1.3 Configuring the Package Used by the Package Definition File
Using
a package definition file provides a solid configuration for building
the program required to install the OpsMgr agent. This is just one of
the configurations completed with the Create Package from Definition
Wizard . To see the properties of this package,
right-click the package (located in the Configuration Manager console
-> Site Database -> Software Distribution -> Packages) and go
to the Properties page.
The package’s
General tab displays the default settings created. These include the
name, version, manufacturer, language, and comment for the package. Figure 16 shows an example of the General tab with the information populated from the package definition file.
Notice the other tabs that are part of the package properties. The Data Source tab in Figure 17 specifies where the files are located and shows their distribution method.
In this example, the OpsMgr package was created with uncompressed source files (see the option previously specified in Figure 4
to always obtain files from the source directory). You can change this
setting after creating the package, and change the location of the
source files using the Set button next to this field. Unchecking the
option This package contains source files will gray out the remaining
items on this tab. Alternatively, you can also choose to make this
package use a compressed copy of the source directory, which grays out
the option to update distribution points on a schedule.
If
you check the option Always obtain files from the source directory,
there is an option to update distribution points on a schedule. This
option is useful for those software packages that you expect to update
source files for on a regular basis. The option is configured by using
the Schedule button and then configuring the start time (which defaults
to the current date and time), the recurrence (none, weekly, monthly,
custom interval) and how often it will recur (in days, hours or
minutes). This option is seldom used, however.
Use
the option Persist content in the client cache for recurring packages
such as antivirus software. This option stores the program in the
client cache for an indefinite period; however, this requires that the
advertisement is configured to download and execute. The option is
disabled by default. Use this option with care, because it decreases
the amount of available client cache and could cause a package to fail
to distribute if there is insufficient space to store that package.
The
last option on this tab is Enable binary differential replication,
which by default is disabled. If this option is checked, the package
uses binary delta comparison for the source files. This means that
ConfigMgr sends only the changed portions of the file, rather than the
entire file.
Checking this option can
significantly decrease bandwidth requirements when creating updates for
large packages already sent to distribution points. However, using this
option introduces additional complexity to replicating packages and
debugging issues with package distribution.
For the OpsMgr package, leave the defaults previously configured through the package definition file, displayed in Figure 17.
The Data Access tab (shown in Figure 18)
specifies the shared folder location of the package when sent to a DP
as well as the package update settings. The shared folder location
section allows you to choose one of two options:
Access the distribution folder through common ConfigMgr package share— This is the default configuration and specifies that packages are accessed through the SMSPKG x$ share (where x
is the drive letter the distribution point is storing the data on). As
an example, if you store a package on the E: drive of the Wildflower
server, the package is accessed via the \\Wildflower\SMSPKGE$ share.
Share the distribution folder—
This option allows you to share the folder using a share name that you
specify. The share name must be unique across all packages. Each time
the package is updated or refreshed, the content of the folder
(including files and subfolders) is deleted and re-created. If you
created a share on the Wildflower site server for the custom
application MyApp, the share name would be \\Wildflower\MyApp.
A
variation of this option is specifying a share that includes the path,
which might be under a shared path such as the name of the company’s
custom applications. For MyApp, this would be stored under
\\Wildflower\OdysseyMyApp if you specified the share name of
Odyssey\MyApp (it is best to create a top-level share specific to the
organization to differentiate between custom and noncustom
applications). These options to share the distribution folder under a
nondefault name are useful if systems outside of ConfigMgr will access
the share.
The
Package update settings section of the Data Access tab specifies how
ConfigMgr will handle access to distribution points when there are
updates to the package data. If users are connected to the distribution
points, there may be locked files or inconsistent results—some of the
files may be updated but others not. By default, the option to
disconnect users from distribution points is unchecked. If this option
is checked, two additional configurations are required; these relate to
the number of retries before users are disconnected and the interval
between user notifications and disconnections. This option only affects
standard distribution points (not branch distribution points).
The number of retries before disconnecting users—
This option specifies the number of times ConfigMgr will try to update
the package source files before it disconnects users from the DP. This
setting defaults to 2 and has an acceptable range of 0–99.
The interval between user notification and disconnection (minutes)—
The interval specifies the number of minutes ConfigMgr will wait after
notifying users before disconnecting them from the distribution point.
This setting defaults to 5 minutes and has an acceptable range of 0–59
minutes.
