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Microsoft Intune

Deploying WhatPulse Professional with Microsoft Intune (Endpoint Manager)

Microsoft Intune (Endpoint Manager) can distribute Win32 and line-of-business (LOB) apps to Windows devices enrolled in MDM. WhatPulse Professional can be silently installed via Intune using the MSI installer as a LOB app (or using the EXE wrapped as a Win32 app). The following guide uses the MSI for simplicity, following Intune best practices for a silent, required deployment to devices.

Prerequisites​

  • WhatPulse MSI Installer: Download the latest WhatPulse Professional MSI from the downloads page. Ensure you have the MSI file accessible on your admin PC.
  • Intune Access: You need Intune admin permissions and target devices (Windows 10/11) enrolled in Intune.

Note: If you only have the EXE installer, you would first wrap it into an .intunewin package using Microsoft's Win32 Content Prep Tool. Then you'd create a Win32 app in Intune with the appropriate install commands that are documented here. Using the MSI directly as a LOB app is simpler when available.

Deployment Steps​

  1. Add a New App in Intune:

    • Sign in to the Microsoft Intune admin center.
    • Navigate to Apps > All apps, then click Add.
    • In the Select app type pane, choose Line-of-business app (under "Other" app types) and click Select.

  2. Upload the MSI Package:

    • In the Add app form, click Select app package file, then Browse and select the WhatPulse MSI file from your PC.
    • Once selected, Intune will display the app details (name, publisher, version) extracted from the MSI.
    • Click OK to confirm the file selection.

  3. App Information:

    • Fill in or adjust the app metadata as needed. For example, name the app "WhatPulse Professional" and add a description.
    • The Publisher and version may auto-fill from the MSI.
    • You can set Install context to Device if deploying to computers (for dual-mode MSIs this may be configurable).
    • Ensure Ignore app version is No unless you plan to let it auto-update.

  4. Silent Install Command: Intune allows specifying a single MSI parameter. In the Command-line arguments field, enter the silent switch for MSI:

/q

This will run the MSI quietly (no UI). (Do not include msiexec /i or the MSI file name here; Intune handles those automatically.) The /q switch is equivalent to a silent install; you could use /qn for explicitly "no UI". If the MSI requires multiple parameters, consider repackaging as a Win32 app, but for WhatPulse, one /q is sufficient.

  1. Scope Tags (Optional): If your Intune environment uses scope tags for RBAC, add any as needed. Otherwise, click Next to skip this step.

  2. Assignments – Deploy to Devices:

    • On the Assignments step, choose the target group of devices or users: under Required, click Add Group and select the Azure AD group that contains the computers you want to install WhatPulse on.
    • Setting it as Required ensures Intune will push it automatically.
    • You could also make it Available for enrolled devices if you prefer users to install it from the Company Portal, but for silent enterprise deployment, Required is appropriate.
    • You can add multiple assignment groups if needed.

  3. Review and Create: Click Next to go to Review + create. Review the app details and assignments, then click Create. Intune will upload the MSI to the cloud and add the app to your list.

  4. Monitor Deployment: Intune will automatically install WhatPulse on all targeted devices (the next time they check in, or during Autopilot provisioning if applicable). The installation will be silent due to the /q parameter. You can monitor progress under Apps > Monitor > Device install status for the WhatPulse app. Devices should report Installed if successful.

  5. Automatic Activation (Org ID): For a fully hands-off deployment, prepare the organization identifier file so new installs show up in your WhatPulse dashboard automatically. Intune can run a PowerShell script on devices to create this file:

Create a script (e.g., Create-WhatPulseOrgId.ps1) with contents:

New-Item -Path "$Env:ProgramFiles\WhatPulse\wp-pro-org-id.txt" -ItemType File -Force -Value "<Your Organization ID>"

In Intune, go to Devices > Scripts and add a new Windows PowerShell script. Upload your script and set it to run in system context on the same group of devices. This will drop the wp-pro-org-id.txt file on each machine with your organization ID inside. As a result, each client will register itself as a pending computer in WhatPulse Professional automatically.

  1. (Optional) Default Settings Overrides: If you want to pre-configure certain WhatPulse settings (like enabling specific logging features), you can also deploy settings-overrides.ini files in the same manner as the org ID file. See this documentation for details on the format and options.

  2. Verification: Once devices receive the app, you should see WhatPulse Professional installed (it runs at startup for all users by default). In the WhatPulse Pro web dashboard, the computers should show up under Pending Computers ready for activation by an admin.