App Deployment Engine

⏱ 10 minNivel · Operationsv1.16.0

The Coblyn MDM software provisioning engine allows system administrators to distribute applications silently and independently of the currently logged-in user. It supports a variety of modern installers, specifically focusing on MSI and parametric EXE execution for Windows, and native integration with apt for Linux.

Execution Architecture

The deployment process follows a precise flow directed by the Go Agent:

1. Discovery (Task Synchronization): Through the GetApplications polling flow, the Agent receives a JSON payload mapping all the installers assigned to it from the Coblyn Server (via Device or Group links).
2. Detection (Idempotency): Before downloading anything, the Agent executes pre-defined detection scripts (Powershell/Bash) to check if the exact application version is already present. If the condition is met, the deployment is correctly bypassed.
3. Downloading: The agent securely fetches the binary installer and places it inside its staging area (C:\ProgramData\Coblyn\Downloads).
4. Execution (Silent Install): Coblyn fires the binary and injects the defined Silent Args (/qn, /S, /norestart). The child process is monitored, capturing both stdout and the final exit code.
5. Reporting: The exit code translates into a successful or failed state and is shipped back to the server using POST /api/mdm/agent/task_result. Exit code 0 clears the task as successful.

Best Practices

• Magic Silent Arguments: For Microsoft-compiled packages (.msi), the magic argument is universally /qn /norestart. For .exe wrappers, it's typically /S (Nullsoft) or /VERYSILENT (Inno Setup). We strongly recommend running local dry-run tests for foreign .exe installers.
• Custom Config Bundling: If an application requires a configuration file alongside its run script, we suggest creating a .bat or .ps1 deployment wrapper instead of calling the raw .exe.