Setting Up SMS or Group Policy to Support Client Deployment

  • Article

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

When you deploy RMS, an RMS-enabled application must be installed on a users computer for users to protect content and to consume RMS-protected content.

For an application to be RMS-enabled, it must integrate the RMS client into its operations. Prior to Windows Vista®, the RMS client is available as a separately downloadable Windows component from Microsoft Download Center. However, if you do not want to download the client individually to each client computer in your enterprise, you can use Microsoft Systems Management Server (SMS), Group Policy, or scripts to automate the delivery of the RMS clients to the client computers.

Important

The RMS client is integrated into Windows Vista. Therefore, a separate installation is no longer required.

When you use SMS to distribute the RMS client you will need to do the following:

  • Create a new package definition file.

  • Extract the Windows Installer files from the WindowsRightsManagementServicesSP2-KB917275-Client-ENU.exe file. To do this, first save the WindowsRightsManagementServicesSP2-KB917275-Client-ENU.exe file. Do not install it. For this example, assume the file is saved to c:\folder_name. Open a command prompt window and type the following command:

    c:\folder_name\WindowsRightsManagementServicesSP2-KB917275-Client-ENU.exe /x/t:c:\folder_name

    This command extracts the MSDrmClient.msi and RMClientBackCompat.msi files from the .exe file and places them in c:\folder_name.

  • Use the Windows Installer files for the package definition and source.

  • Advertise the availability of the packages over your network.

Note

Administrative rights are required to install software; your organization’s security policy may require that a system administrator install the RMS client software.

For more information about using SMS to distribute software, see Systems Management Server 2003 Concepts, Planning, and Deployment Guide (https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=17401).

For more information about deploying client software by using Group Policy, see topics about Group Policy-based software deployment (https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkID=38997).