Falcon Sensor For Windows - Documentation - Support - Falcon
Falcon Sensor For Windows - Documentation - Support - Falcon
Contents:
System Requirements
Operating Systems
Services
Networking Requirements
Maintain Internet Access During Installation
Avoid Interference with Certificate Pinning
Whitelist URLs
Standard Installation
Manual install
Automatic Sensor Installation
Advanced Installation Types
Uninstall Protection for the Falcon Sensor
Assigning Sensor Tags During Installation
Installing the Sensor with IE Proxy Detection
Installing the Falcon Sensor on a Virtual Machine Template
Installing the Falcon Sensor in a Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) Environment
Uninstalling the Falcon Sensor for Windows
Uninstall from Control Panel
Uninstall from the Command Line
Validate the Uninstallation
Troubleshooting Sensor Installation
Issue: Installation Fails
Verify that the Sensor is Running
Troubleshooting General Sensor Issues
Issue: Sensor Installed, but Doesn't Run
Verify the Host's Connection to the CrowdStrike Cloud
Issue: Host Can't Connect to the CrowdStrike Cloud
Issue: Host Can't Establish Proxy Connection
Logs
Sensor Operational Logs
Normal Log Contents
Appendix A - Installer Parameters
Installation Parameters
Sensor Startup Parameters
Proxy Parameters
Troubleshooting Parameters
Revision History
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System Requirements
Operating Systems
Falcon on GovCloud is supported on Falcon sensor for Windows 4.5 and later.
Only these operating systems are supported for use with the Falcon sensor for Windows:
Windows 10
Windows 8.1
Windows 7 SP1
Windows 7 Embedded
Windows 7 SP1
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All other operating systems are unsupported, such as Windows Server 2008 (non-R2), versions of Windows Server
Core released before version 2016, Windows 8, and 32-bit versions of Windows 10 or Windows 8.1.
We do not support hosts running in containers, or the installation of the Falcon sensor in containers (such as Docker).
Services
LMHosts
LMHosts may be disabled on your host if the TCP/IP NetBIOS Helper service is disabled.
NETWORK PROTOCOLS
Falcon on GovCloud
WinHTTP AutoProxy
DHCP Client, if you use Web Proxy Automatic Discovery (WPAD) via DHCP
To use Falcon’s Next-Gen Antivirus policy settings on Windows Server 2016 or 2019, manually disable Windows
Defender.
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Networking Requirements
Hosts must remain connected to the CrowdStrike cloud throughout installation, which is generally 10 minutes. A host unable to
reach and retain a connection to the cloud within 10 minutes will not successfully install the sensor.
If your host requires more time to connect, you can override this by using the ProvWaitTime parameter in the command line to
increase the timeout to 1 hour.
The Falcon sensor uses certificate pinning to defend against man-in-the-middle attacks. Some network configurations, such as
deep packet inspection, interfere with certificate validation.
Disable deep packet inspection (also called "HTTPS interception," "TLS interception," or "SSL inspection") or similar network
configurations. Common sources of interference with certificate pinning include antivirus systems, firewalls, or proxies.
Whitelist URLs
Depending on your network environment, you may need to whitelist TLS traffic between your network and our cloud's network
addresses:
ts01-b.cloudsink.net
lfodown01-b.cloudsink.net
ts01-laggar-gcw.cloudsink.net
lfodown01-laggar-gcw.cloudsink.net
Falcon EU Cloud:
ts01-lanner-lion.cloudsink.net
lfodown01-lanner-lion.cloudsink.net
If your network requires whitelisting by IP address instead of FQDN, see Cloud IP Addresses for a list of IP addresses we use.
We use AWS for some communications between hosts and the CrowdStrike cloud.
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Standard Installation
In most cases, you can simply install the Falcon sensor for Windows using either a manual GUI install or an automated command-
line install.
Manual install
Use this installation path if you want to point and click on an installer file.
