How to install Assets Discovery Agent via SCCM?

Chris

Dear community,

I have 1200+ clients and I should install the Assets Discovery Agent. Atlassian happily says to do this manually. The installation routine of the Agent is so bad that distributing the application via SCCM is very difficult. 

I need some advice on how to uninstall the existing Discovery Agents (Version 3.1.4) and how to install the new version 3.2.0 with SCCM. What are the exact steps to do?

Thank you,

Chris

 

 

EDIT: Anybody stumbling on this: please fote for [JSDSERVER-12441] improve Discovery tool in order to fully support the deployment of agents through SCCM - Create and track feature requests for Atlassian products.

 

EDIT2: vote for this as well: [JSDCLOUD-12326] improve Discovery tool in order to fully support the deployment of agents through SCCM - Create and track feature requests for Atlassian products.

 

EDIT3: Another feature request worth voting for: [JSDSERVER-16271] Improve Assets Discovery tool in order to fully support the deployment of agents through SCCM - Create and track feature requests for Atlassian products.

 

Chris

Dear Community,

We recently upgraded to version 7.1.2 of the Assets Discovery Agent. Once again, deploying the software via SCCM proved challenging due to several changes. I’d like to share our approach and solutions so others can benefit. This guide is also intended for Atlassian developers, with suggestions to simplify SCCM deployment in future Discovery Agent releases.

 

Background

SCCM is used to distribute applications to clients. It handles both initial installation and ongoing compliance, ensuring applications remain correctly installed, configured, and operational.

 

Feature Requests for Future Discovery Agent Installer Releases

• Provide an MSI installer

• Support for silent installation
• All required configurations should be passable as installer options or via config files
• Post-installation, the agent must be fully configured and running
• Agent should communicate directly with the cloud, without requiring a Discovery Collector
• The agent service should expose a health status that SCCM can monitor

 

Preparations

To enable SCCM-based deployment, we made the following adjustments:

• Added a version attribute to ObjectHashSettings.xml, which is later read by a deployment script.

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<!-- Please make sure that you just modify values.... -->
<ObjectHashSettings xmlns:xsd="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema" xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance" ClieniaVersion="7.1.2">
<!-- HostInfo Attributes -->
<HostInfo_Hostname>true</HostInfo_Hostname>
<HostInfo_FQDN>false</HostInfo_FQDN>
...

 

• The agent.cfg template must include the <Password> XML tag with the password in plain text. Once the agent starts, it encrypts the password and stores it as a hash in the <CryptPW> tag, removing the original <Password> tag. Note: The encryption produces a different hash on each client, but the hash length is always consistent. The deployment script checks this hash length to verify successful encryption.

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<Settings xmlns:xsd="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema" xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance">
<ScanLogLevel>Normal</ScanLogLevel>
<NextScanDate>2025-06-20T16:48:11.8430618+02:00</NextScanDate>
<ScanInterval>24</ScanInterval>
<AgentPort>51337</AgentPort>
<UseAllNetworkInterfaces>true</UseAllNetworkInterfaces>
<DeleteLogsAfter>7</DeleteLogsAfter>
<DisableTCPListener>true</DisableTCPListener>
<DirectCopyPath/>
<SFTPSettings>
<ExportPath>---path-to-your-server---</ExportPath>
<UserName>assets</UserName>
<Password>---password-in-plain-text---</Password>
<TransferReties>5</TransferReties>
<TranserRetryInterval>30</TranserRetryInterval>
</SFTPSettings>
<SaveTimeStamp>2025-06-20T08:00:32.3121706+02:00</SaveTimeStamp>
</Settings>

 

 

SCCM: detection

SCCM uses detection to verify the current configuration. The following PowerShell script can be used for this purpose.
Please note: you need to adopt the length of the Hash and the size of the agent_patterns.bpat to your needs.

# The Atlassian Assets Discovery Agent is considered successfully installed if
# - [A] The Agent.cfg contains an XML tag <CryptPW> and the hash of the password is 80 characters long. (Note: Number of characters depends on the chosen password!)
# - [B] The ObjectHashXML contains the attribute /ObjectHashSettings/@ClieniaVersion with the value "7.1.2".
# - [C] The pattern file agent_patterns.bpat exists and is between 40-50KB in size.
# - [D] AssetHistory.dat is larger than 0KB.


