D
djc
I had posted this in the Active Directory forum by mistake. I got a reply
which was very helpful but mainly contained solutions using scripts. I
realized I had left out some important points and replied to add them. below
is a copy/paste of my two posts, which combined should give you the
information to offer some guidance/suggestions on the topic. Any info would
be greatly appreciated.:
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My network has a database front end file (just an MS Access .mdb file) that
is updated almost weekly. I have used several techniques to distribute this
file to all machines on the network with varying levels of success. I'm
interested in finding out how Active Directory GPO's can do it. Below are
several questions concerning this... some I think I know but confirmation
can't hurt. I'm just looking for some initial info here to help me decide if
I should persue this.
1) can a gpo create a folder on the client's local file system? and what if
that folder already exists?
2) The main operation I'm looking for the gpo to perform is just a file
copy. I have no .msi file. Can I do this? and what if the file already
exists on the client?
3) would I be able to set the gpo up in a way that I can set it up once and
leave it? In other words, the .mdb file I need to keep up to date on the
clients can change as often as once a week (filename remains the same of
course). Can I simply create a gpo once that points to the location of the
file to copy so that all I need to do is copy over (overwrite) that file
with the new one and do nothing else?
any info is appreciated. Thanks.
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Thanks for the reply. I appreciate all the input. I accidentally left out
one key point. That is that a decision needs to be made as to whether a new
file is available or not... If there is a new file, then copy it. I have
been accomplishing this via a login script. The login script is a WSH
vbscript that actually opens the local database file to check for a version
number, then opens the database file on the server to compare the version
numbers... if the server contains a higher version number then it updates.
It works very well but I am interested in finding out how GPO's can to
this... I spent a lot of time creating this script (it does several things
including seting up necessary directory, shortcuts, and some registry
modifications, if they are not present), and thats one of the reasons I was
wondering if AD's GPO's may have been a better choice to begin with. Plus I
just like to learn and explore other methods.
It seems from your suggestions that even with GPO's, my own script would be
required. correct? I guess what I was looking for the GPO to do was provide
a way to just assign a file to client machines. To ensure each machine had
this file. And to somehow know when to re-copy, ie, new version present.
Maybe I could create my own msi for this? but even doing that what are my
options with GPOs with regard to knowing 'when' to copy the new file...
still need my script? or would I just leave out any decision making
functionality and simply enable/disable a GPO with a simpler script, or
package, when necessary? hmmm... dunno. Another reason for wondering about
this is I want to know if what I had done is way overkill and if GPO's could
have provided a much simpler, more elegant solution.
thanks again... any other input is welcome.
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which was very helpful but mainly contained solutions using scripts. I
realized I had left out some important points and replied to add them. below
is a copy/paste of my two posts, which combined should give you the
information to offer some guidance/suggestions on the topic. Any info would
be greatly appreciated.:
----------------------------------------------
My network has a database front end file (just an MS Access .mdb file) that
is updated almost weekly. I have used several techniques to distribute this
file to all machines on the network with varying levels of success. I'm
interested in finding out how Active Directory GPO's can do it. Below are
several questions concerning this... some I think I know but confirmation
can't hurt. I'm just looking for some initial info here to help me decide if
I should persue this.
1) can a gpo create a folder on the client's local file system? and what if
that folder already exists?
2) The main operation I'm looking for the gpo to perform is just a file
copy. I have no .msi file. Can I do this? and what if the file already
exists on the client?
3) would I be able to set the gpo up in a way that I can set it up once and
leave it? In other words, the .mdb file I need to keep up to date on the
clients can change as often as once a week (filename remains the same of
course). Can I simply create a gpo once that points to the location of the
file to copy so that all I need to do is copy over (overwrite) that file
with the new one and do nothing else?
any info is appreciated. Thanks.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Thanks for the reply. I appreciate all the input. I accidentally left out
one key point. That is that a decision needs to be made as to whether a new
file is available or not... If there is a new file, then copy it. I have
been accomplishing this via a login script. The login script is a WSH
vbscript that actually opens the local database file to check for a version
number, then opens the database file on the server to compare the version
numbers... if the server contains a higher version number then it updates.
It works very well but I am interested in finding out how GPO's can to
this... I spent a lot of time creating this script (it does several things
including seting up necessary directory, shortcuts, and some registry
modifications, if they are not present), and thats one of the reasons I was
wondering if AD's GPO's may have been a better choice to begin with. Plus I
just like to learn and explore other methods.
It seems from your suggestions that even with GPO's, my own script would be
required. correct? I guess what I was looking for the GPO to do was provide
a way to just assign a file to client machines. To ensure each machine had
this file. And to somehow know when to re-copy, ie, new version present.
Maybe I could create my own msi for this? but even doing that what are my
options with GPOs with regard to knowing 'when' to copy the new file...
still need my script? or would I just leave out any decision making
functionality and simply enable/disable a GPO with a simpler script, or
package, when necessary? hmmm... dunno. Another reason for wondering about
this is I want to know if what I had done is way overkill and if GPO's could
have provided a much simpler, more elegant solution.
thanks again... any other input is welcome.
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