If you have extended the Active Directory schema for your Configuration Manager 2007 site, then a number of client installation settings will be published to Active Directory Domain Services. When a new Configuration Manager 2007 client is installed, it can then search Active Directory Domain Services to find standard installation properties to use.

Advantages of using Active Directory to store client installation properties include the following:

Client installation properties stored in Active Directory Domain Services are used only if no other setup properties are specified with any of the following methods:

The following table lists Configuration Manager 2007 client installation methods and the circumstances in which they will use Active Directory to obtain installation properties:

Installation Method Comments

Client push installation

Client installation properties are specified in the Client tab of the Client Push Installation Properties dialog box. Configuration settings are stored in a file which is read by the client during installation. Client push installation does not use Active Directory to obtain installation properties.

Client push installation properties specified in this tab are published to Active Directory if the schema is extended for Configuration Manager 2007 and read by client installations where CCMSetup is run with no installation properties.

Note
You do not need to specify client push installation properties for the fallback status point or for native mode settings in this tab as these are supplied by default to client push installations.

Software update point based installation

The software update point installation method does not support adding installation properties to the CCMSetup command line.

If no command line properties have been provisioned on the client computer using Group Policy, it will search Active Directory for installation properties.

Group Policy installation

The Group Policy installation method does not support adding installation properties to the CCMSetup command line.

If no command line properties have been provisioned on the client computer using Group Policy, it will search Active Directory for installation properties.

Manual installation

Active Directory will be searched for installation properties under the following circumstances:

  • No command line properties are specified following the CCMSetup.exe command.

  • The computer has not been provisioned with installation properties using Group Policy.

Logon script installation

Active Directory will be searched for installation properties under the following circumstances:

  • No command line properties are specified following the CCMSetup.exe command.

  • The computer has not been provisioned with installation properties using Group Policy.

Software distribution installation

Active Directory will be searched for installation properties under the following circumstances:

  • No command line properties are specified following the CCMSetup.exe command.

  • The computer has not been provisioned with installation properties using Group Policy.

Installations for clients that cannot access Active Directory for published information:

  • Workgroup computers

  • Clients from a different Active Directory forest to the site server computer's forest

  • Clients that are installed on the Internet

These client computers cannot read installation properties from Active Directory, and so will not be able to access installation properties published to Active Directory.

The following client installation properties are published by Configuration Manager 2007 to Active Directory. See the topic About Configuration Manager Client Installation Properties for further information on these items.

  • The default management point used to download content for the client installation.

  • The Configuration Manager 2007 site code.

  • The HTTP port used for client communications in both mixed mode and native mode.

  • The HTTPS port used for client communication in native mode.

  • A setting to indicate that the client must communicate in native mode.

  • The fallback status point (if the site has multiple fallback status points, only the first one that was installed will be published to Active Directory Domain Services).

  • The certificate store name if the default (Local Computer) is not being used.

  • The selection criteria for certificate selection, if this is required because the client has more than one valid certificate that can be used for native mode communication.

  • A setting to determine which certificate to use for native mode communication if multiple valid certificates exist.

  • Installation properties specified in the Client tab of the Client Push Installation Properties dialog box.

See Also