SCCM Deployment

What is SCCM?

System Center Configuration Manager (SCCM) is a product from Microsoft that allows managing Windows,Linux,Unix, macOS systems, and mobile operating systems as well.It is a software management suite that includes patch management, operating system deployment, remote control, and many more. The latest stable version of SCCM was released on April 1st, 2020.

SCCM controls both software updates and application installations. It simplifies distributed deployment on remote systems over the internet. We can install the software manually or automatically on specified target systems. We will have a single management console through which we can configure everything. We can configure the manager on how and when to install the software. 

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Deployment types in SCCM

SCCM provides a variety of deployment types that support the deployment of various applications.

Windows Installer - .msi file

Windows app package - .appx and .appxbundle files

Microsoft Application Virtualization 4 - App-V v4 package file

Microsoft Application Virtualization 5 - App-V v5 package file

Windows Phone app package - .xap file

Windows Phone app package from Windows phone store - Links directly to the app in Windows Store

App Package for iOS - .ipa file

App Package for iOS from App Store - Direct link to iOS app in Apple Store

App Package for Android - .apk file

App Package for Android on Google Play - links to the app in Google Play store

Mac OS X - .cmmac file

Web Application - link to the web application

Windows Installer through MDM - deploy .msi apps to Windows 10 devices

How to deploy software with SCCM?

Open SCCM and navigate to the home tab. Click on ‘Create Application’ to create a new application for the software. Give the name, manufacturer, version details. You can give additional comments on the application and click on ‘Next’.  

The next step is ‘Create User Collection’ to add a user group. Add rules that you want to set for the deployment. Select the target distribution group. Click on ‘Next’ to complete the settings. 

Next, you will get the ‘Deployment Settings’. Set the ‘action’ field to ‘install’ and ‘purpose’ field to ‘available’. Check the 'Require administrator approval if users request this application' option. Click on ‘Next’ to finish the settings. The software will be deployed on the target machines. You can view the deployment details on the deployment completion page.

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Software updates in SCCM

Updates to any application or software are very important as they fix bugs and add new features to the existing software. In general, deploying updates is a very complex task. It is very easy to deploy software updates in SCCM. It also makes it easier to gather the deployment reports as well. It provides a set of tools to deploy software updates. We have three methods to deploy software updates in SCCM.

• Manual Deployment - Manually select the set of software updates in the SCCM console and deploy them on the target machines.
  
• Automatic Deployment - Set automatic deployment rules so that a software update is deployed automatically. This is mostly used for monthly software updates. 
  
• Phased Deployment - It enables the sequenced roll-out of software across the target systems.

Deploying software update point role using SCCM

Open the SCCM console and click on 'Administration'. Click on 'Site Configuration' and select the 'Sites' option. Click on 'Add Site System Roles' on the ribbon menu. You will get a pop-up with 'Add Site System Roles Wizard'. Check the 'Software Update Point' checkbox and click on 'Next'.

Select the 'WSUS is configured to use ports 8530 and 8531 for client communications' radio button and click on 'Next'. Select the account that you want to connect to the WSUS server and click on 'Next'. Select the 'Synchronize from Microsoft Update' radio button and click on 'Next'. Click the 'Enable synchronization on a schedule' checkbox. Select the 'Simple schedule' radio button. Check the 'Alert when sync fails on any site in the hierarchy' checkbox and click on 'Next'.

The next step is to select the 'Immediately expire a superseded software update' radio button and click on 'Next'. We have to select the type of classification for updates. Select the 'Critical Updates', 'Definition Updates', and 'Security Updates' checkboxes. Click on 'Next'. Choose all the products that you want to synchronize and click on 'Next'. Choose 'English' as the desired language and click on 'Next' to finish the settings. Now the installation will start, and you can see the installation status in the progress bar. Once the software update point role installation is complete, click on 'Close'. 

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Creating and deploying an image in SCCM

Click on 'Software Library', expand the 'Operating Systems' in the left-side menu, and right-click on 'Operating System Images'. Select the 'Add Operating System Image' option to open the wizard. Give the path of the install file and click on 'Next'. Give the name and the version details. Click on 'Next' and then click on 'Close'. You can see the image package showing in the Operating System Images.

