Re: [wpkg-users] wpkg for crapware removal?
Hi Jon, On 14.12.2012 01:32, Jon Goldberg wrote: I just inherited a new client whose workstations have users logged in as local administrators; the net result is a ton of crapware. Yes this is what usually happens. I considered creating wpkg packages for the crapware with only a remove section to a) simplify cleanup, and b) ensure that machines remain clean, since a handful of users will be retaining local admin privileges. So, my questions: * Has anyone else tried this? Do they have any package definitions to share? In fact this will likely not work as expected. WPKG remove commands are executed only when a package is installed by WPKG and later removed. What you're looking for is rather a package which has execute=always flag set and therefore runs the install commands on every WPKG run. Then put your crapware removal scripts in install commands. Note that if a specific crapware is not installed you need to deal with it. For example by using use scripts which still return success exit code even if crapware was not found and not removed. You might also use conditional commands to execute install commands only if specific crapware is found. Also note that removing crapware would require you to maintain a potentially big list of crapware you would like to remove. Moreover removing it might have impact on installed applications as some of them will not work properly if the crapware (might be ad-ware) component is removed. As long as users still have admin privileges it might end in a fight between your WPKG crapware-remover and the user re-installing it - up to the extend the user is going to disable automatic WPKG run (since the user has admin privileges you can't really prevent this too). * Should I bother posting these package definitions to the wpkg wiki? I don't want to load up the wiki with entries for software no one would ever use, but I know that other folks may also benefit from these definitions. Well yes, I think it could be useful to have unattended scripts or command-line parameters for unattended crapware removal at least for common crapware. This might be useful for others as well. br, Rainer - wpkg-users mailing list archives http://lists.wpkg.org/pipermail/wpkg-users/ ___ wpkg-users mailing list wpkg-users@lists.wpkg.org http://lists.wpkg.org/mailman/listinfo/wpkg-users
Re: [wpkg-users] wpkg for crapware removal?
Hi Jon, Instead of the remove we use install (execute once) to remove some crapware. Usually Bing, Ask and Google toolbars. We get a lot of Samsung laptops and they are choked full of crapware but I haven't got around to building anything extensive. Paul -Original Message- From: wpkg-users-boun...@lists.wpkg.org [mailto:wpkg-users-boun...@lists.wpkg.org] On Behalf Of Rainer Meier Sent: 14 December 2012 08:44 To: Jon Goldberg Cc: wpkg-users@lists.wpkg.org Subject: Re: [wpkg-users] wpkg for crapware removal? Hi Jon, On 14.12.2012 01:32, Jon Goldberg wrote: I just inherited a new client whose workstations have users logged in as local administrators; the net result is a ton of crapware. Yes this is what usually happens. I considered creating wpkg packages for the crapware with only a remove section to a) simplify cleanup, and b) ensure that machines remain clean, since a handful of users will be retaining local admin privileges. So, my questions: * Has anyone else tried this? Do they have any package definitions to share? In fact this will likely not work as expected. WPKG remove commands are executed only when a package is installed by WPKG and later removed. What you're looking for is rather a package which has execute=always flag set and therefore runs the install commands on every WPKG run. Then put your crapware removal scripts in install commands. Note that if a specific crapware is not installed you need to deal with it. For example by using use scripts which still return success exit code even if crapware was not found and not removed. You might also use conditional commands to execute install commands only if specific crapware is found. Also note that removing crapware would require you to maintain a potentially big list of crapware you would like to remove. Moreover removing it might have impact on installed applications as some of them will not work properly if the crapware (might be ad-ware) component is removed. As long as users still have admin privileges it might end in a fight between your WPKG crapware-remover and the user re-installing it - up to the extend the user is going to disable automatic WPKG run (since the user has admin privileges you can't really prevent this too). * Should I bother posting these package definitions to the wpkg wiki? I don't want to load up the wiki with entries for software no one would ever use, but I know that other folks may also benefit from these definitions. Well yes, I think it could be useful to have unattended scripts or command-line parameters for unattended crapware removal at least for common crapware. This might be useful for others as well. br, Rainer - wpkg-users mailing list archives http://lists.wpkg.org/pipermail/wpkg-users/ ___ wpkg-users mailing list wpkg-users@lists.wpkg.org http://lists.wpkg.org/mailman/listinfo/wpkg-users - wpkg-users mailing list archives http://lists.wpkg.org/pipermail/wpkg-users/ ___ wpkg-users mailing list wpkg-users@lists.wpkg.org http://lists.wpkg.org/mailman/listinfo/wpkg-users
Re: [wpkg-users] wpkg for crapware removal?
