Completely remove KACE Desktop Authority (4298755)

Completely removing KACE Desktop Authority is a two stages process, the first one removes the scripts and services from the domain and creates a GPO to remove the agents, while the second one removes that GPO and cleans the remaining folders.

The KACE Desktop Authority uninstalling process does not remove the components ExpertAssist or USB Port Security, these must be removed using the proper elements.

To completely remove KACE Desktop Authority, the following steps must be followed:

1. Remove ExpertAssist using the Remote Management element

• Create a new element for Remote Management (or use a previous one and edit) and select the remove option. The validation logic should let the element to remove the ExpertAssist from the whole domain.
  
• Click Save.
• Replicate changed files.
• Wait for a discrete period of time while the component is removed from all the computers in the domain.

2. Remove USB Port Security using its element

• Create a new element for Remote Management (or use a previous one and edit) and select the remove option. The validation logic should let the element to remove the ExpertAssist from the whole domain.
• Click Save.
• Replicate changed files.
• Wait for a discrete period of time while the component is removed from all the computers in the domain.

3. Create a GPO to remove the agents from computers and Un-assign the logon script.

Once the ExpertAssist and the USB Port Security have been removed from computers, a GPO to remove the agents must be created, to do this, from the KACE Desktop Authority Console, navigate to Deployment Settings | Client Deployment | GPO Deployment and click Add.

Then select the domain and Uninstall from the drop down and click Save to create the GPO to remove the agent from every workstation in the domain.

Replicate the changes to apply this to the domain.

Also to prevent the agent installation again, the logon script must be unassigned for all the users, navigate to Deployment Settings | Client Deployment | Assign Script and select those users from the domain with the logon script assigned and click Unassign, this action can be applied to several users at the same time using the hey combinations shift + click or ctrl + click so select multiple accounts.

4. Remove the Administrative and Update Services from the Domain Controllers in the domain.

When the agent has been removed from the client computers, from the KACE Desktop Authority Console, navigate to Deployment Settings | Server Manager | Service Management and right click on the Administrative Service status then select Administrative Service | Remove to remove the service from the domain controller.

Also, selecting all the domain controllers with the check box at the left of the list and using the drop down list for Administrative Service and selecting Remove, will delete the service from all the domain controllers. The same procedure must be done for the Update Service.

5. Delete KACE Desktop Authority files from Domain Controllers.

To delete the files from \\Domain\NETLOGON and \\Domain\sysvol\\Policies\Desktop Authority\Device Policy Master\ folders, attached PowerShell script "RemoveDAFilesFromDCs.ps1" can be used. This script deletes the files from %LOGONSERVER% (The Domain Controller used to authenticate current logged in user), the File Replication Service will remove the files from the remaining Domain Controllers.

6. Uninstall the console using the Programs and Features uninstall option (Stage 1).

Iit will remove the database, services and script, it will remove the services installed on the domain controllers and place a Group Policy Object to remove the agents from the domain.

The first window ask to remove the databases, it will drop the DAConfiguration and DAReporting from SQL Server instance used:

Next window will ask if the certificate should be removed from the KACE Desktop Authority server:

Next screen asks to remove the logon scripts from Netlogon folder, if this option is selected then the slogic.bat will be removed from the domain controllers:

The next screen will confirm the uninstalling process:

The next screen will show the progress of the uninstalling process:

When the process is complete, a message explaining the end will show:

The uninstaller will explain this stage result and the next steps to complete the uninstalling process.

Clicking OK button will end the process and show the final screen, clicking Finish will close the uninstaller.

Now that the KACE Desktop Authority Console has been uninstalled and the Agent Removing GPO is in place, this removal process may take a few days to complete while the GPO removes the agents from the workstations or servers. Once the client side services have been removed, uninstall Desktop Authority a second time to remove the final GPO and Client Provisioning pieces.

7. Uninstall the console using the Programs and Features uninstall option (Stage 2)

It will remove the GPO created in stage 1 and the remaining folders in the member server used for the console.

The next screen confirms the uninstall:

The uninstaller shows the second stage, clicking Uninstall will start the process:

The window shows the progress:

When the process ends, clicking Finish will close the uninstaller and the process is completed.

The KACE Desktop Authority Console, scripts, and GPO are now totally removed from the domain.

Note: If any computer still shows ExpertAssist or USB Port Security software installed, then those can be manually removed using the Control Panel | Programs and Features | Uninstall option.