The SMS 2003 R2 Inventory Tool for Custom Updates Setup wizard installs components on the site server and creates SMS objects to install the inventory scan tool on the SMS Advanced Clients. The Setup wizard creates the following objects by default:

During Setup, you must specify a base name for the objects that SMS creates. The suggested base name is Custom Updates Tool, but any unique base name can be used. The documentation assumes you are using the default base name. If you choose another name, it must be different from any existing SMS objects. The documentation assumes you are using the default base name.

Package

If you accept the default name, Setup creates the Custom Updates Tool package.

Important
When reinstalling the SMS 2003 R2 Inventory Tool for Custom Updates, use the same package name. Before the client installs software updates, it first runs the inventory scan tool. If the inventory scan tool package name changes, the packages previously created by the Distribute Software Updates wizard will use the obsolete inventory scan tool package, resulting in incorrect results.The Custom Updates Tool package always obtains its source files from the PkgSource directory. The package does not update distribution points on a schedule because the catalog is synchronized from the Custom Updates Publishing Tool when the catalog is published. For more information about publishing custom software updates catalogs see Publishing Custom Updates.
Important
Do not rename custom updates packages or move the package source folder after installation. Doing so will cause the inventory scans to fail.

Setup can automatically configure the package to be copied to all distribution points in the site and to all child sites. If you prefer to limit the distribution points that contain the scan tool package, you can manually configure the distribution points for the Custom Updates Tool package after Setup is complete.

Programs

Setup creates the following programs to run the inventory scan tool on the SMS Advanced Client computers:

  • Custom Updates Tool. This program runs the following command line: ScanWrapper.exe /cache.

  • Custom Updates Tool (expedited). This program runs the following command line: ScanWrapper.exe /cache /kick.

    Note
    The /kick switch causes hardware inventory to be collected immediately after running the scan tool. This allows timelier reporting of which software updates are and are not applied. Use care when running /kick in a production environment. The first time the expedited program runs, it might cause significant network traffic, even if clients are generating only delta hardware inventory. If the expedited program runs regularly, the network impact should decrease.

Both programs share the following property settings:

  • Run hidden.

  • Do not reboot the computer after running.

  • Program can run only on Windows XP (x86 and x64), Windows Server 2003 (x64, IA64, x86), Windows 2000 Service Pack 3 (x86), and Windows 2000 Service Pack 4 (x86).

  • Program can run whether or not a user is logged on.

  • Run with administrative rights.

  • Suppress program notifications.

Advertisements

During Setup, you have the option to advertise the inventory tool to the test and production collections. This action creates the Custom Updates Tool advertisement, which distributes the Custom Updates Tool package and program to the Custom Updates Tool collection. By default, the advertisement is scheduled to recur every seven days, effective as soon as the object is created. Advanced Clients download the program from a local distribution point (if available) or remote distribution point (if no local distribution point is available) and then run the program from the cache. Changing the program to run directly from a distribution point is not recommended. For more information about the cache, see Microsoft Knowledge Base article 839513 at the Microsoft Help and Support site (http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?linkid=46676).

Collections

If the option to advertise the inventory tool is selected during Setup, the following collections are created to assist you in testing and deploying the Custom Updates Tool package to your SMS Advanced Clients:

  • Custom Updates Tool (preproduction)

  • Custom Updates Tool

If Setup creates the advertisement and the collections, you must designate an SMS 2003 SP2 Advanced Client to use as a test computer. The computer must have the SMS Advanced Client installed, and the client must belong to an existing collection that the account you are logged on with when running Setup has read access. Setup adds the test computer to the Custom Updates Tool (preproduction) collection.

The Custom Updates Tool collection has one querybased membership rule to include all operating systems where the version is greater than or equal to 5.0.2195, which evaluates to all computers that are running Windows 2000, Windows XP, or Windows Server 2003. However, because the default query rule properties limit the Custom Updates Tool collection to the Custom Updates Tool (preproduction) collection, the effective membership after Setup completes includes only the single test computer. This ensures that initially the SMS 2003 Inventory Tool for Custom Updates runs only on the known test computer. After you have completed your tests, you can remove the collection limiting option and the SMS 2003 R2 Inventory Tool for Custom Updates automatically distributes to all computers that are capable of running it.

For more information about managing the collections created by Setup, see Managing Collections for the Scan Tool for Vulnerability Assessment.

See Also