Right-click on the image package and select the 'Distribute Content' option to open the wizard. Click on 'Next'. Choose the 'Distribution Point', select the point checkbox, click on 'Ok'. Click on 'Next' and then click on 'Next' again. 

Click on the 'Test Sequence' on the left-side menu. Right-click on 'Test Sequence' and select the 'Create Test Sequence' option to open the wizard. Choose the 'Install an existing image package' option. and click on 'Next'. Give a name and description for the test sequence. Browse the boot image and click on 'Next'. Choose the image package created earlier and click on 'Ok'. Uncheck the 'Configure task sequence for use with ExtLocker' checkbox. Enable the account and specify the local administrator password. Click on 'Next'. 

Choose the 'Join a domain' option. Browse and select the domain and domain OU. Specify the Windows user account name, password, and click on 'verify' to check if it's working or not. Click on the 'Test Connection' button. If the popup says that the connection is successful, click on 'Ok' and click on 'Next'. Verify the package details and click on 'Next'. Uncheck all the options in stage migration and click on 'Next'. Choose the 'Do not install any updates' option and click on 'Next'. Click on 'Next, and you will get a summary of all the configuration performed till now. Click on 'Next', and the test sequence creation is complete.

The next step is to deploy the test sequence that we have created now. Right-click on it and select 'Deploy' option. Browse the collection, select 'All Unknown Computers' and click on 'Ok'. Click on 'Next'. Choose the 'Configuration Manager clients, media, and PXE' for 'Make available to the following' option. Click on 'Next' until you get the 'Distribution Points' screen. Check the boxes for 'When no local distribution point is available, use a remote distribution point', and 'Allow clients to use distribution points from the default site boundary group' options. 

Click on 'Next', and you will get a summary of all the options configured till now. Click on 'Next' and then on 'Close'.Now, when you boot your machine which is configured under servers, it will load the files from SCCM, and shows the test sequence that we created in the SCCM console.

Creating a package in SCCM

Open the SCCM console and click on 'Software Library'. Expand 'Application Management' and then expand 'Packages'. Right-click on it to create a new folder. Right-click on the created folder and select the 'Create Package' option. This opens up the SCCM package creation wizard. 

Enter all the required package information. Select the 'This package contains source files' checkbox and enter the network location of the image folder. Click on 'Ok' and then click on 'Next'. Select the 'Standard program' type and give the command line information. Set the 'Run' field to the 'hidden' option. Choose the 'Whether or not a user is logged on' option for 'Program can run' field and click on 'Next'.

Leave the 'Run another program first' option unchecked. Select the 'This program can run on any platform' option for the 'Platform requirements' field. Select the 'Unknown' option for the 'Estimated disk space' field and click on 'Ok' to finish.

Advantages of SCCM Deployment

Below are some of the advantages of SCCM.

• It provides built-in reports that give details of troubleshooting and software update compliance.We can also create customized reports.
• It has a user-friendly interface.
• Once the deployment is complete, the servers are rebooted according to the deployment.
• We can schedule updates at specified times.
• It provides query-based collections used for targeting. It will be easier to spread the load automatically.
• We can add packages to SCCM directly from the development machine.
• No user interaction needed while software installs.
• It ensures that unapproved software versions are not installed.
• It will enable fewer administrative overheads.
• It provides an inventory of all the systems connected over the corporate network.
• It saves a lot of time for the IT team.

Conclusion

The deployments through SCCM help the IT teams in maintaining the applications in sync in all the systems connected over the corporate network.The phased deployment will help deploy software as a pilot to a few target systems.Then we can carry out the rollout of the software to all the systems.Major clients like Archrock Inc,Edgewood College, Schiff Hardin LLP, and others have been using SCCM for their software deployments.

other realted article:

1. Difference between WSUS and SCCM

2. SCCM Overview

3. SOCM VS SCCM

4.What Is SCCM And Working

5.SCCM Client Installation

6.SCCM Certification