Client Software Installation Techniques

After SMS discovers resources on the network, you must install the SMS client software on those computers so that SMS can manage them. Because organizations operate in diverse configurations, SMS supports several client installation techniques to install SMS client software. You can choose different combinations of installation techniques to ensure that the SMS client software is installed on all the computers in the site.

SMS supports the following client installation techniques:

• Using the Client Push Installation method in the SMS 2003 Administrator console

• Initiating a program file at the client to install the client software, as follows:

  • Using Logon Script-initiated Client Installation

  • Manually running a program file

  • Using Windows Group Policy

  • Using SMS software distribution or some other software distribution mechanism to advertise and run a program file

• Installing the Advanced Client on a computer master image and imaging that computer to other computers

Table 4.2 highlights which client type can be installed by using each client installation method and how each method is initiated.

Table 4.2 SMS Client Installation Techniques

Only the Client Push Installation method requires clients to be discovered before they are installed. If the computers have not already been discovered when the SMS client software is installed on them, SMS generates DDRs for those computers.

Client installation executables

The various client installation techniques use one or more of the following executable files:

Client.msi A Windows Installer package containing the Advanced Client software. Regardless of the installation techniques, this file must be copied to the computer that is being deployed as an Advanced Client.

SMSMan.exe Runs the Systems Management Installation Wizard to install the Legacy Client software.

CCMSetup.exe A wrapper to Client.msi. This executable file is referred to as the Advanced Client Installer.

The Advanced Client Installer is used in all Advanced Client installation techniques except for Windows Group Policy. When started, Advanced Client Installer installs the Advanced Client by intelligently pulling Client.msi and a language-specific transform, if available, down to the computer. The files are downloaded and then stored in the %Windir%\System32\ccmsetup folder. After the download is complete, it installs the client components on the computer.

The download process stops while the user is logged off or while the computer is in a power standby unless CCMSetup.exe is installed as a service. Advanced Client Installer can install itself as a temporary service, in which case it continues to install the SMS client even if the user logs off. If the computer restarts, the service automatically starts. When the user logs on, the installation runs. When the service completes the installation, it removes itself as a service.

Capinst.exe Locates a server locator point, and then the server locator point returns information about the CAPs or management points that are available for client installation (for the site to which the client is to be assigned). Capinst.exe then starts CCMSetup.exe or SMSMan.exe, as appropriate.

Client Push Installation

You can enable and configure the Client Push Installation method in the SMS Administrator console. When enabled, this method finds newly discovered and assigned computers and attempts to remotely connect to them. If the connection is successful, Client Push Installation installs the specified client type without user intervention on the installed computers. The Client Push Installation method installs client software on computers running Windows NT, Windows 2000, Windows XP, or operating systems in the Windows Server 2003 family.

By default, Client Push Installation does not install clients on domain controllers, and onsite systems. Site systems are discovered automatically by SMS. By default, when a site system is discovered, SMS does not trigger Client Push Installation to install a client on the site system, even if Client Push Installation is enabled. However, you can configure Client Push Installation to install the SMS client on site systems. You can use Client Push Installation to replace a Legacy Client with an Advanced Client, but you cannot use Client Push Installation to replace an Advanced Client with a Legacy Client.

Client Push Installation requires that you give administrative credentials on all chosen client computers to either the SMS Service account (if the site is running in standard security mode) or Client Push Installation accounts. For more information, see Chapter 5, "Understanding SMS Security."

Client Push Installation of Advanced Clients uses CCMSetup.exe as a service.

Note:

• Client Push Installation requires that the Server service is started on the client computers, that file sharing is enabled, and that the ADMIN$ share exists.

Using the Client Push Installation Wizard

By using the Client Push Installation Wizard, you can use Client Push Installation to install the Advanced Client or Legacy Client on individual computers, or on all the computers that are in a collection or that are returned in an SMS Administrator console query. You can even use the Client Push Installation Wizard to install SMS clients on computers that Client Push Installation is not enabled for, such as domain controllers.

You can also configure the Client Push Installation Wizard to collect status about systems, without installing client software on those systems. With this configuration, SMS checks whether systems are online or offline, and whether SMS can access those systems. SMS generates status messages for systems that are offline, and for systems that are not accessible.

When using the Client Push Installation Wizard to install Legacy Clients, the installed computer must be assigned to the SMS site to which you are connected in the SMS Administrator console when you run the Client Push Installation Wizard. The site also must have a CAP available for Legacy Clients or a management point available for Advanced Clients. You cannot use the Client Push Installation Wizard to replace an Advanced Client with a Legacy Client.

Logon Script-initiated Client Installation

By using logon scripts, you can deploy Legacy Clients from CAPs or Advanced Clients from management points. This client installation technique uses the Capinst.exe file and is referred to as Logon Script-initiated Client Installation.

When set up, Logon Script-initiated Client Installation locates server locator points in either of the following ways:

• The SMS administrator specifies a server locator point as an argument to Capinst.exe.

• Logon Script-initiated Client Installation locates the first server locator point that is registered in the Active Directory global catalog.

The server locator point that was found returns information about the CAPs or management points that are available for client installation. If the user has administrative credentials, Logon Script-initiated Client Installation installs the client from the CAP or management point as appropriate. If Logon Script-initiated Client Installation finds multiple sites to which the client could be assigned, it chooses a site based on the site version, the client types that each site supports, and the alphabetical order of the site codes of the site.

For Logon Script-initiated Client Installation, after a Legacy Client finds server locator points, the server locator points returns a site code and a list of CAPs for the site. The client then chooses a CAP randomly from the list of CAPs.

If an Advanced Client will be installed, CCMSetup.exe is used if the user has administrative credentials. If the user does not have administrative credentials, a CCR is submitted to the site, which then initiates the Client Push Installation method.

By default, Logon Script-initiated Client Installation does not install SMS client software on domain controllers.

Manual Client Installation

You can install the SMS client software manually for both Legacy Clients and Advanced Clients as described in the following sections.

Legacy Client

You can manually run Smsman.exe to start the Systems Management Installation Wizard on computers that you want to deploy as Legacy Clients. This installation method is referred to as Manual Client Installation. You can use the wizard to install SMS on computers when you do not want to use an automated client installation method (for example, when testing SMS in your test lab).

For Manual Client Installation, the CAP is determined either from the path from which Smsman.exe is run or by supplying the path to a CAP by using a command-line switch.

Manual Client Installation can be run silently, and it can be run only to discover, not to install, clients.

Advanced Client

Under certain circumstances, such as when building a computer image or when building a training lab, you might need to manually install an Advanced Client. You can do this by manually running the Advanced Client Installer (Ccmsetup.exe) on the computer that you want to deploy as an Advanced Client.

Using Software Distribution

You can install Advanced Clients by using the same software distribution techniques that you use when installing any application software.

By using SMS software distribution, you can advertise the Advanced Client components to collections of SMS Legacy Clients that need to be replaced by Advanced Clients. SMS provides a package definition file for installing an Advanced Client. The package definition file contains all necessary object definitions that are needed to advertise an Advanced Client installation program. You can also use non-SMS software distribution techniques, such as distribution of CDs, Group Policy or IntelliMirror software distribution, or installation from network shares.

Imaging

You can install the Advanced Client on a client computer master image by installing core SMS client components without specifying an SMS site code for assignment. All computers that are later imaged from that master image will contain the Advanced Client software. However, the imaged computers will not be functional as SMS clients until you assign them to an SMS site.

For More Information

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