Tivoli Endpoint Manager for

Software Distribution

User’s Guide

User’s Guide i
 Note: Before using this information and the product it supports, read the information in Notices.

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ii Software Distribution
Contents
Part One ____________________________ 1
Introduction ________________________ 1
System requirements ___________________1
Best practices ________________________ 2

Part Two ___________________________ 3

Managing packages __________________ 3
What is a package? ____________________ 3
Dashboard overview ___________________ 3
Create a new package _________________ 4
Edit an existing package ________________ 5
Migrate software repositories ___________ 9

Part Three _________________________ 11

Microsoft Application Virtualization_____ 11
Deploy App-V Clients___________________ 11
View App-V Client Status _______________15
Deploy App-V Packages _______________ 16
View App-V Application Usage __________ 16

Part Four __________________________ 19

Support ___________________________ 19
Frequently asked questions ____________ 19
Technical support ____________________ 22

Part Five ___________________________ 23

Notices ____________________________ 23

User’s Guide iii

iv Software Distribution
Part One

Introduction
Tivoli® Endpoint Manager for Software Distribution Version delivers cost-effective, operational
control and visibility to your software delivery and installation process. Part of the Tivoli Endpoint
Manager Lifecycle Management Suite, Software Distribution allows you to improve the
management of your Windows desktop software distribution processes from a single, unified
point of control and storage-optimized library. The Tivoli Endpoint Manager platform, powered by
BigFix architecture, helps IT staff control bandwidth to have packages delivered without affecting
network performance - regardless of network size or speed.

Some of the most significant cost- and time-saving features of Software Distribution include:

 Dynamic and policy-based bandwidth throttling to push large files over distributed
networks without impacting line-of-business bandwidth
 Support for roaming endpoints with pre-caching relay infrastructure
 Features to optimize dynamic and evolving networks
 Intelligent software distribution based on endpoint characteristics
 Wizards and user self-provisioning capability
 Continuous software application license usage and metering, including support for
existing software repositories
 Low-cost scalability with minimal infrastructure requirements
 “Follow-the-user” targeting using Active Directory groups
 Support for Microsoft App-V package format
 Support for Tivoli Configuration Manager SPB Package Format
 Automatic creation of uninstallation tasks for supported package formats

System requirements
The Software Distribution dashboard requires the same system specifications as the Tivoli
Endpoint Manager Console:

 Console version 8.0.627.0

 Intel Pentium III–class processor with at least 2 GB RAM (larger
deployments require additional resources)
 Windows 2003, Vista, XP, 7, or 2008 R2 with Internet Explorer 7.0 or later
 Distributions supported to any Windows client supported by the Tivoli Endpoint Manager
platform
 Agent version must be 8.0.627.0 or later
 Active Directory requires an agent version of 8.1.551.0 or later
 App-V agents require Windows XP SP2 or later

User’s Guide 1
 Best practices

Policy-based Distributions
Use client settings to drive the installation of packages using a policy. Client settings are cross-
platform data tags that can be used in a number of ways by the Tivoli Endpoint Manager platform.
For example, a client setting called role might be set to “Facilities Management”, and a Tivoli
Endpoint Manager action might be present to install an Autodesk client on Windows systems with
that condition. This practice allows predictable, centrally-managed, role-based software
provisioning, as well as rapid return to the state you want following an OS re-image or migration.

Authorization
Test the installation of software under the systems management account. On Windows systems,
Tivoli Endpoint Manager defaults to installing software as the LocalSystem account. On Mac OS
X, Linux and UNIX, software is installed as root. Always test software installations under these
accounts to ensure that they work. For additional guidance, see the related articles for Windows
or Mac on the BigFix support website Knowledge Base. If a software package does not install
under LocalSystem, try using Run As Current User to use the current user’s rights. To automate
this action, create tasks with the Software Distribution dashboard.

