How to install the MMS client on macOS Catalina, Big Sur and Monterey

Overview

This article explains how to install the Monitor Managed Service client on macOS versions 10.15 (Catalina) and 11.x (Big Sur). It includes information about installing the software manually, and deploying it using an MDM solution such as Jamf.

However, please note that Apple restrictions currently prevent some essential permissions from being granted remotely. As such, even if you deploy the software via MDM, you will still need to log into each device as an administrator to allow the permissions manually.

If you would like to install the software on earlier versions of macOS, then please see this article instead.

Installation steps

1. Prerequisites

Before you begin, you will need the following information:

  • Your MMS organisation ID provided by Smoothwall. It will look like this:
        00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000000
  • Your Smoothwall Serial number. This starts with "UNCL" and has 16 characters.

2. Download

Please visit the Smoothwall Product Download page.

Under "Monitor Managed Service Client (GLS)", click the link labelled "macOS - Catalina or later". The file should be called "visigo-N.pkg", where N is a version number. For installations on macOS Catalina onwards, that version number will be 1.20 or higher.

 

3. Installation

The installer is a standard flat package file (*.pkg) which does not require any user input or settings.

Manual installation

If you want to install the software manually:

  1. Copy the installer file to the target machine.
  2. Double click the file to run it.
  3. Click through the dialogs to confirm installation.

Alternatively, if you would prefer to avoid clicking-through the installer GUI, then you can use the following command to run the installer silently:

sudo installer -pkg /path/to/installer.pkg -target /

Replace "/path/to/installer.pkg" with the actual path to your installer file. You could potentially use this command to run the installer from a network share instead of manually copying it to each target machine.

MDM deployment

If you want to deploy the software via MDM, then please consult your MDM documentation for information about deploying package files.

On Jamf Pro, it could be deployed like this:

  1. Upload the installer package to your distribution point (see Settings → Server Infrastructure).
  2. Create a corresponding Package entry (see Settings → Computer Management → Packages).
  3. Create a Policy which deploys the Package (see Computers → Policies).

4. Configuration

After the package has been installed, you will need to run the configuration command to finish setting up the software. 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, then run the above command from 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.

5. 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, then you may have seen system popups telling you that VisigoAgent is requesting the permissions. You can close these popups by clicking "Open System Preferences" or similar. 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 enter your password to do this.
  4. To allow the Accessibility permission:
    1. In the left column, select "Accessibility".
    2. In the right pane, find "VisigoAgent" and ensure it is ticked.
  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.

6. 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.