using the Package Builder - Community - LANDesk

Successful Package Building using LANDesk®Management SuiteABSTRACTSoftware Packages can be friends or foes. Follow the tips in this document tobuild successful Enhanced Software Distribution packages with the LANDesk®Management Suite Package Builder. Packages can consist of changes capturedusing the Package Builder Wizard, or carefully planned commands that arecreated as part of a configuration script. Using either method, packages arecreated as a stand-alone monolithic executables. These executable files can belaunched independently on a workstation, or deployed to multiple workstations atone time using the LANDesk Desktop Manager console scheduling technology.Leveraging the power of the LANDesk Enhanced Software Distribution agentsinstalled on workstations, several layers of advanced functionality are exposed:• Application Healing - this function allows a package to be reinstalled or"healed" during a subsequent deployment. The healing function onlyreinstalls specific files that are missing or corrupt, not the entire contentsof a package.• Application Policy Management - a package can be scheduled as a policyto any workstation on a network, or to any NDS or ADS user. Complexqueries can be constructed that deploy these policies to groups of users orgroups of target workstations.• Task Completion - this function enables management of the 'occasionallyconnected client' by checking for scheduled tasks that have failed in thepast, or have not yet been run for a workstation. By default, this check ismade upon logon to the LANDesk® Management Suite domain.• Bandwidth Detection - use this feature to prevent flooding of slow WANlinks, or dial-up environments. For example, specifying WAN or LANbandwidth must be available for a package to be installed will prevent thepackage from being installed across a dial-up connection.Now, let's take a look at the Package Builder technology.PACKAGE BUILDER OVERVIEWThe Package Builder (herein referred to as PB) should be installed on a cleanOS installation. Having few applications installed will highly increase successwhen building a package.Building Successful Packages - 5 - v1.0