Prerequisites
Tivoli Endpoint Manager provides a powerful baseline concept that solves the dependency chain
problem of prerequisite software. For example, a piece of in-house software might require a
particular version of .Net. As a result, this might require an upgrade of Windows Installer which, in
turn, might also require a patch if Service Pack 3 is not installed. To define the prerequisite chain,
bundle these four related tasks into a single baseline. Those systems missing any component of
the baseline can then install it, while those meeting some or all of the prerequisites can omit that
step and move on to the next step. All targeted systems are then brought to the same end state
with a single action. For additional guidance on creating baselines, see the Tivoli Endpoint
Manager Console Operator’s Guide.

Site Organization
To improve performance and usability, use custom sites to organize your generated tasks.
Custom sites allow you to categorize content within your deployment, which helps tune your Tivoli
Endpoint Manager installation for optimum resource usage. For additional guidance on creating
custom sites, see the Tivoli Endpoint Manager Console Operator’s Guide.

2 Software Distribution
Part Two

Managing packages
What is a package?
Packages are bundles of content and are the most important part of the Software Distribution
product. They contain a list of the files needed to install a specific software product, as well as the
tasks that install the product on your endpoints. A package establishes management relationships
between files and tasks.

Dashboard overview
The Software Distribution Dashboard gives you access to the most common tasks associated
with managing the software in your deployment, such as creating new packages, creating default
tasks associated with those packages, adding files to existing packages, and creating and
managing associated tasks.

The dashboard can be accessed from the top of the Software Distribution navigation tree.

After clicking in the navigation tree, the dashboard displays on the right side of your console.

User’s Guide 3
 Create a new package
From the dashboard, click New Package.

Manually fill in the Product, Vendor, and Version fields, and select from the drop-down menu to
designate your package as either Private or Shared.

Shared packages are visible to all console operators; private packages are visible only to the user
who created them.

Note: If you designate a package as Shared, this package is visible and can be edited
by all console operators. If you want to keep packages private but share tasks
with designated operators, copy the tasks into a custom site. For more
information about working with custom sites, see the Tivoli Endpoint Manager
Console Operator’s Guide.

After you have filled in all applicable fields, click Confirm on the right side of the window.

When you have created a new package, you can see the package displayed in the Package
Library.

4 Software Distribution
Now you have created an empty package. By clicking Confirm in the previous step, you opened a
new window, where you can manage the files and tasks that you want to associate with this new
package. The next step is to add files.

Edit an existing package

Click Add Files located under the Manage Files tab.

This opens the Add Files to Package window, which allows you to add files and folders.

With the Add File feature, you can manually type the name of a file or click Browse to locate a file
stored in your system.

Click Add Folder to add an entire folder of content to your package. Type the name of the folder,
or browse to locate a folder in your system. The Compression Depth feature, located within the
Add Folder field, allows you to compress files together beyond a specified folder depth. Use a
depth of “0” to bundle all files together into one compression file.

Note: To maintain optimum performance, use the Compression feature when pushing
more than 50 files to an endpoint. Distributing many small files uses more
network bandwidth, while distributing fewer large files uses more endpoint
processor. Use the Compress Folders option to tune this performance control
for your environment. For more information, click here for the related
Knowledge Base article.

User’s Guide 5
 Click Use Relative Path to customize where something is added in the hierarchy of files.
Manually type your location (for example, mySubFolder/childofSubfolder). Use this feature when
you have added files or folders that are shown in the wrong location.

Click Add to Package at the bottom of the window. This action processes all the information for
your package, analyzes the relevant files, and uploads them to the server.

While files are being uploaded to the server, check the File Status field in the dashboard.
An exclamation mark indicates that files have not yet been uploaded to the Tivoli
Endpoint Manager server.

Note: You might need to click Refresh to view changes in file status.

Next, select the Manage Tasks tab and click New Task.

Note: Add Tasks only after you have added files.

Click New Task to open the Create Distribution Task window, which displays all available files
associated with your package that can be included in a distribution task. Select each file that you
want to deploy to your endpoints by clicking Add.

