Create Software Installation Package

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What is a software package in Configuration Manager?

Jul 18, 2011  The following steps will detail how to create a software package. It will add the software to the ‘Run Advertised Programs’ list in control panel of each of the targeted client computers. If you want the software to install automatically on the client computer, continue through to ‘How to set a mandatory assignment’ Step1: Creating the. Expand the Software Settings container that contains the software installation item that you used to deploy the package. Click the software installation container that contains the package. In the right-pane of the Group Policy window, right-click the program, point to All Tasks, and then click Redeploy application. You will receive the. Five apps for creating installation packages 1. InstallShield Express 2013. Nullsoft NSIS Installer. InstallAware 16. Advanced Installer. These software prerequisites can be included in the installer package or downloaded from specific links. Standalone Installer and Web Installer. Actual Installer compiles an installation package as a single executable file / standalone installer (e.g. Then, this file can be easily uploaded to your website and made available to. Packages and programs in System Center Configuration Manager 2012 might be more suitable than a deployment that uses an application when you deploy scripts that do not install an application. Where possible it is recommended an application is created, which should for most deployment types. In this example I will create a package for.

Microsoft Office Outlook. Microsoft Office Excel. Microsoft Office PowerPoint. Office project professional 2007 download.

One of the primary features of System Center Configuration Manager is its ability to distribute software packages to client computers.

Creating Software Repositories. Software repositories are used to store software packages. These packages can either be for MSI-based software applications or EXE-based software applications. A software package added in Desktop Central will have the location of the installation files along with the installation and uninstallation commands.

A software package gives an administrator the ability to systematically distribute updates to clients. The updates can be new software, command lines, registry modifications, scripts etc. This gives you the ability to centrally manage and standardise an entire network of client computers.

There are three components involved in a software distribution-

The package

This is the ‘what’ of the distribution and can be anything from a software package to a command line.
The package consists of four parts, the source files, the package definition, the program and the distribution points.

The collection

Create Software Installation Package For Windows

This is the ‘who’ of the distribution and is where you specify who receives the update. Normally we would target workstation computers, but you can also target groups or particular users. These are defined by “membership criteria” within the collection and for the update to be received the client must meet one or more of the criteria.

The advertisement

This is the ‘when’ of the distribution and is how you specify when the update runs. The advertisement is a process of applying a specific package to a specific collection. Advertisements can be set to start as soon as possible or at some point in the future and can be set to expire at a specific time.

Note:

The following steps will detail how to create a software package. It will add the software to the ‘Run Advertised Programs’ list in control panel of each of the targeted client computers.

If you want the software to install automatically on the client computer, continue through to ‘How to set a mandatory assignment’

Step1: Creating the Package

Source Files:

Source files are the installation files for the package. You will need to save these files to a shared folder which can be access by the Configuration Manager computer account.

In this example our source files will be saved to SCCMSEVERSMS_Source

Before you can create the package, you will need to obtain the required .exe or .msi files for the installation. You will also need to know the installation switches to use to make the installation automated. If you are unsure where to get the files or how to do a silent install see http://itsupportguides.com/configmgr-sccm.html or http://www.appdeploy.com

In this example we will be creating a software package for Mozilla Firefox 3.6

The source file has already been downloaded and saved the source folder, which will be SCCMSERVERSMS_SOURCEMozillaFirefox3.6

Computer Software Package

  1. Open the System Centre Configuration Manager console
  2. Expand ‘Computer Management’
  3. Expand ‘Software Distribution’
  4. Expand ‘Packages’
  5. Right Click on the folder which corresponds to your software update. (e.g. Mozilla)
  6. Select ‘New’ and then ‘Package’
  7. Enter in the required information
  8. Click ‘Next’
  9. Select ‘This package contains source files’
  10. Click on ‘Set’ and browse to the source file folder
  11. Click ‘OK’ and ‘OK’ again
  12. Click ‘Finish’, ‘Next’ and then ‘Close’.

Step 2: Create the program

  1. Expand the new package, right click on ‘Program’ and select ‘New’ then ‘Program’
  2. Enter in the same name as the package (e.g. Mozilla Firefox 3.6)
  3. Under ‘Command line’ enter in the command which starts the installation (e.g. install.cmd )
  4. Under ‘Run’ select ‘Hidden’
  5. Click ‘Next’
  6. Enter in an estimate required disk space (e.g. 20 MB)
  7. Select ‘This program can run only on specified client platforms’ and select the required platforms, e.g.
    • All x64 Windows 7
    • All x64 Windows Vista
    • All x64 Windows XP Professional
    • All x86 Windows 7
    • All x86 Windows Vista
    • All x86 Windows XP Professional
  1. Click ‘Next’
  2. Under ‘Program can run:’ select ‘Whether or not a user is logged on’
  3. Click ‘Next’, ‘Next’, ‘Next’, ‘Next’, ‘Next’ and then ‘Close’.

