Group Policy Objects Link Order - this has got me stumped

[kennysarmy]

I have a computer GPO which sets a licence key to:

Computer\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\IAM Cloud\Cloud Drive Mapper

 

I have a GPO which installs v3.18 of the Cloud Drive Mapper software, controlled by membership of a security group, this also installs keys to Computer\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\IAM Cloud\Cloud Drive Mapper

 

If I remove devices from the security group and run a GPUPDATE the software gets removed during start-up of the next reboot, however no matter what I try the licence key also gets removed, which means if I set a newer version to install at the same time it won't then run as the licence key is missing.

 

I though I could force the GPO which sets the licence key to run "last" or after the removal / installation phase but I've tried all combinations:

 

GPO1 is enforced and link order is #51

GPO1 is NOT enforced and link order is #51

GPO1 is enforced and link order is #1

GPO1 is NOT enforced and link order is #1

 

Very frustrated, as it means if I remove and update the software it will require a second reboot to then put the licence key back in place.

 

I've opened a ticket with CDM and their response is that we should not uninstall the old version but just install the new version over the top (this works, because the licence key is not removed by the uninstallation process) - however over the years I'll end up with devices in potentially dozens of security groups for each version of the software we wish to update to.

 

Have I missed anything obvious?

 

 

 

[2097]

We upgrade constantly ( actually just rolled back because 3.19 is broken for us as we have lots of "Read Only" folders).

 

We also uninstall the MSI before installing the newer version

 

for e.g msiexec /x {8FDD0ABE-2C1E-4F44-B122-9252DBEF7969} /qn

 

We use SCCM to deploy , we install usinga  batch

msiexec /i "clouddrivemapper.msi" /qn LICENSEKEY=YOURKEY

 

This then doesnt require any GPO for the licence

[Sephiroth]

If you can parse the licence key as a variable to MSIEXEC, them you should be able to create a transform for it, which can then be deployed by GPO or SCCM. If that's the only setting in the transform, you should be able to use it for all subsequent versions as well.

[IAMCloud_Curt]

I recommend deploying CDM with LICENSEKEY=your_license_key

However, doing this via Group Policy has it's drawbacks as you have to create a bat/powershell script to deploy with custom msiexec commands.

Could you drop CloudDriveMapper.msi onto a domain share such as \\domain.fqdn\netlogon for example?

 

If you can, let me know and I will send you a .bat or .ps1 (your preferred choice)

 

If not, i suggest PDQ Deploy Free could roll this out easier for you.

[psydii]

you could have a scheduled task that monitors for event id 11724 and then reapplies the registry key. A bit crude because it will trigger on any uninstall, but might get the job done.