Figure 33-13. Specify a UNC path to the Installer files. in VB.NET

Draw Denso QR Bar Code in VB.NET Figure 33-13. Specify a UNC path to the Installer files.

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2 Click the Group Policy tab, then create a new GPO or select an existing GPO and click Edit. 3 The Software Settings\Software Installation policy branch, located in both the Com

Assigned. Choose either Published or Assigned if you don t need to add transforms, configure upgrade packages, or set other advanced options when you create the policy. Choose Advanced Published Or Assigned if you do need to configure these options. Note You can change most of the options for a package after you create the policy, regardless of which option you choose here. To edit the policy, just double-click the package in the GPO to open its property sheet, which is the same one that the wizard displays if you choose the Advanced option.

The General tab shows general information about the application and publisher. The only property you can change here is the package name as it will appear in the Group Policy console. Use the Deployment tab, shown in Figure 33-14, to specify the deployment type and other deployment options, including the following:

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Figure 33-14.

Install the application automatically when the user attempts to open a document type that requires the application. Remove the application from the user s system when the GPO no longer applies to the user, such as when the user moves to a different department and therefore falls under the scope of a different GPO.

Display only basic installation information during application installation. Display all setup information during application installation.

Configure the application to ignore language when deploying and to remove previous versions of the application if it was not installed by group policy based installation.

Use the Upgrades tab to specify other packages in the current or other GPO for which this one is an upgrade. You can make the upgrade optional or mandatory, and specify whether the application should remove the existing version first or simply install over it as an upgrade. Use the Categories tab to specify the categories in which the application will be listed in the users Add Or Remove Programs window. Choose an existing category and click Select to add it to the Selected Categories list for the application. You can add multiple categories for an application to list it under more than one category as needed. You can click the Modifications tab and add transform files to the package when you create the policy. You can specify multiple transforms and control the order in which the transforms are applied. Finally, use the Security tab to configure permissions for the package policy. For example, you might have a small subset of users who fall under the scope of the GPO for whom you don t want the application installed. Simply remove the Read permission for these users to prevent the policy from applying to them. With the policies in place, you re ready to perform a test installation. Log on in the domain with an account that falls under the scope of the policy. Check published applications as well as assigned applications to make sure they deploy properly. Note When you ve worked out any kinks, consider two additional features you can imple ment to enhance application deployment. Remote Installation Services (RIS) enables Windows 2000 or later to be installed automatically across the network. Group policy based folder redirection enables administrators to redirect a user s folders to a server. When combined with group policy based application deployment, these additional features make for a rela tively painless disaster-recovery mechanism and significantly reduce administrative overhead for deploying new systems and upgrades. You ll find more information about RIS at http:// www.microsoft.com/windowsserver2003/default.mspx. See the following section for details on redirecting folders with group policy.