Lesson 1: Introducing the Software Installation and Maintenance Technology

Windows 2000 ships with Microsoft Windows Installer and the Software Installation and Maintenance technology. Both are designed to help you deploy and manage software throughout an organization. This lesson helps you to understand the differences between them.

Windows Installer Technologies are divided into a client side, Msiexec.exe, and a file format, the Windows Installer package or .MSI file, which replaces the Setup.exe file. It also introduces a higher level of sophistication to software installation and maintenance. The benefits of Windows Installer include the following:

• Custom installations that can be performed only when they are required. For example, optional features in an application, such as clip art or a thesaurus, can be visible in a program without being installed. Although the menu commands will be accessible, the feature itself will not be installed until the user accesses the menu command. This method of installation helps reduce both the complexity of the application and the amount of hard disk space used by the application.
• Resilient applications. If a critical file is deleted or becomes corrupt, the application will automatically return to the installation source and acquire a new copy of the file, without the need for user intervention.
• Clean removal. Applications are uninstalled without leaving orphaned files and without inadvertently breaking another application (for example, by deleting a shared file required by another program).

These benefits are not limited to Windows 2000. Versions of Windows Installer will also be available for Windows NT 4.0, Windows 95, and Windows 98. However, using Windows 2000 does give administrators one major advantage: by combining the Windows Installer package files with the Software Installation and Maintenance technology, administrators can easily deploy and manage software throughout their entire organization.

The Software Installation and Maintenance technology uses Group Policy to deploy and manage software that has been packaged in the Windows Installer package file format.

The Windows 2000 Software Installation and Maintenance technology allows you to deploy and manage software with Group Policy and Active Directory directory services. After an organization has obtained a Windows Installer package file, an administrator can create Group Policy Objects (GPOs) that are associated with the package file. These GPOs can do the following:

• Install applications on user computers. This can be done automatically, when a user logs on or a computer is turned on, or these applications can be made available for users to install when they need them.
• Upgrade a previous version of the application, or automatically apply software patches or service packs.
• Remove applications.

Most important, you can manage and deploy software without visiting the computer of every user in the organization. By working with Windows Installer package files, administrators can handle most software deployment and management tasks through the use of Group Policy.

The Software Installation and Maintenance technology allows the distribution of software in a manner that more closely aligns with the typical software life cycle. Instead of managing software manually, Group Policy can be used to install, modify, repair, and remove software more efficiently. To better understand how these new software deployment and management technologies function, it is useful to examine the four phases of the software life cycle: preparation, deployment, maintenance, and removal.

The preparation phase occurs before software is actually deployed to users or computers. For Windows 2000, this involves two key processes: package acquisition and package modification.

Package Acquisition

The Software Installation and Maintenance technology can only deploy and manage Windows Installer package files. This means you must have a package file for an application before that application can be deployed using Group Policy. Administrators have the following three options for acquiring package files:

• Obtain a package file from a software vendor.
• Repackage an application (create a package file using repackaging software).
• Create a text file with the .ZAP extension. These text files enable you to publish an application using Group Policy and are discussed later in this chapter.

Package Modifications

Modifications are similar to Windows Installer package files but have an .MST file extension. Modifications allow you to take one product (for example, Microsoft Excel), and create any number of custom installations. For example, you might create a version of Excel that leaves out the statistical analysis components for a human resource department and a second version that includes the statistical analysis components for an accounting department. You can then create GPOs, assign these different versions to different users, and install the software without requiring a technician to sit at each computer and specify the installation options.

In the deployment phase, software is actually installed on computers. Windows 2000 provides the following options for software deployment:

• Assigning applications. When an application is assigned to a user, that application is advertised on the computer desktop. Since the application is assigned to the user, the assigned application appears on the computer desktop, no matter which computer the user logs on to. Advertised applications aren't actually installed, but they appear as though they have been installed. A Start menu shortcut, desktop icons, and registry entries (for example, file associations) are created.

The user can install the software by clicking the Start menu shortcut, double-clicking the desktop icon, or double-clicking a document type associated with that application (document invocation). Unless the user activates the installation, the application is not installed, which saves valuable hard disk space and administration time.

• Publishing applications. When an application is published, it is not advertised on the user desktop. However, users can install the application either through Add/Remove Programs or through document invocation.

Windows 2000 makes it easy to upgrade or redeploy software. For example, suppose a service pack has been issued for your organization's word processing program. As an administrator, you place the service pack on the network, and modify a GPO to redeploy the application. The next time a user activates the program, the service pack will automatically be applied. There is no need to individually visit each workstation and install the service pack.

Windows 2000 offers two methods for automatically removing applications:

• Forced removal. With a forced removal, software is automatically deleted from a computer, either the next time the computer is turned on (in the case of a computer policy), or the next time a user logs on (in the case of a user policy).
• Optional removal. With an optional removal, software is not automatically uninstalled from computers. For example, if a user already has Microsoft Word 97 installed, the user will be able to continue running that application. However, no new users will be able to install Word 97.

Microsoft Windows 2000 includes a new technology called Software Installation and Maintenance. It uses Group Policy and the new Windows Installer to reduce the amount of time you spend deploying and managing software. The Windows Installer package replaces the Setup.exe file and provides custom installations that can be performed only when they are required. It also makes applications resilient; if a critical file is deleted or becomes corrupt, the application will automatically return to the installation source and acquire a new copy of the file, without the need for user intervention. Applications are uninstalled without leaving orphaned files and without inadvertently breaking another application (for example, by deleting a shared file required by another program).

After you obtain a Windows Installer package file, you can create Group Policy objects (GPOs) that are associated with the package file. The Windows 2000 Software Installation and Maintenance technology allows you to deploy and manage software with Group Policy and Active Directory directory services. You can automatically install applications on user computers, upgrade previous versions of the application or apply software patches or service packs, and remove applications. Most important, you can manage and deploy software without visiting the computer of every user in the organization.

To help you understand how these new software deployment and management technologies function, this lesson examined the four phases of the software life cycle: preparation, deployment, maintenance, and removal. All of these four phases are handled by the Windows 2000 Software Installation and Maintenance technology.