How to change or add registry value using KACE SMA (4287636)

When creating a script to add or edit Windows registry values, there is a suggested method to ensure that the values change to the desired format.  Since there are multiple different types of registry keys, the best practice is to first export the key and then use the exported information to create a script at Scripting | Configuration Policies | Windows | Registry.

When using KACE SMA to manually create a script under the Scripting module, it may be possible to set a value to something unexpected.  An example of this would be, if attempting to edit or add a Reg_Binary key, and the value is added in the format 0 or 00 00, the actual key will be changed to 30 33 or 30 00 30 00 30 00 30 00.  When changing this sort of value, the format should be hex:00 or hex:00,00.

The information in the script(s) provided is known to work successfully; however, they have not been officially tested by our Quality Control.

If any of these instructions are changed and/or incorrectly used, intentionally or unintentionally, this solution becomes unsupported by our Support and Development.

For customization of the KACE Systems Management Appliance, please contact our Professional Services Organization.

NOTE:  Making changes to the registry can cause potential issues with the operating system if not completed correctly.  As a precaution, it is suggested to back up the registry prior to making any changes.  For additional assistance with backing up the registry, please see (this link will redirect you from the Quest site to an external Microsoft site): How to back up and restore the registry in Windows

Using the suggested method to export the key from regedit.exe, should result in the correct syntax for adding or editing registry values.

To add or edit a registry key value in the KACE SMA:

1. Use regedit.exe to locate and export the values from the registry that the script will be created to add or modify.

Note:  For additional assistance with adding or modifying a registry key, please see (this link will redirect you from the Quest site to an external Microsoft site):  How to add, modify, or delete registry subkeys and values by using a .reg file

Note:  It may be necessary to locate this key in each version of desired operating systems.  For example 32bit and 64bit operating systems may each need to be exported due to differences.

Note:  For additional assistance with exporting a registry key, please see (this link will redirect you from the Quest site to an external Microsoft site):  Import or Export Keys

2. Open the .reg file that contains the desired registry values with notepad.exe and copy the text.
3. Go to the SMA admin console and click Scripting | Configuration Policies
4. Under the Windows category, click on the Registry hyperlink
5. Provide a Name for the script
6. Paste the information gathered in step 2 (on the clipboard) in the Registry File section
7. Click Save

Note: Once the script is created, go to Scripting on the left navigation bar of the SMA and locate the newly named script.  Each step of the script can be modified as necessary.

Additional modifications to the script might be needed due to 32-bit redirection. For further information in this topic please review the following KB article: Kace agent redirected to 32-bit applications Registry paths (4229710)