The Windows Client User Interface

Introduction

The user interface is graphical and is accessed via the tray icon on the task bar.

The color of the tray icon depends on the currently logged-in user: if the user is an administrator, the icon is red, whereas if the user is a standard user, the tray icon is green. The difference is illustrated below, when the logged-in user mouses-over the tray icon:

Clicking (rather than mousing-over) the icon displays a menu, which again depends on the currently logged-in user:

In this topic


About Admin By Request

Connecting via a Proxy Server

Submitting Diagnostics

Requesting Assistance (Support Assist)

Uninstalling via PIN Code

Using Tray Tools

Using Run As Admin

Requesting Administrator Access

Setting-up a Break Glass Account

About Admin By Request

Once installed, Admin By Request is running in the background for as long as the endpoint is powered-on. Selecting the app from the tool tray (or launching from the desktop if the shortcut is installed) launches the user interface, which comprises a simple window with five buttons down the left-hand side:

The default panel is About Admin By Request, which is accessed via the top button. It shows the current workstation edition, license details, website link, and copyright information.

Click the About button to get back to this panel if viewing one of the other panels.

Connecting via a Proxy Server

Endpoints can be configured to route privilege requests through a proxy server, which works transparently with Admin By Request.

If the user does have a proxy server enabled, its configuration is passed to the underlying service that will in turn use this proxy for cloud service communications. The proxy traffic uses NO-AUTH (no credentials) and will be seen as the computer account generating the traffic.

The Connectivity panel indicates whether or not a proxy server is used for an endpoint:

When the endpoint starts up, Admin By Request checks to see if it can connect directly to its host cloud server. If it can, then no proxy server is required and the value of Proxy server  will be None.

The application that you see in the system tray (AdminByRequest.exe, which is running in the user space), detects whether or not the current user has a proxy server enabled for the IP addresses that are used for the cloud service.

Refer to How We Handle Your Data for more information.

Submitting Diagnostics

Diagnostic information is available on each endpoint that has Admin By Request installed. The details recorded help IT administrators and the Admin By Request support team to troubleshoot issues that might be occurring.

The following data is recorded and submitted:

  • Current configuration

  • Pending upload queue

  • Error events from the event log

To send diagnostic information about how Admin By Request is running on this workstation, select the Diagnostics button on the About Admin By Request panel and click Submit:

Click Yes to confirm. An "in progress" message at the bottom right corner of the screen appears during diagnostics collection

When done, the following message confirms that collection is complete and diagnostics have been submitted:

NOTE:

It's a good idea to submit diagnostics when raising a support ticket for a new issue. The Admin By Request support team will frequently ask for diagnostics when responding to tickets if the information is not already available.

Requesting Assistance (Support Assist)

Assistance  (also known as Support Assist or Remote Assist) is a feature that allows users to ask for help from someone who can use a third-party tool to connect remotely to the user's computer and provide technical assistance with tasks that the logged-on user would not normally be able to complete.

Support Assist  has been designed to be used with a non-admin user, so that customers can apply the best practice "principle of least privilege" to help desk staff as well as end users. The non-admin user helps the logged-on user (also non-admin) to carry out a task with less restrictive settings than the logged-on user during a remote control session.

IMPORTANT:

At the time of writing, Support Assist  is available only to users logged-in under Azure SSO.
Support Assist  does not establish a remote control session - a third-party tool must be used for that.

The following scenarios are examples of when this might be useful:

  • End users who are not allowed to install software at all (i.e. neither Run As Admin  nor Admin Sessions  are enabled).

  • End users who don’t know where to get the software they need to use.

  • End users who are not IT savvy enough to self-service.

  • End users who refuse to take on the responsibility of installing software on their work computers, knowing they will be audited.


Uninstalling via PIN Code

Offline users can obtain a challenge/response PIN, which allows the user to perform tasks requiring elevated privileges. A PIN Code can also be used to uninstall Admin By Request when online and this is the purpose of the Uninstall panel in the About Admin By Request window.

The first few steps in this procedure require access to the portal.

  1. In the Admin By Request portal, navigate to the Inventory  page and identify the device on which to perform the uninstall.

  2. Locate the device in the inventory list - in the PIN column, click PIN for that device (columns can be switched around - the PIN column in your portal might not be the right-most column):

  3. Click tab UNINSTALL PIN and then click button Generate PIN:

    Note that clicking UNINSTALL PIN also displays a list of previous uninstall events on this computer (below the Uninstall Pin Code  window):

  4. Copy the PIN.

  5. Back on the device on which you want to uninstall Admin By Request, go to the About  panel (i.e. select the Admin By Request icon from the system tray and click About Admin By Request).

  6. Select System, enter the Uninstall PIN generated above into the PIN Code  field and click Uninstall:

Using Tray Tools

Tray Tools are items that appear when you click the Admin By Request system tray icon:

The items in the list of tools can be executable programs (or apps), web links with instructions, Control Panel applets or program shortcuts. They are generally tools that perform useful, routine tasks that have been pre-approved and thus do not require requests for administrator access.

NOTE:
  • The Tools menu shown in the image is an example of what a Standard User sees - an Administrator has no need of pre-approved access to tools and so the Tools menu is not shown to users logged in as administrators.

  • The IT administration team uses the portal to add or remove items from the Tools menu.

The new tray tools for Network Adapter Settings and Uninstall Program  from version 8.3 were developed in an effort to allow access to these via the Admin By Request approval flow. The intention is for these to replace the previous iteration of these tools for the most common purposes, whereas more advanced functionality still requires elevating the Control Panel.

