Use these procedures to create sets of applicability rules. Applicability rules are added to a software update as either installable or installed rules. The combination of both types of rules define the applicability rules of the software update. Each rule set that you create can include a single rule or multiple rules. You can create rules that apply to files, registry key, Windows operating systems, Windows Installer, and other saved rules.

The first procedure describes how to create a rule set. The remaining procedures describe how to add the different types of rules to the set. Each rule can be a stand-alone rule, or it can be combined with other rules by using logical And and Or operators. In addition, while creating a rule, you can also save the rule or rule set so that it can be used in other rule sets.

To create a rule set

  1. In the Updates Publisher 2011 console, click Rules. The workspaces are listed in the console tree.

  2. In the Rules workspace, on the Home tab, click Create to open the Create Rule Set dialog box.

  3. Specify the name of the rule set in the Rule Set Name field.

  4. Add rules to the set. The following procedures describe how to add the different types of rules. You can add rules that are associated with files, registry keys, Windows operating systems, Windows Installer, and rules that you have already saved.

  5. After you have added rules to the rule set, click OK to save the rule set. You cannot save the rule set until you have added at least one rule.

To add a rule that applies to a file

  1. In the Create Rule Set dialog box, click New.

  2. In the Applicability Rule dialog box, select File in the Rule type field.

  3. In the File name field, specify the name of the file to test. This step is required.

  4. Specify the location of the file using the file path or a registry key.

    • To use the path of the file to specify the file location, use the Common Paths and Path fields.

    • To use a registry key to specify the file location, select the Use the Registry to determine file location check box and fill in the Subkey and Value fields.

  5. If this rule is associated with a file for a 32-bit application that is installed on a Windows 64-bit operating system, select the check box This registry key is associated with a 32-bit application on a 64-bit operating system to ensure that the rule is applied to the correct location. Windows 64-bit operating systems separate the registry entries for 32-bit and 64-bit applications.

  6. Specify the criteria that is used when the rule is applied to the file.

    To verify that the file exists and that it matches certain properties of the file, click The file must exist on the target computer and match the specified properties and fill in the following fields for the properties that you want to test:

    • Language: Specify the language of the file.

    • Version: Specify the version number of the file.

    • Size: Specify the size of the file.

    • Date created: Specify the date when the file was created.

    • Date modified: Specify the date when the file was last modified.

    To verify only that the file has a certain property, click The file must match the following property and fill in the following fields:

    • Property: Specify the property of the file that is tested, such as Created Date.

    • Operator: Specify the logical operator to use in the test, such as EqualTo.

      Important
      If you are testing for the version of the file, the Less Than and Less Than or Equal To operators return True if the file does not exist.
    • Value: Specify the value to test against, such as a date. For example, you can specify that the rule applies only if the file was created on 1/1/2001.

  7. Click OK to add the rule to the rule set.

When you have finished adding rules to the rule set, remember to click OK in the Create Rule Set dialog box to save the set. If you want to add more rules to the rule set, click New and define the new rule.

To add a rule that applies to a registry key

  1. In the Create Rule dialog box, click New.

  2. In the Applicability Rule dialog box, select Registry in the Rule type field.

  3. In the Subkey field, specify the subkey of HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE that this statement applies to. For example: SOFTWARE\Microsoft\.NETFramework. This step is required.

  4. In the Value field, specify the value of the registry key to test against, or select the Default Value check box to test against the default value of the registry key.

  5. If this statement is associated with a 32-bit application that is installed on a Windows 64-bit operating system, select the check box This registry key is associated with a 32-bit application on a 64-bit operating system to ensure that the rule is applied to the correct location. Windows 64-bit operating systems store the registry entries for 32-bit and 64-bit applications in different locations.

  6. Specify the criteria that is used when the rule is applied to the registry key.

    To verify only that the registry key exists, click The Registry setting must exist on the target computer.

    To verify a condition of the registry, click The Registry setting must satisfy the following condition and fill in the following fields:

    • Operator: Specify the logical operator to use in the test, such as EqualTo.

      Important
      The Less Than and Less Than or Equal To operators return True if the registry key does not exist.
    • Value: Specify the value of the registry key to test against.

  7. Click OK to add the statement to the rule.

When you are done adding rules to the rule set, remember to click OK in the Create Rule Set dialog box to save the set. If you want to add more rules to the rule set, click New and define the new rule.

