SupportAssist for Business PCs with Windows OS Deployment Guide August 2021 Rev.
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Contents Chapter 1: Introduction................................................................................................................. 4 Version....................................................................................................................................................................................4 Audience.......................................................................................................................................................................
1 Introduction SupportAssist is a proactive and predictive technology that provides automated technical support for your Dell PCs. It enables IT administrators to manage their PC fleet from TechDirect anytime, anywhere. When deployed, SupportAssist monitors each PC and proactively detects both hardware and software issues. Depending on your service plan, when an issue is detected, SupportAssist automatically opens a support case with technical support and sends you an email notification.
● Remotely run rule-based diagnostic and remediation scripts for your PC fleet. ● Manage alerts and configure alert rules in the Connect and manage service. ● Device Management is now renamed as Connect and manage, for example, Connect and manage service, Connect and manage administrator, and Connect and manage technician. ● Access the SupportAssist user interface on the end-user PC through a Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP) connection. ● Smart PC update recommendations for your PC fleet.
2 Onboarding to TechDirect TechDirect is an online portal that enables you to configure SupportAssist, download a customized SupportAssist package, and manage SupportAssist alerts that are generated by your PC fleet. To start managing your PC fleet using SupportAssist for business PCs, you must first onboard to TechDirect.
Steps 1. Sign in to TechDirect. 2. Read the license agreement and click Agree and continue. The What's your role page is displayed. 3. Select Create a new company in TechDirect and assign myself as the administrator. The Complete your profile page is displayed. 4. Enter a Company name, select the Country / region, and then enter the address. 5. Select For my company. 6. Click Submit.
The active TechDirect services are displayed in the Roles section. Results The Connect and manage service is activated, and you can start configuring SupportAssist. Next steps 1. Configure and download SupportAssist for the first time. 2. (Optional) Add technicians. Add technicians Optionally, a company administrator can add Connect and manage technicians to a TechDirect account and assign permissions to access certain TechDirect services and accounts. Steps 1. Sign in to TechDirect. 2.
3 Configuring and deploying SupportAssist TechDirect enables you to configure and download a customized SupportAssist executable file that is associated with your TechDirect account. Each Connect and manage administrator must configure SupportAssist in TechDirect before downloading and deploying SupportAssist for business PCs. After you have configured and downloaded SupportAssist, extract and create the deployment package which can be deployed on the PC to install SupportAssist.
The Dell Trusted Device is a security agent that provides the security information for the connected PCs. For more information, see the SupportAssist for Business PCs with Windows OS Administrator Guide available on the SupportAssist for Business PCs documentation page or see the Trusted Device manuals available on the Dell Trusted Device documentation page. 8. Click Download and next. CAUTION: Do not deploy the executable file directly on your PCs.
for Business PCs documentation page or see the Trusted Device manuals available on the Dell Trusted Device documentation page. 9. Click Download and next. CAUTION: Do not deploy the executable file directly on your PCs. You must run the executable file to extract the SupportAssist deployment package. NOTE: If you are unable to download SupportAssist, clear the browser cookies and cache, and then retry. Results The SupportAssist executable file is downloaded, and the Deploy page is displayed.
￭ ￭ ￭ ￭ Clean files—allows SupportAssist to provide recommendations to optimize the PCs, by scanning and identifying the files that can be cleaned. Tune performance—allows SupportAssist to provide recommendations to maximize the processing speed, by scanning and identifying the settings that can be adjusted on the PC. Optimize network—allows SupportAssist to provide recommendations to maintain an efficient and reliable network, by scanning and identifying the network settings that can be updated on the PC.
Create the SupportAssist deployment package Prerequisites Configure and download the SupportAssist executable file from TechDirect. See Configure and download SupportAssist for the first time or Modify configuration and download SupportAssist for business PCs. Steps 1. Go to the location where you have downloaded the SupportAssist executable file from TechDirect. 2. Double-click SupportAssistExtractorx64. The Deployment Package Manager wizard is displayed. 3. In the Welcome page, click Next. 4.
Prerequisites for deploying SupportAssist PC requirements The following are the requirements that a target PC must meet for successful deployment of SupportAssist: ● Operating system—Microsoft Windows 8, 8.1, and 10 ● Software: ○ Microsoft .NET Framework 4.7.2 ○ PowerShell script execution must be enabled on the PCs. ● Installed memory—4 GB (recommended) ● Web browser—latest versions of Google Chrome, Microsoft Edge, or Mozilla Firefox. ● Ports: ○ 5700—to open the SupportAssist user interface.
Deploy SupportAssist using deployment tools Prerequisites ● The PCs must meet the Prerequisites for deploying SupportAssist. ● If the PCs connect to the Internet through a proxy server, ensure that you verify if the proxy is configured in system context mode and if the Dell server certificate revocation check is successful.
Install SupportAssist on a single PC using Command Prompt or PowerShell Prerequisites The PCs must meet the Prerequisites for deploying SupportAssist. About this task You can install SupportAssist on a single PC using the Command Prompt or Windows PowerShell. Steps 1. To install SupportAssist using the Command Prompt, perform the following steps: a. Search for Command Prompt and click Run as administrator. b. If you extracted the deployment package in EXE format, type "\Su
● The updates are available for more than two weeks. Then, perform the following steps: 1. Uninstall SupportAssist from your PC fleet. 2. Download SupportAssist from TechDirect. 3. Redeploy SupportAssist on your PC fleet. If your PCs are running SupportAssist for business PCs version 2.4.1 or earlier, and if your PC fleet is automatically updated to the latest version, but the latest version number is not displayed on the PCs page of TechDirect, then perform the following steps: 1.
A Connect and manage roles in TechDirect TechDirect enables organizations to designate administrators and add technicians under that administrator account. To add an administrator, go to Utilities > Administrator Control Panel, and click ADD COMPANY ADMINISTRATOR. To add a technician, go to Utilities > Administrator Control Panel, and click ADD TECHNICIAN. The following table summarizes the SupportAssist capabilities available for different Connect and manage roles in TechDirect: Table 1.
Table 1. SupportAssist capabilities and roles in TechDirect (continued) Capability TechDirect navigation Description Connect and manage administrator Settings Connect and manage > Manage your PC fleet > Manage > Settings ● Select an asset identifier to identify assets associated with your PC fleet. ● Configure alert rules. ● Integrate alerts with ServiceNow. ● View and modify Connect and manage technician roles and permissions.
B Resources This section provides information about the documentation resources and other useful links that provide more information about SupportAssist for business PCs. Table 2.
