Deploying the Datto Endpoint Security agent

NAVIGATION   > Organizations > select an organization > select a location >  > Download Agent

SECURITY   Datto EDR subscription with administrator-level platform access or Datto AV subscription with administrator-level platform access

SECURITY   Service account or administrator-level rights on the target endpoint

This article describes the process for directly installing the Endpoint Security agent on an endpoint. For alternate deployment methods, refer to the Additional resources section of this article.

NOTE  Datto AV protection is delivered by the Datto Endpoint Security agent and is managed from the Policies page.

Prerequisites

Before you begin, we need to understand your current environment and what you'd like to do.

Download and prepare

To prepare for the installation, download the agent executable or copy a command line by performing the following steps:

  1. Log in to your EDR instance.

  2. Locate/create the location registration key:

    IMPORTANT   This step is only required if you are manually installing the EDR agent from the command line. The Copy Command Line functionality will automatically create a registration key for you and install the agent in one step.

    1. Select > Admin.
    2. In the left navigation pane, click Registration Keys. If you do not see your location in the list, click the Add New Registration Key button. Save this key because you will need to add it in the agent installation command line.

  1. In the top navigation bar, click Organizations.

  2. Select the organization and the location to which you'll be deploying the agent. For more information, refer to Creating and managing organizations, locations, and devices.

  3. On the Location page, click the Download Agent button.

  4. The Download Agent modal will open.

  5. In the Processor drop-down list, select the appropriate agent for the endpoint's operating system.

  6. Do one of the following:

    • To download the agent to your current computer, click the Download button.

    • To perform a command-line install, click the Copy Command Line button. This generates a one-line command that can be run in a terminal to install the EDR agent in a single step.

  1. Select a topic to continue.

Installing the agent

NOTE  The default installation directory is C:\Program Files\infocyte\agent. The service name will be HUNTAgent.

Windows interactive install

  1. Run the installer as an administrator. The Datto EDR Installer modal is displayed.
  2. In the Instance field, enter the cname or full URL of your EDR instance (such as https://mycompanyname.infocyte.com). The cname in this example is mycompanyname. The URL will be supplied to you via email or by your EDR representative.
  3. If the agent should use a proxy account, in the Proxy field, enter the username, password, IP address, and port information in the format shown.
  4. If desired, complete the Agent Friendly Name field.
  5. Should you wish to automatically assign this agent to an organization and location, input a registration key. Doing so streamlines the process when you have hundreds or thousands of agents to manage at once. You can generate registration keys at > Admin > Agents > Registration Keys. For more information about managing organizations and locations, refer to Creating and managing organizations, locations, and devices.
  6. Verify the Installation Path. Make any necessary changes.
  7. Click Submit.

Windows command line install

One-step command line method

If you clicked the Copy Command Line button when completing the Download and prepare steps, open PowerShell as an administrator then paste and run the command.

Here is an example of the command and the expected output.

Manual command line method

If you clicked the Download button when completing the Download and prepare steps, perform the following steps:

  1. Open PowerShell as an administrator.

  2. To install the agent, you will be running commands from the Downloads folder. Run the following command to navigate to the Downloads folder. Make sure you replace <username> with your username.
    cd C:\Users\<username>\Downloads\

  3. To install the agent via command line, run the executable within an administrator shell (such as PowerShell) in the following format:

    SYNTAX:
    agent.exe [FLAGS] [OPTIONS] [SUBCOMMAND]

    EXAMPLE:
    agent.exe --key <Registration Key> --url https://mycompany.infocyte.com

    NOTE  agent.exe refers to the name of the agent file in your downloads folder. The names must match otherwise the install command will fail with an error.

NOTE  The default installation directory is /opt/infocyte/agent. The service name will be HUNTAgent.service.

Linux command line install

One-step command line method

If you clicked the Copy Command Line button when completing the Download and prepare steps, open a Terminal session as an administrator then paste and run the command.

Here is an example of the command and the expected output.

Manual command line method

If you clicked the Download button when completing the Download and prepare steps, perform the following steps:

  1. Open a Terminal session on your Linux system.

  2. To install the agent, you will be running commands from the Downloads folder. Run the following command to navigate to the Downloads folder.
    cd ~/Downloads

  3. Rename the agent executable file. We recommend updating the agent’s executable file name to a shorter accessible command-line name. This can be done with the following command..

sudo mv ./agent.linux-amd64.<sha256 hash>.bin ./agent.linux-amd64.bin

  1. Run the following command to make the installer executable. This will ensure the EDR agent has the correct permissions to run as an executable. By using the chmod command you are telling the operating system this file is safe to run, a necessary step in the installation process.
    chmod +x ./agent.linux-amd64.bin

  2. Launch the installer as a super user. Replace all values in brackets with the values corresponding to your instance.

sudo ./agent.linux-amd64.bin --key [Registration Key] --url 
[https://mycompany.infocyte.com]

  1. The agent installation process should be completed by this step. Here is an example of the command and its expected output.

