Distribute Enterprise Apps (MSI) to Windows 10 devices

This article deals with the distribution of enterprise apps on Windows devices.

Enterprise apps are custom apps developed by an organization or a third-party to be used within the organization. These apps are also known as internal or in-house apps.

Since these apps contain proprietary business information, many organizations do not host these apps on public distribution channels (Microsoft Store for Windows devices). In such cases, they rely on enterprise app stores that can seamlessly deploy their internal apps within the organization.

Hexnode delivers its own enterprise app store to securely distribute any apps, whether store or internal, to the organization’s devices. In the case of Windows devices, administrators can now silently deploy enterprise (MSI) apps to the devices without compromising data security.

Add Enterprise Apps to Hexnode App Inventory

An enterprise app has to be first uploaded to the Hexnode app inventory before its distribution.

1. Log in to your Hexnode portal.
2. Navigate to Apps.
3. Select +Add Apps > Enterprise App.
4. Choose the platform as Windows.
5. Provide the App Name.
6. You can either upload with:
   • MSI file: Click on Choose the MSI File and select a file from the system.

   Or

   • From Manifest URL: Input the URL where the app resides.
7. Select an app category or input a new category by clicking on the + button.
8. Provide a description for the application and click Add to upload the file.
9. Next, specify the device location where the MSI file should be installed. For example, C:\Program Files.
   
   Note:

   
   The location for app installation depends on the MSI build unless the installation path is specified here.
   

10. Click Add to upload the file.

Deploy the apps to target devices

The apps added to the app inventory can be distributed to the devices using the remote action or mandatory apps policy.

Install apps via Actions

Method 1

1. Navigate to Manage > Devices.
2. Click on the device.
3. On the device summary page, click Actions > Install Application.
4. Select the app.
5. Click Configure to specify the installation settings.
6. Click Install.

Install apps via Policy

1. Navigate to Policies.
2. Create a new policy with the New Policy button or select an existing policy.
3. From Windows > App Management, select Mandatory Apps.
4. Click on Configure and +Add button to either add an app or a group of apps from the app inventory.
5. Select the required app(s) and click on Done.
6. Configure the installation settings and click Save.
7. Next, associate the policy with the target devices by navigating to the Policy Targets tab.
8. Select the required Devices/Device Groups/Users/User Groups/Domains to which the policy is to be associated.
9. Click on Save.

Installation Settings

For MSI apps, Hexnode enables you to configure various app installation settings during deployment.

• Enable logging: This setting helps you specify the default logging mode for the MSI app. Ticking this option enables the logging service, and the Windows Installer records the errors and events into logs on the device. The diagnostic data contained in the logs helps the user to troubleshoot in case if the installation fails.
• Log path: Specify the complete path (including the folder) for the output log file. Make sure the path you enter exists on the device. The log file creation fails if the specified folder is not present. You may include both the file name and format for the output log file. For example, C:\log.txt
• Force device restart after app installation: Upon successful installation, the system restarts automatically when this option is selected.
  
  Notes:

  
  While the device is in kiosk mode, you should mandatorily add the Hexnode Service App (present in C:\Hexnode\Hexnode Agent\Current\HexnodeAgent.exe) as the kiosk application to enforce this setting.
  

• Add command-line parameters: You can specify additional parameters by ticking this option. These are command-line parameters that help you modify the installation process and other related operations on the device.

Troubleshooting Tips

• Windows app install error