Using Windows 2000 RIS to rollout Office 2003

[Rob I.]

I'm running into some problems using RIS to rollout Office 2003 and am
looking for some input. We have about 15 servers, mostly Windows
2000, some Unix and NT4. We have about 100 clients, all running
Windows 2000 or XP. Most are using Office 97. There are 2 domain
controllers, one of which acts as the file server. The other is
mostly used for testing, and as a backup DC.

The goal is to use W2K's built-in RIS to rollout Office 2003 Pro.
I've copied the installation files to a shared directory that everyone
has read rights to. I setup GPO in AD and created a customization
file using Microsoft's Custom Installation Wizard. The software is
being assigned. I'm attempting to install by computer, just 1 or 2 at
a time for now.

The install files are located on the main domain controller which acts
as a file server. The clients are all onsite, in the same network
segment, connected w/100mb HP switches.

After adding a computer to the ou w/the proper group policy, I reboot
that computer. Sometimes, on reboot it starts installing before
login. It takes about 8 minutes, makes all the proper modifications,
and works perfectly. Other times, it does nothing. Other times, it
begins to do an install, yet drops it half way through the process.
Sometimes this results in a published install, where I can install
2003 using Add/Remove, other times it installs upon file execution.
It's been very inconsistent.

Is this common? Is it a bandwidth issue? Am I asking too much of
RIS? I don't think it is an OS issue, because it has produced
inconsistent results on both XP and 2000. Any thoughts would be much
appreciated.

-Rob
(e-mail address removed)

 

[Martin H]

OK, just to make some things clear - you are not talking about RIS, the
function you talk about is Software installtion (I think *lol*).
GPO works fine fore me, but you have to remeber that GPO take a while to
update, I think the time between to updates are set to 3h.
What you can do to force an update on a XP machine is to - start-run:
gpupdate /foce.
If everything is set up allright the computer ask you to restart the
computer.
On 2000 you can run: secedit /refreshpolicy machine_policy
Then the install will run when you restart...
It sound very strange that sometimes you can se Office as a published
install -are you sure you dont have set up the install like that?
Im pretty sure it is not a bandwidth issue.
If you look in the event logg on the client you can see if the computer gets
the new GPO, see install error and other important stuff..
Do you get an error there? Please let me know!
/Martin

 

[jaimin]

Have you considered using Deployment Solution to roll out software, it
may be a little less pain. You can download it from:
http://www.codework.com/express/product.html

Regards
Divyesh

 

[Rob I.]

You're right Martin, I'm not talking about RIS, I'm talking about
2000's Software Installation feature in Group Policy. Thanks for the
clarification.

I ran some tests today, forcing a group policy update as you advised.
They all worked smoothly. Thanks for the help.

-Rob