, a robust remote support solution, is widely used for its comprehensive features and ease of use. Automating the installation process of such tools can save significant time and effort. This blog post delves into a Bash script designed to download and install ConnectWise ScreenConnect on Linux systems, highlighting its features, usage, and benefits.

Background

ConnectWise ScreenConnect allows IT professionals to remotely access and control devices, providing a seamless support experience. Installing ScreenConnect across multiple devices can be tedious, especially when customization is required for different organizational settings.

The provided script automates this process, enabling customization of various parameters like company name, device type, location, and more. This automation is particularly beneficial for MSPs managing numerous client environments, ensuring consistent and efficient deployment.

The Script

#!/usr/bin/env bash
#
# Description: Download and install ConnectWise ScreenConnect. This script supports automatic customization of the company name, device type, location, and other ScreenConnect fields.
# By using this script, you indicate your acceptance of the following legal terms as well as our Terms of Use at https://www.ninjaone.com/terms-of-use.
# Ownership Rights: NinjaOne owns and will continue to own all right, title, and interest in and to the script (including the copyright). NinjaOne is giving you a limited license to use the script in accordance with these legal terms. 
# Use Limitation: You may only use the script for your legitimate personal or internal business purposes, and you may not share the script with another party. 
# Republication Prohibition: Under no circumstances are you permitted to re-publish the script in any script library or website belonging to or under the control of any other software provider. 
# Warranty Disclaimer: The script is provided “as is” and “as available”, without warranty of any kind. NinjaOne makes no promise or guarantee that the script will be free from defects or that it will meet your specific needs or expectations. 
# Assumption of Risk: Your use of the script is at your own risk. You acknowledge that there are certain inherent risks in using the script, and you understand and assume each of those risks. 
# Waiver and Release: You will not hold NinjaOne responsible for any adverse or unintended consequences resulting from your use of the script, and you waive any legal or equitable rights or remedies you may have against NinjaOne relating to your use of the script. 
# EULA: If you are a NinjaOne customer, your use of the script is subject to the End User License Agreement applicable to you (EULA).
#
# Preset Parameter: --screenconnectdomain "replace.me"
#   Replace the text encased in quotes to have the script build the download URL and then install ScreenConnect.
#
# Preset Parameter: --useOrgName
#   Modifies your URL to use the organization name in the "Company Name" Field in ScreenConnect.
#
# Preset Parameter: --useLocation
#   Modifies your URL to use the Location Name in the "Site" Field in ScreenConnect.
#
# Preset Parameter: --deviceType "REPLACEME"
#   Modifies your URL to fill in the "Device Type" field in ScreenConnect. (Either Workstation or Laptop).
#
# Preset Parameter: --Department "REPLACEME"
#   Modifies your URL to fill in the Department name with the text encased in quotes
#
# Preset Parameter: --skipSleep
#   By default, this script sleeps at a random interval (between 3 and 30 seconds) before downloading the installation file.
#   This option skips the sleep interval.
#
# Pre-set Parameter: --help
#   Displays some help text.

# These are all our preset parameter defaults. You can set these = to something if you would prefer the script automatically assumed a parameter is used.
_arg_screenconnectdomain=
# For parameters that don't have arguments "on" or "off" is used.
_arg_useOrgName="off"
_arg_useLocation="off"
_arg_department=
_arg_devicetype=
_arg_destfolder=/tmp
_arg_skipsleep="off"
_arg_installJava="off"

# Help text function for when invalid input is encountered
print_help() {
  printf '\n\n%s\n\n' 'Usage: [--screenconnectdomain <arg>] [--useOrgName] [--useLocation] [--deviceType <arg>] [--department <arg>] [--skipSleep] [-h|--help]'
  printf '\n%s\n' 'Preset Parameter: --screenconnectdomain "replace.me"'
  printf '\t%s' "Replace the text encased in quotes with the domain used for ConnectWise ScreenConnect. e.g. 'example.screenconnect.com'"
  printf '\n%s\n' 'Preset Parameter: --useOrgName'
  printf '\t%s\n' "Modifies your URL in order to fill in the 'Company Name' field in ScreenConnect with the Organization Name."
  printf '\n%s\n' 'Preset Parameter: --useLocation'
  printf '\t%s\n' "Modifies your URL to fill in the 'Site Name' field in ScreenConnect with the device's location as specified in Ninja."
  printf '\n%s\n' 'Preset Parameter: --department "YourDesiredDepartmentName"'
  printf '\t%s\n' "Modifies your URL in order to fill in the 'Department' field in ScreenConnect with the text encased in quotes."
  printf '\n%s\n' 'Preset Parameter: --devicetype "YourDesiredDeviceType"'
  printf '\t%s\n' "Modifies your URL in order to fill in the 'Device Type' field in ScreenConnect with the text encased in quotes."
  printf '\n%s\n' 'Preset Parameter: --skipSleep'
  printf '\t%s\n' "By default this script will sleep at a random interval between 3 and 60 seconds prior to download. Use this option to skip this behavior."
  printf '\n%s\n' 'Preset Parameter: --installJava'
  printf '\t%s\n' "Install Java if it's not already present."
  printf '\n%s\n' 'Preset Parameter: --help'
  printf '\t%s\n' "Displays this help menu."
}

