Distributing Applications and .Sdb Files Using Group Policy Installation

  • Article

Applies To: Windows Server 2003, Windows Server 2003 R2, Windows Server 2003 with SP1, Windows Server 2003 with SP2

You can distribute applications and .sdb files to remote computers in managed environments by using Group Policy Software Installation to assign Windows Installer packages to computers. This is the most common method of distributing applications and .sdb files in managed environments. Windows Installer packages are deployed and managed within a Group Policy object, which is, in turn, associated with an Active Directory container — either a site, a domain, or an organizational unit. Therefore, you need either to create a new Group Policy object and link it to one of these Active Directory containers or to edit an existing Group Policy object and link it to a site, domain, or organizational unit.

Important

  • To complete this procedure, you must log on as a member of the Domain Administrators security group, the Enterprise Administrators security group, or the Group Policy Creator Owners security group.

To deploy software to remote computers

  1. Open the Group Policy Object Editor.

  2. Do one of the following:

    • To assign or publish software applications to computers, in the console tree, double-click Computer Configuration.

    • To assign or publish software applications to users, in the console tree, double-click User Configuration.

  3. Double-click Software Settings, and then click Software Installation.

  4. Right-click Software Installation, click New, and then click Package.

  5. Click the Windows Installer package that you want to assign, and then click Open.

  6. In Deploy Software, click Assigned.

For information about using Group Policy, see "Group Policy" in Help and Support Center for Windows Server 2003.