6 Software Distribution
You cannot create a task where all files are in a relative path. Software Distribution tasks require
that installation commands are located in the root of the package. If you attempt to add files to a
package with no files in its root folder, the task displays the following warning:

Click Next. In this window, you define an installation command to be used when sending the
software package to your endpoints and customize a command line message specific to your
task.

User’s Guide 7
 You can also apply an MST file to the installation command. If your installation command is an
MSI, then check Apply MST file to install command. This displays a list of all the MSTs that can
be applied to the MSI.

You can also choose to automatically create an uninstallation task for certain package types,
such as MSI or App-V.

You can run the command as a System User or Current User. The default is to run the task as a
System User, but certain packages must be installed for a specific user.

Click Next. The Active Directory Targeting page opens (only available in Tivoli Endpoint Manager
8.1), where you can target endpoints using Organization Units or Security Groups.

You can target either users or computers of an Active Directory Security Group or Organization
Unit. Auto-completion when typing the name of a Security Group or Organization Unit is enabled
if the “Active Directory Security Groups and Organization Units” analysis is activated.

8 Software Distribution
You can also link multiple Active Directory conditions together. Use the Logical Grouping field to
group your conditions using AND, OR, or NOT operators.

Click Create Task. This opens a new window based on the parameters you just set. From the
Create Task window, you can validate the auto-generated relevance and action before saving
and testing.

Note: Be sure to test a task before deploying it in a production environment.

Migrate software repositories

The Software Distribution Upload Manager is a stand-alone tool that helps you upload any pre-
existing packages that exist in your deployment before installing Software Distribution.
Specifically, the tool uploads your packages to the Tivoli Endpoint Manager server, and the
dashboard allows you to create related default Software Distribution tasks.

Before Tivoli Endpoint Manager can deploy software packages, it needs a tool that can analyze,
archive, and upload those packages. The uploadmanager.exe tool, which needs access to the
server and database, can be found on your Tivoli Endpoint Manager server in the
BES Server\BESReportsServer\wwwroot\SiteData\bes_bfenterprise\Sites\Software Distribution
folder and must be copied to a working directory before you can use it.

The tool can be used to script a library import in two ways:

 A script can be written to produce a list of directory names that are passed into the
Upload Manager as an inputdirslist. This is a good approach for libraries that are well
structured. For example, if the software repository reliably follows the pattern of
/VENDOR/PRODUCT/VERSION folders, a simple listing of those folders is sufficient.

 Alternatively, a script can be written that iterates the file system and calls the tool
repeatedly on a per product directory basis. This is a good approach for libraries that are
not well structured, in which the external script must test a given directory for applicability.

Packages that are uploaded in this manner have their files uploaded and their metadata filled in
with estimated values derived from file analysis. To generate tasks using these estimated values,
select the uploaded packages and click Create Default Tasks. Uninstallation tasks are also
created if the package format supports this.

User’s Guide 9
 Note: All tasks generated in this manner are marked as Validation Required.

For access to the Upload Manager tool, click here. If you are using a version of Upload Manager
earlier than 1.0.0.37, you must download it again to access all new features.

For detailed usage instructions, click here.

10 Software Distribution
Part Three

Microsoft Application Virtualization

Software Distribution supports the distribution and management of Microsoft Application Virtualization
(App-V) packages without the need for a separate Microsoft System Center App-V Management Server
for streaming and metering. The Microsoft App-V Sequencer creates a virtualized application that can be
distributed by using Software Distribution.

To use your App-V site, go to the License Overview dashboard under the BigFix Management domain in
your console and enable the Client Manager for Application Virtualization site. Subscribe to this site any
desktops that require an App-V client.

Deploy App-V Clients

The App-V Client Wizard creates tasks for installing and configuring App-V clients. With this
wizard, you can specify and upload client installers for use. You can also set up and apply
configuration templates as policies.