# Determines whether or not help text is necessary and routes the output to stderr
die() {
  local _ret="${2:-1}"
  echo "$1" >&2
  test "${_PRINT_HELP:-no}" = yes && print_help >&2
  exit "${_ret}"
}

# Grabbing the parameters and parsing through them.
parse_commandline() {
  while test $# -gt 0; do
    _key="$1"
    case "$_key" in
    --screenconnectdomain | --domain)
      test $# -lt 2 && die "Missing value for the optional argument '$_key'." 1
      _arg_screenconnectdomain=$2
      shift
      ;;
    --screenconnectdomain=*)
      _arg_screenconnectdomain="${_key##--screenconnectdomain=}"
      ;;
    --useOrgName | --useorgname | --orgname)
      _arg_useOrgName="on"
      ;;
    --useLocation | --useOrgLocation | --uselocation | --location)
      _arg_useLocation="on"
      ;;
    --deviceType | --devicetype)
      test $# -lt 2 && die "Missing value for the optional argument '$_key'." 1
      _arg_devicetype="$2"
      shift
      ;;
    --devicetype=*)
      _arg_devicetype="${_key##--devicetype=}"
      ;;
    --department | --Department)
      test $# -lt 2 && die "Missing value for the optional argument '$_key'." 1
      _arg_department="$2"
      shift
      ;;
    --department=*)
      _arg_department="${_key##--department=}"
      ;;
    --installJava)
      _arg_installJava="on"
      ;;
    --skipsleep | --skipSleep)
      _arg_skipsleep="on"
      ;;
    --help | -h)
      _PRINT_HELP=yes die 0
      ;;
    *)
      _PRINT_HELP=yes die "FATAL ERROR: Got an unexpected argument '$1'" 1
      ;;
    esac
    shift
  done
}

parse_commandline "$@"

# If script form is used, override command-line arguments

if [[ -n $screenconnectDomainName ]]; then
  _arg_screenconnectdomain="$screenconnectDomainName"
fi

if [[ -n $installJavaIfMissing && $installJavaIfMissing == "true" ]]; then
  _arg_installJava="on"
fi

if [[ -n $instanceId ]]; then
  _arg_instanceId="$instanceId"
fi

if [[ -n $useNinjaOrganizationName && $useNinjaOrganizationName == "true" ]]; then
  _arg_useOrgName="on"
fi

if [[ -n $useNinjaLocationName && $useNinjaLocationName == "true" ]]; then
  _arg_useLocation="on"
fi

if [[ -n $deviceType ]]; then
  _arg_devicetype="$deviceType"
fi

if [[ -n $department ]]; then
  _arg_department="$department"
fi

if [[ -n $skipSleep && $skipSleep == "true" ]]; then
  _arg_skipsleep="on"
fi

# This function will download our file when we're ready for that.
downloadFile() {
  i=1
  while [[ $i -lt 4 ]]; do
    if [[ ! $_arg_skipsleep == "on" ]]; then
      sleepTime=$((3 + RANDOM % 30))
      echo "Sleeping for $sleepTime seconds."
      sleep $sleepTime
    fi

    echo "Download Attempt $i"
    wget -q -O "$_arg_destfolder/$filename" "$url"

    file=$_arg_destfolder/$filename
    if [[ -f $file ]]; then
      echo 'Download was successful!'
      i=4
    else
      echo 'Attempt Failed!'
      ((i += 1))
    fi
  done
}

# Check if deb or rpm distro
usesDeb=$(command -v dpkg)
usesRpm=$(command -v rpm)

if [[ -z $usesDeb && -z $usesRpm ]]; then
  _PRINT_HELP=no die "FATAL ERROR: rpm or dpkg cannot be found. ConnectWise ScreenConnect cannot be installed on this system. https://screenconnect.connectwise.com/blog/remote-support-access/remote-desktop-linux" 1
fi

