Directory Services

Publishing COM+ Services

COM-based services provide an "application proxy" in the form of a Microsoft® Windows® Installer package. This .msi file contains the server name to be used and other "glue" like proxy/stubs and type libraries needed for marshalling. The Component Services snap-in automatically generates these application proxies for COM+ Server applications.

The application proxies are published into policy objects in Active Directory using the Group Policy Editor. No special intervention is required in the client application. The machine/user account on the client machine needs to be in an OU that is configured to use the policy object in which the application proxies are published. The COM binder automatically locates the server by means of the directory when the client establishes an instance of the objects in question.