Install Clavda on Windows: desktop app or command-line agent
Connect a Windows PC or server to Clavda with the desktop app, or run the command-line agent and start it automatically with a scheduled task.
Updated 2 min read
There are two ways to run Clavda on Windows, and both use the same config file from the dashboard:
- The desktop app is the simplest: import the config file and click Connect.
- The command-line agent is a single
.exewith no installer, for servers and for machines you set up from a script.
What you need
- A device record in Clavda with the Windows x64 installation platform. See Before you start.
- The device's config file: open the device, press Generate Setup Commands, then Download Config (.env).
Option A: the desktop app
Install the Clavda Desktop app
Install the app on the Windows machine.
Import the config file
Open the app and choose the .env file you downloaded, or drop it onto the window.
Connect
Click Connect. The device turns green under Devices in Clavda within a few seconds, and the app remembers the config for next time.
The app copies the config and the device's keys into %LOCALAPPDATA%\com.codegen.clavda-desktop-app, so you can delete the downloaded file afterwards.
Option B: the command-line agent
clavda-client-windows-amd64.exe from Download Binary is the same agent that runs on Linux, and it reads the same .env file. It looks for .env in the current directory and in the folder the executable is in, so keeping the two in one folder is all it needs.
Create a folder for the agent
For example C:\clavda.
Put the executable and the config in it
Move clavda-client-windows-amd64.exe into the folder, and save the config next to it as .env.
Check the file is not called .env.txt
Windows hides known extensions and Notepad adds .txt by default. Turn on File name
extensions in File Explorer's View menu and make sure the name is exactly .env. In
Notepad's Save dialog, choose All files as the type.
Run it
Double-click the executable, or run it from PowerShell to see its log:
cd C:\clavda
.\clavda-client-windows-amd64.exe
It loads the config and connects. The device turns green under Devices within a few seconds.
Start the agent automatically
The executable is not a Windows service on its own. The least surprising way to start it automatically is a scheduled task that runs when you sign in. Run this in an elevated command prompt or PowerShell:
schtasks /create /tn "clavda Agent" /tr "C:\clavda\clavda-client-windows-amd64.exe" /sc onlogon /rl highest
For a server that must connect before anyone signs in, create the task with /sc onstart and a service account instead, or wrap the executable with a service manager such as NSSM.
Check that it worked
Open Devices in Clavda: the device is green while the agent is connected. If it stays grey, run the executable from PowerShell as above and read its output, then see Troubleshooting.