# If we're not given a download method error out
if [[ -z $_arg_screenconnectdomain ]]; then
  _PRINT_HELP=yes die "FATAL ERROR: A download url or the domain you use for ScreenConnect is required to install ScreenConnect." 1
fi

pattern='^http(.?)://(.*)'
if [[ $_arg_screenconnectdomain =~ $pattern ]]; then
  _arg_screenconnectdomain=${_arg_screenconnectdomain//http*:\/\//}
  echo "You accidentally included http with the domain. Using '$_arg_screenconnectdomain' instead."
fi

# If the destination folder doesn't exist create it.
if [[ ! -d $_arg_destfolder ]]; then
  mkdir "$_arg_destfolder"
fi

# Setting filename depending on if its a Debian package or a Redhat package.
if [[ -n $usesDeb ]]; then
  filename="ClientSetup.deb"
else
  filename="ClientSetup.rpm"
fi

# If a file already exists with that name remove it.
if [[ -f "$_arg_destfolder/$filename" ]]; then
  rm "$_arg_destfolder/$filename"
fi

# Start the build process
echo "Building URL..."
usesPython2=$(command -v python2)
usesPython3=$(command -v python3)

if [[ -z $usesPython2 && -z $usesPython3 ]]; then
  _PRINT_HELP=no die "FATAL ERROR: python is required for this script to function!"
fi

# For anything we put in the url we'll need to escape it as wget won't do this conversion for us.
encodeURL() {
  local toEncode=$1
  local encodedURL

  if [[ -n $usesPython3 ]]; then
    encodedURL=$(python3 -c "import urllib.parse;print(urllib.parse.quote('$toEncode'))")
  else
    encodedURL=$(python2 -c "import urllib;print urllib.quote('$toEncode')")
  fi
  echo "$encodedURL"
}

companyName=$(encodeURL "$NINJA_COMPANY_NAME")
baseURL="https://$_arg_screenconnectdomain/Bin/$companyName.$filename?e=Access&y=Guest"

# If the technician specified --useOrgName (or any other switch/flag) we set it to "on" when we parse the parameters
if [[ $_arg_useOrgName == "on" ]]; then
  orgName=$(encodeURL "$NINJA_ORGANIZATION_NAME")
  baseURL="$baseURL&c=$orgName"
else
  # If they decided to not use that field we just leave it blank so ScreenConnect will skip over it.
  baseURL="$baseURL&c="
fi

if [[ $_arg_useLocation == "on" ]]; then
  location=$(encodeURL "$NINJA_LOCATION_NAME")
  baseURL="$baseURL&c=$location"
else
  baseURL="$baseURL&c="
fi

if [[ -n $_arg_department ]]; then
  _arg_department=$(encodeURL "$_arg_department")
  baseURL="$baseURL&c=$_arg_department"
else
  baseURL="$baseURL&c="
fi

if [[ -n $_arg_devicetype ]]; then
  _arg_devicetype=$(encodeURL "$_arg_devicetype")
  baseURL="$baseURL&c=$_arg_devicetype&c=&c=&c=&c="
else
  baseURL="$baseURL&c=&c=&c=&c=&c="
fi

url="$baseURL"
echo "URL Built: $url"

# At this point we should have everything setup for us to be able to download the file.
downloadFile

# Lets check if the download was a success
file="$_arg_destfolder/$filename"
if [[ ! -f $file ]]; then
  _PRINT_HELP=no die "FATAL ERROR: The Installation File has failed to download please try again." 1
fi

# Grabs a list of all installed packages and then filters it by connectwisecontrol-yourinstanceid
if [[ -n $usesDeb ]]; then
  packageName=$(dpkg --info $file | grep "Package: " | sed 's/Package: //g')
  installedPkg=$(dpkg -l | grep "$packageName")
else
  packageName=$(rpm -qp $file --info | grep "Name" | sed 's/Name *: //g')
  installedPkg=$(rpm -q "$packageName" | grep -v "installed")
fi

if [[ -n $installedPkg ]]; then
  echo "ConnectWise ScreenConnect is already installed!"
  exit 0
else
  echo "ConnectWise ScreenConnect is not installed. Installing..."
fi

