Remote installation (Windows)

Acronis Backup & Recovery 10 components can be installed remotely.

To perform remote installation, you need administrator privileges on the target machines. 

  Preparation
  1. Install Acronis License Server and import the licenses. You can skip this step when using a trial license key or when installing Acronis Backup & Recovery 10 for online backup only.
  2. Install Acronis Backup & Recovery 10 Management Console.
  3. For successful installation on a remote machine running any Windows XP version, the option Control panel > Folder options > View > Use simple file sharing must be disabled on that machine.
  4. For successful installation on a remote machine running Windows XP with Service Pack 2 or Windows 2003 Server, the option Control panel > Windows Firewall > Exceptions > File and Printer Sharing must be enabled on that machine.
  5. Acronis Backup & Recovery 10 uses TCP ports 445 and 25001 for remote installation. Make sure that these ports are added to exceptions in the firewall settings on the remote machines.

    Tip: If the remote machines are members of an Active Directory domain and use no firewall other than Windows Firewall, you can add TCP port 25001 to exceptions by using Group Policy. On a domain controller, create a Group Policy object, then go to Administrative Templates -> Network -> Network Connections -> Windows Firewall -> Domain Profile -> Windows Firewall: Define port exceptions, and then add the following port exception:
    25001:tcp:*:enabled:Acronis remote install
    TCP port 445 is added to exceptions automatically by Windows Firewall when you enable File and Printer Sharing.

You can exclude both ports from exceptions after the remote installation is complete. 

  Installation
  1. Run Acronis Backup & Recovery 10 Management Console.
  2. Click Install Acronis components.
  3. Do one of the following:
    • Specify the name or IP address of the Acronis License Server and click Next. If the license server has licenses for multiple Acronis Backup & Recovery 10 editions, select the edition to install.
    • Type a trial license key. You can use a single trial license key for remote installation to multiple machines.
    • Click Install Acronis Backup & Recovery 10 for online backup only (license key is not required).
  4. Select the location of the installation files. The default selection Registered Components will use installation files from the default folder: C:\Program Files\Common Files\Acronis\RemoteInstall.
  5. Specify the components that you want to install and their features. Please keep in mind that the features, or add-ons, cannot be installed if the main component is not installed or selected for installation.
  6. If you selected to install the agent, specify whether to register the machines on the management server after agent installation.
  7. Select machines on which the components are to be installed. This can be done by:
    • browsing the network. When browsing the network, you can select individual machines, as well as entire workgroups or domains
    • typing machine names or IP addresses (click Next then add machines to the list)
    • importing the list of the machines from .txt or .csv files.
  8. Provide the administrator’s user name and password for each machine. If there is a universal administrator account on the network, enter the account credentials for one machine and set the option to apply it to all the machines that you select. Domain administrator credentials and universal credentials for workgroups can be applied in this way.

    If you do not specify credentials for all machines involved, or if the credentials are not valid for some machines, you will have an option to provide credentials during installation (there is an option Other user in the user name and password error prompt).

    Note: For a machine which is a domain controller in an Active Directory domain, you must specify the name of that domain together with the user name. For example: MyDomain\Administrator

  9. If a trial product version is installed on some of the selected machines, a list of such machines is displayed. Select the machines where you want to upgrade the product to a full version.
  10. If you selected to install the agent, specify whether to create a new account for the agent service or use an existing one. See “Specifying credentials for Acronis services” for details.

The summary window displays a list of machines where the components will be installed.

Once the installation starts, the program displays the operation progress and the name of the machine on which the components are being installed. 

  Update

To update one or more components on a remote machine, repeat the installation procedure. 

  Upgrade to a full version

To upgrade one or more components from a trial to a full version, import the full license keys for these components to the license server, and then repeat the installation procedure. To upgrade from a trial version to a version for online backup only, repeat the installation procedure without specifying license keys.

Remote installation (Windows)