Installing Collector on macOS
Overview
Nexthink distributes Collector for macOS as a disk image .dmg
file with the following content:
A package
.pkg
file for installing Collector from a graphical user interface.The
csi.app
application for installing Collector from the command line interface.A reporter shell application that gathers system information for troubleshooting purposes.
An uninstaller application to remove Collector when it is no longer needed.
After the installation, as a sanity check, optionally verify the status of the TCP connection between Collector and the Nexthink cloud platform.
Collector for macOS runs in user mode and does not need to ask the user for explicit permissions to install any kernel extension. Running in user mode comes with the added benefit of making it unnecessary to reboot your macOS devices after updates or uninstallation.
Prerequisites
Requirements
One or more macOS devices
The Nexthink Collector disk image (Nexthink_Collector_<version>.dmg file)
The Customer Key
Access to the full storage device (Full Disk Access enabled)
(optional) A third-party automated deployment tool
Downloads
Connect to the product download website.
Sign in with your customer credentials.
Click the first entry of the Latest Infinity releases list.
Under Latest Downloads, find the Collector section.
Click to download the Collector package for macOS.
(optional) Verify your download with the provided SHA-256 hash.
Click the downloaded file Nexthink_Collector-<version>.dmg file.
Find the package file (Nexthink_Collector-<version>.pkg) and the csi app inside the image file.
Connection details
The fully qualified domain name (FQDN) of your Nexthink instance.
TCP port number for the connection (default 443).
Full disk access permission
Nexthink Collector relies on the Apple Endpoint Security framework and follows Apple’s privacy guidelines. For this reason, the nxtsvc
macOS app requires full disk access. Administrators can manually enable it using the System Preferences application utility or use the mobile device management (MDM) capabilities to configure and update settings remotely. Nexthink provides sample files you can use to create the configuration files you need for both nxtsvc.app
and nxtcod.app
.
See the Installing Collector profile in Jamf for macOS page for more information.
Graphical installation
To install Collector on macOS using the graphical interface:
Double-click the provided disk image file to mount it into your filesystem and see its contents.
Double-click the package file Nexthink_Collector_<version>.pkg and the installer will start with the introduction.
Click Continue to proceed with the installation.
In the step Personalization, configure first the settings of the Nexthink Appliance to which Collector will connect:
Name or IP address
Type in the FQDN of your Nexthink instance.Data over TCP
Tick the option to send data over a TCP channel.TCP port
Port number to set to 443.UDP port
This feature must not be selected when using the Nexthink cloud platform.
Configure the proxy settings of Collector:
Tick Automatic proxy for Collector to take its configuration from a proxy auto-configuration (PAC) file.
In PAC address, type in the URL of the file that determines the proxy to use.
Tick Manual proxy for Collector to use the following proxy settings:
Address
Type in the FQDN of the proxy.Port
Type in the port number where the proxy is listening.
In a second step, configure the other settings of Collector:
Customer Key
Copy and paste the contents of the file that holds the Customer Key.Root CA
Leave this field empty.(optional) Collector tag
Type in an integer number (0 to 2147483647) that identifies a group of Collectors. The tag is useful for defining the entities to build up hierarchies.(optional) Collector string tag
Type in a label (max 2048 characters) that identifies a group of Collectors. The string tag is useful for defining the entities to build up hierarchies.(optional) Tick Assignment service if you activated the rule-based assignment (classic).
(optional) Tick Nexthink Engage to activate the features that let you send campaigns to employees.
(optional) Select the execution policy of scripts included in remote actions:
Disabled (default)
Collector runs no remote action on the device.Unrestricted
Collector runs any remote action on the device, regardless of the digital signature of its script.Trusted publisher
Collector runs on the device only those remote actions with a shell script that is signed by an identified developer.Trusted publisher or Nexthink
Collector runs on the device only those remote actions with a shell script that is signed either by Nexthink or by an identified developer.
Click Continue to proceed.
In the step Destination select, the installer program shows the local paths in the system where it is going to install the different components of Collector. Keep the default paths and click Continue.
The Installation Type step informs you about some details of the installation process, including the amount of disk space that the program is going to use. Click Install to begin with the installation.
The installer shows the progress of the installation, and it finishes with a summary message. If the installation was successful, click Close the installer.
Command-line installation
The command-line installation lets you install Collector even when you have access to a computer only through the macOS shell. Using the command-line installation, you can install Collector either locally or remotely through an SSH connection.
Execute the csi.app
application provided with the disk image. To mount the disk image into the file system:
After downloading the image file from Product Downloads, pick one of the following options:
If you are installing Collector on a remote computer:
Copy the image file to the remote computer:
scp Nexthink_Collector_<version>.dmg <username>@<address>:
Log in to the remote computer:
ssh <username>@<address>
If you are installing Collector on the local computer:
Change the directory to the one where you downloaded the image file.
Mount the image file:
hdiutil mount Nexthink_Collector_<version>.dmg
Once the image file has been mounted into the filesystem of the target Mac computer, install Collector from the command line:
Change the directory to the path of the csi application. For example, type
cd /Volumes/Nexthink_Collector_22.6.2.10\ OSX\ 10.15\ -\ 12/csi.app/Contents/MacOS/
when version 22..6.2.10 of Collector is used.
Type in the following command and provide, as arguments:
address
FQDN of your Nexthink instance.port
This feature must not be selected when using the Nexthink cloud platform.tcp_port
Port number to set to 443.rootca
Not required.key
The path to the Customer Key file(optional) engage
Whether to enable the campaigns or not (the default value isdisable
).(optional) data_over_tcp
Whether to enable the sending of all data over the TCP channel (the default value isenable
).(optional) use_assignment
Whether to enable the rule-based assignment (classic) (default isdisable
).(optional) ra_execution_policy
Whether to enable the remote actions or not with the possible options below.disabled (default)
Collector runs no remote action on the device.unrestricted
Collector runs any remote action on the device, regardless of the digital signature of the associated script.signed_trusted
Collector runs on the device only remote actions with a shell script signed by an identified developer.signed_trusted_or_nexthink
Collector runs on the device only remote actions with a shell script signed either by Nexthink or an identified developer.
(optional) proxy_pac_address
Provide the URL of a PAC address for automatic configuration of proxy settings.(optional) proxy_address
Provide the FQDN of a proxy for manual configuration of proxy settings.(optional) proxy_port
Provide the port number where a proxy is listening for connections for manual configuration of proxy settings.(optional) tag
Integer number (0 to 2147483647) to identify an individual or batch installation of Collectors.(optional) string_tag
Label (max 2048 characters) to identify an individual or batch installation of Collectors.
For example:
sudo ./csi -address <instance_address>
-tcp_port <instance_tcp_port>
-key <customer_key_file>
-engage enable
-proxy_pac_address <pac_URL>
-proxy_address <proxy_FQDN_or_IP> -proxy_port <port_number>
-tag 1000 -string_tag Preproduction
Enterprise deployment
Collector supports installations in an enterprise environment based on either:
Imaging
Mobile Device Management (MDM)
Uninstalling Collector
To uninstall Collector, execute the uninstaller script that is provided with the .dmg
file. Assuming that you have mounted the image file into the filesystem of the computer with Collector installed, type the following command in a macOS shell:
sudo /Volumes/Nexthink_Collector_22.6.2.10\ OSX\ 10.15\ -\ 12/uninstaller
The instruction above uninstalls Collector using version 22.6.2.10 of the uninstaller.