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You can install any software either using MSI file or if you do not have than you can use ZAP installation for .EXE file.
The Active Directory Users and Computers snap-in is part of the Administrative Tools program group. It already has a Group Policy and Software Installation snap-in. You may either follow these steps to configure your own tool, a saved snap-in, or use the Active Directory Users and Computers snap-in.
To create the Software Installation snap-in:
Log on to the HQ-RES-DC-01 server as an administrator.
Click Start, click Run, type mmc, and then click OK.
In the MMC console, click Add/Remove Snap-in on the Console menu.
In the Add/Remove Snap-in dialog box, click Add.
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.
In the console tree, double-click Active Directory Users and Computers to expand the tree, double-click the reskit.com domain, double-click theAccounts organizational unit (OU).
Click the + next to the Headquarters OU.
As you go through this guide, you may want to save changes to the MMC console.
To save your changes:
In the MMC console, click Save on the Console menu.
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 Figure1 below.
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):
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.
Right-click Headquarters, and select Properties from the context menu.
In the Headquarters Properties dialog box, click the Group Policy tab, and then click New.
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.
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:
In the SIM Tool console, click Save on the Console menu.
Click Exit on the Console menu.
To edit a Group Policy Object (GPO):
Log on to the HQ-RES-DC-01 server as an administrator.
Click Start, point to Programs, click Administrative Tools, and then click SIM Tool.
In the SIM Tool console, double-click Active Directory Users and Computers, double-click reskit.com, and then double-click Accounts.
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.
In the Group Policy snap-in, under Computer Configuration node, double-click Software Settings.
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 Figure2 below.
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.
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 Figure3. This section explains some of the available options.
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 thanCancel. 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:
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
In the Software installation Properties dialog box, click the Categories tab. Click Add.
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.
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.
This guide covers a few basic scenarios for Software Installation and Maintenance, including:
Assigning repackaged Microsoft Word97 (to users).
Publishing Microsoft Excel97 (using a .zap file).
Removing Excel97.
Upgrading Word97 to Microsoft Office2000 (using an Office2000 transform).
Assigning Windows2000 to a computer (a new build).
As the packages for these applications are not included, you may have to modify the step-by-step guide. You may use applications that either natively support the Windows Installer or that you have repackaged for the Windows Installer.
Please note that this guide does not describe all of the possible Software Installation and Maintenance scenarios. You should use this guide to gain an understanding of Software Installation and Maintenance. Then think about how your organization might use software installation and the other IntelliMirror features to reduce TCO.
Note: If you completed the Group Policy step-by-step guide, it may be necessary to undo some of the Group Policy to complete this guide. For example, the Loopback policy disables the ability to access the Add/Remove Programs in the Control Panel.
Whether publishing or assigning software, the basic steps are fundamentally the same. This guide presents a scenario for assigning a repackaged version of Microsoft Word97 for users.
This procedure assumes that you have already created a Word97 folder in the software distribution point created earlier, and that you are using a repackaged version of Microsoft Word97.
Note: To assign to users, start in the Group Policy snap-in User Configuration node. To assign to computers, start in the Computer Configuration node.
To assign repackaged Word or other software:
Log on to the HQ-RES-DC-01 server as an administrator.
Click Start, point to Programs, click Administrative Tools, and then click SIM Tool.
In the SIM Tool console, double-click Active Directory Users and Computers, double-click reskit.com, and then double-click Accounts.
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 to open the Group Policy snap-in.
In the Group Policy snap-in, under User Configuration, double-click Software Settings, right-click Software installation, and then select New from the context menu. Click Package.
In the Open dialog box, click the Word97 folder.
You need to substitute the folder for the software you are going to deploy, from the software distribution point you created earlier.
Click Open. Click Word, and click Open. In the Deploy Software dialog, click Assigned, and then click OK.
