User Documentation:SMS Deployment
From SASDocs
Date: October 3, 2005
To: All SAS PC Customers
From: System Administration Services
Re: Deploying/Updating applications on Admin domain Windows PCs
** Liaisons please distribute to all current departmental employees using Windows PCs. Please also include this with any material given to new employees**
SAS will be deploying applications to our Windows XP customers’ domain PCs through Systems Management Server (SMS). SAS has made available updated applications to departmental users.
SAS had planned on deploying these software updates on Wednesday nights but less then 75% of the machines are being left on for their regular updates. What SAS plans on doing is “Advertising” the updated applications (i.e. Eudora, Web Browsers, Adobe Reader, etc) to our Windows XP customers and allowing them to install the updates based on their schedule.
After a certain period of “Advertising” the applications (about two weeks) SAS will force install mandatory applications. Applications will only be made mandatory when there are security implications or major bug fixes included in the updated software. Mandatory installations may force users who have not done the upgrade to be logged off while the upgrade is in process. Because of this SAS recommends that users take the time to do the upgrade during the “Advertising” period for an application. Most applications that are being deployed will not require a reboot or a forced log off of our PCs; however, applications you are upgrading need to be closed to perform the upgrade.
The following is a step by step explanation (including screen captures) of the SMS software deployment/upgrade process.
If there are any questions please contact SAS at 7-3636 or itsas@mtu.edu
[edit] SMS Software Deployment / Application Upgrades
This is an example of the Qualcomm Eudora upgrade deployed with SMS.
When the Eudora upgrade is published to our customers they will see a pop-up message in the bottom right of their screens. The pop-up box will look like this:
When this message box pops-up on the user’s screen the user can double click the text bubble and it will bring up the next screen asking the user what program they’d like to install. That screen looks like this:
Users will see what applications are published to them listed in the box below “Add Programs from your network:” (see above image). As time goes on there will be a larger list of applications available in this list. In this example “Qualcomm Eudora 6.2.3 – Eudora 6.2.3 Quiet” is an application listed as available for install. Users wishing to install this application would be sure that their current version of the Eudora software was closed and would then click the Add button on the right hand side of that window.
The “Add” button only needs to be clicked once. Click here to watch a movie. Some applications do not give the user any feedback because they are designed to be a quiet installation. If nothing appears on the screen notifying you of the application’s installation progress please assume that the application is installing and DO NOT click the Add button again. Silent installations shouldn’t take longer then 10 minutes.
If the user doesn’t want to do the update when the pop-up bubble appears they can ignore it and continue to work normally. When the user decides they want to do the update they can double click the icon in the system tray by the clock, the icon is shown below. The icon will look like a CD-ROM with a star on it.
If the user wants to see what applications are available at any time in the future they can follow these steps:Click here to see a movie of the process.
- Click the Start Button, Move to “Settings” from the pop-out menu, choose “Control Panel”.
- The “Control Panel” window will open, find and double click the “Add or Remove Programs” icon.
- The “Add or Remove Programs” window will open. Along the left hand side of the window there will be an icon for “Add New Programs” single click that icon.
- Programs that are available to the user will be listed under the “Add programs from your network:” heading. Each application that is listed will have an “Add” button and if it has already been installed on the user’s machine it will display “installed” beneath the button.