Pre-approving Tray Tool Apps

To pre-approve an app in the tray tools menu while still allowing Run As Admin  to be disabled:

  1. In the portal, go to EPM > Settings > Windows Settings > Authorization > AUTHORIZATION and temporarily enable Allow Run As Admin and Require approval.

  2. Now go to EPM > Settings > Windows Settings > App Control > TRAY TOOLS and click New Tray Tool (or edit an existing tray tool).

  3. Make sure Pre=approve  for this tray tool is On:

  4. Save the changes.

  5. Return to EPM > Settings > Windows Settings > Authorization > AUTHORIZATION and disable Allow Run As Admin. Don't forget to Save.

  6. Log in to an endpoint as a standard user and test that the tray tool is available and that it runs with admin privileges.

Network Adapter Settings

This applet allows a user to configure basic settings for the network adapters present on the endpoint.

Selecting Network Adapter Settings from the tray tools Admin By Request icon first displays a confirmation window (or prompts for MFA or credentials) and then displays the Network Adapter Settings window:

Use the Connection drop-down to select an adapter, then check Enter IP address manually and click the Advanced button to open a connection details window:

Use the buttons at left to edit IP addresses, gateways and DNS entries.

It's possible to edit just the DNS entries, by leaving IP Address obtained automatically in the first window and checking Enter servers manually under DNS before clicking Advanced.

Note that leaving both boxes as Obtain automatically means the Advanced button simply displays the current configuration.

Uninstall Program

This applet allows a user to uninstall selected programs:

Note that pre-approval for each program in the uninstall list is already added.

Refer to Tray Tools Settings for information on configuring Tray Tools, including adding further menu items.

Using Run As Admin

Run As Admin (also known as App Elevation) allows for the elevation of a single application.

This capability negates the need for users to initiate an Admin Session. Elevating privileges for execution of a single file is the much safer option compared to elevating the user’s privileges across the endpoint.

A standard user executing a program that requires elevated privileges to install initiates the following sequence of events.

  1. Download the file for installation.

  2. Start the installation by right-clicking and selecting Run as Administrator:

  3. Admin By Request suspends installation and asks for phone, email, and reason. Enter these details and click OK to continue:

  4. A notification now advises that the request for approval has been sent:

  5. When the request is approved, a further notification advises the request has been approved:

  6. Now the installer has the elevated privileges required to run - click Yes to start authorized installation with elevated privileges.

The elevated privileges last only for the duration of the install and apply only to the particular application or package authorized.

Check the audit log in the portal for details on the user, the endpoint, the application run and execution history.

Refer to Run As Admin Settings for information on configuring Run As Admin.

Requesting Administrator Access

Administrator Access (also known as Session Elevation) allows for elevated privileges system-wide for a predefined amount of time (session duration).

Any user given full session elevation gets full local admin rights on their system. Full session elevation mode is ideal for situations such as when elevated access to ‘system’ resources such as drivers or printers etc. is required, when a user needs elevation only for a specific amount of time, or when a Developer requires the use of multiple elevated applications.

Requesting administrator access is also known as requesting an Admin Session, which is a time-bound period during which a standard user has elevated privileges and can carry out administrator-level tasks..

As with About Admin By Request, users can double-click the Admin By Request desktop icon, or select the icon from tray tools to display the menu and select Request administrator access:

Submitting a request for administrator access is the primary mechanism for gaining elevated privileges.

A standard user making this selection where approval is required initiates the following sequence of events.

  1. An empty Request Administrator Access form appears:

  2. The user enters email, phone and reason information into the form and clicks OK.

    NOTE:

    Settings in the portal control the full extent of what is displayed to the user:

    • If Code of Conduct is enabled, the user must acknowledge a Code of Conduct pop-up to continue (EPM > Settings > Windows Settings > Endpoint > INSTRUCTIONS).

    • If Require approval is OFF, the approval steps are skipped (EPM > Settings > Windows Settings > Authorization > AUTHORIZATION > Admin Session).

  3. The request is submitted to the IT administration team and the user is advised accordingly:

  4. The IT administration team is notified via the Admin By Request portal that a new request for administrator access has arrived.

    The following example shows how two new requests might appear in the portal:

  5. One of the team either approves or denies the request. If approved, the user is advised accordingly:

  6. The user clicks Yes, which starts the session and displays a countdown timer:

  7. The duration of an admin session is set via the portal (15 minutes in this example) and the countdown timer ticks down to zero, at which time the session ends. The user can optionally end the session at any time once it has started by clicking Finish.

See Changing Admin Session Duration for more information on changing the duration of the countdown timer.

During an Admin Session, users can install programs requiring admin rights, install drivers and change system settings other than user administration. All activity during the elevated session is audited, so you can see in the audit log the reason why the person needs the elevation; anything installed, uninstalled, or executed.

IMPORTANT:

During an Admin Session, users cannot uninstall Admin By Request, or add, remove or modify user accounts.

Refer to Admin Session Settings for information on configuring Admin Sessions.

Setting-up a Break Glass Account

The Break Glass feature extends the functionality of MS LAPS. It creates a new, temporary, one-time-use Administrator account on an endpoint, that works on domains, Azure AD, and stand-alone, which audits all elevated activity, and terminates within a pre-defined amount of time or on log out.

From Windows 8.4, the Break Glass feature takes effect instantly once initiated from the portal, meaning there is no requirement to reboot the endpoint (workstation or server) after creation.

Note that endpoints making use of this feature must be able to contact the MQTT broker mentioned in Prerequisites.

Using the Break Glass feature

Setting-up and using a Break Glass account comprises three tasks:

Refer to Features > Break Glass / LAPS for more information on the feature.