Creating a Software Installation Snap-in Tool

Creating a Software Installation Snap-in Tool

To create the Software Installation snap-in:

1. Log on to the HQ-RES-DC-01 server as an administrator.
   
2. Click Start, click Run, type mmc, and then click OK.
   
3. In the MMC console, click Add/Remove Snap-in on the Console menu.
   
4. In the Add/Remove Snap-in dialog box, click Add.
   
5. In the Add Stand-alone Snap-in dialog box, click Active Directory Users and Computers on the Available Standalone Snap-ins list, and then click Add. Click Close, then click OK.
   
6. In the console tree, double-click Active Directory Users and Computers to expand the tree, double-click the reskit.com domain, double-click the Accounts organizational unit (OU).
   
7. Click the + next to the Headquarters OU.
   

Saving the Software Installation Snap-in Tool

As you go through this guide, you may want to save changes to the MMC console.

To save your changes:

1. In the MMC console, click Save on the Console menu.
   
2. In the Save dialog box, type SIM Tool in the File name text box, and then click Save.
   

Your snap-in will look similar to Figure 1 below.

Figure 1: Software Installation Snap-In

Creating a Group Policy Object

If you have already completed the Group Policy step-by-step guide, then you may have already created the necessary Group Policy objects (GPOs).

To create a Group Policy Object (GPO):

1. In the Software Installation snap-in tool you just saved (SIM Tool console), in the console tree, double-click Active Directory Users and Computers, double-click reskit.com, and then double-click Accounts.
   
2. Right-click Headquarters, and select Properties from the context menu.
   
3. In the Headquarters Properties dialog box, click the Group Policy tab, and then click New.
   
4. Type HQ Policy.
   This creates a new Group Policy object called HQ Policy.
   At this point, you could add another GPO—giving each one that you create a meaningful name—or you could choose to edit a GPO, which starts the Group Policy and Software Installation snap-ins. If you have more than one GPO associated with an Active Directory folder, verify the order; a GPO that is higher in the list is processed first.
   
5. Click Close.
   

Best Practice Consider using security descriptors (DACLs) on the GPO to increase the granularity of software management for your organization.

To close the Software Installation snap-in:

1. In the SIM Tool console, click Save on the Console menu.
   
2. Click Exit on the Console menu.
   

To edit a Group Policy Object (GPO):

1. Log on to the HQ-RES-DC-01 server as an administrator.
   
2. Click Start, point to Programs, click Administrative Tools, and then click SIM Tool.
   
3. In the SIM Tool console, double-click Active Directory Users and Computers, double-click reskit.com, and then double-click Accounts.
   
4. Right-click Headquarters, and select Properties from the context menu. In the Headquarters Properties dialog box, click the Group Policy tab. Right-click HQ Policy in the Group Policy Object Links list box, and click Edit.
   This opens the Group Policy snap-in.
   
5. In the Group Policy snap-in, under Computer Configuration node, double-click Software Settings.
   
6. In the console tree, under the User Configuration node, double-click Software Settings.
   

You have opened the Software Installation snap-in for the HQ Policy GPO. Your snap-in should look like Figure 2 below.

Figure 2: Group Policy Snap-In

You can use the Software Settings node in the console tree under HQ Policy and Computer Configuration to assign an application to computers that are managed by this GPO. You use the Software Settings node under the User Configuration node to assign or publish an application to users who are managed by this GPO.

Configuring the Software Installation Defaults for a Group Policy Object

You can configure default settings for Software Installation on a per-Group Policy Object (GPO) basis.

To specify software installation defaults for the selected Group Policy object, you use the Software Installation Properties dialog box, shown below in Figure 3. This section explains some of the available options.

Figure 3: The Software Installation Properties page

Setting Options for New Packages and Installation User Interface

To control what happens when you add a new package to the selected GPO, you use the General tab in the Software Installation Properties dialog box, and set options in the New packages frame. The default behavior is that the Deploy Software dialog box appears each time, and the administrator can select one of the choices from that dialog box.

If you are going to deploy several packages to a GPO as published without transforms, you can select Publish in the New Packages frame, and every package that is deployed is automatically published. If you are going to add a package with a transform (customization or .mst file), you must select Advanced published or assigned.

Note: You cannot add or change transforms (.mst files) after the software is deployed.

This setting is most useful when an administrator is adding several applications at one time. For example, if an administrator is adding five applications to this GPO and they are all to be published with no transforms, then the administrator could set this to Publish.

Similarly, the options in the Installation user interface options frame allow the administrator to set how much of the user interface (UI) the Windows Installer presents to a user during installation. The Basic UI (the default option) only presents progress bars and messages; no user choices are presented other than Cancel. The Maximum UI option shows the UI that the author of the Windows Installer package defined.

Setting Options for Categories

When an organization has a large amount of software to manage, administrators can create categories for software. These categories can then be used to filter the software in the Add/Remove Programs in Control Panel. For example, you could create a category called Productivity Applications and include software such as word processing and database management applications.

Although there is a Categories tab on the Software installation Properties dialog box, categories are established on a per-domain basis. This means the domain administrator can create and edit the categories from any of the Software installation Properties pages for any GPO in the domain. Administrators can then use these categories with software they are managing within any GPO in the domain. There are no default or supplied categories.

Best Practice Because Categories are established per domain rather than per GPO, an organization should standardize the Categories and create them in a centralized manner.

To configure the default settings:

1. In the Group Policy snap-in console tree, right-click Software installation under User Configuration, and then click Properties. This opens the Software Installation Properties dialog box. You use this dialog box to set defaults for software installation in the current GPO. You can set the default package location to the network location of the software distribution point you created earlier. Then you do not have to browse for each package that you add.
   
2. In the Software installation Properties dialog box, click Browse.
   You need to browse for the software distribution point you created in the previous section relative to the network share location, rather than the local drive on the server. This ensures that you are managing software from the network share location that users can access. Users cannot access the package from the local drive of the server.
   
3. In the Browse for Folder dialog box, click the plus sign (+) next to My Network Places, double-click Entire Network, double-click Microsoft Windows Network, and then double-click reskit.com.
   
4. Double-click HQ-RES-DC-01, click Managed Applications, and then click OK.
   Note: The exact navigation above may differ on your network. Be sure that you are pointing to the software distribution point relative to the network rather than relative to the local drive on the server.
   
5. In the Software Installation Properties dialog box, click the General tab, select the Display the Deploy Software dialog box (default) in the New Packages field, and select Basic (default) in the Installation user interface options field.
   
6. In the Software installation Properties dialog box, click the Categories tab. Click Add.
   
7. In the Enter new category dialog box, type Productivity Applications in the Category text box, and then click OK. In the Categories tab, click Add.
   
8. In the Enter new category dialog box, type System Applications in the Category text box, and then click OK. Click OK.
   

Later, if you want to change these defaults or add additional categories for the organization, you can return to the Software installation Properties dialog box. As mentioned previously, categories are per-domain, not per GPO.

At this point you can either close the Software Installation snap-in or proceed with the scenarios described next.