Note: If you are going to deploy a Windows Installer package with a transform, you have to select Configure package properties in the Deploy Softwaredialog so that you can associate the transform with the package. Make any other changes to the properties at this point, before you press OK to either assign or publish the software.
The application is added to the Software Installation snap-in as assigned. After the application is assigned, you can right-click the application entry in the details pane to view the assigned applications property pages.
The application is assigned to all the users managed by the Headquarters GPO.
Verifying the Effect of Assigning Word
To verify the effect of assigning Word97 to the Headquarters GPO, you can log on to Windows2000 Professional as a user who is managed by the Headquarters OU. (If you are using the common infrastructure, you could log on to the client as , for example.)
When you log on to Windows2000 Professional, you should see a Microsoft Word icon on the Start menu.
If you select Word, the Windows Installer installs Word for you. While the installation is proceeding, you should see a progress indicator from the Windows Installer. When the installation is complete, Word starts and you can edit a document.
If the software installation becomes damaged, then the next time the user selects Word from the Start menu, if all the key files as defined in the Windows Installer package for Word are present, Word starts. If a key file is missing or damaged, the Windows Installer repairs Word and then starts it.
To publish Excel97 without repackaging it for the Windows Installer, you must first create a .zap file for Excel. Use the .zap file example in the appendix as a model. You also need to create a folder for Excel97 in the software distribution point you created earlier.
Open the Software Installation snap-in saved previously, and edit the Headquarters GPO. (See the steps in the preceding section.) When you are ready to publish Excel97, the snap-in should look like it did when you assigned Word97 in the previous section.
To publish Excel:
In the SIM Tool console, double-click Active Directory Users and Computers, double-click reskit.com, and then double-click Accounts.
Right-click Headquarters, and click Properties.
In the Headquarters Properties dialog box, click the Group Policy tab, click the HQ Policy GPO, and then click Edit to open the Group Policy snap-in.
In the Group Policy snap-in console tree, under User Configuration, double-click Software Settings, right-click Software installation, and then selectNew from the context menu. Click Package.
In the Open dialog box, click the Excel97 folder, and click Open.
In the Files of type combo box, click the down arrow, and then click ZAW Down-level applications package (*.zap). Click Excel97, and click Open.
In the Deploy Software dialog box, the Publish option is already selected, click OK.
Excel97 is published to the users managed by the Headquarters GPO.
Because a ZAP file publishes the existing Setup, the Setup will not run with elevated privileges. Therefore, you will need to supply administrative privileges during the Setup. This can be done by using the Install Program as Other User dialog box. Accessing this dialog is controlled by policy. A policy called Request credentials for network installations is available in the Group Policy snap-in, under User Configuration\Administrative Templates\Windows Components\Windows Explorer. If enabled, this policy displays the Install Program As Other User dialog box even when a program is being installed from files on a network computer across a local area network. For more information, see the Explain tab on this policy property page.
To set the Request Credentials for network installations policy:
In the SIM Tool console, navigate to the Headquarters OU, and then right-click Headquarters and click Properties.
In the Headquarters Properties dialog box, double-click the HQ Policy GPO to open the Group Policy snap-in.
In the Group Policy snap-in, under User Configuration, click the + next to Administrative Templates.
In the Request credentials for network installations dialog box, click Enabled, and click OK. Close the Group Policy snap-in
In the Headquarters Properties dialog box, click OK.
In the SIM Tool console, click Save on the Console menu. Click Exit on the Console menu.
Verifying the Effects of Publishing Excel97
To verify the effect of publishing Excel97 to the Headquarters GPO, first log on to Windows2000 Professional as a user who is managed by the Headquarters OU. (If you are using the common infrastructure, you could log on as , for example.)
To confirm the effects of publishing Excel97:
Click Start, point to Settings, click Control Panel, and then double-click Add/Remove Programs.
In the Add/Remove Programs dialog box shown in Figure4 below, click Add New Programs.
