Deploying Apple QuickTime


The Third Party Software Deployment feature of SyAM Management Utilities can be used to perform a silent deployment of Apple QuickTime to Windows machines.

Requirements: This installation procedure has been tested on Windows XP, Windows 7, Windows 8, and Windows 8.1 target systems running SyAM System Client and reporting to SyAM System Area Manager. The procedure is the same for a new installation or an upgrade from an older version of QuickTime.

Download QuickTimeInstaller.exe from the Apple website:

http://www.apple.com/quicktime/download

Open a command prompt window and change to the directory containing the file just downloaded. Run this command:

QuickTimeInstaller.exe /extract

Four files will be extracted from the executable:

  • AppleApplicationSupport.msi
  • AppleSoftwareUpdate.msi
  • QuickTime.msi
  • QuickTimeInstallerAdmin.exe

In the shared network directory that has been defined as the Default Application Path in the Administration Settings area of Management Utility, create a new folder. In our example we’ll use qt as the folder name. Move the four extracted files into this folder.

Create a batch file to perform the installation using msiexec.

@ECHO OFF

%SystemDrive%

cd \

msiexec /qn /i \\192.168.200.10\v5\apps\qt\QuickTime.msi

msiexec /qn /i \\192.168.200.10\v5\apps\qt\AppleSoftwareUpdate.msi

msiexec /qn /i \\192.168.200.10\v5\apps\qt\AppleApplicationSupport.msi

exit


Please note that each line beginning with the msiexec command is a single line that ends with the MSI file name and a quotation mark. In your batch script, these lines must not contain line breaks. You should also be aware that changing the order of the msiexec commands may cause the installation to fail.

In your batch file, edit the path names to substitute your Default Application Path and the correct subfolder name. Save the batch file (in our example, we’ll call it qt.bat) then copy it to the directory that is specified by the Default Application Path.

In Management Utility, create a Third Party template. Enter a template name. Choose Windows as the target platform and select the correct authentication template. Enter the path to the network share containing the batch file; this path will already be present if the default path has been entered in Administration Settings. Click the Find Files button and choose the batch file from the drop down menu.

Click the Add button.

Click the Save Changes button. Click OK to confirm.

Now you can test deployment to a single system. Select a system in the Groups area. Click the system row, then right-click to display the context menu. From the menu, choose Deploy Third Party Software.


In the New Task box, choose the Windows authentication template and the newly created QuickTime deployment template. Click OK.







On the Add/Edit a Job page, click the Run Job button, then click OK to confirm. The installation will begin shortly.










After the job is finished, you may review the status by finding the job in the Status area and clicking the View Details link.







Once you have deployed successfully to a single machine, you can use the Groups context menu options to deploy the application to multiple client machines. Deployment jobs can be configured to run on a regular schedule by clicking the Configure Schedule button on the Add/Edit A Job page.

When performing Third Party software deployment with Management Utilities, we encounter a limitation when using a batch file as we do in this procedure. Success is reported when the batch file is run on the target machine, but we can’t be sure that the software was properly installed. We can use SyAM System Area Manager to report the software applications that are installed on individual machines or groups of machines. There will be some delay as the list of installed applications will be updated on the next scheduled synchronization of the System Client and System Area Manager.

In System Area Manager, use the drop down menu at upper right to navigate to the Report page. Choose the report type Application Summary. Click the Generate HTML button.

The report will be displayed in a popup window.

Two of the programs we installed (Apple Application Support and Apple Software Update) are shown. Scroll down to view QuickTime in the list of installed applications.

Here, the Application Summary report shows that we have one system with QuickTime version 7.73.80.64, two systems with version 7.74.80.86, and one with version 7.75.80.95.

The Asset List report can be used to produce a list of machines where the software is installed or not installed. A particular version can be specified. For example, we’ll choose Asset List from the Report Type menu, and we’ll report on the entire group. Enable filtering by clicking “Report on all systems that…” and then under Filter 1, click “meet the following” to set the sense of the filter. In the Filter 1 menu we’ll choose Installed Applications. In the Contains box we’ll type in “quicktime” (the search is case-insensitive) and we’ll check the version box and specify the latest version.

Click the Generate HTML button to produce the report.

This report shows the two systems that have the latest version installed. We can also produce a report of all systems in our group where no version of the application is installed. This time, we’ll enable the filter once again by clicking “Report on all systems that…” but we’ll change the sense of the filter by clicking “DO NOT meet the following.” Again we choose Installed Applications from the drop down menu, we enter “quicktime” in the contains box, but we won’t specify a version.

The report shows any systems in our group where the application is not installed.

By setting up a regularly scheduled job in Management Utilities to perform application deployment, target systems that may not be available at a particular time will be retried on the next scheduled run. You can then use System Area Manager reporting to show the progress of deployment. Any systems where deployment is not successful after some number of attempts can be identified, and problems preventing deployment can be resolved on the individual systems.