# Define status variables
$agent_cfg = $false
$objectHashSettings = $false
$agentPatterns = $false
$assetHistory = $false


# Define variables
$path_cfg = 'C:\Program Files\Atlassian\Discovery Agent\Agent.cfg'
$CryptPW_length = 80
$path_ohs_xml = 'C:\Program Files\Atlassian\Discovery Agent\ObjectHashSettings.xml'
$ohs_xml_version = "7.1.2"
$path_patterns = 'C:\Program Files\Atlassian\Discovery Agent\agent_patterns.bpat'
$path_history = 'C:\Program Files\Atlassian\Discovery Agent\AssetHistory.dat'

 

# Check A: Agent.cfg with CryptPW (80 characters)
if (Test-Path $path_cfg) {
try {
$xml = [xml](Get-Content -Path $path_cfg -ErrorAction Stop)
$cryptPW = $xml.SelectSingleNode('Settings/SFTPSettings/CryptPW')
if ($null -ne $cryptPW -and $cryptPW.InnerText.Length -eq $CryptPW_length) {
$agent_cfg = $true
}
} catch {
$agent_cfg = $false
}
}


# Check B: ObjectHashXML with correct ClieniaVersion present
if (Test-Path $path_ohs_xml) {
try {
$ohs_xml = [xml](Get-Content -Path $path_ohs_xml -ErrorAction Stop)
$clieniaVersion = $ohs_xml.ObjectHashSettings.GetAttribute("ClieniaVersion")
if ($clieniaVersion -eq $ohs_xml_version) {
$objectHashSettings = $true
}
} catch {
$objectHashSettings = $false
}
}


# Check C: agent_patterns.bpat size 40-50KB
if (Test-Path $path_patterns) {
$fileSize = (Get-Item $path_patterns).Length
$fileSizeKB = $fileSize / 1KB
if ($fileSizeKB -ge 40 -and $fileSizeKB -le 50) {
$agentPatterns = $true
}
}


# Check  AssetHistory.dat larger than 0KB
if (Test-Path $path_history) {
$historySize = (Get-Item $path_history).Length
if ($historySize -gt 0) {
$assetHistory = $true
}
}

 

# Final check
$allConditionsMet = $agent_cfg -and $objectHashSettings -and $agentPatterns -and $assetHistory

if ($allConditionsMet) {
Write-Host "Discovery Agent installation is correct."
} else {
}

 

 

 

SCCM rollout

The rollout script is used for the initial installation of the Discovery Agent, as well as the correction of the client, if detection indicates a non compliant device.

Please note: you need to adopt the length of the Hash and the size of the agent_patterns.bpat to your needs.

 

# This script ensures that the required components of the Atlassian Discovery Agent are installed in the correct version.
# If this is not the case, the files are updated accordingly.
# The following points are checked:
# - [A] Agent.cfg contains an XML tag <CryptPW> and the hash of the password is 80 characters long. (Note: Number of characters depends on the chosen password!)
# If not, the file is copied to the client again and the timestamps are updated.
# - [B] ObjectHashXML contains the attribute /ObjectHashSettings/@ClieniaVersion with the value "7.1.2".
# If not, the file is copied to the client again.
# - [C] The pattern file agent_patterns.bpat exists and is between 40-50KB in size.
# If it is missing or has the wrong size, it is copied to the client again.
# - [D] AssetHistory.dat must be larger than 0KB, otherwise the agent service will hang.
# The file will be deleted if necessary and recreated automatically after the service restarts.


