Part III: Software and Package Management
Part III discusses what is probably an SMS
administrator’s primary reason for purchasing SMS 2003—the
distribution of software and other packages to client systems
through the network with little or no user intervention and the
management of that software once it’s installed. This part is
divided into four areas of concern. Chapter 11, “Collections,” explains the concept of a
collection in SMS 2003 and describes how collections are created
and maintained. Chapter 12, “Package Distribution and
Management,” describes the package distribution process,
including creating packages and programs, identifying package
recipients through collections, and executing package commands at
the client system. Chapter 13, “Patch Management,”
discusses the newest feature of SMS 2003-software update
management. This feature provides you with a mechanism to
automatically roll out patches and other software updates to your
SMS clients through SMS. Chapter 14, “Microsoft
Systems Management Server Installer,” illustrates the use of
SMS Installer to script an installation process and make it
potentially invisible to the user. Chapter 15, “Software
Metering,” discusses a feature introduced in SMS 2.0 and
completely rewritten for SMS 2003: software metering. This feature
enables you to monitor and report on software usage on client
systems.