1. Download the sensor installer from Hosts > Sensor Downloads. Use the Chrome browser.
After installation, the sensor will run silently and will be invisible to the user. To validate that the sensor is running on the host,
run this command at a command prompt:
sc query csagent
SERVICE_NAME: csagent
TYPE : 2 FILE_SYSTEM_DRIVER
STATE : 4 RUNNING
(STOPPABLE, NOT_PAUSABLE, IGNORES_SHUTDOWN)
WIN32_EXIT_CODE : 0 (0x0)
SERVICE_EXIT_CODE : 0 (0x0)
CHECKPOINT : 0x0
WAIT_HINT : 0x0
Use this installation path if you want to automate silent installations on many devices, including installations via a deployment
tool such as Windows System Center Configuration Manager (SCCM).
1. Download the sensor installer from Hosts > Sensor Downloads. Use the Chrome browser.
2. Copy your customer ID checksum (CCID) from Hosts > Sensor Downloads.
3. Run or configure your deployment tool to use this command, replacing <your executable file name> with the name of the
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install file you downloaded, and <CCID> with the CCID from step 2 :
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Protect sensors from unauthorized uninstallation by enabling Uninstall and maintenance protection in sensor update policies to
protect hosts. For more info, read our Sensor Update Policies guide.
Sensor upgrades with uninstall protection enabled and cloud updates disabled
Use this upgrade path if you don’t use cloud updates and want to automate silent sensor upgrades on uninstall-protected
devices. You might manage installations via a deployment tool like Windows System Center Configuration Manager (SCCM).
1. Download the sensor installer from Hosts > Sensor Downloads. Use the Chrome browser.
2. In the sensor update policy you want to update, turn on Bulk maintenance mode. Make sure the Sensor version updates off
build version is selected and Uninstall and maintenance protection is turned on.
3. Retrieve the bulk maintenance token to include in the deployment package. This token doesn't change, so you don't need
to modify your deployment package each time you enter bulk maintenance mode.
4. Run or configure your deployment tool to use this command, replacing <your executable file name> with the name of the
install file you downloaded:
<your executable file name>.exe MAINTENANCE_TOKEN=<bulk maintenance token> /install /quiet /norestart
5. For increased security, turn off bulk maintenance mode after completing your upgrades. This restores the per-sensor
maintenance token and disables the bulk maintenance token.
You can set a password on a host to protect its sensor from unauthorized tampering. Once you set the password, it must be
provided whenever someone attempts to unload, uninstall, repair, or manually upgrade the sensor.
Selecting a password:
Your password can't contain the quotation mark character, because the command used to set the password is enclosed in
quotation marks.
Your password can contain other common ASCII characters, including a - z, A - Z, 0 - 9, common symbol characters like !@#$% ,
and spaces.
SETTING A PASSWORD
During installation:
Install the sensor from the command line. In addition to the parameters used in a basic installation, include
this parameter: PW="examplepassword"
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After installation:
1. On a host with the Falcon sensor installed, open the folder %ProgramFiles%\CrowdStrike.
CSInstallGuard.exe PW="examplepassword"
You can't directly change or remove an existing password. You must uninstall and reinstall the sensor.
If you lose a host's password, contact Support for password reset. A user with the Falcon Admin role (or equivalent) must send
the host's AID or hostname to our support team.
Sensor tags are user-selected identifiers you can use to group and filter hosts. You can assign one or more tags to a host using
the GROUPING_TAGS parameter (case sensitive). You must set tags at installation time.
Tags can include alphanumeric characters, hyphens ( - ), underscores ( _ ), and forward slashes ( / ). To use multiple tags, separate
each tag with commas. Tags can't include spaces ( ) or commas ( , ). All tags for a host, including any comma separators, must be
a total of 256 characters or less.
Tags can be added or changed after sensor installation by editing a registry key.
On hosts using IE proxy detection, install the sensor from the command line using the ProvNoWait parameter. The sensor acquires
proxy settings from the user registry hive with the next user login.
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Follow these steps to set up a virtual machine template with a Falcon sensor.
Do not perform a normal install on a template: If you perform a normal installation on your virtual machine template,
all hosts that use the template will be assigned the same agent ID (AID). The Falcon console will display activity
from all these hosts as if the activity came from a single host.
INSTALLING ON A VM TEMPLATE
When a VM created from this template first starts up, the CrowdStrike cloud assigns it a unique AID.
