Olliesaurus Posted April 21, 2015 Posted April 21, 2015 Hi all, Does anyone know of any efficient ways of deploying SIMS updates throughout the school? We are currently using Solus3 and its fairly awful, causes no end of problems when it comes to update days. Seems fairly inefficient to keep using a system that is a bit pants. Would be good to hear others peoples thoughts, ideas and opinions!
scotyboy56 Posted April 21, 2015 Posted April 21, 2015 I use Solus 3 to update SIMS on the server (making sure everyone is out of SIMS), and then when the teachers open SIMS up next, it just starts installing the update, normally takes a few minutes but as long as the user is a local admin on the machine I have found it installs with no issues
Olliesaurus Posted April 21, 2015 Author Posted April 21, 2015 I use Solus 3 to update SIMS on the server (making sure everyone is out of SIMS), and then when the teachers open SIMS up next, it just starts installing the update, normally takes a few minutes but as long as the user is a local admin on the machine I have found it installs with no issues Hmmm, I wish I could say the same really, I dread SIMS update day.
scotyboy56 Posted April 21, 2015 Posted April 21, 2015 Hmmm, I wish I could say the same really, I dread SIMS update day. What goes wrong with it, if you don't mind me asking? As the only time I dread it is when I know I have forgotten to add the new teacher to the local admin group on there laptop.
localzuk Posted April 21, 2015 Posted April 21, 2015 We're another SOLUS3 user - updates have been pretty flawless since moving to it. I think we have a problem rate of about 3% now when an update is released. I'd be speaking to Capita/local support team to find out why you're having so many issues. What goes wrong with it, if you don't mind me asking? As the only time I dread it is when I know I have forgotten to add the new teacher to the local admin group on there laptop. Why do you do that? Teachers aren't local admins here and SOLUS 3 updates things fine - it uses an admin account to do the update.
PotNoodleTech Posted April 21, 2015 Posted April 21, 2015 I use Solus 3 to update SIMS on the server (making sure everyone is out of SIMS), and then when the teachers open SIMS up next, it just starts installing the update, normally takes a few minutes but as long as the user is a local admin on the machine I have found it installs with no issues Yeh exactly the same here. SIMS updates when a teacher opens it. Been using this method for 5+ years. It's a bit outdated, but it's reliable and fast!
bladedanny Posted April 21, 2015 Posted April 21, 2015 We don't have any trouble with SOLUS3 here. I schedule the update to install over night. Come in the next day and it's done. All the machines WOL to install the update. Touch wood nothings gone wrong. I'd persevere with SOLUS3 because once its working its good.
FN-GM Posted April 21, 2015 Posted April 21, 2015 (edited) We use Solus 3 for all our machines in the trust and it works just fine. Its not perfect though. What are the actual problems you are having? Edited April 21, 2015 by FN-GM
Boredguy Posted April 21, 2015 Posted April 21, 2015 Since having to move to S3 when the Capita engineer migrated our server 2 years ago, it's been reasonably reliable. We do get the odd laptop or workstation that hasn't picked up an update, but either a "check for update" on the client side, or forcing the update back out via the console gets it working. We have Solus e-mail us when updates/patches are downloaded and then schedule the installation for 6am so that workstations are woken up and installed before staff arrive.
scotyboy56 Posted April 21, 2015 Posted April 21, 2015 Why do you do that? Teachers aren't local admins here and SOLUS 3 updates things fine - it uses an admin account to do the update. Hmm may have to look into that then, I just took over from another tech and SIMS isn't really on my list of things I know much about as I have never had a need to. So I always assumed the way I was doing it was right as that's what I was told.
Olliesaurus Posted April 21, 2015 Author Posted April 21, 2015 When the teachers turn on there laptops it doesnt deploy automatically because for whatever reason the Solus3 agent doesn't report them as online, when I force an agent status it then starts to push them out at a seriously slow pace. It could potentially have something to do with the wireless setup, however there are 75 laptops throughout the school. By the sounds of it its something other than Solus3 causing the issue. None of the teachers have local administrative rights on the laptops, maybe it would be worth me looking at setting this up so that they have the rights.
