Recipe 9.9 Installing Applications with a GPO
9.9.1 Problem
You want to install an application on a group of
computers using a GPO.
9.9.2 Solution
9.9.2.1 Using a graphical user interface
Open the GPMC snap-in. In the left pane, expand the Forest container, expand the Domains
container, browse to the domain of the target GPO, and expand the
Group Policy Objects container. Right-click on the target GPO and select Edit. This will bring up the
Group Policy Object Editor. Under Computer Configuration or User Configuration (depending on
which you want to target the installation for), expand Software
Settings. Right-click on Software Installation and select New
Package. Browse to the network share that has the MSI package for the
application and click OK. Select whether you want to Assign the application or Publish it and
click OK.
9.9.3 Discussion
Installing applications with a GPO is a powerful feature, but you
must be careful about the network and client impact it can have. If
the MSI package you are installing is several megabytes in size, it
will take a while for it to download to the client computer, which
can result in sluggish performance on the client, especially over a
slow connection. You'll also want to make sure
you've thoroughly tested the application before
deployment. After you've configured the GPO to
install it, it will be only a short period of time before it is
installed on all targeted your clients. If there is a bug in the
application or the installer program is faulty, the impact could be
severe to your user base.
Your two options for deploying an application are to
assign it or publish
it. If you assign an application, it will get automatically installed
on the targeted clients. If you publish an application, it will not
get automatically installed, but will be available to be installed
manually from Add/Remove Programs in the Control Panel on
the target computers.
|