A package defines software to SMS and enables you to distribute that software to SMS clients. By using packages, you can distribute, install, and configure software in a variety of ways. You can create packages for commercial software, in-house software, configuration scripts, and data files.
Important Although SMS enables you to easily install software on multiple computers, you must still make sure to follow the licensing agreements for any commercial software you use. (You can use the Software Metering tool to help you track license usage.)
Packages and programs are created and displayed in Packages in the SMS Administrator console. SMS stores them in the database for the site you are administering.
For each package, you must define the programs (command lines) that can be run within the package. If the package requires files, you must also specify:
You can also specify package access accounts for the package data on distribution points.
Note You can use the Create Package from Definition Wizard to import a package definition file that contains predefined package and program properties for a software application. You can then specify the distribution points and access accounts for the package.
If you specified in the package properties that SMS should create a compressed version of the source files, a packageID.pkg file is created and stored in the Smspkg directory on the site server. This file is created and stored on the drive that you specify in the Software Distribution Properties dialog box (which you can access under Component Configuration in the SMS Administrator console).
After you create a package that has a source directory, SMS sends the package source files to the specified distribution points.
SMS propagates packages created at a parent site to the child sites. Such a package cannot be modified at the child site. SMS uses a special icon for packages that were propagated from a parent site to indicate that they are "locked" and cannot be modified except to specify additional distribution points.
After programs are defined for a package and the package data is sent to one or more distribution points, you can create advertisements that make the programs available to a collection of clients. You can monitor the distribution status in Package Status and Advertisement Status in System Status.
Changes from SMS 1.2 SMS network applications are supported only on the server. You can set up applications on shared network servers, but SMS no longer provides an interface on the client (Program Group Control) to run the shared application.
Also, software inventory is no longer a package property. Use the Software Inventory Client Agent Properties dialog box to customize software inventory.
Related Topics
View the Status of All Packages
Distributing Software to Clients