SolarWinds SEM Agent Installer for Windows

11/29/2018 10:35 PM

4/8/2025 8:18 PM

The Security Event Manager (formerly Log & Event Manager) Agent installer allows you to install SolarWinds Security Event Manager Agents locally on a variety of Windows operating systems. Once installed, the SEM Agent automatically starts and connects to your SEM Manager.
 

Installer Requirements 

• A reboot is not required
• A user account with privileges to write to Windows administrative shares such as C$ or D$

Agent Hardware Specifications 

Hardware	Requirement
RAM	64 MB
Disk Space	130 MB

Security Event Manager

Installation Folders

SEM Agents are installed to the following folders, according to the bitness of their host operating systems:

Bitness	Installation Folder
32-bit	C:\Windows\system32\ContegoSPOP
64-bit	C:\Windows\sysWOW64\contegoSPOP

Antivirus Recommendations 

• Set an exception in your antivirus or anti-malware scanning software for the ContegoSPOP folder where the SEM Agents will be installed. The alerts are kept in queue files, which change constantly as they are normalized and encrypted.
• Turn off any anti-malware or endpoint protection applications on host systems during the installation process, as they can affect the process by which installation files are transferred to the hosts.

 

Warning: Uninstall the old version of the SEM agent before upgrading to the new version. 

 

Running the SEM Agent Installer

1. Download SEM Agent Installer.

   If you are a licensed SEM customer, download the installer from the SolarWinds Customer Portal:

   1. Browse to http://www.solarwinds.com/customerportal/LicenseManagement.aspx.
   2. Log in with your SWID if necessary.
   3. Find SEM in the product list, and then click Choose Download.
   4. Find the appropriate Windows installer on the list.

   If you are an evaluation SEM customer, see Additional SEM downloads for SEM 2019.4 for the available SEM Agent installers.

   - or - 

    Log in to the SEM HTML5 console and navigate to Nodes > Add agent node.. 

2. Extract the contents of the installer ZIP file to a local or network location.
3. Run setup.exe, and then click Next to start the installation wizard.
4. Accept the End User License Agreement if you agree, and then click Next.
5. Enter the hostname of your SEM Manager in the Manager Name field, and then click Next.
6. Do not change the default port values.
   Note: Use the fully qualified domain name for your SEM Manager when you deploy SEM Agents on a different domain. For example, enter SEMhostname.SolarWinds.com.
7. Confirm the Manager Communication settings, and then click Next.
8. Specify whether or not you want to install USB-Defender with the SEM Agent, and then click Next. The installer includes USB-Defender by default. To omit this from the installation, Clear the Install USB-Defender box.
   Note: We recommend installing USB-Defender on every system. USB-Defender will never detach a USB device unless you have explicitly enabled a rule to do so. By default, USB-Defender simply generates alerts for USB mass storage devices attached to your SEM Agents.
9. Confirm the settings on the Pre-Installation Summary, and then click Install.
10. Once the installer finishes, it will start the SEM Agent service when you click Next.
11. Inspect the Agent Log for any errors, and then click Next.
12. Click Done to exit the installer. 

The SEM Agent continuously runs on your computer unless you uninstall or manually stop it. It begins sending alerts to your SEM Manager immediately.

Note: In new installations of SEM (6.7 and newer), corresponding agent versions communicate by default using a secure certificate, which no longer requires TLS 1.0, 3DES, or anonymous cipher. If you need to connect to earlier agent versions, navigate to the SEM Events Console security tab (Settings > Security), and switch the toggle button to enable lower security settings.