WJEC Surpass MSI installs to c:\users!

[Jaan]

I don't why i'm struggling here.

 

I have the msi that i downloaded from them, that deploys fine when using gpo/software deployment.

 

However it installs to c:\users and applocker stops it in its tracks (as per design)

 

I just want to change to install dir to C:\Program Files (x86)\Surpass\SecureClient

 

i've tried to use orca to edit the .MSI, but now i'm totally lost in itadmin inception and totally over thinking everything.

 

I need a holiday.

 

i was under the impression i could just as a switch to the gpo software deployment section for the desired install location.

 

Anybody else using this that could help me out?

 

cheers

[3s-gtech]

Seems like copying it will just work - did for us last time I tested!

 

@echo off
ifexist "C:\Program Files (x86)\SecureAssess Central - SecureClient WJEC" goto END
robocopy "\\server\share\SecureAssess\SecureAssess Central - SecureClient WJEC" "C:\Program Files (x86)\SecureAssess Central - SecureClient WJEC" /MIR /R:00 /W:00
:END

[Jaan]

For the client?

[3s-gtech]

Yes. Run that as an install script via GP.

[chris_uk]

We have this in SCCM,

msiexec /i "SecureClientInstaller.msi" CMDLINE=/DEFAULT_INSTALL_DIR="C:\SecureClient" /qn

 

We have a single Exam user for the the secure client and it has modify permissions on the c:\secureclient the client self updates. We have a group policy for the secureclient user that automatically runs the app on login

"Interface file name (for example, Explorer.exe) c:\secureclient\SecureClientInitialRun.exe RunUpdater cache "

 

Just remember to set the permissions on the folder to allow it to automatically update.

[MatTheTech]

Hi! We're looking for help too! I've been given the task of setting up Surpass Secure Client and prometric on our system. We're using a windows 10 network.

 

We've installed Surpass client and the prometric satellite launcher and whenever we've tried to run the tests they fail after we click the launch exam button. it tries to load up the surpass client and then crashes out.

 

ive evan tried from home and it doesn't work. prometric say its a network issue but every time we get a different issue with it. we've only managed once to get it to load properly and that was on a machine that we took off the firewall and disconnected it from the network and thered it but that only worked once.

 

the software is an absolute nightmare

 

please help!

[free780]

I wouldn't change the default install location.

If you are using an intercepting proxy on your subnet gateways you can just allow the domain. If you are using a managed proxy setting you can use GPP to replace the proxy.xml file with your proxy. The domain needs to be allowed unauthenticated and without https intervention. Make sure this is the case for CRL domains as well. You can add a certificate rule into applocker for BTL to allow it to update as any user. If you are using Impero or similar you need to exclude the exes from injection. If also exclude the folder and processes from your antivirus. Failing all ghat run procmon and see if you can work out where is failing. Sometimes it installs SQL CE if the version isn't correct as it was installed for another piece of software. You may need to test on a clean Windows 10 PC. Exam software is poor. It is designed with the assumption of dedicated testing rooms with dedicated PCs and some software presumes admin rights.

Edited April 27, 2019 by free780

[MatTheTech]

I wouldn't change the default install location.

If you are using an intercepting proxy on your subnet gateways you can just allow the domain. If you are using a managed proxy setting you can use GPP to replace the proxy.xml file with your proxy. The domain needs to be allowed unauthenticated and without https intervention. Make sure this is the case for CRL domains as well. You can add a certificate rule into applocker for BTL to allow it to update as any user. If you are using Impero or similar you need to exclude the exes from injection. If also exclude the folder and processes from your antivirus. Failing all ghat run procmon and see if you can work out where is failing. Sometimes it installs SQL CE if the version isn't correct as it was installed for another piece of software. You may need to test on a clean Windows 10 PC. Exam software is poor. It is designed with the assumption of dedicated testing rooms with dedicated PCs and some software presumes admin rights.

 

Thanks for your reply!

 

We use an rm cc4 network, trend AV.

 

Prometric have advised that we install as a local admin account, add c drive users surpass folder to ac as an exclusion, give full access to the surpass folder in c: users, unblock 443 port which is and bypass proxy for the sites they provided. We’ve done this with no luck.

 

Yesterday we managed to get a bit further on a calling laptop which we took off the network and tethered through a mobile so going around the filter which is provided by rm in partnership with the herts IT. We managed to successfully lunch it. Even though the satellite launcher was already installed we downloaded it again after we logged into Prometric and ran it and then loaded up the demo and it worked.

 

I couldn’t even get it goin on my home PC until even though I’m obviously an Local admin on my home pc.

 

Prometric simply say it’s something with our network but at the same time it’s obvious that it doesn’t work out of the box on a home pc and home internet connection.

 

On the RM network find that if I login to pro-metric and download the site launcher as my domain admin account I get a third app is blocked by your administrator blue pop up. The website is obviously trying to launch the client wrapper application in the program files.

 

If we’re bypassing the proxy do you think we may still need to configure the proxy xml?

 

Prometric have remote in several times and haven’t been a great help. At one point I asked them what sites and what ports need to be unblocked on our network and they told me that we would need to find out what ports there software uses (ourselves!?) ... shocking

 

Prometric said to check that the c: users surpass folder is t being cleaned out but I can’t see any sign of that and Real-time scan etc is turned off for that directory too.

 

I never thought I’d say it but this software is actually worse than Pearson POP LAN.

