Watchman Monitoring works in conjunction with many traditional package management tools. FileWave has a long history of Mac support, and like our product, offers support for Macs, Windows, and Linux computers as well.
FileWave administrators know that keeping their managed computers up to date on the latest model means that all computers have the latest updates and settings. In cases when the local agent can not (or will not) update its model, Watchman Monitoring acts as a security net, warning when if the computer is online, but unable to verify the model. Through our collaboration with FileWave staff, we are able to keep on the lookout for signs of trouble with the FileWave agent, as well as with the computer as a whole.
Implementing Watchman Monitoring along with FileWave also means greater interaction with your end users. Our Contact Menu provides a universal destination for links to share resources, urls, file servers, webmail, even the FileWave Kiosk itself.
The information below provides a bit more detail, and of course, describes how to create Filesets which allow you to readily deploy Watchman Monitoring to your entire fleet of Macs and PCs.
Model and Server Reporting in the Watchman Monitoring Dashboard

The FileWave plugin for the Mac reports the address of the computer's most recent Model number, its FileWave server, and will generate a warning if the Model isn't checked against its server in 7 days (by default).
Fileset Options for deploying Watchman Monitoring
There are two formats of Watchman Monitoring installers which are likely to be of interest to the FileWave Admin:
- A flat, signed pkg, which is version-specific, can complete an installation while offline, and is not tied to a specific Group.
- Group-specific "shill" installers which are preconfigured with a specific Group name, and always install the latest version via a direct download from Watchman Monitoring directly.
Because Filesets based on Group-specific "shill" installers do not require updating each time Watchman Monitoring releases a new versoin, they are the preferred deployment method to use with FileWave.
Group-independent installation packages are suitable for use when the computers may not have internet access at the time of deployment, or when the FileWave administrator prefers to rollout software updates directly.
Building group specific Filesets (Mac OS)
- Visit or create a Group in your Watchman Monitoring Dashboard
- On the Group page, click Installers and download the Group specific pkg
- Open your FileWave Admin application
- Click on Filesets in the sidebar.
- Create either a single Fileset to hold all Group specific installers, or use Client-specific Filesets, according to your current workflow.
- Click on the MSI/PKG option, and in the file-picker, select the Group specific pkg downloaded from Watchman Monitoring
- Click on the Clients in the FileWave Admin sidebar.
- Drag the pkg Fileset onto the Group(s) that represent the computers to be sorted into a given Watchman Monitoring Group
- The FileWave server will ensure Watchman Monitoring is installed as the computers update their model.
- Watchman Monitoring will send an email as each computer reports for the first time. (You can edit this setting in the Watchman Monitoring Dashboard)
Using a single universal Fileset among many Groups (Mac OS)
For deployments where installation will happen offline, or where auto-update is not desired, the following steps will guide you.
This is a two part process: first the Group name Fileset, then the full installer.
Setting the Group name with a fileset:
- Download the sample Fileset from our Github Repo
- Import the Fileset to your FileWave Admin console
- Right-click and rename the Fileset from WM-Group-Mac-TEMPLATE to WM-Group-Mac-[Your FileWave Group Name].
- Double click the Fileset, and drill down to /usr/local/etc/wm-preinstall.sh. Click Edit Text.
- Find and double-click on: ENTER_GROUP_NAME_HERE and enter the desired Watchman Monitoring Group name.
- Best practice suggests this will be the same as the FileWave Group, although there is no requirement that they match.
- Spaces, hyphens, and punctuation are ok. Special characters are discouraged.
- If you wish to manage the rollout of new Watchman Monitoring versions manually, uncomment line 6 to set Update_Enabled false.
- For best results, ensure this Fileset is deployed ahead of the agent's pkg. We suggest setting the installer pkg's Fileset to the lowest priority.
Installing the Monitoring Client itself:
- Visit the default Installers page at https://app.monitoringclient.com/installers/mac
- Download the signed installer pkg.
- Drag the .pkg to the Fileset pane of the FileWave Admin tool to create a package set.
- Rename the Fileset to include the current version number.
- Use Properties to set the Priority to lowest, ensuring the Group name Fileset runs first.
Building group specific Filesets (Windows)
Subscribers with access to our Windows beta can download an .msi installer from their dashboard.
The steps here are largely the same as the Mac OS, with labels changed to reflect the platform.
- Visit or create a Group in your Watchman Monitoring Dashboard
- On the Group page, click Installers and download the Group specific .msi
- Open your FileWave Admin application
- Click on Filesets in the sidebar.
- Create either a single Fileset to hold all Group specific installers, or use Client-specific Filesets, according to your current workflow.
- Click on the MSI/PKG option, and in the file-picker, select the Group specific pkg downloaded from Watchman Monitoring
- Click on the Clients in the FileWave Admin sidebar.
- Drag the msi Fileset onto the Group(s) that represent the computers to be sorted into a given Watchman Monitoring Group
- The FileWave server will ensure Watchman Monitoring is installed as the computers update their model.
- Watchman Monitoring will send an email as each computer reports for the first time. (You can edit this setting in the Watchman Monitoring Dashboard)
Detailed instructions for Fileset creation will be posted as we refine our Group-specific windows installers.
Using a single universal Fileset among many Groups (Windows)
For deployments where installation will happen offline, or where auto-update is not desired, the following steps will guide you.
This is a two Fileset process. The first sets the Group, the next runs the traditional .msi installer.
Setting the Group name with a fileset:
- Download the sample Fileset from our Github Repo
- Import the Fileset to your FileWave Admin console
- Right-click and rename the Fileset from WM-Group-Win-TEMPLATE to WM-Group-Win-[Your FileWave Group Name].
- Double click the Fileset, and drill down to /usr/local/etc/wm-preinstall.reg. Click Edit Text.*
- Find and double-click on: ENTER_GROUP_NAME_HERE on lines 17 and 20, and enter the desired Watchman Monitoring Group name.
- Best practice suggests this will be the same as the FileWave Group, although there is no requirement that they match.
- Spaces, hyphens, and punctuation are ok. Special characters are discouraged.
- If you wish to manage the rollout of new Watchman Monitoring versions manually, on lines 25 and 28, set AutoUpdateEnabled to 0
- For best results, ensure this Fileset is deployed ahead of the agent's pkg. We suggest setting the installer pkg's Fileset to the lowest priority.
Installing the Monitoring Client itself:
- Visit the default Installers page at https://app.monitoringclient.com/installers/windows
- Download the installer .msi
- Drag the .msi to the Fileset pane of the FileWave Admin tool to create a package set.
- Rename the Fileset to include the current version number.
- Use Properties to set the Priority to lowest, ensuring the Group name Fileset runs first.
*Enabling .reg files for editing in the FileWave admin

Enable direct editing of the .reg file by adding .reg to the list of allowed Editor Extensions in the FileWave Admin preferences.
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