Automating Software Installations

A major benefit of Group Policy is the capability to push software packages to computers and users. Although other applications (such as SMS) might provide a better method for distributing software (because they are probably more sophisticated and have better reporting capabilities), Group Policy can be used to push software. An added bonus is that it comes free with the default installation of Windows Server 2003.

Determining Whether a Push Was Successful

Without additional software, it is not possible to determine whether a software package was pushed successfully from a single centralized location. All evidence of software pushes is seen locally on the client machines. On the local machines, there are three areas to check to determine whether a software installation was successful:

• MSI Installer events and Application Management events are written into the Application event logs

• While the machine is booting, the Installing Managed Software dialog box will appear while the software is installing and before the user is presented with the login screen. Upon subsequent reboots, the message does not appear.

• On the local machine, view Add/Remove Programs to see whether the software package is listed.