Hi Paul, On 14.12.2012 09:47, Paul McGrath wrote: Instead of the remove we use install (execute once) to remove some crapware. Usually Bing, Ask and Google toolbars. We get a lot of Samsung laptops and they are choked full of crapware but I haven't got around to building anything extensive. execute=once might be suitable for initial cleanup if you use the Windows installation as it is shipped from manufacturer. From my point of view this isn't the best idea anyway due to many reasons: - A LOT of crapware/adware/tryware installed - Drivers outdated - Windows installation outdated (missing patches etc) So usually for me it takes longer to clean the machines (and still living with the risk that manufacturer changed some Windows settings which I don't know about) than re-installing them from scratch; knowing to have a clean system then. Using unattended Windows setup and WPKG a machine can be automatically deployed within less than 1 hour usually. Cleaning a crapware-system usually takes me longer manual actions and creating/maintaining a very-detailed crapware-remover tool would require me to adapt it continuously. Jon actually had slightly different requirement. He's willing to blacklist some known crapware and assure it's removed automatically whenever it's installed on the client (after deployment). At least this was my understanding. So here an execute=always package might help. The package will have to identify every kind of undesired software and remove it silently on every WPKG run. So for me initial crapware removal on stock machines is easy: Re-install. br, Rainer - wpkg-users mailing list archives http://lists.wpkg.org/pipermail/wpkg-users/ ___ wpkg-users mailing list wpkg-users@lists.wpkg.org http://lists.wpkg.org/mailman/listinfo/wpkg-users
Re: [wpkg-users] wpkg for crapware removal?
So usually for me it takes longer to clean the machines (and still living with the risk that manufacturer changed some Windows settings which I don't know about) than re-installing them from scratch; knowing to have a clean system then. Using unattended Windows setup and WPKG a machine can be automatically deployed within less than 1 hour usually. For our (small and diverse) deployment I didn't bother about unattended installs (or images). We just buy the machines without the crapware. WPKG then removes in a first step (as execute=once) the few packages that are not necessarily crapware, but unwanted (java-plugin) - and as execute-once because it might be needed later (and reinstalled/updated anyway). Cleaning a crapware-system usually takes me longer manual actions and creating/maintaining a very-detailed crapware-remover tool would require me to adapt it continuously. Right - but there are tools for that readily available - I just don't know if those are automatable. A quick web search brought this example: http://www.pcdecrapifier.com/ Jon actually had slightly different requirement. He's willing to blacklist some known crapware and assure it's removed automatically whenever it's installed on the client (after deployment). At least this was my understanding. So here an execute=always package might help. The package will have to identify every kind of undesired software and remove it silently on every WPKG run. I'd suggest using a normal package and using uninstall checks with a logical not - so the package commands only fire if the crap is there and will re-fire everytime the crap reappears. Best Regards Heiko - wpkg-users mailing list archives http://lists.wpkg.org/pipermail/wpkg-users/ ___ wpkg-users mailing list wpkg-users@lists.wpkg.org http://lists.wpkg.org/mailman/listinfo/wpkg-users
Re: [wpkg-users] wpkg for crapware removal?
It is more complex than that but I didn't want to bore everyone with the detail. I usually deploy to blank Windows, for the freeware which includes toolbars/crapware I usually include an 'install' and 'upgrade' to remove that specific object. For the laptops which do have that stuff quite a few crapware most are reimaged if they go on the network. -Original Message- From: Rainer Meier [mailto:r.me...@wpkg.org] Sent: 14 December 2012 09:10 To: Paul McGrath Cc: wpkg-users@lists.wpkg.org Subject: Re: [wpkg-users] wpkg for crapware removal? Hi Paul, On 14.12.2012 09:47, Paul McGrath wrote: Instead of the remove we use install (execute once) to remove some crapware. Usually Bing, Ask and Google toolbars. We get a lot of Samsung laptops and they are choked full of crapware but I haven't got around to building anything extensive. execute=once might be suitable for initial cleanup if you use the Windows installation as it is shipped from manufacturer. From my point of view this isn't the best idea anyway due to many reasons: - A LOT of crapware/adware/tryware installed - Drivers outdated - Windows installation outdated (missing patches etc) So usually for me it takes longer to clean the machines (and still living with the risk that manufacturer changed some Windows settings which I don't know about) than re-installing them from scratch; knowing to have a clean system then. Using unattended Windows setup and WPKG a machine can be automatically deployed within less than 1 hour usually. Cleaning a crapware-system usually takes me longer manual actions and creating/maintaining a very-detailed crapware-remover tool would require me to adapt it continuously. Jon actually had slightly different requirement. He's willing to blacklist some known crapware and assure it's removed automatically whenever it's installed on the client (after deployment). At least this was my understanding. So here an execute=always package might help. The package will have to identify every kind of undesired software and remove it silently on every WPKG run. So for me initial crapware removal on stock machines is easy: Re-install. br, Rainer - wpkg-users mailing list archives http://lists.wpkg.org/pipermail/wpkg-users/ ___ wpkg-users mailing list wpkg-users@lists.wpkg.org http://lists.wpkg.org/mailman/listinfo/wpkg-users