Note: Run Program from Distribution Point and Vista/Server 2008 Client Systems
If
the program within the package has the option “Run the program from the
distribution point” selected (defined in the advertisement on the
Distribution Point tab) and the clients are running Windows Vista or Windows Server 2008, those clients will not receive user notification.
For the OpsMgr package, keep the defaults configured through the package definition file, shown in Figure 18.
The Distribution Settings tab displayed in Figure 19 specifies the priority, preferred sender, and configurations for branch distribution points for the package.
Sending priority—
This has options of Low, Medium (default), and High. The setting
determines the priority of the package when sending it to another site.
ConfigMgr sends packages in priority order; if packages have identical
priorities, ConfigMgr sends them in the order they were created. The
Low priority option is good for packages not requiring quick
distribution, such as nonmandatory packages infrequently installed. The
High priority option is good for packages requiring distribution
quickly, regardless of other packages available.
Preferred sender—
The Preferred sender dropdown specifies the type of sender used to send
the package to other sites. The default setting is <No
Preference>, which uses any available sender. Here are the other
options available:
Asynchronous RAS Sender
Courier Sender
ISDN RAS Sender
Standard Sender
SNA RAS Sender
X25 RAS Sender
The
default configuration will work for most situations, although a good
example of when to change this is for large packages that you do not
want to send over the network. For these types of packages, specifying
the courier sender allows distribution without sending them across the
network. Courier sender is not used to distribute packages unless you
choose this option.
The Branch distribution point content settings section has two options:
Automatically download content when packages are assigned to branch distribution points—
This is the default setting. If you choose this option, a second check
box is available: Make the package available on protected distribution
points when requested by clients inside the protected boundaries. This
specifies whether the package is available for download to a branch
distribution point not already designated as a DP. Choosing this option
means the local branch distribution point will download the package
when a client requests the package. Once the content is available on
the DP, the next client request will be able to download and run the
content (this is only available for protected branch distribution
points).
Tip: Branch Distribution Points and Automatically Downloaded Content
The
first time a client requests software from the branch distribution
point configured to automatically download content when packages are
assigned to branch distribution points, an error message displays
indicating the content is not available (assuming this is an
advertisement that must be triggered manually). This error is normal
and indicates the distribution point does not yet have the content.
Attempting to run the software from the branch distribution point will
set the flag on the branch distribution point to retrieve the content.
Administrator manually copies the package to branch distribution points—
This is the other option to distribute content, and it’s useful if you
have your own replication mechanisms in place for branch distribution
points (such as a scheduled off-hours Robocopy to the branch
distribution point).
For the OpsMgr package, keep the defaults configured with the package definition file, shown in Figure 19.
The Reporting tab of the software package, displayed in Figure 20,
specifies the configurations for the Management Information Format
(MIF) configured for the package. The package’s MIF file is placed in
the Windows folder; ConfigMgr can find the file and use the information
in it to provide package success and failure information. Two options
are available on this tab:
Use package properties for status MIF matching— This
option specifies the settings used for the MIF filename (maximum 50
characters), name (maximum 50 characters), version (maximum 32
characters), and publisher (maximum 50 characters). This is the default
option when you use a package definition file to create your software
package (shown in Figure 20). The MIF filename is also integrated into the programs on the General tab in the command-line field using the /m parameter.
Use these fields for status MIF matching—
This is the default option when creating a new package without a
definition file. If you choose this option, ConfigMgr uses the
properties on the General tab for MIF file matching.
The
last tab on the package properties is the Security tab. This tab
defines the class and instance security for this package object. The
top section shows the class security rights for the object and the
bottom section shows the instance security rights. Each section has
three buttons used to maintain entries in that section:
Selecting the starburst button allows you to add security rights.
The folder button edits the highlighted security rights.
The red X button deletes the highlighted security rights.
Figure 21 shows the default security rights generated from the package definition file.
After completing the program configuration, your next step is to distribute the package.
|
Using
a package definition file saves a significant amount of work by
streamlining the process of creating the package and the programs. It
provides a good starting point you can use when customizing software
packages to specific requirements.
|
Packaging
the Operations Manager agent with a package definition file
demonstrates many of the configurations used when manually creating a
package and a program. Although using a package definition file (an
MSI, PDF, or MIF file) is the recommended approach, what takes place
when a package definition file is not available? Drawing on the
information just used to create the OpsMgr package, the next section
discusses the process for creating packages and programs manually,
using the Forefront client as an example.