# Checking for dependencies and if they're not installed install them
javaIsInstalled=$(java -version 2>&1 | grep Runtime)
if [[ -z $javaIsInstalled && $_arg_installJava == "on" ]]; then
  echo "Java is not installed. Java is required to install ConnectWise ScreenConnect. Attempting to install automatically."
  if [[ -n $usesDeb ]]; then
    if apt-get update; then
      echo "Updated apt package repos successfully. Installing default-jre..."
      if apt-get install -y default-jre; then
        echo "Default jre installed successfully!"
      else
        rm "$file"
        _PRINT_HELP=no die "FATAL ERROR: Failed to install default-jre using apt-get! We recommend fixing this prior to attempting to install ScreenConnect." 1
      fi
    else
      rm "$file"
      _PRINT_HELP=no die "FATAL ERROR: Failed to update package repositories using apt-get update! We recommend fixing this prior to attempting to install ScreenConnect." 1
    fi
  else
    usesDnf=$(command -v dnf)
    if [[ -n $usesDnf ]]; then
      if dnf install java -y; then
        echo "Installed latest jre successfully!"
      else
        rm "$file"
        _PRINT_HELP=no die "FATAL ERROR: Failed to install latest jre using dnf! We recommend fixing this prior to attempting to install ScreenConnect." 1
      fi
    else
      if yum install java -y; then
        echo "Installed latest jre successfully!"
      else
        rm "$file"
        _PRINT_HELP=no die "FATAL ERROR: Failed to install latest jre using yum! We recommend fixing this prior to attempting to install ScreenConnect." 1
      fi
    fi 
  fi
elif [[ -z $javaIsInstalled ]]; then
  rm "$file"
  _PRINT_HELP=no die "FATAL ERROR: Please check the box 'Install Java If Missing' in order to have this script install Java as it is required."
else
  echo "Java is installed!"
fi

# Start installing
echo "Installing application..."
if [[ -n $usesDeb ]]; then
  if dpkg -i "$file"; then
    echo "Exit Code: $?"
    echo "ConnectWise ScreenConnect Installed Successfully!"
    rm "$file"
    exit 0
  else
    echo "Exit Code: $?"
    rm "$file"
    _PRINT_HELP=no die "FATAL ERROR: The Installation has failed!" 1
  fi
else
  if rpm -i "$file"; then
    echo "Exit Code: $?"
    echo "ConnectWise ScreenConnect Installed Successfully!"
    rm "$file"
    exit 0
  else
    echo "Exit Code: $?"
    rm "$file"
    _PRINT_HELP=no die "FATAL ERROR: The Installation has failed!" 1
  fi
fi

 

Detailed Breakdown

The script is structured to facilitate the automated download and installation of ConnectWise ScreenConnect on Linux systems. Here’s a step-by-step breakdown of how it works:

• Preset Parameters and Defaults: The script begins by defining preset parameters and their default values. These parameters include the ScreenConnect domain, organizational name, device type, location, and more. Users can modify these defaults to suit their specific needs.
• Help Text Function: The print_help function provides guidance on how to use the script, detailing each parameter and its purpose.
• Parameter Parsing: The parse_commandline function parses command-line arguments, setting the appropriate variables based on user input.
• Download Function: The downloadFile function handles the download process. It retries up to three times, incorporating a random sleep interval between attempts to mitigate potential download issues.
• installation Logic: The script checks for the presence of necessary tools (dpkg or rpm), constructs the download URL, and initiates the download. It also handles the installation of Java if required.

Potential Use Cases

Consider a scenario where an MSP is tasked with deploying ConnectWise ScreenConnect across a diverse client base. This script simplifies the process by automating the download and installation, ensuring each deployment is customized with the correct organizational details. For example, the MSP can specify different device types and locations for each client, streamlining the setup process and ensuring consistency across deployments.

Comparisons

Compared to manual installation, this script significantly reduces the time and effort required. Other methods, such as using graphical installers, are less efficient for bulk deployments. While configuration management tools like Ansible or Puppet offer similar automation capabilities, this script provides a lightweight, straightforward solution without the need for additional infrastructure.

FAQs

1. What happens if the download fails? The script retries the download up to three times, incorporating a random sleep interval to avoid server-side rate limits.
2. Can I use this script on any Linux distribution? The script supports distributions that use dpkg (Debian-based) or rpm (Red Hat-based) package management systems.
3. Is Java required for this script? Yes, Java is required. The script can install Java automatically if it’s not already present.

Implications

Automating the installation of remote support tools like ConnectWise ScreenConnect ensures consistent and error-free deployments. This script not only saves time but also enhances security by reducing the likelihood of misconfiguration. In a broader context, automated deployment scripts contribute to a more secure and manageable IT environment, particularly in large-scale operations.

Recommendations

When using this script, ensure that:

• The necessary permissions are granted for execution.

• The script is tested in a controlled environment before deployment.

• Parameters are carefully reviewed and customized as needed.

Final Thoughts

The provided script is a valuable tool for IT professionals and MSPs looking to streamline the deployment of ConnectWise ScreenConnect. By automating the download and installation process, it saves time and ensures consistency across multiple installations. NinjaOne offers comprehensive IT management solutions that complement such automation scripts, providing a robust platform for managing remote support and other IT operations effectively.