Deploying Office 97
I decided to test SMS's software deployment features by rolling out Office
97 to all machines on the network. I began by checking Microsoft's SMS Web page
for help with installing Office 97. I was glad to find a comprehensive guide,
including step-by-step instructions on how to install the software at http://
www.microsoft.com/smsmgmt/office97.htm. After reading the instructions, I was
ready to deploy Office 97.
The first step was to use the Setup /a option. I installed Office 97 on the
SMS site server. The administrative install takes roughly 365MB of space. I had
a little more than half a gigabyte free on the server, so space was not a
problem. Next, I located the Package Description File (PDF) on the Office 97
CD-ROM. This file tells SMS the particulars about Office 97 or any program.
Using SMS Administrator, I opened Package View from the File menu. A package,
in SMS parlance, is the software you distribute to the client systems for later
installation. I created a new package and dragged the Office 97.pdf file from my
NT Explorer window to the package window. I told SMS where I had put the
administrative install of Office 97 (Setup /a) and clicked OK. Screen 6 shows
the Setup Package for Workstations dialog box with the path to the Office 97
administrative install.
Now that the package was ready to deploy, I needed to create a job.
A job is the mechanism that delivers the package. I chose the Jobs View from the
SMS Administrator File menu and selected New. The Job Details screen, as you see
in Screen 7, presents several options. I selected All Personal Computers (a
prepackaged query) as my source for the target machines. I then set several
options to control SMS's behavior and submitted the job. Ordinarily, you first
run a query so you know exactly which machines you are targeting. Because I
wanted to target all machines in the Windows NT Magazine Lab, I was able
to run the job immediately. Next I brought up the Job Status Details screen, as
you see in Screen 8, so I could monitor the deployment's progress.
Nothing was happening with the deployment, so I decided to kick start SMS
with
sendcode SMS-SITE_CONFIG_ MANAGER 191
Sure enough, SMS kicked into high gear, the job went active, and SMS began
churning away.
After about half an hour, I was antsy. When I checked the Job Status
Details screen, the job was still active but nothing was happening. I fired up
the SMS Trace utility and discovered I'd run out of disk space. How could that
be? If I had taken the time to read the warning about the required amount of
disk space on the .pdf file, I could have avoided this problem.
Office 97 takes only 365MB of disk space, but it compresses the files
before it ships them to the distribution server, which in this case was the same
machine. SMS copies the resulting compressed file (135MB) to the distribution
server (same machine) and decompresses it into a temporary file. After
successfully decompressing the file, SMS copies the resulting expanded files
(365MB) to a file share that all SMS clients can access (another 365MB). SMS
then deletes the temporary directory. If you do the math, you get 365MB + 135MB
+ 365MB + 365MB = 1230MB. You recover the extra 365MB from the temporary
directory, but you need 1.3GB of free disk space to start the installation
process.
Luckily for me, SMS lets you specify a particular distribution server. I
chose a BDC in the NTLABS domain that had plenty of free disk space available. I
cancelled the previous job, fired up a duplicate specifying the BDC as the
distribution server, started the job with sendcode, and waited.
After about 15 minutes, I logged on to one machine in the NTLABS domain.
SMS fired up and greeted me with a new Package Command Manager screen, as you
see in Screen 9.
I quickly saw that I had a new package (the Office 97 package I created) in
the Pending Commands window. When I logged on to the CLIENT domain, SMS
displayed the same Package Command Manager screen. I logged on to all the client
machines and saw the same screen on every system. The next step was to install
the software.
SMS doesn't force you to install the software right away. Instead, when you
create the job, you can specify a grace period so that your users have some time
before they must install the new package. You can also choose to never make a
job mandatory, as was the case with my job. I clicked Execute, which brought up
the Office 97 installation splash screen.
I thought I had successfully arrived at the last stage of installation, but
I had forgotten to give Administrator permissions to the client I was logged on
as, so the installation failed. I granted the client the necessary rights and
tried again. After finding the package in the execution window, I clicked
Execute and successfully installed Office 97. I then went around to every target
machine in the CLIENT domain to test the software deployment (i.e., I did my
best to imitate end users installing the software). I also tried to install a
few machines in the NTLABS domain and badgered a coworker into doing the same.
Each machine successfully installed Office 97.
Final Thoughts
Is SMS for you? I spent between 24 hours and 32 hours configuring SMS and
deploying Office 97 on about 25 to 30 machines (for information about using SMS
to deploy software to more than 1000 clients, see the sidebar, "SMSworks").
If I had performed this procedure manually, I would have spent just as much
time, if not more, just installing Office 97.
Once you have the software distribution mechanism in place, your next
deployment will be far simpler. Even so, setting up SMS is not a trivial task.
If I hadn't had Microsoft PSS's help, setting up SMS would have taken me
considerably longer.
You need to realize that SMS is a precision tool: You must have the proper
training and support to get the greatest benefit. Good news--Microsoft PSS
provides outstanding support. Although PSS can seem like a monolithic machine, I
had the privilege of working with several support engineers and was impressed by
their knowledge and professionalism.
You will need training and support when you set up SMS. If you are
going to use SMS to improve your efficiency, allow for the time and money you
need for training and support when you prepare your deployment budget.
The bottom line is that SMS can automate software distribution and provide
remote control of client desktops, albeit with some difficulty. I've only
skimmed two of SMS's most popular features in this article. When you throw in
client inventory, a network sniffer, SNMP trap handling, software auditing, true
integration with Microsoft desktop operating systems, and Crystal Reports for ad
hoc reporting, all for an attractive price, you have a compelling argument for
using SMS. Add in the appropriate budget for training and support, and you might
be able to keep your coffee bill in the low double digits.