Software distribution is an important feature of SCCM which is handled by every SCCM Admin almost every day. What so special about this feature is that it makes the life of a system admin /service desk much easier. Think about a software to be installed on 10,000 + machine in a single day. The amount of labor & hard work required would be tremendous.
Software distribution is a perfect solution in this case. Lets breakdown this important feature to understand it in detail.For distributing software you need to 1st create a Software Package. This can be easily created under Software Distribution in SCCM Configuration Manager Console.
Software Package consists of Source files, Program, Distribution Points.
Source Files are the setup files/ vb scripts/batch files required for installing a particular software.Scripts or batch files generally contain the commands required for running the setup like silent installation, no restart after installation etc. In some cases source file is not required. These are cases where just a command needs to be run on the target computer and the required files are already present on the computer.
Program is the one which executes the setup file. It can contain a command line or target the vbscript kept in the source location. It is here you select few parameters like Run program normally, Hidden, Config Mgr restarts computer. You also select the various platforms where the setup has to be run like Win7 x86, Win7 X64 etc. You need to be very careful while creating the scripts if you are targeting on multi architecture.
It is advisable to first test a software package in a Test environment and then target to Production
You need to add a package to all distribution points. Client contact the Distribution point and download the required software to be installed on the software. Before targeting the client your distribution points should be updated with the package else the Software distribution will result in failure.
There are 2 important ingredients which you would required in software distribution process. They are
Collections and Advertisements.
Collections contains the list of systems you need to target for distribution. You cannot distribute a package without a collection. Even if it is a single computer you need to create a collection and add that computer to that collection.
Advertisement is the place where you specify the Package, Program and collection to be targeted. You also need to specify the schedule to initiate the software deployment. You need to specify maintenance windows if any.
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