# Define status variables
$agent_cfg = $false
$objectHashSettings = $false
$agentPatterns = $false
$assetHistory = $false


# Define variables
$serviceName = "Discovery Agent Service"
$path_cfg_template = 'Agent.cfg'
$path_cfg = 'C:\Program Files\Atlassian\Discovery Agent\Agent.cfg'
$CryptPW_length = 80
$path_bak = 'C:\Program Files\Atlassian\Discovery Agent\Agent.bak'
$path_ohs_xml_template = 'ObjectHashSettings.xml'
$path_ohs_xml = 'C:\Program Files\Atlassian\Discovery Agent\ObjectHashSettings.xml'
$ohs_xml_version = "7.1.2"
$path_patterns_template = 'agent_patterns.bpat'
$path_patterns = 'C:\Program Files\Atlassian\Discovery Agent\agent_patterns.bpat'
$path_history = 'C:\Program Files\Atlassian\Discovery Agent\AssetHistory.dat'
$path_logs = 'C:\Program Files\Atlassian\Discovery Agent\logs\'
$path_scans = 'C:\Program Files\Atlassian\Discovery Agent\scans'


# Set log file path and name, create directory if necessary
$logFileName = (Get-Date -Format "yyyyMMdd") + "_sccm.log"
$logFilePath = Join-Path -Path $path_logs -ChildPath $logFileName


# Create log directory if it does not exist
if (-not (Test-Path -Path $path_logs)) {
New-Item -ItemType Directory -Path $path_logs -Force
}


# Write to log file
Add-Content -Path $logFilePath -Value "--------------------------------------------------------------------------------" -Encoding UTF8
Add-Content -Path $logFilePath -Value "$(Get-Date -Format 'yyyy-MM-dd HH:mm:ss') - Script start"


# Stop Discovery Agent service
Stop-Service -Name $serviceName -Force

# Check up to 3 times if the service has stopped
$maxTries = 3
$try = 0
$serviceStopped = $false
while ($try -lt $maxTries) {
$status = (Get-Service -Name $serviceName).Status
if ($status -eq 'Stopped') {
$serviceStopped = $true
break
}
Start-Sleep -Seconds 5
$try++
}

if (-not $serviceStopped) {
Add-Content -Path $logFilePath -Value "$(Get-Date -Format 'yyyy-MM-dd HH:mm:ss') - $serviceName could not be stopped!"
exit 1
} else {
Add-Content -Path $logFilePath -Value "$(Get-Date -Format 'yyyy-MM-dd HH:mm:ss') - $serviceName stopped successfully."
}

 

# Check A: Agent.cfg with CryptPW (80 characters)
if (Test-Path $path_cfg) {
try {
$xml = [xml](Get-Content -Path $path_cfg -ErrorAction Stop)
$cryptPW = $xml.SelectSingleNode('Settings/SFTPSettings/CryptPW')
if ($null -ne $cryptPW -and $cryptPW.InnerText.Length -eq $CryptPW_length) {
$agent_cfg = $true
}
} catch {
$agent_cfg = $false
}
}


# Check B: ObjectHashSettings.xml with correct ClieniaVersion present
if (Test-Path $path_ohs_xml) {
try {
$ohs_xml = [xml](Get-Content -Path $path_ohs_xml -ErrorAction Stop)
$clieniaVersion = $ohs_xml.ObjectHashSettings.GetAttribute("ClieniaVersion")
if ($clieniaVersion -eq $ohs_xml_version) {
$objectHashSettings = $true
}
} catch {
$objectHashSettings = $false
}
}


# Check C: agent_patterns.bpat size 40-50KB
if (Test-Path $path_patterns) {
$fileSize = (Get-Item $path_patterns).Length
$fileSizeKB = $fileSize / 1KB
if ($fileSizeKB -ge 40 -and $fileSizeKB -le 50) {
$agentPatterns = $true
}
}
Write-Host $agentPatterns


# Check  AssetHistory.dat larger than 0KB
if (Test-Path $path_history) {
$historySize = (Get-Item $path_history).Length
if ($historySize -gt 0) {
$assetHistory = $true
}
}... # perform necessary corrections

# [A] Correction Agent.cfg
if($agent_cfg -eq $true) {
Add-Content -Path $logFilePath -Value "$(Get-Date -Format 'yyyy-MM-dd HH:mm:ss') - Agent.cfg is correct."
} else {
Add-Content -Path $logFilePath -Value "$(Get-Date -Format 'yyyy-MM-dd HH:mm:ss') - Agent.cfg does not meet requirements and must be corrected."

