deployments

overview

The deployments page lets operators:

• Start installer deployments from admin-curated system presets, saved templates, or a direct installer URL
• Select all machines, only online machines, or specific machines
• Close managed or named processes before installation
• Track each target through download, install, completion, failure, cancellation, or uninstall
• Retry failed targets, uninstall deployed software, or delete completed records

creating a deployment

1. Open deployments from the dashboard navigation.
2. Click new deployment.
3. Choose a starting point in the template selector:
   • none starts from a blank form.
   • Admin-curated system presets are grouped by category and fill the installer fields automatically.
   • Saved templates are listed under Saved and can be reused.
4. Optionally click the pencil button to set a deployment name. If you leave the name blank, owlette derives one from the selected preset/template, installer filename, or Deployment.
5. Enter or confirm the installer fields.
6. Choose target machines with online only, select all, or individual machine checkboxes.
7. Click deploy to N machines.

When close-process handling is enabled, owlette sends close_processes for executable names and suppress_projects for selected managed processes. The dialog warns which processes will be closed before the install begins.

silent installation flags

Silent flags are installer-specific. They are not a dashboard requirement, but they are usually required for unattended installs.

deployment templates and presets

The template selector combines two sources:

• System presets come from the admin-curated system_presets library. They are grouped by category, can include installer URL, silent flags, verification path, close-process names, and parallel-install preference, and cannot be edited from the deployment dialog.
• Saved templates live under the current site and store name, installer_name, installer_url, silent_flags, optional verify_path, optional close_processes, and optional parallel_install.

Template actions in the dialog:

System presets are intentionally protected from these actions; update them through the admin preset workflow.

deployment progress

Target states are stored per machine:

Overall deployment status is calculated from the target states:

During an uninstall handoff, the API may temporarily mark the deployment uninstalling; reconciliation settles the targets and aggregate state as agents finish.

cancelling a deployment

The cancel button is rendered beside active target rows, but the current API is deployment-wide. Clicking the cancel control on any active target calls:

POST /api/sites/{siteId}/deployments/{deploymentId}/cancel
Idempotency-Key: <unique-key>

The server cancels every target in the deployment that is still in a pre-install state:

• pending
• closing_processes
• downloading

For those targets, the API removes queued install_software commands, fans out cancel_installation commands, marks the targets cancelled, and returns the affected machine_ids. Targets that are already completed, failed, cancelled, or uninstalled are left alone. Targets already in installing may be past the cancellable phase; if no pre-install targets remain, the API returns 409 no_cancellable_targets.

row actions

Each deployment row has an actions menu:

deployment flow

Dashboard creates a deployment through POST /api/sites/{siteId}/deployments
  -> API writes sites/{siteId}/deployments/{deploymentId}
  -> API fans out install_software commands to target machines
  -> Agent closes configured processes when close_processes is set
  -> Agent downloads the installer
  -> Agent runs the installer with silent_flags
  -> Agent checks verify_path when provided
  -> Agent reports command status
  -> Cloud Functions reconcile target states and overall deployment status

The stale-deployment sweeper marks old stuck targets failed:

• pending targets older than 15 minutes
• downloading or installing targets older than 30 minutes

troubleshooting

download failed

• Confirm the URL is a direct https:// download link, not a landing page.
• Test the URL from a browser on the target network.
• Check whether the URL is signed or time-limited and has expired.
• For Dropbox links, use a direct-download variant such as ?dl=1.

installation fails

• Verify the silent flags for that installer family.
• Check whether prerequisites such as .NET, Visual C++ runtimes, or license services are required.
• Review the agent log at C:\ProgramData\Owlette\logs\service.log.
• Try the same installer URL and flags manually on one target machine.

deployment cannot be cancelled

• Cancellation is deployment-wide but only applies to targets still in pending, closing_processes, or downloading.
• If every target is terminal or already installing, the cancel API returns no_cancellable_targets.
• Use retry failed for failed targets or uninstall software when cleanup is needed after a completed install.

record cannot be deleted

• Wait until every target is terminal, or cancel the deployment if cancellable work remains.
• Deleting a record does not uninstall software. Use uninstall software first when the installed application should be removed.

security

• Deployment mutations require deployment-management access for the site.
• Only deploy installers from trusted sources. The agent runs installers with SYSTEM privileges.
• https:// installer URLs are required by the API.
• SHA256 checksum verification is supported by the API and agent when a sha256_checksum is provided, but the dashboard dialog does not currently expose a checksum field.
• Pre-test installers and flags before broad deployments.