A review of software deployment strategies

Software deployment Strategy

Use the Software Distribution feature of Group Policy to publish applications for users under a policy scope.

Introduction to Software Deployment strategy

The application is managed in a Group Policy object, which can be contacted in turn to an Active Directory container, which can be a site, domain, or organizational unit. Applications can be managed in two modes: assigned or published.

You need everyone to assign an application when you have the application on his or her computer. For example, suppose that each user to the marketing department has Microsoft Excel on their computer. Group Policy objects manage each user of the market. When you assign Microsoft Excel within a Marketing Group Policy object, Microsoft Excel is advertised on each market user's computer. When an assigned application is advertised, it is not actually installed on the computer. In this case, the application publishes only part of the information that installs Microsoft Excel enough to have Microsoft Excel shortcuts appear on the Startup menu and the necessary file associations (. xls) that are displayed in the registry.

When these users log on to their computer, Microsoft Excel appears on the Start menu. The first time you select Microsoft Excel from the Start menu, install Microsoft Excel. Users can also open an application-associated document to install an advertised application (either by file name extension or by activating COM). If the user who has not activated Microsoft Excel from the Start menu clicks the Microsoft Excel spreadsheet to open it, install Microsoft Excel and open the spreadsheet.

Users can delete an assigned application, but the user will advertise the assigned application again the next time they log on. The user can choose to install from the Start menu next time.

Requires that an application can be used by a user who is managed by a Group Policy object if the user needs the application to publish the application. By publishing the application, each user decides whether or not to install the published application.

For example, if a user who is managed by a Marketing Group Policy object publishes Microsoft Image Composer, and a market user needs to install image Composer, the user can use Add/Remove Programs in Control Panel and click in the published application list. Image Composer ", and then install. If the user does not use Add/Remove Programs in Control Panel to install Image Composer, and the file name extension. jpg of the mirrored document is associated with the image Composer, the image Composer will be installed the first time a user opens any. jpg document.

File formats supported by Group Policy software deployment

In addition to executables such as Setup.exe and Install.exe, you can also use file formats with Group Policy Software installation, as shown in the table.

File formats currently supported for software deployment of table Group Policy

File type	Name extension	Description
Windows Installer Package	. msi	MSI is Microsoft's own definition of a software Installation format packet, basically Microsoft's current products are published in this format. These files are typically provided by software vendors to speed up the installation of specific applications. These files and any other required files must be saved together in the software distribution point as the software to be managed.
Transformation	. mst	Also known as modifications, these files customize the installation of Windows Installer packages when assigned or published. For example, they might specify a subset of the application suite.
Patches	. msp	Bug fixes, Service packs, and similar files can all be distributed in this form. Patches should not be used for major changes, and their effects are limited as follows: You cannot delete a component or feature. The product code cannot be changed. You cannot delete or change the name of a shortcut, file, or registry key.
. zap File	. Zap	These files are similar to. ini files and are created using a text editor such as Notepad. Zap is an extension of a text file. Represents a text-based file that people create to install current Setup.exe software on a user's machine. This software cannot be uninstalled, or let them be installed in the background, and the software cannot be repaired itself. These files are created with a text editor, such as Notepad. They can only be published (not assigned), and they specify an executable installer for users with administrative privileges on the local computer, which appears in Add or Remove Programs in Control Panel. Attention It may be difficult to use quotes correctly in the. zap file syntax. The following rules can be applied: The path and name of the executable installer must always be enclosed in quotation marks. If there are no command-line arguments, you must enclose them in two quotes. Examples of syntax using absolute paths: Setupcommand= "" \\ServerName\ShareName\FolderName\setup.exe "" Setupcommand= "\\ServerName\ShareName\FolderName\setup.exe"/argument Examples of syntax using relative paths: setupcommand= "" Setup.exe "" setupcommand= "Setup.exe"/argument
Application Allocation Scripts	. AAS	These files contain instructions related to the assignment or publication of a package.