 

Ive lost count of how many weeks we’ve been trying to get this going

[free780]

Pearson Pop isn't that bad. It presumes you have admin rights to update the client. Why they couldn't have a service do this on the client? Secure Assess is not as bad as some other exam software I've seen. Your issues seem to be more the application than the connectivity.

[mavhc]

We must have secure exam software, exams are taken in schools, therefore will shall require admin rights and not work properly with filtering. Also be hard to deploy because only 1 person does an exam, and require either windows xp or .net 4.8

 

It won't work with AD, schools don't have that do they?

 

Our exam software will require a shared folder that anyone can alter, because we heard that was secure.

 

Also next year we'll realise this software we paid someone else for is terrible, and pay another terrible company for some new software that you'll have to install instead. And the old software won't uninstall properly

[TMBS]

We're an RM school too and have just been given this information after our Exams officers telling us nothing had changed! I've got no idea why they've bought in the secureclient as the URL worked for us last year.

 

Anyway, I installed the msi to the C:\Surpass location, gave 'Everyone' modify permissions to the folder and pushed out the shortcut on the RMMC via Program Sets. We use Trend too but that hasn't caused any issues. I'm just testing and the Surpass client runs, I can download/upload the test so I think all is working okay... I'm not going to try and package it as I think it will take me as long as installing on 30 machines!

[chazzy2501]

I went with the default location and gave the exe perms to run from that location, (and install a proxy.xml). stoodpid software.

[mikes]

I also went with the default location, I was worried if I changed it, it might break something. A lot of poorly written pap has hardcoded installation strings buried in the executable.

 

It is working for us, with AppLocker I had to use %osdrive%\users\etc instead of c:\ as it wouldn't pick it up otherwise; not sure why this happened. I just whitelisted the path. Didn't do the .exe hash if it is going to update. I didn't need to change any of our Impero settings though I excempted the install dir from Forefront's scans.

I deployed the MSI straight using SCCM, using the silent install flag specified on the WJEC website. (they didn't use /q like everyone else, they had to pick their own...)

We have a transparent proxy so didn't need to worry about that. I just made a specific ETEST user, log on as that and run the client.

 

We sucessfully ran a mock exam. The pupils were confused at one point, as it had sound (we had no headphones) - the question showed a rectangular box with a still of someones face. The pupils weren't aware there was sound. There was a button to the right labelled "transcript" that had a transcript, but some of the pupils don't know what that word means (they were not set 1 english). Why didn't they just have this text there in the first place?

Our live exam is 9am tomorrow. Will see how it goes...

 

Honestly I think paper exams are still better. There is much less to go wrong. The teacher of this subject actually specified this exam be done on the computer; he said the students work better on computer (??). I wish he'd had asked for my opinion beforehand but nobody really does that here anyway.

[ITGuyWestMidlands]

We have this in SCCM,

msiexec /i "SecureClientInstaller.msi" CMDLINE=/DEFAULT_INSTALL_DIR="C:\SecureClient" /qn

 

We have a single Exam user for the the secure client and it has modify permissions on the c:\secureclient the client self updates. We have a group policy for the secureclient user that automatically runs the app on login

"Interface file name (for example, Explorer.exe) c:\secureclient\SecureClientInitialRun.exe RunUpdater cache "

 

Just remember to set the permissions on the folder to allow it to automatically update.

This is the correct way to deal with this, bur ensure all other users aren't able to write to that folder too

[chazzy2501]

oh my god, I'm still dealing with this Fing program 2 days I've been pssin around with this. The new version quits installing if it sees Anything in the public/surpass directory! Great! Now I have to create a policy preference to delete a directory if it exists Before surpass is installed! OH BTW the msi won't deploy at all unless you tell it to ignore the language settings on the PC. Also it wants .net 3.5 as well as 4.0 although this isn't listed in the install requirements. Right now another 3rd unlisted exe called update wrapper.exe want to fart around with files in the programdata folder and rightly fails as a standard user! The next "solution" will be to make all my pupils local administrators! umm yum.

 

I hate this amateur basic programming fart toss.

 

EDIT: the problem..

 

Fault bucket 1502992499111513542, type 5
Event Name: CLR20r3
Response: Not available
Cab Id: 0

Problem signature:
P1: application update wrapper.exe
P2: 1.0.336.0
P3: 5d371245
P4: mscorlib
P5: 2.0.0.0
P6: 5d3a7231
P7: 348a
P8: 15a
P9: System.UnauthorizedAccess
P10: 

Attached files:
\\?\C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows\WER\Temp\WER2A7.tmp.WERInternalMetadata.xml
\\?\C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows\WER\Temp\WER93F.tmp.xml
\\?\C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows\WER\Temp\WERCE8.tmp.csv
\\?\C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows\WER\Temp\WERD56.tmp.txt

These files may be available here:
\\?\C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows\WER\ReportArchive\AppCrash_application upda_2e44d7f9a39d2b935baf639276818bf38b31b9_00000000_ec688ac9-4d97-496e-8393-e1a7d8b0aefd

Analysis symbol: 
Rechecking for solution: 0
Report Id: ec688ac9-4d97-496e-8393-e1a7d8b0aefd
Report Status: 268435456
Hashed bucket: 6cbf0004591ff721d4dbb3b6f99e4dc6
Cab Guid: 0

Edited January 23, 2020 by chazzy2501