The following App-V clients and packages are supported:

 4.5 SP1
 4.5 SP2
 4.6 Gold (32 and 64-bit)
 4.6 SP1 (32 and 64-bit)

User’s Guide 11
 To create another deployment option, choose the New Client Installer option and specify the
location of the App-V Client installer and information about the installer being uploaded.

You can edit previous installer entries by double-clicking the row or the edit button on the right
side of the row. Click the trash icon to delete the entry.

To create a configuration, choose New Client Configuration and choose all options to be set on
the client. You can specify many settings for configuration, optional servers, and permissions for
non-administrative users.

You can view previous configuration entries by double-clicking the row or the edit button.

12 Software Distribution
 Note: The App-V client must have the "AllowIndependentFileStreaming" setting
enabled to run in stand-alone mode. You can configure this in the App-V Client
Deployment Dashboard.

To create a task, select from the available client installers and configuration options, as follows:

 If you create a task using a client installer, the new task only installs the client and leaves
the configuration as the default.

 If you create a task using a configuration, the new task changes the configuration on an
existing deployed App-V client.

 If you create a task using both the client installer and configuration, a task deploys and
configures App-V.

When you select at least one item, you can create a task.

User’s Guide 13
 Created tasks can be found in the Systems Lifecycle domain under the App-V Client Tasks
subnode of the Software Distribution navigation tree.

You can also create tasks to uninstall the App-V client, or to restart the App-V client service due
to a pending configuration change.

14 Software Distribution
View App-V Client Status
The App-V Client Deployment Dashboard displays a summary of App-V client deployments,
including installed versions and configuration settings.

The configuration pie chart displays the top 5 configurations, grouping everything else in Other
Configurations.

Click a bar, pie slice or entry in the tables to see a listing of those computers.

User’s Guide 15
 Deploy App-V Packages
A complete App-V package includes the following files:

 An .sft file, which contains the data of the sequenced application

 An .osd file for each application in the App-V package
 A manifest.xml file, which contains information about the entire App-V package
 Icon files used to display the application on the endpoint

If these files are packaged together, the Software Distribution dashboard generates a default installation
command to deploy the App-V package to the endpoint in stand-alone mode (without streaming servers)
to endpoints with the App-V client installed.

The App-V Sequencer might also generate an MSI file. This file can be used to deploy and install the
package with the Software Distribution Dashboard if the following conditions are met:

 The MSI is accompanied by all other files in the App-V package, as described above.
 The App-V client is already installed on the endpoint.
 The App-V client has the "AllowIndependentFileStreaming" setting enabled.
 If App-V runs in a stand-alone configuration (no streaming server), the App-V client has
the "RequireAuthorizationIfCached" setting set to 0. Otherwise, the application installs,
but fails when the App-V client fails to contact the streaming server.

These conditions are tested by the task relevance. However, you must build a package in stand-
alone mode before it can be deployed.

View App-V Application Usage

The App-V Application Usage Report is a Web Report that displays information about how
applications are used in your deployment. The report can be found under the Systems Lifecycle
category and then “App-V Application Usage Report”.

16 Software Distribution
Within this report, you choose the last launch filtering criteria.

After doing this, data is retrieved from the Web Reports server. You can search through the data
using the Search box and copy data to the clipboard for importing into another program using the
“Copy to Clipboard” function.

Note: Web Reports performance can be degraded when the amount of data becomes
large. To further filter data beyond “Last Launch” criteria, first use the standard
Web Reports filter dialog.

User’s Guide 17
18 Software Distribution
Part Four

Support
Frequently asked questions

How does SPB software support get activated?

Click here for the Software Distribution Knowledge Base article on this topic, and click here for
the Tivoli Configuration Manager to Tivoli Endpoint Manager Migration Guide.

What is the definition of a Package?

Packages are bundles of content. They contain a list of the files needed to install a specific
software product, as well as the tasks that install that product on the actual endpoints. The
package establishes management relationships between files and tasks. For more information
about tasks and actions, see the Tivoli Endpoint Manager Console Operator’s Guide.

