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Uninstalling SenseOn

⚠ Warning: SenseOn has a number of analytics which monitor for, and alert on, attempts to uninstall the SenseOn agent.

If you deployed SenseOn using an automation tool, such as one listed under 'Automated Deployment', use that tool for uninstalling that agent where possible. See below for how to manually uninstall the universal sensor from supported operating systems.

SenseOn installs two packages

Every supported platform installs two SenseOn packages, and both must be removed:

Package What it is
The Universal Sensor The agent itself, which collects and reports telemetry.
The bootstrapper A small service which installs and updates the Universal Sensor.

⚠ Remove the bootstrapper as well as the sensor. While the bootstrapper is installed and running it checks whether the Universal Sensor is present and reinstalls it if it is missing, normally within about ten minutes. Removing only the sensor therefore does not stick, and the device cannot be enrolled again until the bootstrapper is gone.

Windows

The two packages appear separately under installed programs:

  • SEE, published by SenseOn, which is the Universal Sensor.
  • senseon-bootstrapper, published by SenseOn.

This is the most reliable method, and the only one which removes both packages and stops the services in the right order.

  • Copy and save the PowerShell script at this link to a location of your choosing.
  • Open PowerShell as an Administrator.
  • Navigate to the directory containing the script and run it.
  • If you encounter an error stating that the script "cannot be loaded because running scripts is disabled on this system", run powershell.exe -ExecutionPolicy Bypass .\<script_name.ps1> from the same PowerShell instance, replacing <script_name> with the name you saved the script under.

PS Uninstall

The script writes a log to %TEMP%\SenseOnUninstall\. It exits with code 0 only once both packages have been removed, and the end of the log then reads Both SenseOn packages have been removed. A non-zero exit code means the removal did not fully complete: 2 if it was not run as an Administrator, 10 if the Universal Sensor could not be removed, and 11 if the bootstrapper could not be removed. When a package is left behind the log records it as Still installed after this run, so check the exit code or the log before treating the device as clean rather than assuming the run succeeded. If the log records REBOOT REQUIRED, restart the device to finish the removal.

Like most uninstallers it leaves the data folders under C:\ProgramData alone. Add -RemoveData to delete those too, which also clears the device's enrolment so that a later install enrols the device from scratch.

💡 Deploying the script with a software distribution tool. Run it elevated. It is safe to run more than once, and a package which has already been removed is skipped rather than reported as a failure.

Using Add/Remove programs

  • Press Windows Key.
  • Start typing add remove program, then select the first match, which should be Add or remove programs.
  • On the search bar type senseon.
  • Uninstall senseon-bootstrapper first, so that it cannot reinstall the sensor while you work.
  • Then search for SEE and uninstall that too.

SEE Uninstall

Using PowerShell with access to the deployed MSI

⚠ Note: This method requires the original MSI files which were used during the installation. If you installed using the SenseOn install command from Settings > Universal Sensor, the MSI is deleted automatically after installation and this method will not be available. Use the PowerShell script above instead.

  • Open PowerShell as an Administrator.
  • Run msiexec.exe /x <absolute_path_to_bootstrapper_msi> first.
  • Then run msiexec.exe /x <absolute_path_to_sensor_msi>.

PowerShell Uninstall

Removing all data

Uninstalling does not delete the SenseOn data folders, which is normal for a Windows uninstaller. To remove them as well, either run the PowerShell script with -RemoveData, or delete these folders by hand once the packages are gone:

C:\ProgramData\senseon-bootstrapper C:\ProgramData\senseon-see

The first holds the device's enrolment, so leaving it means a later install reuses the existing device record rather than enrolling the device afresh. The second holds the antimalware signature sets, which run to several hundred megabytes per device, so it is worth clearing if you are removing SenseOn from many devices.

Linux

Remove both packages. Listing the bootstrapper first stops it reinstalling the sensor part-way through.

Ubuntu/Debian

To manually uninstall SenseOn from Ubuntu/Debian devices, open a terminal prompt and run, in order:

  1. sudo apt purge senseon-bootstrapper
  2. sudo apt purge senseon-see

Run these as two separate commands rather than one apt purge with both package names: a single invocation lets apt choose its own removal order from the dependency graph, which is not guaranteed to match the order the packages are listed in.

CentOS/RedHat

To manually uninstall SenseOn from CentOS/RedHat devices, open a terminal prompt and run, in order:

  1. sudo rpm -e senseon-bootstrapper
  2. sudo rpm -e senseon-see

Removing all data

To remove the device's enrolment as well, delete the bootstrapper's data directory once the packages are gone:

  1. sudo rm -rf /var/senseon-bootstrapper

macOS

Each package ships its own uninstall script, and both need to be run. Run the sensor's script first so that it can report the removal to the SenseOn platform, then the bootstrapper's.

  1. Open a terminal prompt and run: cp /opt/senseon-see/senseon-see.app/Contents/Resources/osx_uninstall.sh /tmp/uninstall_sensor.sh
  2. From the same terminal shell, run: sudo /tmp/uninstall_sensor.sh.
  3. Then run: cp /opt/senseon-bootstrapper/senseon-bootstrapper.app/Contents/Resources/osx_uninstall.sh /tmp/uninstall_bootstrapper.sh
  4. From the same terminal shell, run: sudo /tmp/uninstall_bootstrapper.sh.

💡 The sensor's uninstall script sends a 'last breath' message to the SenseOn Platform (so we can see when a client is uninstalled), stops the agent, and removes the senseon user from the device. It then unloads the sensor, removes all sensor files, and removes the package listing via pkgutil. The bootstrapper's script unloads and removes the bootstrapper in the same way.

Removing all data

To remove the device's enrolment as well, delete the bootstrapper's data directory once both scripts have run:

  1. sudo rm -rf /var/senseon-bootstrapper