Faronics Insight
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Installation & Administration
Using Faronics Insight
Insight 11 Upgrade
Overview
This document will cover the process of upgrade to Insight 11 from older versions of the product.
As Insight 11 represents a completely new product a direct in-place upgrade is not supported and this document will provide an overview of the process required to remove the existing version(s) of Insight, and implement the required components of Insight 11.
Insight 11
Insight 11 consists of several components.
Insight Student
The Insight Student application is a piece of client software installed on a device that is to be monitored through the Insight console. The Insight Student application is currently supported on a number of device types. For a complete list of devices supported by Insight, please refer to Supported Environments.
Insight Teacher
The Insight Teacher application is a console that provides Teachers with the ability to monitor Student activity and engage with Students to support their learning. The Teacher application is supported on Windows or macOS systems.
Insight Connector
The Insight Connector is a server component that acts as a relay to allow Students and Teacher systems to communicate in cases where they are not located on the same network or network segment as each other.
Features Deprecated in Insight 11
Faronics Insight 11 has deprecated some features.
Tech Console
The Insight Tech Console has been deprecated in Insight 11. Faronics now offers a number of alternative management tools that provide for a much more capable platform for managing devices. For information on these offerings, please visit our home page www.faronics.com or speak to your account manager for further information.
Report Server
The Insight Report Server has been deprecated in Insight 11. Faronics now offers much more robust reporting as part of several of our other product offerings. For more information on these offerings, please visit our home page www.faronics.com or speak to your account manager for further information.
Multicast/Broadcast Configuration in Insight Teacher
Insight 9 provided options for the configuration of broadcast options in the Teacher console to allow for communication between multiple subnets. As Insight 11 utilizes a new protocol for the communication between Teachers and Students, these options no longer provide an effective method to traverse larger networks.
Customers who have previously configured Insight to make use of specific broadcast addresses will need to configure and deploy an Insight Connector to allow for Teacher and Student machines to be able to traverse larger networks or to pass traffic in situations where the Student and Teacher machines are not on the same segment of your network.
Planned Features
While efforts were made to ensure as close to 100% feature parity to the previous version of Insight at launch, the following features are not available in the Insight application.
- Slideshow View of Student Machines in the Teacher Console
- Embedding Graphics into testing materials
- Conversion of Insight 9 data files
- AD Secure Mode
While current plans do include the inclusion of these features in future versions of the product, they are being prioritized based on customer feedback. If one of the above features is critical to your operations, please raise a support ticket via email to [email protected] to let us know so that we can appropriately prioritize future development efforts.
Upgrade Process
The upgrade Process from Insight 9 to Insight 11 follows the steps outlined below:
- 1.Document the existing configuration of the Teacher console, Students, and Insight Connection Servers.
- 2.Map the existing Insight Settings to equivalent new values for the Insight 11 install.
- 3.Remove the existing Insight Installation.
- 4.Deploy the Insight Connector (Optional)
- 5.Deploy the Insight Teacher Console
- 6.Deploy the Insight Student Application.
- 7.Import any required configuration information for testing, class lists, or restrictions.
Documentation
It is recommended that IT staff take time to document the existing configuration of the Insight product to ensure that deployment of the new version of the software can be performed with a minimum amount of disruption. information that may need to be documented includes:
- Channel numbers in use by staff, or configured by default on the client systems
- Address/Hostnames of any existing Insight Connection Servers
- The network configuration of the Insight console - specifically any Teachers configured to use a Broadcast Address instead of an Insight Connection Server
- Settings in use to restrict access on Student systems, including:
- Blocked Application Lists
- Blocked Website Lists
- Banned Word Lists
- Any classroom files that define specific Teacher classrooms
Data Mapping
Once appropriate documentation of the existing configuration has been made, the next step is to map the existing configuration information to the new Insight 11 product.
In some cases, the data may be able to be retained 1:1 in its existing format or may require the information to be re-entered to allow for more flexible deployment in the future.
Channel Numbers
Insight version 9 allowed for the use of numeric channel numbers. Insight 11 will accommodate the use of the same channel numbers and supports the use of longer alphanumeric strings in place of numbers to represent the channel that the Student and Teachers are connected to.
In some cases, this may allow for an easier way to identify specific classrooms, Teachers as you are no longer limited to numbers only.
Test Files
At this time, Insight 11 cannot make use of the Insight 9 testing files. Testing files will need to be re-created in the Insight 11 Teacher console manually.
Blocked Word Lists/Application Lists/Website Lists
The blocked word lists can be exported from the existing Insight 9 console as a CSV format and copied and pasted into the Insight 11 console.
Uninstalling Insight 9
Windows Students
Manual Removal
Manual removal of the Insight Student Application is performed by running the MSI package and following the prompts to remove the Insight Student application.
From the Command Line
The Insight Student can be removed from the client system using the command line listed below:
MSIEXEC /uninstall <path to installer>\Student.msi /qnThis command needs to be executed with administrative rights on the Student computer.
macOS Students
The installation package for the macOS Student application contains an uninstall application that will remove the Student application when run. This application needs to be run with administrative privileges on the client system.
Chrome OS
The Insight Application on Chrome OS is installed through the Google Chrome Web Store and removal on Chrome OS devices is handled either through the individual user profile or through the Google Workspace.
To fully remove the Insight product, both the Insight Application and the Insight Web Helper will need to be removed from the system.
