Fundamental to the package distribution process in Configuration Manager is the creation and use of collections.

Within Configuration Manager, collections represent groups of resources and can consist not only of computers, but also of Microsoft Windows users and user groups as well as other discovered resources. For more information about resources, see About Resources.

Depending on the collection, these different types of resources can be treated in vastly different ways. For instance, a discovered computer resource might not be installed as a Configuration Manager client, and therefore it cannot be the recipient of an advertisement, because the Advertised Programs Client Agent is a Configuration Manager client component. At the same time, a resource consisting of a Windows user cannot be installed as a client because there is no equivalent user installation method. However, a discovered user can be the recipient of an advertisement when that user is logged on at a Configuration Manager client.

Collections provide you with the means to organize resources into easily manageable units, enabling you to create an organized structure that logically represents the kinds of tasks that you want to perform. Collections also serve as targets for performing Configuration Manager operations on multiple resources at one time (such as software distribution or software updates).

In the Configuration Manager console, the Collections node contains the collections that are defined for the current site. The results pane displays the resources that are contained in the selected collection.

Collection Membership

Collection membership can be either direct or query based.

Direct membership is a manual membership method, meaning that you specifically define which resources are to be members of the collection. As a result, direct membership collections must updated manually as new resources are added or removed.

Query-based membership is a dynamic method, meaning that you do not define the resources that are to be members of the collections; rather, you define the rules by which those members are placed in the collections. These rules form a query, and Configuration Manager periodically reruns the query to keep the collection up to date.

For more information on collection membership, see About Collection Membership.

Subcollections

Collections can also contain subcollections. This provides you with more flexibility in organizing your resources, allowing you to treat both the collection and subcollection as one unit when needed. Although actions performed on a main collection can also be performed on its subcollections, this does not happen automatically, as subcollections are not considered to be members of the collection that contains them.

For more information on subcollections, see About Subcollections.

Predefined Collections

Collections are used to group resources into more easily manageable units. To make this easier, when you install Configuration Manager 2007, the following 16 default collections are created:

Collection	Description
All Active Directory Security Groups	Displays all security groups discovered through the Active Directory Security Group Discovery method.
All Desktops and Servers	Displays all discovered desktop and server computers.
All Systems	Displays all computers and IP-addressable resources discovered through any discovery method except Active Directory User Discovery.
All User Groups	Displays all Windows user groups discovered through the Active Directory User Discovery method.
All Users	Displays all Windows users discovered through the Active Directory User Discovery method.
All Windows 2000 Professional Systems	Displays all discovered computers running the Windows 2000 Professional operating system.
All Windows 2000 Server Systems	Displays all discovered computer systems running the Windows 2000 Server family operating system.
All Windows Mobile Devices	Displays all discovered Windows mobile devices.
All Windows Mobile Pocket PC 2003 Devices	Displays all discovered Windows mobile devices running the Windows Mobile Pocket PC 2003 operating system.
All Windows Mobile Pocket PC 5.0 Devices	Displays all discovered Windows mobile devices running the Windows Mobile Pocket PC 5.0 operating system.
All Windows Mobile Smartphone 2003 Devices	Displays all discovered Windows mobile devices running the Windows Mobile Smartphone 2003 operating system.
All Windows Mobile Smartphone 5.0 Devices	Displays all discovered Windows mobile devices running the Windows Mobile Smartphone 5.0 operating system.
All Windows Server 2003 Systems	Displays all discovered computers running the Windows Server 2003 family operating system.
All Windows Server Systems	Displays all discovered computer systems running the Windows 2000 family and Windows Server 2003 family operating systems.
All Windows Workstation or Professional Systems	Displays all discovered computers running the Windows 2000 Professional, Windows XP Professional, Windows Vista Business, and Windows Vista Enterprise operating systems.
All Windows XP Systems	Displays all discovered computers running the Windows XP operating system.

You can modify this list or add other collections and subcollections to make it fit your organizational needs. Membership in the predefined collections is query based and updates once a day by default, although you can change that frequency by clicking the Schedule button in the Membership Rules tab in the collection's Properties dialog box.

See Also

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