Windows Server 2003 : Setting Up the Group Policy Software Installation Extension (part 2) - Configuring the Group Policy Software Installation Extension

Configuring the Group Policy Software Installation Extension

A number of options control how Group Policy deploys and manages software packages. These options determine how packages are added to the GPO, the amount of control users have over an installation, and the default application for a given file extension, as well as which categories you can use for grouping applications. The following sections cover these options in detail.

Setting Software Installation Options

To change the default settings for the Group Policy Software Installation extension, first open the Software Installation Properties dialog box by performing the following steps:

After completing these steps, use the Software Installation Properties dialog box to perform the following tasks:

• To specify the default location for application packages, type the UNC path of the software distribution folder in the Default Package Location box of the General tab. This path must be a Uniform Naming Convention (UNC) name; it cannot be a direct reference to a local drive. To reduce the potential for name resolution problems, use a fully qualified Domain Name System (DNS) name—for example, \\srv1.example.local\software.
  
  
• To change the default action to perform on new packages, use the New Packages area of the General tab, as discussed in Table 1.
  
  

  Table 1. Default behavior options when adding new packages

  Option	What It Does
  Display The Deploy Software Dialog Box	Displays a dialog box asking whether to publish (User Configuration only) or assign the application, or whether to customize the configuration
  Publish (User Configuration only)	Automatically publishes the application, using the default settings
  Assign	Automatically assigns the application, using the default settings
  Advanced	Displays the application’s advanced properties, allowing a customized configuration

  
  
• To uninstall applications automatically when the GPO no longer applies to the user or computer, select the Uninstall The Applications When They Fall Out Of The Scope Of Management check box on the Advanced tab (which is shown in Figure 2).
  
  

  Figure 2. The Advanced tab of the Software Installation Properties dialog box

  

  
  

  Important

  Choosing the Uninstall The Applications When They Fall Out Of The Scope Of Management check box can lead to a user inappropriately losing an important application. For example, if a GPO is applied by site and a laptop user travels to a branch office, the user might lose software if the branch office’s GPOs do not include the same software applications. To avoid this, be careful when choosing this option and, if possible, do not deploy software by site.

• To allow 64-bit Windows clients to install 32-bit Windows Installer applications, select the Make 32-Bit X86 Windows Installer Applications Available To Win64 Machines check box. To allow 64-bit clients to install applications published using a .zap file , select the Make 32-Bit X86 Down-Level (ZAP) Applications Available To Win64 Machines check box. Note that you cannot deploy applications written for x64 editions of Windows on Itanium-based versions of Windows, and vice versa.
  
  
• To change which application Windows installs to open files of a given format, click the File Extensions tab, select a file extension from the Select File Extension list, select the default application for the extension, and then click Up to move it to the top of the list. Windows lists only the file extensions associated with packages already present in the GPO.
  
  
• To set up a list of software categories, making it easier for users to find the application they want, click the Categories tab, click Add, and type the category name. Categories apply to the entire domain, not just the Group Policy object with which you are working.
  
  

Changing Software Installation Behavior over Slow Links

Group Policy by default considers all connections slower than 500 Kbps (kilobits per second) to be slow links. When Windows detects a slow link, it disables logon and startup scripts, software installation, folder redirection, and disk quotas. To change the connection speed Windows considers slow, use the following procedure:

1.	Open the appropriate GPO, select Computer Configuration or User Configuration, and then Administrative Templates, followed by System, and finally Group Policy.
2.	In the details pane, double-click the Group Policy Slow Link Detection policy setting (shown in Figure 3). The Group Policy Slow Link Detection Properties dialog box appears. Figure 3. The Group Policy Slow Link Detection policy setting
3.	Choose the Enabled option and then type the connection speed to define as slow. Enter 0 to disable slow link detection, forcing Group Policy to consider every connection a LAN connection.

Besides changing what speed Group Policy considers slow, you can enable or disable the processing of the following policy items over a slow network link:

• Internet Explorer Maintenance Policy Processing

• Software Installation Policy Processing

• Folder Redirection Policy Processing

• Scripts Policy Processing

• Security Policy Processing

• IP Security Policy Processing

• EFS Recovery Policy Processing

• Disk Quota Policy Processing