Screensaver Deployment

Overview
 

The eScreenz software is an agent that is installed on each PC that you wish to receive content.  The software is available for Windows PC's running Windows 10, 11, or newer.

The installer is an MSI file that can be deployed to workstations.  Though the steps below outline deployment via Active Directory Group Policy, any deployment software that supports distributing MSIs (such as Intune, PDQ Deploy, and SCCM) can be used to deploy eScreenz.

The software is downloaded from your eScreenz Dashboard, under the "Download eScreenz" menu option (https://dashboard.escreenz.net/dashboard/download):

 

Installation Artifacts

The following files and directories are used throughout installation or usage of eScreenz:

  • C:\Program Files (x86)\eScreenz - eScreenz is installed here
  • C:\Windows\eScreenz.scr - The eScreenz screensaver software
  • C:\ProgramData\eScreenz\v10\logs - Log files for the Master Loader Service (MLS)
  • C:\Users\<username>\eScreenz\v10\data - Data and log files for each individual user of eScreenz.  This directory contains the screensaver content.
  • Registry: HKLM\Software\Wow6432Node\eScreenz - Registry settings for eScreenz.
    • The most important setting is "ServiceUrl", which controls what endpoint the eScreenz software connects to to receive content.
  • Windows Service: eScreenz Master Loader Service - This windows service runs in the background on installed PC's and is responsible for downloading content for each user.

Pre-Installation Tasks

  1. Create a shared network folder containing the MSI package to distribute.
    1. Set permissions on the share to allow everyone necessary read access to the  distribution package.
    2. For Computer-based deployment, the local system  account needs read access to the share and file system where the MSI is located. Computer objects can be added to Sharing and Security permissions individually or as members of groups.
  2. Identify a set of users for your initial rollout as well as their PC's on the domain.
    1. eScreenz recommends identifying a limited set of test users/computers to test and verify deployment to begin with, followed by an incremental rollout to larger and larger groups.
  3. Download the eScreenz Screensaver software.
    1. This is accessible under "Download Screensaver" from your dashboard.
    2. Make sure to select the "Corporate Screensaver Installer" if installing to workstations as a screensaver.
    3. The installer will be preconfigured to connect to your relay service.  If the URL to your relay service changes, you will need to download a new installer.  Likewise, if you have multiple dashboards, you will need to download an installer for each one separately.

Deploying the eScreenz Software

  1. Log on as a Domain Administrator and open the Group Policy Management Console.
  2. Navigate to the Active Directory container (Domain or OU) of the coimputers targeted for the MSI package deployment.
  3. Right click on the container and select Create and Link a GPO Here…
  4. Type in a name for the GPO (for example, "eScreenz Install Group")
  5. Click on the new GPO and remove the default entry Authenticated Users in the Security Filtering section. Add the desired computers or groups of computers. Do not add users or groups of users, since installation by user is not supported by the eScreenz application.
    1. eScreenz recommends identifying a limited set of test computers to test and verify deployment to begin with, followed by an incremental rollout to larger and larger groups of machines.
  6. Open the Group Policy Management Editor by right-clicking on the Group Policy Object and selecting Edit.
  7. Under "Computer Configuration > Policies > Software Settings", right click "Software Installation", and click "New Package".
  8. Select the network share containing the MSI file downloaded earlier.
  9. Select "Assigned" as your deployment method.
  10. Once the policy has been created, double click the package.  Under "Deployment", check "Uninstall this application when it falls out of the scope of management".
    1. This is an optional setting- this will uninstall the screensaver from any PC when it is removed from the GPO.

Assigning the Screensaver

A separate policy is needed to assign the screensaver.  This is a policy that should be assigned at the user-scope.

  1. Log on as a Domain Administrator and open the Group Policy Management Console.
  2. Navigate to the Active Directory container (Domain or OU) of the coimputers targeted for the MSI package deployment.
  3. Right click on the container and select Create and Link a GPO Here…
  4. Type in a name for the GPO (for example, "eScreenz Default Screensaver"
  5. Click on the new GPO and remove the default entry Authenticated Users in the Security Filtering section. Add the desired users or groups of users.
    1. eScreenz recommends identifying a limited set of test computers to test and verify deployment to begin with, followed by an incremental rollout to larger and larger groups of machines.
  6. Open the Group Policy Management Editor by right-clicking on the Group Policy Object and selecting Edit.
  7. Open "User Configuration > Policies > Administrative Templates > Control Panel > Personalization".
  8. Edit the following settings, by double clicking the setting.  Note that all of these settings are optional- eScreenz does not need to be set as the screensaver to receive content.  If it is not set as the screensaver, users may still view content by double clicking an icon that appears in the system tray, and urgent notifications will still appear automatically when published.
    1. Enable Screen Saver - Select "Enabled"
    2. Force Specific Screensaver - Select "Enabled", then under "options", enter %SYSTEMROOT%\eScreenz.scr
    3. Prevent Changing Screensaver - Select "Enabled"
    4. Password Protection - Select "Enabled"
    5. Screen Saver Timeout - Select "Enabled", then enter the timeout (in seconds) under the "Options" section.