# Delete Agent.bak if present
if (Test-Path $path_bak) {
Remove-Item -Path $path_bak -Force
Add-Content -Path $logFilePath -Value "$(Get-Date -Format 'yyyy-MM-dd HH:mm:ss') - Agent.bak deleted"
}

# Delete Agent.cfg if present
if (Test-Path $path_cfg) {
Remove-Item -Path $path_cfg -Force
Add-Content -Path $logFilePath -Value "$(Get-Date -Format 'yyyy-MM-dd HH:mm:ss') - Agent.cfg deleted"
}


# Copy Clienia version of Agent.cfg to client
Copy-Item -path $path_cfg_template -Destination "C:\Program Files\Atlassian\Discovery Agent" -Force
Add-Content -Path $logFilePath -Value "$(Get-Date -Format 'yyyy-MM-dd HH:mm:ss') - Template version of Agent.cfg copied to laptop."


}


# [B] Correction ObjectHashSettings.xml
if($objectHashSettings -eq $true) {
Add-Content -Path $logFilePath -Value "$(Get-Date -Format 'yyyy-MM-dd HH:mm:ss') - ObjectHashSettings.xml is correct."
} else {
# Delete ObjectHashSettings.xml if present
if (Test-Path $path_ohs_xml) {
Remove-Item -Path $path_ohs_xml -Force
Add-Content -Path $logFilePath -Value "$(Get-Date -Format 'yyyy-MM-dd HH:mm:ss') - ObjectHashSettings.xml deleted"
}

# Copy Clienia version of ObjectHashSettings.xml to client
Copy-Item -path $path_ohs_xml_template -Destination "C:\Program Files\Atlassian\Discovery Agent" -Force
Add-Content -Path $logFilePath -Value "$(Get-Date -Format 'yyyy-MM-dd HH:mm:ss') - Template version of ObjectHashSettings.xml copied to laptop."

}


# [C] Correction agent_patterns.bpat
if($agentPatterns -eq $true) {
Write-Host "agent_patterns.bpat is correct."
Add-Content -Path $logFilePath -Value "$(Get-Date -Format 'yyyy-MM-dd HH:mm:ss') - agent_patterns.bpat is correct."
} else {
# Delete agent_patterns.bpat if present
if (Test-Path $path_patterns) {
Write-Host "agent_patterns.bpat was deleted."
Remove-Item -Path $path_patterns -Force
Add-Content -Path $logFilePath -Value "$(Get-Date -Format 'yyyy-MM-dd HH:mm:ss') - agent_patterns.bpat was deleted."
}

# Copy Clienia version of agent_patterns.bpat to client
Copy-Item -path $path_patterns_template -Destination "C:\Program Files\Atlassian\Discovery Agent" -Force
Add-Content -Path $logFilePath -Value "$(Get-Date -Format 'yyyy-MM-dd HH:mm:ss') - Template version of agent_patterns.bpat copied to laptop."
Write-Host "Template version of agent_patterns.bpat copied to laptop."
}

 

# [D] Delete AssetHistory.dat
if ($assetHistory -eq $true) {
Add-Content -Path $logFilePath -Value "$(Get-Date -Format 'yyyy-MM-dd HH:mm:ss') - AssetHistory.dat is correct."
} else {
if (Test-Path $path_history) { 
Remove-Item -Path $path_history -Force
Add-Content -Path $logFilePath -Value "$(Get-Date -Format 'yyyy-MM-dd HH:mm:ss') - AssetHistory.dat was deleted."
} else {
Add-Content -Path $logFilePath -Value "$(Get-Date -Format 'yyyy-MM-dd HH:mm:ss') - AssetHistory.dat not found."
}
}

 


$allConditionsMet = $agent_cfg -and $objectHashSettings -and $agentPatterns -and $assetHistory


if ($allConditionsMet) {
Add-Content -Path $logFilePath -Value "$(Get-Date -Format 'yyyy-MM-dd HH:mm:ss') - No corrections were necessary. Discovery Agent installation is correct."
} else {