MODIFYING A VM TEMPLATE
2. Remove these registry values to remove the AID from the VM template:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CrowdStrike\{9b03c1d9-3138-44ed-9fae-d9f4c034b88d}\{16e0423f-7058-48c9-a204-
725362b67639}\Default\AG
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\CSAgent\Sim\AG
When installing in a Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) environment, the sensor runs from a shared, read-only OS image. The
CrowdStrike cloud assigns the correct AID based on the host's fully qualified domain name (FQDN) and other characteristics.
To install the Falcon sensor for Windows on your VDI master image:
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Update your VDI master's sensor: We recommend regularly updating your VDI master image to use the latest Falcon
sensor version. This minimizes the risk of new VDI instances running outdated Falcon sensors, as well as network
traffic caused by sensor updates.
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3. Choose CrowdStrike Windows Sensor and uninstall it, providing the maintenance token via the installer if necessary.
CsUninstallTool.exe /quiet
If the sensor is online, move the host into a sensor update policy with Uninstall and maintenance protection disabled, then
uninstall using one of the two uninstall methods.
If the sensor is offline and Uninstall and maintenance protection is enabled, open the host's summary panel in Hosts > Host
Management page and click Reveal Maintenance Token to get the single-use maintenance token needed to uninstall the sensor.
Use this token in this command line script to uninstall the sensor:
If the sensor is offline and bulk maintenance mode is enabled, go to the host's sensor update policy and click Reveal Token to
get the bulk maintenance token needed to uninstall the sensor. Use the token in this command line script to uninstall the sensor:
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If the sensor installation fails, confirm that the host meets our system requirements, including required Windows services. If
required services are not installed or running, you may see an error message: A required Windows service is disabled, stopped, or
missing. Please see the installation log for details.
SERVICE_NAME: csagent
TYPE : 2 FILE_SYSTEM_DRIVER
STATE : 4 RUNNING
(STOPPABLE, NOT_PAUSABLE, IGNORES_SHUTDOWN)
WIN32_EXIT_CODE : 0 (0x0)
SERVICE_EXIT_CODE : 0 (0x0)
CHECKPOINT : 0x0
WAIT_HINT : 0x0
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If the sensor doesn't run, confirm that the host meets our system requirements, including required Windows services. If required
services are not installed or running, you may see an error message in the sensor's logs: A required Windows service is disabled,
stopped, or missing. Please see the installation log for details.
The sensor can install, but not run, if any of these services are disabled or stopped:
LMHosts*
DHCP Client, if you use Web Proxy Automatic Discovery (WPAD) via DHCP
DNS Client
The sensor can install, but not run, if the WinHTTP AutoProxy service is disabled.
* - LMHosts may be disabled on your host if the TCP/IP NetBIOS Helper service is disabled.
You can verify that the host is connected to the cloud using the Falcon console or a command line on the host.
Falcon console: Use the Sensor Report to search for the host.
Host: Run this command from a command line with administrative privileges:
netstat -f
The following output is displayed if the sensor can connect to the CrowdStrike cloud:
Active Connections
In this example, ec2-54-219-145-181 indicates a connection to a specific IP address in the CrowdStrike cloud, 54.219.145.181 . See
Cloud IP Addresses for a full list of CrowdStrike cloud IPs.
If your host uses a proxy, the Foreign Address shows the proxy address, such as proxy.example.com , instead of the
CrowdStrike Cloud address.
If your host can't connect to the CrowdStrike Cloud, check these network configuration items:
3. If your host uses an endpoint firewall, configure it to permit traffic to and from the Falcon sensor.
4. Verify that your host's LMHost service is enabled. LMHosts may be disabled if you've disabled the TCP/IP NetBIOS
Helper on your host.
ENDPOINT FIREWALLS
If you're using an endpoint firewall on your host, it must be configured to allow access to the CrowdStrike domains. Customers
have reported that these products require additional configuration when used with the Falcon sensor:
Hosts must remain connected to the CrowdStrike cloud throughout installation. A host unable to reach the cloud within 10
minutes will not successfully install the sensor.
If your host requires more time to connect, you can override this by using the ProvNoWait parameter in the command line. This
also provides additional time to perform additional troubleshooting measures.
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The Falcon sensor requires your host to have the DigiCertHighAssuranceRootCA and DigiCertAssuredIDRootCA certs in your
Trusted Root CA store.
