Deploying different installer IDs to endpoints using the same deployment package

As Installer ID group assignment rules describes, you can include an installer ID in a FortiClient deployment package. After FortiClient installation, the endpoint connects to EMS and EMS groups the endpoint according to the installer ID group assignment rule. You can configure one installer ID for each deployment package.

In an environment with a large number of endpoints, you may have dozens of installer IDs that you want to use to group endpoints automatically in EMS after installation. Since you can configure each deployment package with only one installer ID, it may be inefficient to create a deployment package for each installer ID.

Instead, you can create a deployment package without an installer ID in EMS, then install FortiClient on the endpoint using the CLI, providing the installer ID as one of the CLI options. You can use the same deployment package on multiple endpoints, providing different installer IDs in the CLI depending on which group you want EMS to place the endpoint in. When these endpoints connect to EMS, EMS groups them according to the installer ID provided in the CLI.

This process consists of the following:

1. Create a deployment package in EMS. Do not configure an installer ID. See Adding a FortiClient deployment package.
2. Create installer ID group assignment rules to automatically move endpoints into the desired groups. See To add an installer ID group assignment rule:.
3. Install FortiClient on endpoints using the following CLI commands:

   Installer	CLI command
   .msi	msiexec /i forticlient.msi GROUP_TAG="<installer_ID>" If the .msi file name includes a space, you must also enclose it in quotes. For example, if the .msi file name is "FortiClient Setup.msi", the command is as follows: msiexec /i "FortiClient Setup.msi" GROUP_TAG="<installer_ID>"
   .exe	FortiClientSetup_7.0.7_x64.exe /v"GROUP_TAG=<installer_ID>"

For example, consider that you want to deploy the same deployment package but different installer IDs for the HR, Marketing, and Office Management teams at your organization. In this scenario, you would use EMS to create an deployment package without an installer ID and an installer ID group assignment rule for each endpoint group. Then, you can install FortiClient on the HR, Marketing, and Office Management endpoints using the same deployment package and the following CLI commands, respectively:

FortiClientSetup_7.0.7_x64.exe /v"GROUP_TAG=HR"

FortiClientSetup_7.0.7_x64.exe /v"GROUP_TAG=Marketing"

FortiClientSetup_7.0.7_x64.exe /v"GROUP_TAG=OM"

After the endpoints connect to EMS, EMS automatically places them into groups based on their different installer IDs (HR, Marketing, and OM).