Server applications that support Microsoft Systems Management Server (SMS) are easier for customers to deploy, manage, upgrade, and inventory. An installation or setup application using SMS must support the following features. For more information see the Microsoft SMS documentation in the "Setup and Systems Management Services" section of the Microsoft Platform SDK.
Package Definition File
A package definition file (PDF) is an ASCII text file containing predefined Workstation, Sharing, and Inventory property settings for a package. A PDF follows the standard initialization file format and has specific keys and entries that are used by the system to set the properties of a package.
Unattended Setup
Client applications you develop must not require user input during the installation, removal, or maintenance of the application. Any information or options required by the setup program should be supplied by command-line switches to the program, or should be provided in a configuration file that is read by the program at run time or by some other means such as the Windows NT registry. Because multiple packages can be installed by SMS at one time, no individual package installation should force a restart of the operating system as part of its installation program. To copy system files that may be in use, setup programs typically construct a batch file containing operations that must be performed during a restart.
Provision for Uninstall
Uninstall facilitates a system's software upgrades, retirement, recalls, version conflicts, and so on. The setup program must include a provision to support the removal of the application-owned components and clean up environment settings as well as registry entries. The setup program ideally would provide a switch or option as part of the setup procedure supporting the Uninstall capability.
Reporting of Status to SMS Using a Status MIF File
To add or maintain items in an SMS database, the SMS system uses data in the Management Information Format (MIF). MIF files are used to maintain (create, update, and delete) the machine objects. Using ASCII text files with the MIF format, you can also add, update, or delete custom objects and groups from the SMS database.