MSI Files

[Bru]

Wondering if anybody knows where I can get MSI files for deployment using AD
and group policy. Could do with IE6 and directX for a rollout to a number
of machines.

Microsoft don't seem to provide these in MSI format.... is there any way of
getting them without having to create them yourselves. Somebody mentioned
that if you're a Volume license customer (which I am) that microsoft can
supply them on request - anybody know if this is true? If so who would I
ask? Have spoke to microsoft but couldn't get through to anybody technical
enough to know what I was talking about.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Gerry Hickman]

Hi Bru,

It seems a bit bonkers if Microsoft's own flagship browser can't be
easily deployed with Group Policy? Have you checked the IEAK docs about
this?

What exactly do you gain using group policy deployment over say PsExec?
Can you run the Group Policy thing on an overnight schedule (for
example) so that the new software is all installed and ready to go when
they log in the next morning? Surely they don't have to wait and look at
progress meters when they log in?? How do you get round the way some
MSIs seem to want a loaded user profile before they will work (not much
good for overnight deployments). I found with MSXML you can add
ALLUSERS=TRUE, but this was burried so deep in the non-existent docs I'm
amazed anyone knew about it.

I'm very interested in how all this works, as I've got to do Office 2000
SP3 with all the patches over the next few days.

 

[NIC Student]

To my knowledge, IE6 and DX can't be done with GPO, you'll need a scripted
solution like PSEXEC as Gerry suggests. More easy reading:

http://www.appdeploy.com/packages/detail.asp?id=169

http://www.appdeploy.com/packages/detail.asp?id=102


--
Scott Baldridge
Windows Server MVP, MCSE


"Gerry Hickman"

 

[Gerry Hickman]

To my knowledge, IE6 and DX can't be done with GPO, you'll need a scripted
solution like PSEXEC as Gerry suggests. More easy reading:

http://www.appdeploy.com/packages/detail.asp?id=169

http://www.appdeploy.com/packages/detail.asp?id=102

Yikes! The whole thing looks worse than I remember. At one point he
talks about "a step backward", well yes!

What on earth are Microsoft thinking? This is not rocket science; we're
talking about updating a few simple components of the vendor's _own_ O/S
for which they have the source code and teams of experts who know the
system inside out? Remote and silent CMD line installation should have
been part of the grand design plan from day one. Is there not also some
absurd issue with DirectX 9b where mass deployment falls over due to
some GUI requirement at the point where you are supposed to tick "yes"
to something? Or did they fix that? Arrrhhhhh!

 

[NIC Student]

Very irritating, I agree. You can make your own MSI wrapper but you know
what? I shouldn't have to. Plus, it scares me a little to use a 3rd party
tool to deploy something that doesn't uninstall like DX9. What if there was
a "little problem" after deployment?

Oh well....