What is the role of MSTs in Software Distribution?

A Microsoft Transform (MST) file is a sub-file of a Microsoft Installer (MSI) file. Transform files are
used to set or override installation options such as the product language, license key, or
component selections. In the context of Software Distribution, you can use a wizard to auto-
generate a task for every MST included in a package.

Note: You can have different tasks apply to different MSTs, but you can only apply
one MST for each Software Distribution task.

Does Software Distribution include a package builder or sequencer?

No, this product does not include a package building tool.

I created a task from the Make Task Wizard. Why is it not relevant?

For general Fixlet and task authoring support, see the Fixlet Authoring support page on the BigFix
support website. For more specific guidance, see the related Knowledge Base article.

User’s Guide 19
 I created a task in Current User mode and deployed it to my endpoints. Why didn’t it
get installed at the endpoints?

There must be a logged-in user with Administrator privileges to install the software.

I’m having trouble deploying my App-V packages. What should I do?

See the Microsoft website for more specific information about App-V deployment.

Why do I need installation files in the root directory to create a task?

See the related Knowledge Base article on the BigFix support website.

Can I find the list of packages that have been installed on an endpoint?

Because Tivoli Endpoint Manager does not repackage the software in a new format, it relies on
vendor-specified tags, such as the package GUID. These attributes are already gathered in Tivoli
Endpoint Manager inventory for many common packaging systems. Alternatively, analyses can
be used to identify attributes that indicate that a piece of software is in place. The Tivoli Endpoint
Manager Software Usage Analysis scanner is useful for doing this.

Are there any recommendations when creating packages?

See the related Knowledge Base article on the BigFix support website.

What are the currently supported file types?

Software Distribution can deploy any type of file. However, it is currently only supported for
Windows platforms. Auto-generation of package installation commands only works for .exe, .msi,
spb, .bat files, and Microsoft App-V packages.

Why is my computer still relevant to a task after it has completed?

The auto-generated task relevance might not provide perfect applicability relevance for certain file
types. Check that the relevance is accurate and modify it if necessary. Actions from tasks are
considered successful if each step runs without error. A successful completion of the task does
not necessarily mean that the task becomes non-relevant.

20 Software Distribution
What should I do if my software package has setup.exe and .msi file in it?

This depends on the type of software that you are installing. Check with the specific software
vendor for their recommendations.

How does automatic task creation handle a software package that contains multiple
installers?

The automatic task creation feature prioritizes installation commands using a scoring system
based on the following criteria:

 File name starts with setup or install

 Is an MSI or SPB file
 Is an EXE or BAT file
 Contains a complete App-V package

MSI-only packages with a single transform file will have that file applied on the command line, but
packages with multiple transforms do not have an automatic choice applied.

What is a “relative path”?

The relative path concept can be used when adding files to a package. For example, an MSI
transform file can be added to an existing package and placed into a subfolder by using this
feature. Open actions based on this package must be re-created before they can take advantage
of the new file. For additional guidance on this, see the related Knowledge Base article on the
BigFix support website.

How do I bundle multiple installations into a single package?

Create individual tasks and use baselines to organize them. For additional guidance, see the Best
Practices section of this publication.

How can I upgrade App-V clients?

App-V clients can be upgraded using an App-V client deploy task created with the App-V client
wizard using a newer version of the installer. A configuration cannot be added to this task to set
or change a configuration at the same time as a client upgrade, so only deploy tasks are
applicable for upgrade.

How can I increase the amount of visible data in an App-V web report?

Use the latest version of your browser and Flash to optimize performance when using large web
reports.

User’s Guide 21
 Technical support
The IBM BigFix technical support site offers a number of specialized support options to help you
learn, understand, and optimize your use of this product:

 BigFix Support Site

 Documentation
 Knowledge Base
 Forums and Communities

22 Software Distribution
Part Five

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User’s Guide 23
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24 Software Distribution
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User’s Guide 25