Manual Removal
Instructions on manually removing the software from a Chrome OS device is documented here:
Using GSuite / Google Workspace
Instructions on removing software from a Chrome OS device through the Google suite is documented here:
Android / iOS Applications
The Android and iOS applications are installed from the device’s respective application store. Manually removing the application from the device can be performed by the user on user-owned or non-managed devices.
Managed Devices
Devices that are enrolled in an MDM solution may be able to have the Insight Student and Teacher Applications removed from the MDM application itself. Administrators should consult with the documentation for their MDM product to guide them through the process of removing the existing Insight Application from their devices.
Installing the Insight Connector
A manual installation of the Insight Connector application can be performed by a user with administrative rights on the system where the software is being installed.
Installing the Insight Teacher
Windows
The Insight Teacher Application is supported on Windows 8, 10, 11, and Server 2019 and later.
Manual Install
A manual installation of the Insight Teacher application can be performed by a user with administrative rights on the system where the software is being installed.
Command Line Install
For customers that need to deploy the Teacher application to a larger group of machines, the command line options listed below can be used to perform the deployment process. These command line options can be used by third-party tools to push and execute the installation package on Student computers.
/classID <value>During installation, this will set the default Class ID to the value specified. The value can be any valid alphanumeric Class ID.
/adminPwd <value>This option configures the Administrator Password on the client system using the value specified after the command line switch.
/connectorServer <value>This option configures the Insight Student to communicate with the Insight Connector located at the IP address, Hostname, or FQDN specified.
Example:
/connectionServer insight/connectionServer 192.168.1.10/connectionServer insight.example.domain.com/consolePwd <value>This option configures the Password to access the Insight Teacher Console on the client system using the value specified after the command line switch.
/sharedSecret <value>This option configures Insight to make use of the Enhanced Security option using the value specified as the Security Token.
Example:
/sharedSecret Password123/suppressrebootThis option will suppress the reboot of the client system after the Insight Student is installed. Insight may not be fully enabled until the client machine is rebooted after the install process.
An example installation command line is shown below;
InsightInstallerTeacher.exe /classID Class101 /adminPwd Password123 /consolePwd TeacherPassword123 /sharedSecret securecommunicationmacOS
The Insight Teacher Application is supported on macOS version 10.13 (High Sierra) and higher.
Manual Install
A manual installation of the Insight Teacher application can be performed by a user with administrative rights on the system where the software is being installed.
Installing the Insight Student
Windows
Manual Installation
The installation of the Insight Student application can be performed manually in cases where the user has administrative rights on the client system.
Mass Deployment
For customers that need to deploy the Student application to a larger group of machines the command line options listed below can be used to perform the deployment process. These command-line options can be used by third-party tools to push and execute the installation package on Student computers.
Command
Description
/classID <value>During installation, this will set the default Class ID to the value specified. The value can be any valid alphanumeric Class ID.
/requireStudentPermissionSetting this option during the installation process will configure Insight to require the approval of the Student.
/installbrowserextensionSetting this option will install the browser extensions on the Student system.
/enableWebHistorySetting this option will enable the ability of Insight to track web history on Student machines.
/disableKeyLoggingSetting this option will disable the ability of Insight to log keystrokes on the client system.
/studentCanChangeClassIdSetting this option will configure Insight to allow the Student to change the Class ID in Insight.
/hideSysTrayIconSetting this option will configure Insight to hide its icon on the system tray.
/restrictWiFiSetting this option will enable the ability for Insight to restrict what wireless networks the system can connect to.
/authorisedWiFiSSIDs <value>Setting this option will specify the SSIDs for the wireless networks that the systems can connect to. SSIDs should be specified by entering each one separated by a comma.
/sharedSecret <value>This option configures Insight to make use of the Enhanced Security option using the value specified as the Security Token.
Example:
/sharedSecret Password123/adminPwd <value>This option configures the Administrator Password on the client system using the value specified after the command line switch.
/connectorServer <value>This option configures the Insight Student to communicate with the Insight Connector located at the IP address, Hostname, or FQDN specified.
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Example:
/connectionServer insight /connectionServer 192.168.1.10 /connectionServer insight.example.domain.com/suppressrebootThis option will suppress the reboot of the client system after the Insight Student is installed. Insight may not be fully enabled until the client machine is rebooted after the install process.
An example installation command line is shown below:
InsightInstallerStudent.exe /classid Class101 /adminPwd Password123 /sharedSecret superiorsiegeweapon /installbrowserextension /enableWebHistory /connectorServer insight.example.domain.com /suppressrebootmacOS
The Insight Student Application is supported on macOS version 10.13 (High Sierra) and higher.
Manual Install
A manual installation of the Insight Teacher application can be performed by a user with administrative rights on the system where the software is being installed.
Chrome OS
The Insight Student application for Chrome OS devices is available for deployment through the Chrome Web Store at the link below:
Instructions on deploying Chrome OS applications can be found linked here:
iOS
The Insight Student application is available for installation through the Apple Apps Store. The application can be installed manually on the device by the end-user or provisioned through an existing MDM application.
Administrators working with iOS devices in a managed environment should consult with the instructions for their MDM platform for instructions on mass deployment.
Android
The Insight Student application is available for installation through the Google Play Store. The application can be installed manually on the device by the end-user or provisioned through an existing MDM application.
Administrators working with Android devices in a managed environment should consult with the instructions for their MDM platform for instructions on mass deployment.
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