How to Image a Computer with Endpoint Central Agent

This document guides you to image a computer with the Endpoint Central agent installed on it.

Note

To know how to image Mac and Linux computers with the agents on it, refer these documents:
For Linux computers click here.
For Mac computers click here.

Issue

The agent has a unique ID which represents the machine with its name and system details. If more than one agent is identified with the same ID, the details listed in the product web console will be overwritten. This would end up listing details of only one computer though there are several computers with the same ID.

To avoid this issue, follow the steps mentioned below to image a computer with the agent on it.

Tools

Tool	Purpose
UEMSAgentPreImage.exe	Run before imaging — blocks agent communication with the product server by setting the `ImagedComputer` registry value.
UEMSAgentPostImage.exe	Run on the source machine after taking the image — restores agent communication so the base machine can continue to be managed.

Download the Pre & Post Image tools:
⬇ Download Pre_Post_Binaries.zip
Contains UEMSAgentPreImage.exe and UEMSAgentPostImage.exe

Steps (Pre-Image)

Install the agent in the computer which is to be used for imaging.
Copy UEMSAgentPreImage.exe to the system that is supposed to be imaged.
Run UEMSAgentPreImage.exe as Administrator.
On success, you will see the following confirmation:
UEMSAgentPreImage — Registry value set successfully
Now your computer is ready to be imaged with the agent for deployment. The agent in the newly image-captured computers will contact the product server only after they are renamed.

What it does

Sets the registry value ImagedComputer = 1 (REG_DWORD) under
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\AdventNet\DesktopCentral\DCAgent
This blocks the agent from communicating with the product server.

Steps (Post-Image)

After taking the image, if you want to continue using the source (base) machine, copy UEMSAgentPostImage.exe to it.
Run UEMSAgentPostImage.exe as Administrator.
On success, you will see the following confirmation:
UEMSAgentPostImage — Registry value deleted successfully
This restores the agent communication with the product server on the source machine, allowing it to be managed again.

What it does

Deletes the ImagedComputer registry value from
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\AdventNet\DesktopCentral\DCAgent
This unblocks the agent on the base machine so it can resume communication with the product server.

Error Handling

If the tool encounters an error (e.g., insufficient permissions), a message box will display the failure reason along with the Windows error code.

Common causes of failure:

Error Code 5 — Access Denied. Ensure you are running the tool as Administrator.
Error Code 2 — Registry key not found. Ensure the Endpoint Central agent is installed on the machine.

Summary

Step	Action	When
1	Run `UEMSAgentPreImage.exe` as Admin	Before capturing the image
2	Capture the OS image	After PreImage succeeds
3	Deploy the image to target machines	Standard deployment
4	Run `UEMSAgentPostImage.exe` as Admin (on source machine)	After taking the image, to continue using the base machine

Software Installation - How To