Software deployment after domain join

[ravenadsl]

Hi guyes,

Ok i know its not OS deployment but its close,

After deploying an os to a computer i would like to just set its name join it to the domain and all the software for the correct room just deploy automatically.

At the moment that's fine. after deploying to a computer i set the name and join the domain. move the computer to the correct OU and group policy kicks in where I have some MSI's to deploy but we have a lot of other software that would be handy to deploy but are not MSI's. So I then have to walk round the room setting up software.

I could pre load the image but after a week there stale and there are new packages that have been bought ect

what dose every one else do?
is it possable to make an MSI for all the exe packages we have?
is there a Microsoft software deployment solution?

Thanks

[mavhc]

Microsoft will sell you System Center Configuration Manager - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia or you can make MSIs, or ask the authors to provide them, what software? I've found loads of stuff just runs without installing.

Some exes have MSIs inside, try UniExtract.

We should be able to upload WiX files to the wiki which gets around the problem of uploading full MSIs being copyright infringement

[dhicks]

After deploying an os to a computer i would like to just set its name join it to the domain and all the software for the correct room just deploy automatically.

Most applications can be persuaded to do a "silent install", even if they don't come packaged as an MSI. I have an "install" user that runs a logon script that then simply runs each application installer in "silent" mode. Lots of people use WPKG:

WPKG | Open Source Software Deployment and Distribution

--
David Hicks

[carvjo]

WPKGExpress adds a web frontend to WPKG - it does work - I found the setup was surprisingly straightforward, if a little daunting due to the lack of documentation..
I have bought Prism Deploy Packager (which is the packaing technology part of the prism deployment suite) - this is remarkable value, if bought on its own, and creates nice install packages that never ask for elevation on Windows 7 and most packages, though created on XP, still work on Win 7 - WPKG has no problem deploying these. WPKG/WPKGExpress is a bit of a monster to manage the groups, packages etc. if you have a lot of kit, and doesn't provide a lot of feedback on success of installations..

I am currently trialling Specops Deploy - which could be described as the Windows Equiv. of WPKGExpress. Due to the nice integration with AD it will certainly save time and effort, provides feedback on success, failures etc.. It adds the ability to deploy .exe files (inc. those generated by Prism Packager) to GPOs - and much more.. (including a wrapper to simplify MDT for OS deployment - still playing with that!)

John