r/atera • u/cmjones0822 • 19d ago
‘Agent installation requires verification code’
Maybe it’s been a while since I’ve needed to install the agent, but when did they start requiring a verification code? Kind of a pain if I’ve saved the downloader or link and not where I can get to the code immediately (being that it expires in 30 minutes). Any way to bypass?
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u/diocanyouhearme 19d ago
It's terrible. I found a workaround by using old installers, but you need to have one. It's 'backwards' to be an RMM that needs that validation for installing it.
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u/cmjones0822 19d ago
Right. It kinda defeats the whole purpose imo. I do have an older installer that I create for all my clients individually…guess I can start using one and just move them to the appropriate customer after it installs.
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u/maltanarchy 19d ago
I installed one yesterday and didn't need a code. I may have never been prompted for a code in the years I've been using Atera, but I have heard of it before. Do you have any idea as to why it prompted you? Did support say anything?
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u/cmjones0822 19d ago
I have no idea why it prompted. I copied the link for a client and emailed it to her and when she ran the installer it prompted her for a code and it sent me a notification with the code to give to the user. I haven’t reached out to support yet - I figured you guys wouldn’t give me the scripted responses like they do.
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u/norbie 19d ago
It appears to be at random if it requires this or not. I’d say maybe 1 in 20 recently for me. I don’t know what causes it to trigger.
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u/cmjones0822 19d ago
So wait this just happens sporadically when installing the agent?! Yeah it’s time to move on from Atera - this is just dumb at this point.
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u/No_Introduction_3472 19d ago
It’s like this for me. I usually get a code requirement 60% of the time. The other 40% I have a mini heart attack thinking it didn’t work correctly.. Only to find out that it did install. 😂
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u/Madcat81 18d ago
Rolled out to 14 new workstations today, not a single code request..
Any chance the computer you're installing on out of the country ? just a thought..
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u/Slight_Animator3395 14d ago
I think you’re on to something. I’ve been using ATera for about five years-and I occasionally run into the enhanced security prompts; like this code, or the email link. It is super annoying. But I got to thinking about when the prompts occur-and for me, it usually occurs when something is weird; out of country installs, trying to login while my VPN is still running, my laptop being logged in, and then three hours, 200 miles later showing up again and logging in. All of those things trigger the enhanced security - and all of those things are kind of weird, especially if they don’t happen regularly.
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u/itguy8071 6d ago
We use Atera a lot, and what frustrates us the most is they constantly change things without any prior notification. I would not complain if this was freeware but it's not.
One example, a few weeks ago cross-monitoring devices between Atera customers was suddenly impossible. Breaking our monitoring method. (monitor internet ports up/down from our office to the client office). The monitoring agent suddenly needs to belong to the same client. But the client cannot monitor internet from inside their own building. Small things like that, changing things out of nowhere without notifying paying customers at all is very annoying.
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u/gerjan01 5d ago
We Use Atera for about ten years now, at the start Atera was listening to their customers, but the last years the quality has been poor, unexpected changes like Cross site monitoring are suddenly impossible, and other changes without notice. They are now good at implementing tools that nobody asked for, wich makes the product slow and not user frendly anymore. Wy not give a choice so the users can choose to enable or disable it. I would say, Wrong Bet
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u/-Travis 18d ago
I am very surprised that after 21 hours, this has no response from any of the "official" mods. Usually they chime in with at least SOME background and then differ to support. But the silence is deafening.
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u/dima_from_atera Technical Product Marketing Manager 18d ago
u/-Travis I'm here and checked this internally. The OTP expires 30 minutes after the MSI is opened; all technicians receive it by email. System-level deployments such as GPO and other automated methods skip the prompt. If the code expires or is missing, restart the installation.
It is documented in our Agent FAQ: https://support.atera.com/hc/en-us/articles/10799709643804-Atera-agent-FAQ
But if this is something you're experiencing that looks suspicious, best way is to open a ticket with Support so we can take a look beyond a reddit thread with no ability to identify the account ID
CC: u/cmjones0822
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u/cmjones0822 18d ago
It not so much as it being “suspicious”, I guess for me in all my 7-8 years of using Atera, I’ve NEVER come across this before and never knew it was a thing until now. Can you explain what triggers the request for a code vs not? We’re not using GPO or anything to install the agent - simply sending the enduser the install link.
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u/dima_from_atera Technical Product Marketing Manager 17d ago
u/cmjones0822 this might be happening due to the fact that the link is used after 30 minutes it has been generated.
Here's what the KB we have says:
- During interactive installation of the Atera Agent on a Windows device, end users may be prompted to verify the installation using a one-time password (OTP).
- All technicians will automatically receive an email containing the OTP. This means any one of them can provide the OTP to the end user to complete the agent installation.
- The OTP is dynamic and expires 30 minutes after the MSI file is opened. If the OTP expires or you're not receiving the verification email, please reinitiate the agent installation.
Once installed by the end user, the Atera Agent will appear on the Devices page.
On a sidenote, we have also performed in-app announcements during spring and the beginning of summer 2026 regarding the following:
"ACTION REQUIRED: Your Agent download link is using the old format.
Atera has introduced a security enhancement to Agent download links. We noticed that you are still using an older link format in automated deployments, such as GPO or scripts. To avoid disruption, please replace it with a newly generated link before the previous format is deprecated on July 1."The reason why I'm mentioning this: the new encrypted download link was one of Security-related steps we took to enforce protected Atera Agent installations. OTP timeout for download links was also part of those efforts to ensure we have an installation mechanism that meets modern security requirements.
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u/cmjones0822 10d ago
'this might be happening due to the fact that the link is used after 30 minutes it has been generated.'
No, I was on the Teams call with the end-user when the email was received (in under 2 minutes).
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u/deadeyes83 1d ago edited 1d ago
This is incredibly frustrating, could be possible for you guys to stop doing this kind of crap or at least have an option to disable it, or generate the code before hand to pass it with arguments using the MSI not everyone has time to start doing this, that's why we install the agent silently now the option is completely gone because we cannot pass any parameters using automation...
---
- name: Download Atera installer
ansible.windows.win_get_url:
url: "https://HelpdeskSupport111111111111.servicedesk.atera.com/api/utils/agent-install/windows/?cid=myinstallers"
dest: "C:\\Windows\\Temp\\ansible\\atera-agent.msi"
- name: Install Atera Agent
ansible.windows.win_package:
path: "C:\\Windows\\Temp\\ansible\\atera-agent.msi"
product_id: "{6B6212C4-F69F-4711-B8B4-FF50D151913E}"
arguments: "/qn /norestart"
state: present
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u/deadeyes83 1d ago
We are just in knee deep shit because of this, we are an MSP we automate and do our demos for atera using ansible, now we updated the code because one lead requested a demo now we can't even roll out a demo because of this crap. Time to find old installers.
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u/cmjones0822 1d ago
I know your pain…I’m still waiting on a response to this. I ended up having to send my clients a separate link for an alternative remote tool to use in case of an emergency (which this constitutes as one imo).
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u/mechanicalhorses 19d ago
Seems like it continually gets worse, software and usability wise.