installing software via GPO

[Brian Wilson]

we have one domain which is broken down into 14 sites
located around the country. how do i best install
software gpos? do i create a site gpo for each of the 14
sites? i have read that creating site gpos is a bad thing
but i can not remember/figure out the reasoning behind
this.

software to be installed is office xp in some sites and
office 2003 in others ( prefer assigned to the users ) and
adobe reader 6.0.1 ( prefer published to the users ). do
not want to have software being installed across the wan
where possible.

thank you,

brian

ps...the link from the hub to each spoke is over a
dedicated T1 vpn ( in most cases ). we have at least one
dc in each site with 23 users to 200 users per site ( most
are 35 - 50 users per site ).

 

[Guest]

Site policies would not be my first choice normally, but in your case if you
dont want to have the software install going across the WAN they are going
to be your best choice.
I am assuming that you have subnets defined for each site and linked to the
site. Ideally you can create a file share at each site and download the
appropriate sofware install files to each location. Define a site policy
that points all the users to the file share on the local LAN.

 

[Brian Wilson]

James,

thank you for the response. yes, all subnets are properly
set up and associated with the correct site. there is
absolutely no problem with either intrasite or intersite
replication and all clients are properly configured ( and
use the correct dc to authenticate ). i am thinking that
the way that you have suggested would be the way to go.

however, forget for a moment that i do not want software
to be installed over any wan links. what would you
suggest? i have this bone in the back of my head that is
telling me to not use site policies. i just can not
remember or think of why this would not be a good idea.

thank you,

Brian

-----Original Message-----
Site policies would not be my first choice normally, but in your case if you
dont want to have the software install going across the WAN they are going
to be your best choice.
I am assuming that you have subnets defined for each site and linked to the
site. Ideally you can create a file share at each site and download the
appropriate sofware install files to each location. Define a site policy
that points all the users to the file share on the local LAN.

--
James Brandt [MSFT]

we have one domain which is broken down into 14 sites
located around the country. how do i best install
software gpos? do i create a site gpo for each of the 14
sites? i have read that creating site gpos is a bad thing
but i can not remember/figure out the reasoning behind
this.

software to be installed is office xp in some sites and
office 2003 in others ( prefer assigned to the users ) and
adobe reader 6.0.1 ( prefer published to the users ). do
not want to have software being installed across the wan
where possible.

thank you,

brian

ps...the link from the hub to each spoke is over a
dedicated T1 vpn ( in most cases ). we have at least one
dc in each site with 23 users to 200 users per site ( most
are 35 - 50 users per site ).

.

 

[Guest]

Removing the WAN connections then the main consideration that I see would be
how you want to orgainze the users into groupings for who gets what version
of Office.
Im wondering if you might be thinking of a situation with site policies and
laptops that travel to different sites thus receiving different policies.
The most common uses of site policies that I see are for IE/proxy settings
and for software deployment.

If you are still having concerns, how about you post your action plan and we
can discuss that.

--
James Brandt [MSFT]

James,

thank you for the response. yes, all subnets are properly
set up and associated with the correct site. there is
absolutely no problem with either intrasite or intersite
replication and all clients are properly configured ( and
use the correct dc to authenticate ). i am thinking that
the way that you have suggested would be the way to go.

however, forget for a moment that i do not want software
to be installed over any wan links. what would you
suggest? i have this bone in the back of my head that is
telling me to not use site policies. i just can not
remember or think of why this would not be a good idea.

thank you,

Brian

-----Original Message-----
Site policies would not be my first choice normally, but in your case if you
dont want to have the software install going across the WAN they are going
to be your best choice.
I am assuming that you have subnets defined for each site and linked to the
site. Ideally you can create a file share at each site and download the
appropriate sofware install files to each location. Define a site policy
that points all the users to the file share on the local LAN.

--
James Brandt [MSFT]

we have one domain which is broken down into 14 sites
located around the country. how do i best install
software gpos? do i create a site gpo for each of the 14
sites? i have read that creating site gpos is a bad thing
but i can not remember/figure out the reasoning behind
this.

software to be installed is office xp in some sites and
office 2003 in others ( prefer assigned to the users ) and
adobe reader 6.0.1 ( prefer published to the users ). do
not want to have software being installed across the wan
where possible.

thank you,

brian

ps...the link from the hub to each spoke is over a
dedicated T1 vpn ( in most cases ). we have at least one
dc in each site with 23 users to 200 users per site ( most
are 35 - 50 users per site ).

.