What are the various deployment options available to install a software?

Summary

This article will brief you the various deployment options available in Endpoint Central and when to use them.

Description

When you deploy a software, you can choose the deployment as below:

1. During Startup - Selecting this option will initiate the software installation before you get to the login screen (Cnt+Alt+Del dialog)
2. During User Login - Selecting this option will trigger the installation as soon as the user logs in to the computer.
3. During Refresh Interval - The agent residing in the client computer will contact the product server at regular intervals (every 90 minutes) to look for any tasks that are available to them. Selecting this option will trigger the installation only during this periodic refresh events and not during system startup or user login events. For example, if a computer is shutdown when the configuration is deployed, the installation will happen only 90 minutes after the system startup.
4. Whichever is Earlier - Selecting this option will trigger the installation on any of the above events like System Startup (for Computer Configurations), User logon (for User Configuration), or the regular refresh events, which ever happens earlier.

Now that we have seen when the deployment happens, we will now see which option will be ideal to use:

1. Applications that consume a lot of system resources are best deployed at regular refresh intervals. When you deploy such application during startup or user login, users might start complaining that their system startup / user login is very slow as both these processes (startup/login and software installation) will fight for their share of CPU time.
2. Applications that has network dependencies should also be deployed at regular refresh events. For example, let us assume that you are installing a software that is available in the network share to a user who connects to your network via VPN. In this case, the startup events or the login event happens prior to he/she establishes a VPN connection. When you have chosen to deploy a software during system startup / user login, this will always fail.
   • Consider the case where the agent residing in the client computer has not received the configuration. In this case, during the startup/login events nothing will be triggered as the agent do not have the information. The agent will get the configuration during the next refresh event when he/she is still connected via VPN.
   • Considering the agent had received the configuration data, the installation will get triggered during the startup/logon events. However, the network share will not be accessible at that time as he/she has not established the VPN connection yet. The same will be the case, even if the software is uploaded to the product server as the user will not be able to access the product server prior to connecting via VPN.
3. Software that has dependencies with other applications are best deployed during startup or user logon. For example, if you are installing a flash plugin for a browser or MS office upgrade, you can choose to deploy them at startup/logon events. When you deploy them at refresh events, it is most likely that the browser or the application might be in use and the suer will be prompted to shutdown the application to proceed with the installation.