Step 3: Distribute the software

  1. Right click on the package and select ‘Distribute’ and then ‘Software’
  2. Click ‘Next’
  3. Click ‘Select All’ and then ‘Next’
  4. When asked ‘Do you want to create a program from this package’ select ‘No’
  5. Select ‘Finish’, ‘Next’ and then ‘Close’

Step 4: Create advertisement

  1. Expand ‘Advertisements’ and right click on the relevant folder (e.g. Mozilla)
  2. Select ‘New’ and then ‘Advertisement’
  3. Under ‘Name’ enter in the name of the advertisement (e.g. Mozilla Firefox 3.6)
  4. Under ‘Package’ select ‘Browse’ and select the relevant package (e.g. Mozilla Firefox 3.6)
  5. Click ‘OK’
  6. Under ‘Collection’ select ‘Browse’ and select the targeted collection
  7. Click ‘OK’
  8. Click ‘Next’
  9. Click ‘Next’
  10. For both options select ‘Download content from distribution point and run locally’
  11. Click ‘Next’, ‘Next’, ‘Next’, ‘Next’, and then ‘Close’

Step 5 (optional): How to set a mandatory assignment

Create Software Installation Package

Mandatory assignments are used to force the package to install automatically at a selected time.

With a mandatory assignment the package will start to run at the indicated time, which can be As Soon As Possible or a given time.

  1. Open the the System Centre Configuration Manager console.
  2. Expand ‘Computer Management’
  3. Expand ‘Software Distribution’
  4. Expand ‘Advertisments’
  5. Open the required container, (e.g.Mozilla)
  6. Double click on the advertisement, (e.g. Mozilla Firefox 3.6)
  7. Under ‘Collection’ select ‘Browse’
  8. From the list, select the ‘All Windows Workstations or Professional Systems’ collection and click ‘OK’
  9. Select the ‘Schedule’ tab
  10. Click on the yellow star icon
  11. Either select a start time or choose ‘Assign immediately after this event’ and then ‘As soon as possible’
  12. Click on ‘OK’ to save the changes

So you are a software developer and you just wrapped up a massive project. With executable code in hand, now you need a way to properly deploy and install your software on end user machines. For some, a simple zip file or self-extracting archive is more than sufficient to get the job done. Presentation is key, however, and a solid software installation experience is one of the first things a client or customer will notice before using your product. To help deliver on that promise of a solid first impression and a clean installation, here are five installer products I can recommend for Windows applications.

Create Software Installation Package 2017

Five apps

1. InstallShield Express 2013

InstallShield is the definitive install engine used by many large corporations and big development houses. Power users can greatly appreciate the level of control InstallShield gives developers for generating professional looking and efficient EXE and MSI installation packages. For smaller developers however, InstallShield can be a bit intimidating, both in its super attention to detail and its high price tag of $650 (for the Express edition).

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2. Nullsoft NSIS Installer

Brought to you by the same team behind the once wildly-popular Winamp media player, NSIS is a scriptable installation app builder that is tight on system resource usage and generates fast executables. The lack of a wizard-style GUI could be intimidating to those who are averse to text files, but the price of free makes NSIS a worthwhile product which can be used for both home and commercial purposes. You can even take compressed ZIP files and convert them to EXE setups with a basic converter app called Zip2Exe.

Create Sccm Software Installation Package

3. InstallAware 16

The 'Oooh! Shiny!' brigade is out in full force with InstallAware leading the charge on delivering an excellent looking installer that can also support hybrid deployments (to both EXE and MSI), easy to understand scripting and multi-core compression technology to help push package file-sizes down to less disk space intensive levels. A free version that integrates directly into Visual Studio exists along with paid Pro versions.

4. Advanced Installer

If your needs are simple enough, Advanced Installer is offered in a freeware edition which gives a competent interface for building setup programs while using an easy to understand wizard. If you are willing to pony up to at least the Enterprise edition for a cool $399, you can even build installation packages that handle Java applets with great aplomb, incorporating any of the necessary Java side configurations as well.

5. Inno Setup

And finally, Inno Setup is relatively basic, lacks any sort of wizards, and is mostly catered towards power users, much like Nullsoft's NSIS installer. You crack open a window and you can hammer out scripts from scratch or utilize the supplied example scripts as a solid framework to be sure you have everything you need in advance. If you do yearn for support of non-Roman languages, a Unicode build exists which can deliver additional language support to installers at the cost of a larger executable. This bare-bones tool is free for the asking.

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