Installing a macOS Agent

In this article

1. Record a Liongard Access Key ID and Secret

2. Download the Installer

3. Install the Agent

4. Uninstalling the Agent

5. Troubleshooting

6. Inspector Auto-Discovery

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Record a Liongard Access Key ID and Secret

1. In Liongard, navigate to Your Name > Account Settings > Access Tokens

• If you have an existing Access Token, you may use it to deploy the Agent.
• If you need to generate a new token, select Generate New Token then select Agent Install Token.
• Note: Users must be a member of the Global Admin, Global Environment Manager, or Global System Integrators groups to see the Agent Install Token option.

2. Record a Liongard Access Key ID and Secret as you will need them in the next steps.

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Choose the right installer

Liongard has two macOS installers. Use the one that matches the Mac's chip.

To check a Mac's chip: open the Apple menu and select About This Mac. Apple Silicon Macs show Chip: Apple M…. Intel Macs show Processor: … Intel ….
From Terminal or an RMM/MDM script: run sysctl -n hw.optional.arm64. It returns 1 on Apple Silicon Macs. On Intel Macs it returns 0 or an error.
The Apple Silicon installer does not run on Intel Macs. If it's installed on an Intel Mac by mistake, it still installs and shows up in Liongard, but the agent stays offline. Uninstall it and use the Intel installer.

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Download the Installer

1. Navigate to Admin > Agents > Click Download Agent Installer > select macOS.
2. Copy the installer link or download the installer from the Apple Silicon section for M-series Macs or the Intel section for Intel Macs. (Each section also shows a curl command you can run in Terminal to download that installer.)

Install the Agent

1. Open the package > Select Continue

2. Select Continue > Select Agree

3. Complete the following fields:

• Your Liongard URL (e.g., "us1.app.liongard.com"): Enter the core of your Liongard URL. Do NOT include "https://". Must also be in lowercase letters.
• Liongard Access Key ID and Secret: Enter the Access Key ID and Secret generated in Liongard from Step 1 above.

4. Review the following field:

• Agent Name: Liongard will populate this field using the hostname of the device the Agent is being installed on. If the Agent name already exists, Liongard will auto-concatenate a numerical value (in parenthesis) to the new Agent name

5. If desired, complete the following fields:

• Liongard Environment: This field is optional, but if skipped the Environment must be assigned in Liongard on the Admin > Agents screen. For more information review our Agent Management documentation.

6. Select Continue
7. Select the Disk to install the Agent onto then select Continue

6. Select Install

6. If the installation was successful, you should see the notification in the top right-hand of your screen

The Agent is now successfully installed. Return to Liongard and follow our Agent Management documentation for next steps:

• Assign Agents to Environments if not already set
• Confirm auto-update is enabled

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Optional: Use a Per-Environment Agent

You also have the option to download a Windows, Mac, or Linux agent installer that has been pre-configured for a specific environment. This pre-configured installer can then be used to install the agent without the need for any manual configuration.

To download a per-environment agent installer, navigate to the Admin > Agents page, click Download Agent Installer, and select your operating system. The per-environment script works for both Intel and Apple Silicon Macs. In the agent installer modal, click on Per-Environment Installer. In the Environment field, search for the name of the environment you are creating the installer for. After a few seconds, you can download your per-environment agent installer by clicking the Download button.

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Moving an Apple Silicon Mac from the Intel agent

Apple Silicon Macs running the Intel agent
Before agent 5.5.0, Apple Silicon Macs ran the Intel agent through Rosetta 2. Those agents keep working and keep updating, but they stay on the Intel build. Auto-update does not switch a Mac from the Intel build to the Apple Silicon build.
We recommend moving these Macs to the Apple Silicon installer when convenient. It runs natively, doesn't depend on Rosetta 2, and Apple has announced it is phasing Rosetta 2 out.
Check which build a Mac is running: in Terminal, run file /Library/Liongard/LiongardAgent. The output ends in arm64 for the Apple Silicon build or x86_64 for the Intel build.
To switch to the Apple Silicon build:

1. Make sure the agent is on version 5.5.0 or later. It updates on its own when Auto Update is on. Check the Version column on Admin > Agents, or Agent Version on the agent's page.
2. Uninstall the current agent: sudo sh /Library/Liongard/uninstall.sh
3. Download the Apple Silicon installer from Admin > Agents > Download Agent Installer > macOS.
4. Install it using the steps in Install the Agent above.

On agent 5.5.0 and later, uninstalling keeps the Mac's machine ID, so the reinstalled agent reconnects to the same agent record in Liongard. You don't need to set up its Environment or Inspectors again.

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Uninstalling the Mac Agent

The macOS agent can be removed from a system by running the command below:

sudo sh /Library/Liongard/uninstall.sh

Alternatively, you can find the uninstall script in the liongard agent's directory at the following location:

• /Library/Liongard/uninstall.sh

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Troubleshooting

Checking Liongard Agent Logs

To assist support with troubleshooting Agent issues, the following log files may be required to send to support for further analysis:

• /Library/Liongard/logs/debug.log
• /Library/Liongard/logs/error.log
• /Library/Liongard/logs/heartbeat.log
• /Library/Liongard/logs/updater.log

Checking Installation Logs

If you encounter issues with installing the macOS agent, you can find installation logs at the following location:

• /tmp/liongard-agent-installer.log

Or run the command in your terminal:

cat /tmp/liongard-agent-installer.log

Checking if the Agent is Installed and Running

If you would like to see if the agent is installed and running, you can use the command below:

[ -f "/Library/LaunchDaemons/com.liongard.liongard-agent.plist" ] && launchctl print system/com.liongard.liongard-agent > /dev/null 2>&1 && echo "Liongard Installed and Running" || echo "Liongard Not Installed"

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Inspector Auto-Discovery

In order for Liongard to perform auto-discovery and auto-activation processes, an Environment must be assigned to an Agent. Liongard will determine the Inspectors discovered based on the operating system of the Agent.

Keep in mind that macOS Inspectors are Endpoint Inspectors. Endpoint Inspectors are billed per unit according to your agreement with Liongard. Usage beyond the contracted amount will be charged on your monthly invoices.

If you would like Endpoint Inspectors to auto-activate after auto-discovery, navigate to your Username > Company Settings and turn on the Endpoint Auto-Activation toggle as shown. After this toggle has been enabled, individual Environments can be excluded from the Endpoint auto-activation process by adding them to the list below the toggle. Enabling auto-activation means that Endpoint Inspectors will be automatically Auto-discovered, activated, and billed accordingly.

Please keep in mind that Endpoint Inspectors are billed per unit, and usage beyond your minimum commitment (also found on the Company Settings screen) will incur additional costs.