To add a rule that applies to a Windows operating system

  1. In the Create Rule dialog box, click New.

  2. In the Applicability Rule dialog box, select System in the Rule type field.

  3. To test to see if a specific version of the Windows operating system is installed, click Windows version and specify the version of the operating system, such as Windows 7. If Custom is selected, fill in the following fields:

    • Operator: Specify the operator to use in the test, such as EqualTo.

    • Version: Specify the version number of the operating system, such as Windows 7.

    • Major version: Specify the major version number of the operating system. This field is required.

    • Minor version: Specify the minor version number of the operating system. This field is required.

    • SP major version: Specify the service pack major version number of the operating system. This field is required.

    • SP minor version: Specify the service pack minor version number of the operating system. This field is required.

    • Build number: Specify the build number of the operating system. This field is required.

    • Type: Specify the type of the operating system, such as workstation, domain controller, and server.

  4. To apply the rule to an operating system that displays its content in a specific language, click Windows language and select the language.

  5. To apply the rule to an operating system designed for a processor architecture, click Processor architecture and select x86, x64, or IA64.

  6. To apply the rule to an operating system that is identified by using a Windows Management Instrumentation (WMI) query, click WMI query and fill in the following fields:

    • WMI namespace: Specify the WMI namespace where the objects used in the query are defined.

    • WMI query: Specify the query that identifies the operating system. This field is required.

  7. Click OK to add the statement to the rule.

When you are done adding rules to the rule set, remember to click OK in the Create Rule Set dialog box to save the set. If you want to add more rules to the rule set, click New and define the new rule.

To add a rule that applies to a product or patch installed by Windows Installer

  1. In the Create Rule Set dialog box, click New.

  2. In the Applicability Rule dialog box, select Windows Installer in the Rule type field.

    Important
    If you use MSI rules, the Windows Update Agent cannot detect Windows Installer packages that were installed on a per-user basis. If you must use MSI rules, always configure additional applicability rules, such as file versions or registry key values, so that the Windows Installer package can be properly detected, whether or not the package was installed on a per-user basis or on a per-system basis.

  3. To apply the rule to an installed product or Windows Installer patch, click Windows Installer product or patch installed and fill in the following fields:

    • Product code: Specify product code used to install the product. This field is required.

    • Patch code: Specify the Windows Installer patch code used to install the patch.

    • Maximum version: Specify the maximum version of the product that must be installed.

    • Minimum version: Specify the minimum version of the product that must be installed.

    • Languge: Specify the language of the installed product.

  4. To apply the rule to the features or components of a product or Windows Installer patch, click Component or feature installed and fill in the following fields:

    • Product code: Use Add and Delete to specify the products that the rule applies to. This field is required.

      If all of the products of the product codes that you listed must be installed, select the All products must be installed check box.

    • Component and Feature: Click Component to test for installed components of the product and click Feature to test for installed features of the product. Specify the GUID of the component or the name of the feature and click Add to add it to the list. The list can contain both components and features.

      If all of the components and features for the product codes that you listed must be installed, select the All components and features must be installed check box.

  5. Click OK to add the rule to the rule set.

When you have finished adding rules to the rule set, remember to click OK in the Create Rule Set dialog box to save the set. If you want to add more rules to the rule set, click New and define the new rule.

To add a saved rule

  1. In the Create Rule Set dialog box, click New.

  2. In the Applicability Rule dialog box, select Saved Rule in the Rule type field.

    Tip
    When creating rule sets, to save a rule select the rule or logical operator that you want to save and click Save. When you save a logical operator everything within the selected operator is saved, including nested logical operators.

  3. Select one of the saved rules that are displayed.

  4. Click OK to add the rule to the rule set.

When you have finished adding rules to the rule set, remember to click OK in the Create Rule Set dialog box to save the set. If you want to add more rules to the rule set, click New and define the new rule.

To add logical operators

  1. To add an And operator to the rule, click And. Updates Publisher 2011 adds the operator to the bottom of the rule. Select the rules that you want to include in the statement and click Up or Down to move them into the And statement.

    To change an And operator to an Or operator, clock Toggle.

  2. To add an Or operator to the rule, click Or. Updates Publisher 2011 adds the operator to the bottom of the rule. Select the rules that you want to include in the statement and click Up or Down to move them into the Or statement.

    To change an Or operator to an And operator, clock Toggle.

  3. To add a Not operator select a rule and click Not. This icon is also used to remove a Not operator.

  4. Click OK to add the rule to the rule set.

When you have finished adding rules to the rule set, remember to click OK in the Create Rule Set dialog box to save the set. If you want to add more rules to the rule set, click New and define the new rule.

See Also