The installation of software in the SMS environment starts with collecting inventory information from computers throughout the enterprise. This hardware and software inventory information is stored in the SMS database and is used to plan and control the installation process.
SMS distributes software throughout an enterprise in the form of packages. These packages define the components to be installed, the supported platforms, and various configuration options for the software.
SMS installs software by using jobs that target specific sets of computers and define the mechanics of the distribution through the SMS hierarchy. A job defines a set of computers called distribution servers, which act as staging points in the hierarchy for packages. After a package is present on the distribution servers, the job is sent as a control file to the target clients, where it is executed by a component of the SMS client code called the Package Command Manager (PCM).
The processing of a job begins when the PCM mounts the package share point, changes the active directory to that point, and executes the command line specified in the job. The command line specified in the installation job is the setup or installation program for the application contained in the package. This command line can be anything appropriate to the actions required to install the software, and to the platform where the installation is to take place. The installation program must perform the actions required to install the application, and must also take the SMS environment into account by supporting the requirements of the SMS installation process.
For more information, see Installation Checklist and Deinstallation Checklist.