[wpkg-users] [Bug 278] Wrong host match
http://bugzilla.wpkg.org/show_bug.cgi?id=278 --- Comment #3 from Stefan Pendl pendl2mega...@yahoo.de --- Rainer, how about the following match: ^\d\d*\.\d\d*\.\d\d*\.\d\d*$ So if the match pattern of the name attribute matches that pattern, then it is an IP, else it is a host name match. -- Stefan -- Configure bugmail: http://bugzilla.wpkg.org/userprefs.cgi?tab=email --- You are receiving this mail because: --- You are the QA contact for the bug. - wpkg-users mailing list archives http://lists.wpkg.org/pipermail/wpkg-users/ ___ wpkg-users mailing list wpkg-users@lists.wpkg.org http://lists.wpkg.org/mailman/listinfo/wpkg-users
Re: [wpkg-users] [Bug 278] Wrong host match
Hallo, bugzilla-daemon, Du meintest am 14.12.12: how about the following match: ^\d\d*\.\d\d*\.\d\d*\.\d\d*$ So if the match pattern of the name attribute matches that pattern, then it is an IP, else it is a host name match. Aehemmm ... what about 345.456.567.678 Viele Gruesse! Helmut - wpkg-users mailing list archives http://lists.wpkg.org/pipermail/wpkg-users/ ___ wpkg-users mailing list wpkg-users@lists.wpkg.org http://lists.wpkg.org/mailman/listinfo/wpkg-users
[wpkg-users] limit number of packages or time used during a WPKG run
We have several computers that are slow and are very out of date. We are going to run WPKG once a day at shutdown/reboot. Just wondering if anyone has come up with a way to limit the number of packages that are installed during a single run of WPKG or better yet something that prevents WPKG from installing more packages once a certain amount of time has elapsed? Andrew - wpkg-users mailing list archives http://lists.wpkg.org/pipermail/wpkg-users/ ___ wpkg-users mailing list wpkg-users@lists.wpkg.org http://lists.wpkg.org/mailman/listinfo/wpkg-users
[wpkg-users] Google Drive fails check after install
I'm trying to push out the Google Drive Sync client to our workstations. This is the package I'm using: package id=GoogleDrive name=Google Drive revision=1 priority=1 check type=file condition=versiongreaterorequal path=%ProgramFiles(x86)%\Google\Drive\googledrivesync.exe value=1.6.3837.2778 / install cmd='msiexec /qn /l* C:\TMaLog\GoogleDrive.log /i %SOFTWARE%\GoogleDrive\gsync_enterprise.msi' / /package For the check I've tried both uninstall file. The software seams to install just fine. In the event viewer it says the Windows Installer completed successfully with 0 errors, but then on the next line it says failed check after installation. The .log file from msiexec also says it was successfully, but when I log into the workstation the msiexec process is still running, but 0% activity. Now every time I reboot it tries to install again, even though it's already installed. So why are my checks failing? -- Barry Ralphs CAD/BIM/IT Manager TIPPINGMAR 1906 Shattuck Ave, Berkeley CA 94704 - wpkg-users mailing list archives http://lists.wpkg.org/pipermail/wpkg-users/ ___ wpkg-users mailing list wpkg-users@lists.wpkg.org http://lists.wpkg.org/mailman/listinfo/wpkg-users
Re: [wpkg-users] Google Drive fails check after install
On Fri, Dec 14, 2012 at 11:32 AM, Barry Ralphs barry.ral...@tippingmar.comwrote: ** ** I'm trying to push out the Google Drive Sync client to our workstations. This is the package I'm using: package id=GoogleDrive name=Google Drive revision=1 priority=1 check type=file condition=versiongreaterorequal path=%ProgramFiles(x86)%\Google\Drive\googledrivesync.exe value=1.6.3837.2778 / install cmd='msiexec /qn /l* C:\TMaLog\GoogleDrive.log /i %SOFTWARE%\GoogleDrive\gsync_enterprise.msi' / /package Try changing your check to this: check type=uninstall condition=versiongreaterorequal path=Google Drive value=1.6.3837.2778 / Andrew - wpkg-users mailing list archives http://lists.wpkg.org/pipermail/wpkg-users/ ___ wpkg-users mailing list wpkg-users@lists.wpkg.org http://lists.wpkg.org/mailman/listinfo/wpkg-users
Re: [wpkg-users] Google Drive fails check after install
On 12/14/2012 1:03 PM, Andrew Struiksma wrote: On Fri, Dec 14, 2012 at 11:32 AM, Barry Ralphs barry.ral...@tippingmar.com wrote: I'm trying to push out the Google Drive Sync client to our workstations. This is the package I'm using: package id="GoogleDrive" name="Google Drive" revision="1" priority="1" check type="file" condition="versiongreaterorequal" path="%ProgramFiles(x86)%\Google\Drive\googledrivesync.exe" value="1.6.3837.2778" / install cmd='msiexec /qn /l* "C:\TMaLog\GoogleDrive.log" /i "%SOFTWARE%\GoogleDrive\gsync_enterprise.msi"' / /package Try changing your check to this: check type="uninstall" condition="versiongreaterorequal" path="Google Drive" value="1.6.3837.2778" / Andrew Yes I tried that too I get the same thing. Barry - wpkg-users mailing list archives http://lists.wpkg.org/pipermail/wpkg-users/ ___ wpkg-users mailing list wpkg-users@lists.wpkg.org http://lists.wpkg.org/mailman/listinfo/wpkg-users