# Check scan folder and delete old files if necessary
if (Test-Path $path_scans) {
$items = Get-ChildItem -Path $path_scans
if ($items.Count -eq 0) {
Add-Content -Path $logFilePath -Value "$(Get-Date -Format 'yyyy-MM-dd HH:mm:ss') - Directory $path_scans is empty."
} else {
Get-ChildItem -Path $path_scans -File | Remove-Item -Force
Add-Content -Path $logFilePath -Value "$(Get-Date -Format 'yyyy-MM-dd HH:mm:ss') - All old files deleted from scan folder: $items"
}
} else {
Add-Content -Path $logFilePath -Value "$(Get-Date -Format 'yyyy-MM-dd HH:mm:ss') - $path_scans does not exist!"
}



# Read Agent.cfg
$xml = [xml](Get-Content -Path $path_cfg)

# Read Agent.cfg XML nodes
$Settings = $xml.SelectSingleNode('Settings')

 

# Function to create or update XML tags in Agent.cfg
function Set-Or-CreateElement($parent, $name, $value) {
$element = $parent.SelectSingleNode($name)
if ($null -eq $element) {
$element = $xml.CreateElement($name)
$parent.AppendChild($element) | Out-Null

}
$element.InnerText = $value
}


# Call function and create or update individual XML tags
$newTimestamp = (Get-Date).AddMinutes(5).ToString("yyyy-MM-ddTHH:mm:ss.fffffffK")
Set-Or-CreateElement $Settings "NextScanDate" $newTimestamp
Set-Or-CreateElement $Settings "SaveTimeStamp" $newTimestamp
Set-Or-CreateElement $Settings "UseAllNetworkInterfaces" 'true'
Add-Content -Path $logFilePath -Value "$(Get-Date -Format 'yyyy-MM-dd HH:mm:ss') - NextScanDate, SaveTimeStamp and UseAllNetworkInterfaces set in Agent.cfg."


# Save the updated XML file
$xml.Save($path_cfg)
Add-Content -Path $logFilePath -Value "$(Get-Date -Format 'yyyy-MM-dd HH:mm:ss') - Agent.cfg saved successfully."
}... # Restart Discovery Agent Service to apply changes
Start-Service -Name $serviceName
Add-Content -Path $logFilePath -Value "$(Get-Date -Format 'yyyy-MM-dd HH:mm:ss') - $serviceName is being restarted."


# Verification whether the XML tag <CryptPW> exists and whether the value is 80 characters long
if($agent_cfg -eq $true) {
Add-Content -Path $logFilePath -Value "$(Get-Date -Format 'yyyy-MM-dd HH:mm:ss') - End of script"
Add-Content -Path $logFilePath -Value "--------------------------------------------------------------------------------" -Encoding UTF8
} else {
$maxTries = 40
$maxTries_interval = 30
$try = 0
$pw_encrypted = $false
$cryptPW = $null

while ($try -lt $maxTries) {
# Reload XML to capture changes
$xml = [xml](Get-Content -Path $path_cfg)
$cryptPW = $xml.SelectSingleNode('Settings/SFTPSettings/CryptPW')

if ($null -ne $cryptPW -and $cryptPW.InnerText.Length -eq $CryptPW_length) {
$pw_encrypted = $true
Add-Content -Path $logFilePath -Value "$(Get-Date -Format 'yyyy-MM-dd HH:mm:ss') - SFTP password was correctly encrypted and stored in Agent.cfg."
Add-Content -Path $logFilePath -Value "$(Get-Date -Format 'yyyy-MM-dd HH:mm:ss') - End of script"
Add-Content -Path $logFilePath -Value "--------------------------------------------------------------------------------" -Encoding UTF8
break
}
Start-Sleep -Seconds $maxTries_interval
$try++
}

if (-not $pw_encrypted) {
Add-Content -Path $logFilePath -Value "$(Get-Date -Format 'yyyy-MM-dd HH:mm:ss') - SFTP password was not correctly encrypted. The check and installation must be repeated."
Add-Content -Path $logFilePath -Value "$(Get-Date -Format 'yyyy-MM-dd HH:mm:ss') - End of script"
Add-Content -Path $logFilePath -Value "--------------------------------------------------------------------------------" -Encoding UTF8
exit 1
}
}

 

 

Disclaimer

• Use scripts at your own risk.
• Scripts were translated into English using perplexity.ai.