Deploying Office with Systems Management Server

Creating Systems Management Server Packages for Office 2000

To begin Microsoft Office deployment with Microsoft Systems Management Server (SMS), you need to create a Systems Management Server package. Systems Management Server packages define both the files required to install the software, as well as configuration and identification information for the package itself. When you create a package, you must specify a Setup command line.

In Systems Management Server 1.2 and 2.0, you use package definition files (PDFs) to deploy Office. A PDF is an ASCII text file that contains predefined Workstations, Sharing, and Inventory property settings for a package. When you import a PDF, the properties of the package are automatically entered for you.

You can import the PDFs into the Distribute Software Wizard to complete the entire distribution in a single step. (The Distribute Software Wizard is available only in Systems Management Server 2.0.) Alternatively, you can import the PDFs into the Create Package from Definition Wizard to create just the software package.

When the wizard is completed, Systems Management Server displays the new package in the SMS Administrator. By default, the User and Guest accounts are granted Change permissions to the package share on distribution points. You can modify the packages and programs by using the SMS Administrator.

Toolbox   Systems Management Server includes package definition files for a number of software applications and operating systems. The Office Resource Kit includes PDFs for Office 2000. For information about installing these PDFs, see Systems Management Server Package Definition Files.

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Distributing Systems Management Server packages

When you distribute a Systems Management Server package, you must specify which computers receive the package, where the source files for the installation are located, and when the installation occurs.

In Systems Management Server 2.0, the distribution of packages to clients is a two-step process. First you create the package and send it to the distribution points; then you create an advertisement.

Systems Management Server 2.0 uses distribution points to store the files needed to distribute programs to clients. To run advertised programs, clients must have access to at least one distribution point. To send packages to distribution points, you use the Manage Distribution Points Wizard.

Like a job in Systems Management Server 1.2, a Systems Management Server 2.0 advertisement specifies the program to run on the client, the target collection that receives the package, and the schedule of when the program is available to clients.

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See also

For more information about deploying software with Systems Management Server 1.2, see the Microsoft Systems Management Server 1.2 Resource Guide in the Microsoft BackOffice Resource Kit, Second Edition.

For more information about deploying software with Systems Management Server 2.0, see the Microsoft Systems Management Server 2.0 Administrator’s Guide, which comes with SMS 2.0. Information is also available in the Microsoft Systems Management Server 2.0 Resource Guide in the Microsoft BackOffice 4.5 Resource Kit.

For information about new developments and tools for Systems Management Server, see the Microsoft Systems Management Server Web site at http://www.microsoft.com/smsmgmt/.