How to install SoftActivity Monitor Client App using Microsoft Intune: Admin Guide

This guide provides step-by-step instructions for IT administrators to install the SoftActivity Client App on company-owned Windows devices using Microsoft Intune. The app is designed to monitor employee productivity and protect against insider threats. With this guide, IT admins can efficiently deploy the app to managed computers, ensuring a seamless and remote installation process.

Learn more about using Intune for Win32 app management in Microsoft docs.

Ensure your company has sufficient SoftActivity licenses for all devices. A license is required for SoftActivity Monitor on the server or administrator’s PC, as well as for each monitored device where the Client App will be installed. This guide covers the installation process for these devices. If extra licenses are needed, they can be purchased directly from our website.

Respecting users privacy

Before installing the Client App you must ensure that you are the owner of the remote computer or you are authorized by the owner (the company or organization owning the computers) to perform the installation and to record users activity. You must ensure that you have a legal right in your jurisdiction to monitor users (more info). You should respect users privacy and let them know how the company will be using collected information. SoftActivity provides tools and settings for this (see <All Agents> group Properties – Privacy tab). We recommend that your organization notifies employees about productivity monitoring and obtains users consent to collection of information. Computer User Policy is a good tool for.

Create Intune Filter Based on Device Ownership

Open Microsoft Intune Administration Center

To ensure the Client App is installed only on company-owned devices joined to Azure AD, and not BYOD personal devices, you can create an Intune filter. This filter will later be used during the app assignment process to target only devices with the specified ownership type.

Follow these steps to create the filter:

1. Open the Intune Admin Center in the left-hand menu, go to Tenant Administration > Filters.
2. Click on Create to start building a new filter.
3. Provide a Name for the filter, such as Company-Owned Devices.
4. Set the Platform to Windows.
5. Under Rules, click Edit to define the condition for the filter.
6. Use the following settings to target company-owned devices:
   • Property: deviceOwnership
   • Operator: Equals
   • Value: Company
7. Click Save to confirm the rule.
8. Review and Save the Filter

Prepare SoftActivity Client App Intune package

Follow these steps to package the SoftActivity Client App for deployment using Microsoft Intune:

1. Download the Microsoft Win32 Content Prep Tool
   Download the tool from its official GitHub repository: Microsoft Win32 Content Prep Tool.
2. Set Up a Working Directory
   Create a directory to store the Intune package files. For this example, use:
   C:\sa-intune\out
3. Run the Win32 Content Prep Tool
   Execute the downloaded IntuneWinAppUtil.exe tool and provide the following parameters when prompted:
   • Source folder:
     Specify the folder where the SoftActivity Client App installation files are located:
     C:\Program Files\SoftActivity\Activity Monitor\Agent
   • Setup file:
     Provide the name of the setup file:
     amagent.exe – for full licensed version
     , or sa_monitor_client_demo.exe if you are using the free demo
   • Output folder:
     Specify the folder where the packaged Intune file will be saved:
     C:\sa-intune\out
   • Specify catalog folder:
     Choose N (No).
4. Result
   After completing these steps, the tool will generate a file named amagent.intunewin in the C:\sa-intune\out\ directory.
   This file will be used in the next step for uploading and configuring the app in Intune.

For more details, refer to Microsoft’s official documentation: Preparing Win32 app content for Intune.

Add the SoftActivity Client App to Microsoft Intune

Now that you have prepared the SoftActivity Client App Intune package (amagent.intunewin), follow these steps to upload and configure it in Microsoft Intune:

Navigate to the Apps Section

In Intune Admin Center in the left-hand menu, go to Apps > All Apps and click Add to add a new application.

Choose App Type

Under the app type selection screen, select Other – Windows app (Win32) and click Select to proceed.

Upload the Intune Package

In the App Information section, click Select app package file, then click Browse to locate and select the amagent.intunewin file from the C:\sa-intune\out folder the we earlier prepared. Click OK to upload the file.

Configure App Information

Fill in the required fields under App Information:

• Name: SoftActivity Monitor Client App
• Description: SoftActivity app for monitoring employee productivity and insider threat protection.
• Publisher: Deep Software Inc.
• Optionally, add app version, category, an information URL: https://www.softactivity.com, etc.
• Add privacy URL: https://www.softactivity.com/privacy-policy/, or your company’s privacy policy
• Click Next to proceed.

Configure Program Details

Generate and save to a secure location a new strong 24+ character long Agent password. It’s allowed to include any characters except “. For this guide we will use: randompass. You can put it in double quotes in the following commands.

Under the Program section, enter the following details:

• Install command:
  amagent.exe /SP- /VERYSILENT /SUPPRESSMSGBOXES /NewPsw=randompass
• Supported command line parameters
• Uninstall command:
  C:\Windows\sysnchrb\unins000.exe /VERYSILENT /SUPPRESSMSGBOXES /NORESTART /Psw=randompass
• Set the Install behavior to System to ensure the app installs for all users on the device. Click Next to continue.
• Select Allow available uninstall: No, to prevent users from uninstalling the app from the Company Portal in Intune.
• Device restart behavior: App install may force a device restart
• Return codes: 0 – Success

Specify Requirements

In the Requirements section, specify the following:

• Operating system architecture: Choose x64 and x86
• Minimum operating system: Select the earliest Windows version available in the list, such as Windows 10 1607.
• Disk space required, MB: 100. Click Next to proceed.
• See system requirements for details of supported OS versions

Configure Detection Rules

To allow Intune to verify if the app is installed, configure a detection rule. Select Manually configure detection rules and add a rule that will check for presence of a file and optionally its version.

• Rule type: File
• Path: %SystemRoot%\sysnchrb
• File or folder: amsvc.exe
• Detection method: String (version) or File or folder exists
• Operator: Greater than or equal to
• Value: 14.3 (or the current version being installing)
• Click OK, then Next to continue.

Dependencies and Supersedence: leave empty

Assign the App to Devices

In the Assignments section, assign the app to the appropriate device groups. It’s recommended to start by assigning the app to a pilot group consisting of a few computers. This allows you to test the deployment for a few days, monitor for any issues, and make necessary adjustments, such as adding antivirus exclusions or firewall rules.

In the Required section, click Add group and select the device group where the app will be deployed.

To ensure the app is deployed only to company-owned devices, apply the filter you created earlier based on deviceOwnership -eq "Company":

• Click Add filter.
• Select your filter and set the Filter mode to Include filtered devices in assignment.

Click Next to proceed.

Review and Save

Review the summary of your configuration to ensure all settings are correct. Click Create to add the app to Intune.

You should receive a notification from Intune once your package is successfully deployed to the target group. You can view the Installation Status in the Apps section in Intune.

Updating the Client App

You only need to install the SoftActivity Client App once. After the initial installation, the app will be automatically updated remotely through SoftActivity Monitor, eliminating the need to create new Intune packages or publish updated versions of the app.

This streamlined process ensures that the Client App remains up to date with the latest features, enhancements, and patches, all managed directly from the SoftActivity Monitor on-prem server, saving time and effort for IT administrators.

Uninstalling the Client App using Intune

If you need to uninstall the SoftActivity Client App from managed devices, you can do so directly through Intune.

Navigate to the app’s configuration in the Microsoft Intune Admin Center, go to the Assignments section, and modify the assignment settings.

Under the Uninstall section, click Add group and select the group of devices where you want the app removed. Remove the groups from Required section. Intune will automatically push the uninstall command (unins000.exe) to the selected devices, ensuring the app is cleanly removed.