Scribe Desktop App MDM Deployment

The Scribe desktop app is available for both Windows and Mac and can be installed conventionally or silently via MDM. You can download the app (Windows or Mac) from scribehow.com/get-desktop, and release notes for both platforms are at scribe.com/release-notes.

Silent installation for Windows

For silent installation per-machine, open PowerShell and run the following. This installs for all users and requires admin rights, and is our recommended approach. Automatic updates will be enabled by default.

msiexec.exe /i path\to\installer.msi /qb ALLUSERS=1

Options available (but not recommended)

If necessary, you can run installation per-user, but this is not recommended. Per-user installation will result in end users seeing a "Limited Installation" error message on their Scribe desktop application, and Scribe may not be able to capture processes properly across all applications. Run the following to install per-user:

msiexec.exe /i path\to\installer.msi /qn MSIINSTALLPERUSER=1

It's also possible to disable automatic updates, but this is also not recommended since Scribe updates frequently and remaining on outdated versions can cause issues for end users. To disable autoupdates add DISABLE_AUTOUPDATES=1 to the command line:

msiexec.exe /i path\to\installer.msi /qn MSIINSTALLPERUSER=1 DISABLE_AUTOUPDATES=1

Click to replace with a Scribe

Automatic launch troubleshooting for Windows

If Scribe is not launching automatically for all users after deployment, use one of the following options.

Option A: Add a registry entry

Using reg.exe (recommended for Intune/MDM scripts):

reg add "HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run" /v "com.scribehow.Scribe" /t REG_SZ /d "\"path\to\Scribe for Windows.exe\"" /f /reg:64

Using PowerShell:

$exe = 'path\to\Scribe for Windows.exe'
New-ItemProperty -Path 'HKLM:\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run' `
  -Name 'com.scribehow.Scribe' -PropertyType String -Value ('"{0}"' -f $exe) -Force

Option B: Add a shortcut to the common Startup folder

This creates a shortcut in C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs\Startup, which launches Scribe for every user at logon:

$exe      = 'path\to\Scribe for Windows.exe'
$startup  = Join-Path $env:ProgramData 'Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs\Startup'
$lnk      = (New-Object -ComObject WScript.Shell).CreateShortcut((Join-Path $startup 'Scribe.lnk'))
$lnk.TargetPath       = $exe
$lnk.WorkingDirectory = Split-Path $exe
$lnk.Save()

Replace path\to with the actual path to the installed executable.

Enterprise Settings (Automatic Authentication, Desktop Mode)

The Scribe desktop application supports different modes and automatic (silent) authentication. This is accomplished via a specialized Enterprise Settings file, which needs to be centrally deployed alongside the application.

The Enterprise Settings file needs to be deployed to:

%PROGRAMDATA%\Scribe

Which in most cases is going to be C:\ProgramData\Scribe. The folder likely needs to be created.

⚠️ At present, Enterprise Settings are generated as part of a white-glove experience. Please reach out to your account executive to discuss and obtain the file.

⚠️ Troubleshooting

In the event that deployment does not go as planned, please include the following members of your organization in a troubleshooting call, to be setup by your Scribe representative:

Individual responsible for packaging or application deployment.
Individual responsible for authentication mechanisms and user deployment.