What's New with SMS Installer
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by Dana Daugherty
This
article provides an overview of the new features in the newest
release of SMS Installer (version 2.0.148) Version 2.0.148 provides integration with Windows
Installer. There are tools provided to compile new scripts
into the Windows Installer format and tools provided to
convert old scripts and program executables to the Windows
Installer format. SMS Installer Interface The new interface includes the option to compile as a
Windows Installer package. This provides the .msi file. It can
be run using the standard Windows Installer syntax: MSIEXEC
/option package.msi /option Installer Step-up Utility (ISU) ISU is a command-line utility that will convert SMS
Installer packages into Windows Installer format. It is
located in the Microsoft SMS Installer program group.
Syntax can be found using this command: ISU /? Purpose of Conversion What's the purpose in compiling or converting scripts to
the Windows Installer format? Windows Installer is an
installation service that contains the following parts: - An
installation service that resides on the operating system - A standard
format for defining the state of an installed application - A
management API for applications and tools If you haven't noticed, nearly all applications now use the
Windows Installer for setting up the application. Previously,
each setup program used its own setup rules. A system could
have a hundred or more programs installed in its lifetime.
Each of these programs would have been installed or
uninstalled based on its own rulers. New programs could break
existing ones, and uninstalling programs could leave multiple
files behind. As you can imagine this can quickly turn into a
real mess. It only makes sense for SMS Installer to join the
"team". Why continue to use SMS Installer? SMS installer provides
many flexible programming features to SMS admins that aren't
readily available and at no additional cost. It's a good tool
and provides some integration with SMS. Helpful Links Deploying Windows Installer Files using SMS
http://www.microsoft.com/smsmgmt/downloads/installer.asp
http://www.microsoft.com/technet/treeview/default.asp?url=/technet/prodtechnol/sms/deploy/depovg/deplymsi.asp?frame=true
