Updating NetExtender

hrcuso

One thing we really dislike about the SonicWall SMA is that it's difficult to keep NetExtender updated on Windows clients. Sometimes updating to the latest SMA firmware requires a NetExtender update without warning. We've recently been told that if we install NetExtender using the .exe file directly from our SMA that it will auto-update, but we've always used the .msi file because we can script a silent install during our OS builds. So I have two questions:

1. For existing NetExtender installs that used the .msi method, is there a way to get them auto-updating from our SMA?
2. If we install future clients using the .exe, is there a way to script the installation for use with our OS and software deployment tasks?

Nicholas

1. The MSI is specifically for silent installs from a 3rd party, the SMA's preferred distribution is the web portal for intial install. You will not be able to use the auto update feature with the MSI.
2. The exe can be used in silent installs with standard switches just like any other execetuable installed with a 3rd party tool, we do not offer guidance on using 3rd party tools to distribute the clients. The EXE requires admin rights for initial install but updates do not require admin rights, typically users will install from the EXE and the autoupdate will update their client if theres a new version availble on the appliance. Typically the auto update is seemless the user logs in and the client updates automatically without intervention, and in my experience its almost unnoticable.

hrcuso

@Nicholas I really appreciate your answer (although I don't quite understand the logic). Can you let me know what the "standard switches" are for the EXE? It would be great to do a silent/unattended install and possibly even set the default connection information. Are the EXE switches documented anywhere? Thanks!