SCCM Application Deployment

SCCM application deployment refers to the distribution of Microsoft as well as third-party applications to client machines in the network. The deployment of applications is usually carried out from SCCM Application Management tab located under 'Overview' tab of the console. This is where SCCM users can manage applications, their respective licenses create packages and even respond to end-user requests. Patch Connect Plus supports SCCM application management with the deployment of third party software as one of its primary features. This document will explain the steps involved in creating and deploying a third-party application with Microsoft SCCM using Patch Connect Plus.

How to deploy third-party applications in SCCM?

While application deployment in SCCM can be fairly straightforward for the distribution of Microsoft applications, deploying third-party software involves a number of intermediate steps to procure and prepare the software before deployment to systems. Without the use of supplementary tools that aid with third party application deployment, admins will have to go through the whole process of downloading applications, applying code signing certificates and creating application packages prior to their deployment. 

SCCM Application Deployment Step-By-Step

Patch Connect Plus simplifies third-party application deployment with its diverse library of 300+ applications ready to be published to SCCM's Application repository. Once applications are successfully published, users can carry out their deployment using the usual SCCM tools. Before you begin , it is vital to first configure the application deployment SCCM settings which are explained in detail below. Once Patch Connect Plus has been set up with SCCM, users can proceed with the creation of application binaries for deployment.

Prerequisites

• Configuring SCCM settings

Before creating binaries of third-party applications in Patch Connect Plus, it is essential to configure the SCCM settings in Patch Connect Plus console to automatically synchronise the application binaries to your SCCM server. To do that,

1. Navigate to SCCM settings listed under the Admin tab in Patch Connect Plus console.
2. Here, mention the name/IP of the Microsoft SCCM server to which the binary details must be synced.
3. Then, add the credential of SCCM admin user.

• Configuring Application Management settings

  The second pre-requisite in creating third-party applications with Patch Connect Plus is to configure the network share path for all the software binaries in Application Management settings.

  1. Navigate to Application Management settings available under the Admin tab. Here, mention the network share path for all the software binaries to be stored.
  2. Please note that the given network path must have read/write access enabled with elevated privileges.
  3. Then, set a time interval (say 60/90 days) with which the application repository must be cleaned up for any outdated application binaries.

Creating third-party application binaries in Patch Connect Plus console

1. Once the pre-requisites are met, navigate to Application Management tab in the Patch Connect Plus console. Here, all the third-party applications supported by Patch Connect Plus will be listed.
2. Select the required third-party application that you wish to create in SCCM and click Create Application option.
3. With "Application creation in progress" alert message, the third-party application binaries will be created in the SCCM console

 

Deploying third-party applications from SCCM console

All the third-party applications created from the Patch Connect Plus console will be listed under Applications tab in Software Library from the left tree. To deploy the desired third-party application to your endpoints with Microsoft SCCM,

 

1. Right click on the third-party application you wish to deploy and select Deploy.

 

2. Once you click on Deploy, "Deploy Software Wizard" appears. Here,select the target collection for which the application must be deployed and Click Next.

 

3. Now, you'll be taken to the "content" tab where you have to specify the distribution point from which the application must be pushed

4. Once the distribution point is specified, you'll be taken to "Deployment settings" where you can choose if the application should be listed as Available or Required. After selecting, click Next.

 

5. Now, under Scheduling tab, specify the desired time for the deployment to happen and click Next

 

6. You will be now taken to "User Experience" where the update wizard and user notifications will be configured.

7. Once you're done configuring the user experience, you'll be taken to "Alerts". Here' you've to configure when the alerts for the deployment must be scheduled.

 

8. Once all this is done, you'll be taken to a summary page, where all the selected settings will be displayed.

9. Click on Next, and the desired third-party application will be deployed to your target computers.