Bulk add MSI to GPO Software Installations?

[dany2010]

Hi,

I have just been given a load of programs to deploy and the job of turning on all machines in the school early in the morning so it instals before everyone is in.

Theres about 60 in total over five different policies.

Is there a way to bulk import these into the gpo?

Many thanks

[chazzy2501]

You can add many MSIs into a single GPO. I'd be careful without testing though and remember that if the install takes too long the GPO will fail the install. This issue may arise if you have loads of PCs installing loads of programs all at once.

[tmcd35]

Something to bear in mind if you want to combine multiple GPO deployments into one GPO - If you remove an msi from one GPO and add it into a different GPO, and both GPO's effect the client PC, Windows will uninstall the software then re-install it.

[oliveraccord]

To Bulk Import the policies you have two options.


In GPMC, right click a GPO (not the link) and select BACKUP -- or right click the GPO container and BACKUP ALL
In the other domain IMPORT the GPO from the backup file

Also look in GPMC at the "Migration Tables" which handles information specific to the domain when moving GPOs.

Refer these links also

Backing up, Restoring, Migrating, and Copying GPOs: Group Policy

Import a Group Policy object using GPMC: Group Policy

Bulk Import of Group Policy Objects between Different Domains with PowerShell - Manny Murguia's Blog - Site Home - TechNet Blogs

Bulk exporting and importing WMI filters for Group Policy - Ask the Directory Services Team - Site Home - TechNet Blogs

I hope it helps you.