Note: Word97, which was assigned, is listed in the Add/Remove Programs dialog box. This is so that users can add or remove the assigned program if they need to. Even if a user removes the assigned application, it is available for installation again the next time the user logs on.
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Select Microsoft Excel97 from the Add programs from your network list, and click Add.
You should see the Install Program As Other User dialog box shown in Figure5 below because you are installing a non-Windows Installer based application.
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In the Install Program As Other User dialog box, click Run the program as the following user, type Administrator in the User Name text box, and type the domain name (reskit) in the Domain box. If you have an Administrator password set for this computer, you must enter this as well.
Click OK.
Excel now installs using the original Setup program. You should follow the instructions in the original Setup UI to complete the installation. After you have installed Excel, you can close the application.
Close Add/Remove Programs, and then close Control Panel.
Log off Windows2000 Professional.
To remove Excel97:
In the SIM Tool console, double-click Active Directory Users and Computers, double-click reskit.com, and then double-click Accounts.
Right-click Headquarters, and click Properties.
In the Headquarters Properties dialog box, click the Group Policy tab, click the HQ Policy GPO, and then click Edit to open the Group Policy snap-in.
In the details pane, right-click Microsoft Excel97, and select All Tasks from the context menu.
Click Remove.
In the Remove Package dialog box, click Yes.
Note: Because Excel97 was installed using a .zap file, you do not have the option to force the removal as you would with a Windows Installer file.
Microsoft Excel97 no longer appears in the details pane.
Log on to the Windows2000 Professional as the Local Administrator (remember, Excel was installed as Administrator in the preceding scenario).
Click Start, point to Settings, click Control Panel, and then double-click Add/Remove Programs.
In the Add/Remove Programs dialog box, click the Microsoft Excel97 entry in the Change or Remove Programs frame, and then clickChange/Remove.
The Excel97 Setup program starts. In the Microsoft Excel97 Setup dialog box, click Remove All.
When Setup prompts you about removing Microsoft Excel97, click Yes. Click OK.
Close Add/Remove Programs, and then close Control Panel. Log off Windows2000 Professional.
Office2000 comes with a Windows Installer package natively authored. Before performing this upgrade, use the Office2000 Customization Wizard to create a transform. You must substitute the name of your transform in this scenario.
This procedure assumes that you have placed the necessary files (.msi, .mst, and so on) in a folder called Office in the software distribution point.
To upgrade Word97 to Office2000
In the SIM Tool console, double-click Active Directory Users and Computers, double-click reskit.com, and then double-click Accounts.
Right-click Headquarters, and click Properties.
In the Headquarters Properties dialog box, click the Group Policy tab, click the HQ Policy GPO, and then click Edit to open the Group Policy snap-in.
In the Group Policy snap-in, under User Configuration, double-click Software Settings, right-click Software installation, click New, and then clickPackage.
In the Open dialog box, click the Office folder, and click Open. Select the Office2000 Windows Installer package (data1.msi), and click Open.
In the Deploy Software dialog box, click Advanced published or assigned, and click OK.
In the Microsoft Office2000 Properties dialog box, click the Modifications tab, and click Add.
In the Open dialog box, click Office, and then click Open. Select the Office2000 transform (.mst), and click Open.
Note: It is important that you do not click OK until you have set all the options for the modifications.
In the Microsoft Office2000 Properties dialog box, click the Upgrades tab, and click Add.
In the Add Upgrade Package dialog box, Microsoft Word97 should be highlighted in the Package to Upgrade list box. If not, click it to select it. ClickUninstall the existing package, then install the upgrade package, and then click OK.
In the Microsoft Office2000 Properties dialog box, click the Required Upgrade for existing packages checkbox. Do not click OK yet.
In the Microsoft Office2000 Properties dialog box, click the Deployment tab, click Assigned in the Deployment type field, and accept the default option (Basic) in the Installation user interface options field.
Review all the tabs to make sure you have edited all the properties and you are ready to assign the upgrade. Click OK
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