Deploying Trikker on multiple devices

Trikker 1.x and Trikker 2.0 both install as a normal Windows Installer (MSI) package, so you deploy them like any other Windows software. Trikker 2.0, currently in beta, also comes for macOS, as a disk image (.dmg).

Any tool that can run an MSI silently already works: Microsoft Intune, System Center Configuration Manager (SCCM/ConfigMgr), Group Policy, PDQ Deploy, NinjaOne, and others. This guide walks IT administrators through choosing the installer, running a silent install, and setting up license activation without user interaction. Each step says what differs between 1.x and 2.0.

Which version are you deploying?

Most customers run Trikker 1.x today. Trikker 2.0 is in beta and installs next to 1.x, so you can try it on a few devices without touching the rest. The table shows what differs. Whatever it doesn't mention works the same in both versions.

Before you start

• Devices under your management: Windows PCs (1.x and 2.0) or Macs (2.0 beta only), enrolled in Intune, joined to a domain with Group Policy, or managed by another deployment tool.
• The Trikker installer (step 1). On Windows the .NET 10 Desktop Runtime has to be on the device as well; step 2 explains how it gets there.
• A Trikker license: a regular license (one code per device), an educational license (one code for an unlimited number of devices), or a license with the remote or terminal server (RDS) option.
• Outbound HTTPS access to the Trikker license server on every managed device (both versions use api.trikker.be). Don't block that traffic in your firewall or proxy.

1Get the installer

For Trikker 1.x, download the offline installer at trikker.be/offline-version-windows. Use the offline version, not the smaller web version, for an unattended rollout: it needs no extra downloads during setup.

• The 1.x download is a zip file with a setup.exe bootstrapper and the actual installer, Trikker_V<version>.msi.

For Trikker 2.0 (beta), download the Windows zip at trikker.be/beta-version-windows and the macOS disk image at trikker.be/beta-version-mac. The Windows zip is built the same way: setup.exe, the installer Trikker_Beta_V<version>.msi and, in a net10desktopruntime folder, the runtime installers.

Most deployment tools need no packaging step at all: point them at the MSI and run it with the silent command in step 2. Do you use Microsoft Intune? It has one extra, recommended option, see "Packaging for Microsoft Intune" further down.

2Run a silent install

The MSI has two settings for an unattended install. The names are case-sensitive, so keep them in capitals:

Trikker 1.x on Windows:

msiexec /i Trikker_V<version>.msi /qn NOTHANKYOU=1 TARGETDIR="C:\Program Files\Bluebits\Trikker"

Trikker 2.0 (beta) on Windows:

msiexec /i Trikker_Beta_V<version>.msi /qn TARGETDIR="C:\Program Files\Bluebits\Trikker Beta"

The MSI needs the .NET 10 Desktop Runtime on the device: it checks for it and stops the install when it's missing. When a person runs setup.exe, it installs the runtime first (version 10.0.5, the 64-bit one on 64-bit Windows). For an unattended rollout, deploy the runtime first and the MSI after it. The runtime installer ships next to setup.exe; this command installs it silently:

windowsdesktop-runtime-10.0.5-win-x64.exe /q

For a detection rule in your deployment tool, use the MSI product code or the file version of the installed Bluebits.Trikker.exe. A new MSI replaces an older version of the same Trikker: it removes the previous version first.

On macOS (Trikker 2.0 beta) the .dmg holds Trikker.app. Many management tools can deploy a disk image like this as it is. Otherwise copy Trikker.app from the disk image to Applications.

3How license activation works

A Trikker license activates per device. On first activation, Trikker binds the license code to that device and confirms it online at every start afterwards; a short offline period stays covered by the last confirmed activation. That means you can't copy one ready-made license file to every device in the fleet.

Two license types work differently: an educational license activates with the same code on an unlimited number of devices, and a regular license activates once per device, each with its own code. By hand, that is: open the Extra tab in Trikker, type the code in the box and click Activate.

A license with the remote or terminal server (RDS) option works differently again. It is the only type that runs in a remote session (RDP, Remote Services, RemoteApp): without the option Trikker refuses to work there. The same code can be used for several devices, up to the number we register for that license in advance. Is that number reached? Free a spot the same way as for a regular license: disconnect a device in the license portal, which you open with Manage licenses in Trikker. This is specific to an RDS license; it doesn't apply to a regular or educational one.

4Provide the license without user interaction

On Windows, put the license code in a plain text file that contains only the code, name it exactly Trikker.V1.License.triklic (no other name), and place it in the license folder with your deployment script: %APPDATA%\Bluebits\Trikker\. Trikker picks up that file automatically at the next startup and activates it online. This works in 1.x and in 2.0.

This file works without any deployment tool as well: hand a single .triklic file straight to one user (by e-mail, a shared drive, or a USB stick). In 1.x it activates the moment they double-click it, or when Trikker finds it in the license folder. In 2.0 the installer registers no file types, so the user clicks Open in Trikker and picks the file. Both versions also accept it as the first argument, see step 5.

5Launch with a file argument

On Windows, Trikker 1.x and 2.0 read only the first command-line argument, and it's always a file path. There are no separate switches.

Bluebits.Trikker.exe "C:\path\drawing.trik"
Bluebits.Trikker.exe "C:\path\Trikker.V1.License.triklic"

A .triklease file (bound to one device) also works as the first argument. It has no file association of its own, so pass it explicitly. Use it for targeted provisioning of a single machine, not for the whole fleet.

6How updates arrive

At startup Trikker asks the Trikker server whether a newer version exists, but only when it is the only Trikker process running. If so, it offers the update. On Windows it downloads the installer zip, unpacks it under %APPDATA%\Bluebits\Trikker\Updates\<version> and starts setup.exe. On macOS (2.0 beta) it downloads the .dmg and opens it.

To keep control of versions yourself, roll out each new MSI the same way as the first install.

7Packaging for Microsoft Intune

Package the MSI of your version (Trikker_V<version>.msi or Trikker_Beta_V<version>.msi), not setup.exe, as a Win32 app with the Microsoft Win32 Content Prep Tool (IntuneWinAppUtil). Assign the app in system context, with a detection rule on the installed version or the MSI product code.

Use the silent command of step 2 as the install command in the Win32 app wizard, for example for 1.x:

msiexec /i Trikker_V<version>.msi /qn NOTHANKYOU=1 TARGETDIR="C:\Program Files\Bluebits\Trikker"

And this as the uninstall command:

msiexec /x Trikker_V<version>.msi /qn

Add the .NET 10 Desktop Runtime as a separate Intune dependency: the MSI doesn't install it on its own. Package the runtime installer with the silent command from step 2.

8Verify the rollout

• Installation: check the installed version, or the MSI product code, in your deployment tool's device status.
• Activation: start Trikker on a sample device and check the license status on the Extra tab.
• Network: keep the HTTPS connection to the license server open. A blocked connection stops the lease from renewing once the offline period runs out.

Need help?

Something not matching your setup? Get in touch through our helpdesk or at info@trikker.be, and let us know how many devices you're rolling out, which version (1.x or 2.0) and license type you use (regular, RDS, or educational), and which deployment tool you use.