1E Client

Running Tachyon instructions on devices

You must ensure the appropriate scripting environment is present on Tachyon client devices. Tachyon SCALE - Simple Cross-platform Agent Language for Extensibility - supports running native PowerShell on Windows OS and bash on non-Windows OS devices, which can be script files downloaded when an instruction runs, or command text. You will very probably want to use these native scripting features in instructions you download from 1E or ones you develop yourself using TIMS.

PowerShell on Windows OS

PowerShell is used by some Tachyon instructions (that have PowerShell commands embedded or scripts that are downloaded) and some of these require PowerShell 3.0 or later, although some scripts will support PowerShell 2.0. PowerShell scripts are supported only on Windows OS.

If installing or upgrading PowerShell, it is best to install the latest version available. However, do not expect full forward or backward compatibility between PowerShell versions.

The table below shows which versions of PowerShell are supported on each OS version and Service Pack, and if it is built-in or needs to be installed.

* These OS are regarded as legacy OS:

1. PowerShell is not built-in for these OS. These OS do not support 3.0 or later. See Constraints of Legacy OS
2. If PowerShell 1.0 is installed it must be removed in order to install a later version.
3. Support for PowerShell 2.0 is included in PowerShell 3.0 and later.
4. PowerShell is not installed by default on these OS but is an optional feature that should be enabled using Server Manager.
5. PowerShell 2.0 is part of WMF Core package (KB968930) with prerequisite of .NET Framework 3.51 (which includes .NET 2.0 SP1).
6. PowerShell 3.0 is part of WMF 3.0 with prerequisite of .NET Framework 4.0 or later. Refer https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=34595
7. PowerShell 4.0 is part of WMF 4.0 with prerequisite of .NET Framework 4.5 or later. Refer https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=40855
8. PowerShell 5.0 is part of WMF 5.0 with prerequisites of .NET Framework 4.5 or later and WMF 4.0. Refer https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=50395
9. PowerShell 5.0 is part of WMF 5.0 without any other prerequisites. Refer https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=50395
10. PowerShell 5.1 is part of WMF 5.1 with prerequisites of .NET Framework 4.6 or later, WMF 4.0 and SHA-2 Code Signing. Refer https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/powershell/wmf/5.1/install-configure
11. PowerShell 5.1 is part of WMF 5.1 with prerequisites of .NET Framework 4.6 or later and WMF 4.0. Refer https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/powershell/wmf/5.1/install-configure
12. PowerShell 5.1 is part of WMF 5.1 with prerequisite of .NET Framework 4.6 or later. Refer https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/powershell/wmf/5.1/install-configure
13. In these Server OS, PowerShell 5.1 is referred to as the Desktop Experience. You can use the PowerShell Core version if you prefer.

Microsoft ended support for .NET Framework 4, 4.5, and 4.5.1 on January 12, 2016. Please refer to https://support.microsoft.com/en-gb/help/17455/lifecycle-faq-net-framework.

Bash on non-Windows OS

Bash and perl are required for installation of all non-Windows 1E Clients.

Tachyon instructions support the use of Bash scripts on all supported non-Windows OS.

To see if an Instruction requires a Bash script, look in its Instruction Definition XML file for the Scripting.Run method. Bash is the preferred choice when developing custom Instructions for non-Windows OS.

There are slight differences between OS implementations of Bash, particularly on the Mac. Therefore, 1E recommends testing custom Bash scripts on each supported OS.

Constraints of Legacy OS

In this documentation, the following are referred to as legacy OS. Below are described some known issues for these OS.

1E does not provide support for 1E products on the following OS unless the OS is explicitly listed as being supported for a specific 1E product or product feature. This is because Microsoft has ended mainstream support for these OS or they are not significantly used by business organizations.

For Microsoft product lifecycle details, please refer to https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/lifecycle/search.

PowerShell limitations

PowerShell version 3.0 (required by some Tachyon instructions) is not supported on Windows XP, Vista and Server 2003. However, PowerShell 2.0 is supported on the following OS versions:

• Windows XP SP3
• Vista SP1 & SP2
• Windows Server 2003 R2 & SP2

Certificate limitations - SHA2

Like most software vendors, 1E software requires the OS to support SHA2. If your organization has a PKI configured to use SHA2 256 or higher encryption, then your legacy OS may have already been updated to support it.

Windows XP and Server 2003 require an update as described in KB968730.  Microsoft no longer provides this hotfix as a download. You must contact Microsoft Support if you need it.

Windows 7 and Server 2008 R2 require an update as described in KB3033929. This update is not available for Vista and Server 2008.

Windows 8, 8.1, Server 2012, Server 2012 R2 and later OS already support SHA2.

Certificate limitations - encrypted certificate requests

Windows XP and Server 2003 are unable to encrypt certificate requests, whereas later OS are able to support higher more secure RPC authentication levels. If you are using a Microsoft CA and expect these clients to request (enrol) certificates then the CA must have its IF_ENFORCEENCRYPTICERTREQUEST flag disabled. It is disabled by default on Windows 2003 and 2008 CA, but is enabled by default on Windows 2012 CA.

To determine which InterfaceFlags are set, execute the following command on the CA server:

	certutil -getreg CA\InterfaceFlags

If the following is specified then it means the flag is enabled.

	IF_ENFORCEENCRYPTICERTREQUEST -- 200 (512)

To disable the encrypt certificate requests flag, execute the following commands on the CA server:

	certutil -setreg CA\InterfaceFlags -IF_ENFORCEENCRYPTICERTREQUEST
	sc stop certsvc
	sc start certsvc

Certificate limitations - signing certificates missing

On Windows computers, the installation MSI files, and binary executable and DLL files of 1E software are digitally signed. The 1E code signing certificate uses a timestamping certificate as its countersignature. 1E occasionally changes its code signing certificate, and uses it for new releases and patches for older versions, as shown in the table(s) below. 

Root Certificate Authorities are implicitly trusted to validate certificates, and their certificates must be correctly installed to do this. Your computers should already have the necessary root CA certificates installed, however this may have been prevented by your organization's security policies, or inability to connect to the Internet, or they are legacy OS. In general this is not an issue because by default Windows allows software to be installed and run without validation, although you may see a warning or experience a delay. However, you must have relevant CA certificates installed if you are using 1E Client (which self-validates its own files), or your organization has applied more secure polices (for example UAC, AppLocker or SmartScreen).

Typical reasons for issues with signing certificate are:

• If your organization has disabled Automatic Root Certificates Update then you must ensure the relevant root CA certificates are correctly installed on each computer
• If computers do not have access to the Internet then you must ensure the relevant root and issuing CA certificates are correctly installed on each computer, numbered in the table(s) below. 

The signature algorithm of the 1E code signing certificate is SHA256RSA. In most cases, the file digest algorithm of an authenticode signature is SHA256, and the countersignature is a RFC3161 compliant timestamp. The exception is on legacy OS (Windows XP, Vista, Server 2003 and Server 2008) which require the file digest algorithm of an authenticode signature to be SHA1, and a legacy countersignature. 

The table below applies to software and hotfixes released in 2020.

Certificate limitations - expired root certificates

Ensure that your Root CA Certificates are up-to-date on clients and servers. The Automatic Root Certificates Update feature is enabled by default, but its configuration may have been changed or restricted by Group Policy Turn off Automatic Root Certificates Update.

If this GPO is enabled, then you will see DisableRootAutoUpdate = 1 (dword) in HKLM\Software\Policies\Microsoft\SystemCertificates\AuthRoot.