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Install Warden on your server

What you will do

Run the Prixl Warden installer on the server, give the server a name you will recognise in emails, and point the installer at your org.lic key file. At the end the Warden service is running, connected to your organisation, and a “Prixl Warden Dashboard” shortcut is on the desktop. IT vendors who install remotely can use the silent-install command further down.

Time: about 10 minutes. You need: an administrator account on the server; PrixlWarden.msi and org.lic from your welcome email (see Start your free trial and get the installer), both saved on the server (the Downloads folder is fine); a short name for this server, such as CA-Server-01.

Run the installer

  1. Sign in to the server with an administrator account, at the server itself or over Remote Desktop.
  2. Open the Downloads folder and double-click PrixlWarden.msi.
  3. On the Welcome screen, click Next.
  1. Read the licence agreement, accept it and click Next.
  1. The “Important Information” screen lists five points. Read them, especially point 4: before you rely on automatic blocking, add the addresses you trust to the Trusted IPs list in the dashboard, and make sure you have another way into the server (your cloud provider’s console, the server’s remote management card, or someone at the keyboard).
  2. Tick I have read and understand all of the above. and click Next. Next stays greyed out until the box is ticked.
  1. On the “Device name” screen, the box shows the computer’s own name. Change it to something your team will recognise in emails, for example CA-Server-01, and click Next. The name cannot be left empty.
  1. On the “Ready to install” screen, click Install. If Windows asks whether to allow the app to make changes, click Yes.
  1. Near the end of the install, a window titled “Select your org.lic file” opens. Browse to the folder where you saved org.lic (for example your Downloads folder), click org.lic and then Open.
  1. A message says “org.lic has been copied to:” followed by the install folder, and “Prixl Warden is ready.” Click OK.
  1. Wait while Warden connects to your organisation. This can take up to a minute and shows no progress window. When it is done, a message says “Prixl Warden has been installed successfully. The Warden service is connected to your organization.” Click OK.
  1. Click Finish.

The success message mentions the dashboard address http://localhost:9843. Do not type that address into a browser: open the dashboard from the desktop shortcut instead, as described in Open the dashboard.

If you run a newer PrixlWarden.msi over an existing Warden install, the org.lic window does not appear. The installer keeps the key that is already in place, so this is expected.

Silent install for IT vendors

For remote, scripted or unattended installs. Copy PrixlWarden.msi and org.lic to the server, open Command Prompt as administrator, change to the folder that holds the MSI, and run:

msiexec /i PrixlWarden.msi /qn WARDEN_DEVICE_NAME="CA-Server-01" WARDEN_ORG_LIC="C:\Installers\org.lic"
  • WARDEN_DEVICE_NAME is the name shown in the dashboard and in emails. If you leave it out, the computer name is used.
  • WARDEN_ORG_LIC is the full path to the org.lic file. The installer copies it into the install folder without showing a window. Change C:\Installers\org.lic to wherever you saved the file.
  • If you leave out WARDEN_ORG_LIC, nothing connects Warden to your organisation yet. After the install, copy org.lic into C:\Program Files\Prixl\Warden\ or upload it from the dashboard with Upload .lic file.
  • A silent install shows neither the licence agreement nor the “Important Information” screen, and records no acceptance. Make sure the server’s owner has read both. The dashboard asks for the licence terms to be accepted the first time it is opened, if they have not been accepted yet.
  • To keep a full Windows Installer log as well, add a log switch:
msiexec /i PrixlWarden.msi /qn /l*v C:\Windows\Temp\prixl-warden-msi.log WARDEN_DEVICE_NAME="CA-Server-01" WARDEN_ORG_LIC="C:\Installers\org.lic"
  • Running a newer PrixlWarden.msi over an existing install upgrades it in place. An older MSI over a newer install stops with “A newer version of Prixl Warden is already installed.” You normally do not need to do this: Warden updates itself.

What gets installed

  • Program folder: C:\Program Files\Prixl\Warden\ (your org.lic sits here).
  • Data and logs: C:\ProgramData\Prixl\warden\. The Warden log is C:\ProgramData\Prixl\warden\logs\warden.log, and the installer’s own log is C:\Windows\Temp\prixl-warden-installer.log.
  • Two Windows services that start automatically: “Prixl Warden Activity Monitor” (service name PrixlWarden) and “Prixl Warden Updater” (PrixlUpdater).
  • A “Prixl Warden Dashboard” shortcut on the desktop for every user. There is no Start menu entry.
  • Microsoft Defender exclusions for Warden’s data folder and programs, and one line in the Windows hosts file for the name prixlhardening.local, which the dashboard uses.
  • An entry “Prixl Warden” from “Prixl Technologies” in Windows’ list of installed apps.

Check it worked

  1. Open Services (press Windows+R, type services.msc, press Enter) and check that “Prixl Warden Activity Monitor” and “Prixl Warden Updater” both show Running.

You can also check from PowerShell. Both lines should say Running:

Get-Service PrixlWarden, PrixlUpdater
  1. Look for the Prixl Warden Dashboard icon on the desktop.
  1. Soon after the install, your alert address receives a second email, “[Warden] Welcome to Prixl Warden – Trial Plan” (the plan name matches yours). It shows the device name, your plan and how many days are left.

To see the installed version, open a new Command Prompt and run prixl-warden –version. In PowerShell, do not use sc query or sc start: there sc means something else and does not talk to the service. Use Get-Service and Start-Service instead.

If something goes wrong

  • “Prixl Warden installed, but license validation did not complete within 60 seconds.”: the service is running but has not connected yet. Open the dashboard from the desktop shortcut; if it asks for your key, click Upload .lic file. Check that the server can reach api.warden.prixl.io over HTTPS.
  • The org.lic window says “The selected file is not named ‘org.lic’.” or “…does not appear to contain a valid organization key.”: click Retry and pick the file attached to your welcome email, renamed to exactly org.lic. Do not open or edit it.
  • You cancelled the org.lic window and saw “No valid org.lic file was selected.”: the install still finished. Copy org.lic into C:\Program Files\Prixl\Warden\, or upload it from the dashboard.
  • The service will not start on Windows 7 or Server 2008 R2: these are not supported (see System requirements). For Windows Installer error codes and other problems, see Troubleshooting Warden.

Next

Previous: Start your free trial and get the installer. Next: Open the dashboard and find your way around. Back to Prixl Warden guides.