Boredguy Posted April 21, 2015 Posted April 21, 2015 Pre Solus 3 staff needed to be power users or local admins if you wanted it to update when SIMS launched, but Solus 3 uses admin level account to do the install so users can just be normal level now.
FN-GM Posted April 21, 2015 Posted April 21, 2015 None of the teachers have local administrative rights on the laptops, maybe it would be worth me looking at setting this up so that they have the rights. They shouldn't need admin rights.
ForgotMyPassword Posted April 21, 2015 Posted April 21, 2015 Stick with SOLUS - if your opinion is based on the 3.8 to 3.9 upgrade then I agree, THAT was a nightmare but some of it my own fault as we received a SOLUS upgrade at the same time as a SIMS update and the latter failed if the former failed... Lesson learned, check the SOLUS client is up to date on machines and everything goes a lot smoother. It's not perfect but it is pretty reliable and just needs a few machines 'mopping up' at the end of the update cycle.
thebatman Posted April 21, 2015 Posted April 21, 2015 We use Solus 3 at the server and let SIMS do an update at the client side when the software is started. We have setup in GPO parts of the registry and folders that SIMS needs staff assess to allow the updates to work as a restricted user. This works very well for us. very little effort is needed from us.
pete Posted April 21, 2015 Posted April 21, 2015 (edited) Initial setup or installing over a previous version? For upgrading... SIMSApplicationSetup.exe (etc) supports "/s" for silent, so for installing over the top of an existing install it should be a case of "if it exists, look at the version of pulsar.exe, if it's less than $version, install, otherwise do nothing". Same for manuals and ampark. Push that into SCCM/WPP and you may have a working solution that'll update SIMS anywhere provided the computer has cached the installers. (Crudely tested just now by wiping out the "SIMS .Net" folder on a local install, disconnecting the network connection and reinstalling all three silently, dropping connect.ini back in) -- I'm incidentally looking at Solus because the guys down the road are using it and it sounds less hateful than I was expecting. Edited April 21, 2015 by pete
3s-gtech Posted April 21, 2015 Posted April 21, 2015 I'll add another voice to 'SOLUS works pretty well'. We have a couple of PCs that don't update properly, out of 110. It generally works well, with some quirks, but I've just approved updates for tonight and I'm not expecting particular issues. No need for admin rights whatsoever.
clockend25 Posted April 21, 2015 Posted April 21, 2015 Have to say I was a little worried when we moved back to SIMS last year, however SOLUS has been great. The initial rollout and the subsequent updates have gone largely without issue. The only issue we have is scheduling the time of the update to catch as many of our laptop users as possible, however in recent SOLUS updates this has been less of an issue as the update seems to deploy nicely when people next connect to the network. Users can also launch the upgrade themselves which is nice.
Chuckster Posted April 21, 2015 Posted April 21, 2015 We use Solus 3 at the server and let SIMS do an update at the client side when the software is started. We have setup in GPO parts of the registry and folders that SIMS needs staff assess to allow the updates to work as a restricted user. This works very well for us. very little effort is needed from us. @thebatman, I would be interested to know how you have managed to do this. Any chance of seeing a screenshot of this working example?
thebatman Posted June 23, 2015 Posted June 23, 2015 Sorry for the delay, in GPO we have set the following up: We have a group called SIMS (that all staff that need access to SIMS are members off). Then we allow this SIMS group Modify Access to the following: Registory Settings HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Classes HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Classes\CLSID HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Classes\Interface HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Classes\TypeLib Folder Settings %ProgramFiles%\SIMS\*.* File Settings %WINDIR%\SIMS.INI Then the SIMS .NET shurtcut is setup to do a UPDATE check before starting: "C:\Program Files (x86)\SIMS\SIMS .net\SIMSLoad.exe" "C:\Program Files (x86)\SIMS\SIMS .net\Pulsar.exe"
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