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Install Monitor on macOS devices

Updated

This article outlines the procedure for installing Monitor on macOS devices.

Before you begin

  • Ensure your device runs on macOS 10.15 Catalina (2019) or later. If your device runs macOS 10.13 (High Sierra) or 10.14 (Mojave), refer to this guidance.
  • You must have Administrator access to the macOS device.
  • For installation on multiple devices via MDM deployment, enrol your devices in your MDM via the Apple Business Manager or Apple School Manager. 
  • Get a copy of your Organization ID, which should look like 00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000000.
If your school uses... Follow these steps
New Monitor
  1. Go to Settings > Configuration.
  2. Select the Config button for your organisation. 
  3. On the Config panel, select the Copy icon (clipboard) to the right of the Organization ID field.
Legacy Monitor
  1. Go to Monitor > License Information. 
  2. Select the Copy icon (papers) next to your Organization ID.

  Note

You may be prompted to confirm your Organisation ID’s region. Contact our Support Team for help if you don’t have this detail.

Step 1: Download the Monitor installer

You can download the Monitor installer from the following sources. The file is visigo-N.pkg, where N is a version number. The installer is a standard flat package file (*.pkg).

If your school uses... Follow these steps
New Monitor
  1. In Monitor, go to Settings > Configuration.
  2. Select the Config button for your Organisation. The Configure (your organisation) drawer will appear.
  3. Under Install Monitor clients, expand macOS.
  4. Select the Monitor installer (for example, visigo-1.21.pkg).
  5. Save the installer.
Legacy Monitor
  1. In Monitor > Organizations, select the Edit link on your organisation’s tile.
  2. Select Clients on the left navigation.
  3. Select macOS from the Operating System dropdown.
  4. Select Get and save the installer.

  Note

If you would like to access the new Monitor or get more information, please contact your Customer Success Manager.
Either version Download the Monitor installer for macOS directly from the Smoothwall Product Download page.

Step 2: Install Monitor

There are two options for installing Monitor:

  1. Manual installation on individual devices.
  2. Remote deployment via MDM for multiple devices.

Manual installation

You can manually install Monitor either by opening the GUI installer or running the installation script in the Terminal.

If you're manually installing Monitor by... Follow these steps
Opening the GUI installer
  1. Copy the installer to the target device and open it.
  2. Select Continue and agree to the License Agreement.
  3. Select Install.
  4. If prompted, enter your Admin username and password.
  5. When installation is complete, select Close.
Running the installation script in the Terminal
  1. Open the Terminal app and run the following command:
sudo installer -pkg /path/to/installer.pkg -target /
  1. Replace ‘/path/to/installer.pkg’ with the path to the installer file.
  2. Press Enter.

Remote deployment via MDM

MDM deployment is preferred for installing Monitor remotely on multiple devices. Refer to your MDM provider’s documentation to deploy Monitor using this method.

If you're using Jamf or Kandji, you can refer to these remote deployment guides.

 

 

Configuration

After the package is installed, you will need to run the configuration command to complete the setup. The command looks like this:
 

sudo "/Library/Application Support/Visigo/configure.sh" install ORGANISATION_ID SMOOTHWALL_SERIAL
  • Replace "ORGANISATION_ID" with your MMS organisation ID provided by Smoothwall.
  • Replace "SMOOTHWALL_SERIAL" with your Smoothwall Serial number. This starts with "UNCL" and has 16 characters and no spaces.

Manual installation

If you are installing the software manually, run the command above in the Terminal.

MDM deployment

If you are deploying the software via MDM, then deploy the above command to each target machine. Please consult your MDM documentation for information on how to do this.

On Jamf Pro, it could be done like this:

  1. Create a Script containing the command shown above (see Settings → Scripts).
  2. Create a Policy which deploys the Script, or add the Script to an existing Policy (see Computers → Policies).
  3. Deploy the Policy.
NOTE
It is important that the package is fully installed before you run the configuration command, otherwise the software will not work.

Permissions

The "VisigoAgent" component of the MMS software requires the following permissions in macOS:

  • Accessibility
  • Input Monitoring
  • Screen Recording (Big Sur onwards)

Unfortunately, Apple restrictions prevent Input Monitoring and Screen Recording permissions from being granted remotely via MDM. As such, this part of the process has to be done manually.

If you have already been installing the software manually, you may have seen system pop-ups indicating that VisigoAgent is requesting permissions. You can close these pop-ups by clicking "Open System Preferences" or a similar option. Please do not click "Deny". Next, follow the steps outlined below.

If you have deployed the software via MDM instead, then please log in to each target device (as an administrator) and follow the steps outlined below.

  1. Open System Preferences (if it isn't open already).
  2. Go to "Security & Privacy → Privacy".
  3. If the padlock in the bottom-left corner is locked, click to open it. You may need to enter your password to do this.
    1. To allow the Accessibility permission:
    2. In the left column, select "Accessibility".
  4. In the right pane, find and tick "VisigoAgent".
  5. To allow the Input Monitoring permission:
    1. In the left column, select "Input Monitoring".
    2. In the right pane, find "VisigoAgent" and ensure it is ticked.
    3. If prompted, select the option to quit and reopen the app.
    4. Another permission request may pop up. If so, dismiss it by clicking the button to open System Preferences again.
  6. To allow the Screen Recording permission:
    1. In the left column, select "Screen Recording".
    2. In the right pane, find "VisigoAgent" and ensure it is ticked.
    3. If prompted, select the button to quit and reopen the app.
  7. Close System Preferences.

If you are using macOS Big Sur then the software should now be fully functional. If you are using macOS Catalina, then you may need to log out and back in before it will work.

Check that the software is running

You can verify that the software is running by examining the log file on the target machine. It is located at this path:

/var/log/visigo/Visigo.log

If you are directly logged-in to the machine as an administrator then you can monitor the log file by running this command in the Terminal:

tail -f /var/log/visigo/Visigo.log

Type some text into any application and press enter/return. The log file should report that it is communicating with the server.

Uninstallation

To uninstall the software, run the following command on each target machine:

sudo "/Library/Application Support/Visigo/configure.sh" uninstall

It can be executed manually from the Terminal, or deployed remotely via MDM. Please consult your MDM documentation for information about deploying commands.