group policy software install

Hello,

I am trying to push 7-Zip with group policy. I’m using Small Business Server 2003 and Windows XP virtual machine. I create a GPO called 7-Zip, then under Computer Configuration > Software Settings> Software installation I create a package for it.

Name, Version, Deployment State
Source
Zip, 1, Assigned
\\Tech1\WinInstall\Packages\Zip\Zip.msi

I have set the computer and user in the security filtering and the user has access to the share being used to house the msi. It is also set to be enforced. On the client computer I run a gpupdate /force then restart. But the client still doesn’t install the software?

I check the event viewer and there is no error or warning, only information stating that “Changes to software installation settings were applied successfully.” Not really sure what I am missing, could anybody offer any advice?

According to me 7-zip needs mst file. If that is not created properly then you might get some issue. You wlil need to run the msi files in default mode. A number of time we double click on the same and it is installed automatically. There can be some bug with the installer also. If there are large msi files then there can be problem with installation timeout also. You must run all the setup and other stuff in admin mode. You will need full privileges for the same.

There is one more thing that you can try. You can use the command - msiexec /i \\Tech1\WinInstall\Packages\Zip\Zip.msi /q /norestart. You can try this and then checkout whether the package is installed properly or not. There must be finish setup on the screen. You can go in the error log again to find out if you can get any information on the failure. If the command is performed successfully then it will work fine and there will be no issue with the setup.

I am trying to work wit WinInstall. There are some msi problem which causing the bug. I am here trying to customize the msi file but still it is not working fine. I am making WinInstall on my own and will test the same first on a virtual machine. I do not want to mess with the settings on my existing server.