Considerations and prerequisites

  • The Endpoint Security agent supports Apple endpoints with Intel x86 and Apple M Series (ARM) processors.
  • There are 2 chipsets: Mac Silicon and Mac Intel. It is important to know your build when downloading the agent. To find the chipset on the endpoint, click the Apple icon in the upper-left corner and select About this Mac.

macOS command line install

One-step command line method

If you clicked the Copy Command Line button when completing the Download and prepare steps, open a Terminal session as an administrator then paste and run the command.

Here is an example of the command and the expected output.

Manual command line method

If you clicked the Download button when completing the Download and prepare steps, perform the following steps:

  1. Open a Terminal session on your Mac system.

  2. To install the agent, you will be running commands from the Downloads folder. Run the following command to navigate to the Downloads folder.

    cd ~/Downloads

  3. Rename the agent executable file. We recommend updating the agent’s executable file name to a shorter accessible command-line name. This can be done with the following command..

sudo mv ./agent.macos-amd64.<sha256 hash>.bin ./agent.macos-amd64.bin

  1. Run the following command to make the installer executable. This will ensure the EDR agent has the correct permissions to run as an executable. By using the chmod command you are telling the macOS this file is safe to run, a necessary step in the installation process.
    chmod +x ./agent.macos.bin

  2. Launch the installer as a super user.
sudo ./agent.macos.bin

NOTE   If the same user who downloaded the file is logged into the system, sudo privileges are not needed since the user already has the necessary permissions.

  1. Follow the prompts to install the agent.

NOTE  Rosetta is a compatibility layer that allows Intel-based apps to run on Apple Silicon processors. If prompted, allow the installation to proceed to ensure the agent runs correctly.

  1. Alternatively, the agent can be installed with a single command line:

sudo ./agent.macos-amd64.bin --url <instance URL> --key <registration key>

NOTE  The default installation directory is /usr/local/infocyte/agent. The service name will be com.datto.HUNTAgent.

Wrapping up

If this agent deployment is for or will include Datto AV service, proceed to our article Working with the Policies page to continue.

Additional resources

The following articles provide alternate methods to deploy the Endpoint Security agent:

The following section describes additional flags and parameters the agent executable can use. These parameters are primarily used for troubleshooting purposes by the Datto Support team.

Agent.exe FLAGS:

--debug Turn on debug logging
--enforce-https-certs Use TLS certificate validation (only use if providing
 own cert!)
--help Prints help information
--ignore-versioning Don't update local binary to match server
--no-extensions Don't run custom extensions
--no-install Do not install the agent, default = install
--no-intense-io Don't do any io-intensive file operations
--no-rts Do not run in RTS mode, only normal scans
--no-verify Don't verify the remote api is reachable
--quiet Do not send output to console (only log file)
--repl Launch lua repl with built in runtime extensions
--service Run as a service
--uninstall Remove HUNT Agent that was installed via --install
--version Prints version information
--verbose Turn on verbose logging

OPTIONS:

--url <api-url> Sets the API URL (for example, https://192.168.1.1) to use for 
either generating a file or API communication
--auth <auth> Authenticator to use for auto-registration (optional)
--config <config> Use this as the configuration file
--database-name <database-name> Name of database to use for persistent storage
--extension <extension> Path to an extension or directory containing extensions
--friendly <friendly> Set a friendly name for this agent on the HUNT Server
--generate-config <generate> Create a new configuration file
--install-dir <install-dir> Specify directory in which to install HUNT Agent
--interval <interval> Sets the interval (in seconds) to use when pinging the API
--log-dir <log-dir> Sets the directory in which to store log files
--max-extension-run-time <max-extension-run-time> Max number of seconds an 
extension can run
--proxy <proxy> Sets the optional HTTP proxy to use 
(for example, user:password@192.168.1.1:8080)
--key <server-key> Registration key (optional)

SUBCOMMANDS:

help: Prints this message or the help of the given subcommand(s)

survey: Performs only survey actions, saving data to disk and exiting


Revision Date
Updated agent download PR. 4/1/25
Updated PR: Windows agent - interactive install. 7/28/25