Windows automated software deploy tool

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Date:         Thu, 25 Dec 2003 11:11:34 -0600
To: NTBUGTRAQ@LISTSERV.NTBUGTRAQ.COM

Russ, I'm not sure if this is an appropriate message for this list, but
I have seen a few similar such mailings come across since I subscribed.
So, you'll either reject it or not. :)

I have put together and have been using in production (about 25
computers, no much) a very simple, bare-bones, Windows automated
software installation and management tool. The basic idea follows that
of SMS and other similar products: pushing software installs and
upgrades to a variety of workstations, unattended, with no user
interaction, with "profile" support for different system configurations.

The difference between these other products is how simple this one is.
It boils down to nothing except a 1200 line .js (JScript) script. It's
very easy to maintain and understand, and has absolutely no server side
overhead (it is installed on each workstation, as a service, and pulls
it's package list from a standard Windows share).

It's worth noting that I use it with a Samba PDC. No Windows server
back-ends. A common problem I've noticed with all the commercial systems
of similar class is they require something on the server end: either
Active Directory, IIS, etc. This doesn't. This doesn't even require a
Windows domain at all. Just a centralized file share.

It also doesn't rely on any particular packaging method. MSIs are nice,
but worthless until every piece of software you use comes in one.

Since running it as a service is the best way to do it, it will install
packages in the background, without user interaction. In fact, I've had
instances when I've installed software such as Office while the user was
using their system. The icons just appeared on the desktop while they
were working.

All the configuration files are in very simple XML. No GUIs. :)

Anyways, it's free/open source (GPL) and such, so anybody is welcome to
take a look at it, improve it, and use it themselves. I just now stuck
the package up on SourceForge (for lack of a better place). The .zip
includes some instructions for getting it up and running (Windows
Resource Kit necessary). I welcome all feedback! I've only tested it on
Windows 2000 by the way.

The SourceForge project page is http://wpkg.sf.net

If you reject this message, sorry for your time. :)

Jerry Haltom
Feedback Plus, Inc.

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