Windows Companion
Introduction
The Relution Companion for Windows is a Windows service that is installed on all Windows devices managed by Relution. It is not a regular app available in the Windows App Store or the Relution App Store. Relution Companion for Windows has administrative rights, is intended for administrators only, and runs entirely in the background. It does not interact with end users.
Installation
With Relution Server version 5.15., the Relution Companion for Windows is automatically installed on all newly enrolled Windows devices. If the Windows device is already managed by Relution, the Relution Companion for Windows will be installed automatically as well.
On the Windows device under Settings, the Relution enrollment Connected to Relution is displayed. In the submenu Info, it is visible,that the Relution Companion for Windows has been installed successfully.
If a Windows device is no longer managed by Relution, the Relution Companion for Windows is automatically removed from the device.
Purpose of the Relution Companion for Windows
By default, the configuration of enrolled Windows devices in Relution uses the so-called Configuration Service Providers (CSP), which allow access to certain settings in the Windows system. The configuration possibilities are however limited here. By means of the Relution Companion for Windows, configuration options are significantly extended.
Additional options
With the Relution Companion for Windows, additional one-time Windows-based PowerShell scripts can now be executed on enrolled Windows devices via Relution actions.
Another advantage of Relution Companion for Windows is the installation and uninstallation of classic applications in the device context. This allows .msi and .exe files to be installed and uninstalled on enrolled Windows devices via the Relution App Store.
Applying Powershell scripts to Windows devices
PowerShell scripts are text files that contain at least one PowerShell command that is executed by Windows when the file is opened. Processes, both on the computer and at Relution, can be greatly facilitated by this. The script files are written by the administrator itself and saved under the extension .ps1. Only PowerShell scripts can be executed, which do not require any user interaction, since the Relution Companion for Windows runs completely in the background. A possible use case for the use of a PowerShell script is the comfortable resetting of user passwords in case they have been forgotten.
To successfully run a PowerShell script on a Windows device, the following steps must be performed:
In the device inventory, call up the desired Windows device and on the subsequent device details page, under the
Actionstab, select theApply Actionsubmenu item.Then the option
Run PowerShell scripthas to be selected.
- Upload the desired script under
Selectvia the native file manager. The script name will be added automatically afterwards.
- If placeholders are built into the script,
argumentscan be added to the file. In addition, a timeout can be set manually to define the response time of the script. If the script is not reached within the specified time frame, the process will be aborted.
- Under the device detail page and the tab
Actions, the executed PowerShell script is listed.