Part III: Software and Package Management

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Part III discusses what is probably an SMS administrator’s primary reason for purchasing SMS 2003—the distribution of software and other packages to client systems through the network with little or no user intervention and the management of that software once it’s installed. This part is divided into four areas of concern. Chapter 11, “Collections,” explains the concept of a collection in SMS 2003 and describes how collections are created and maintained. Chapter 12, “Package Distribution and Management,” describes the package distribution process, including creating packages and programs, identifying package recipients through collections, and executing package commands at the client system. Chapter 13, “Patch Management,” discusses the newest feature of SMS 2003-software update management. This feature provides you with a mechanism to automatically roll out patches and other software updates to your SMS clients through SMS. Chapter 14, “Microsoft Systems Management Server Installer,” illustrates the use of SMS Installer to script an installation process and make it potentially invisible to the user. Chapter 15, “Software Metering,” discusses a feature introduced in SMS 2.0 and completely rewritten for SMS 2003: software metering. This feature enables you to monitor and report on software usage on client systems.

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