2. Follow Microsoft's documentation for the Microsoft Management Console (MMC) to:
Manually specifying a global proxy URL through Group Policy or manual input
Connection happens in two phases: (1) proxy discovery and (2) connection. The order is as follows:
1. Try to use the CS Sensor application-specific proxy which is specified via the installer (APP_PROXYNAME=<Proxy server hostname
2. Use proxy settings from the Local Area Network (LAN) Settings under "Proxy Servers" (also called IE Proxy Settings), if
available.
3. Use PAC file URL provided via the installer (PACURL=<PAC file URL>) .
4. Use PAC file URLs from Local Area Network (LAN) Settings > "Use automatic configuration script". Use if you want to use
Windows AutoProxy with a PAC File.
5. Use persisted proxy settings (of any type). Any time the sensor successfully connects to a proxy (via connection methods
1-6, excluding 5), the sensor will cache the host name and port.
8. DnsLookup Fallback. This tries to use config-driven DNS lookup table to connect.
When PROXYDISABLE=1 is passed to the installer, the installer will skip 1-6 and proceed directly to 7 (Direct Connection) and then
proceed to step 8 above.
CrowdStrike does not support Proxy Authentication. If connection to the CrowdStrike cloud through the specified proxy server
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fails, or no proxy server is specified, the sensor will attempt to connect directly. For more assistance on proxy configurations,
contact your proxy vendor or CrowdStrike Support.
This will put the proxy settings in the registry under the CsProxyHostname and CsProxyPort keys located here:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CrowdStrike\{9b03c1d9-3138-44ed-9fae-d9f4c034b88d}\{16e0423f-7058-48c9-a204-725362b67639}\Default
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Logs
Providing logs to our support team can help diagnose sensor issues.
Export your logs in their native directory structure and format (such as .evtx for sensor operations logs). This helps our support
team diagnose sensor issues accurately and efficiently.
If initiated by a user:
Sensor
%LOCALAPPDATA%\Temp Based on OS or Based on OS or
installation(installation,
Yes If initiated by the CrowdStrike group policy group policy
uninstallation, upgrades, or
cloud: settings settings
downgrades)
%SYSTEMROOT%\Temp
The sensor's operational logs are disabled by default. To enable or disable logging on a host, you must update specific Windows
registry entries.
ENABLE LOGGING
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CrowdStrike\{9b03c1d9-3138-44ed-9fae-d9f4c034b88d}\{16e0423f-7058-48c9-a204-725362b67639}\Default]
"AFLAGS"=hex:03,00,00,00
3. Open a command prompt and run the following command to enable logging:
regedit myfile.reg
DISABLE LOGGING
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[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CrowdStrike\{9b03c1d9-3138-44ed-9fae-d9f4c034b88d}\{16e0423f-7058-48c9-a204-725362b67639}\Default]
"AFLAGS"=hex:00,00,00,00
3. Open a command prompt and run the following command to disable logging:
regedit myfile.reg
3. The sensor is checking communications (whether to use proxy or not and on which host/port).
5. The sensor connected and is sending its first message to CrowdStrike cloud.
6. The sensor received a response from cloud. All startup tasks are complete.
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This is a complete index of all parameters that the Falcon sensor installer accepts.
Some parameters require a leading slash, and some require no leading slash.
Installation Parameters
Parameter Description
/norestart Prevents the host from restarting at the end of the sensor installation.
Proxy Parameters
APP_PROXYNAME=<proxy
FQDN or IP>
Configure a proxy connection using both a proxy address (by Cannot be used with
APP_PROXYPORT=<Proxy
FQDN or IP) and a proxy port. the PACURL parameter.
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server port>
The sensor does not abort installation if it can't connect to the Use this parameter when upgrading to
CrowdStrike cloud within 10 minutes. (By default, if the host version 3.5 or later if you use IE proxy
ProvNoWait=1 can't contact our cloud, it will retry the connection for 10 detection for Falcon, because proxy
minutes. After that, the host will automatically uninstall its data will not be available until another
sensor.) user logs into the machine.
Troubleshooting Parameters
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Revision History
4.0 01/13/2017 Updating install guide for new Windows Sensor. Nick Cangie
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