Installing Your Application

To install and run applications by using the SMS API, you must follow these rules:

1. To run the application, it must be installed on either a Windows NT-based computer that has the SMS Administrator installed, or a Windows NT Server-based computer that is a primary site server.

   The SMS API requires the SMS DLLs that are provided with the SMS Administrator or an SMS primary site server.

   Caution You should install your application in its own directory. Do not install your application in a purgeable SMS directory. When the SMS Setup program is used to upgrade site components, the SMS Setup program removes all files from the SMS directories marked with the SM_DIRECTORY_PURGEABLE flag in the SYSTEM.MAP file. These files are then replaced by SMS Setup with the files on the SMS CD-ROM. The following directories are purgeable SMS directories:

   sms_install_drive:\smsroot\SITE.SRV\platform.BIN

   sms_install_drive:\smsroot\SITE.SRV\CLIENT.SRC

   sms_install_drive:\smsroot\SITE.SRV\MAINCFG.BOX\CLIENT.SRC\platform.BIN

   Note that you can create subdirectories within purgeable directories. These subdirectories and their contents will not be removed during an upgrade. However, if Systems Management Server is removed from the computer, the entire SMS root directory and all of its subdirectories are removed.

2. On the installation computer, make sure that the following directory is in the path:

   sms_install_drive:\smsroot\SITE.SRV\platform.BIN

   where sms_install_drive is the drive where SMS is installed, smsroot is the name of the SMS installation directory, and platform.BIN is the processor type of the computer—X86.BIN, ALPHA.BIN, or MIPS.BIN.

   This directory must be in the path so that your application can locate the required SMS DLLs.

3. The DLLs for the SMS API must be installed in the application directory or in the computer's path. The following DLLs are required:
   • SMSAPI.DLL
   • OBJECTTY.DLL

   You must make sure that the correct version of the DLLs is installed. Applications compiled for a particular version of the DLLs may not run with earlier versions. Additionally, the DLLs are matched to a particular minor version of the SMS base DLLs and will only run with that version of SMS. See DLL Version Checking for ISV Application Installation for details.

4. You may also need to install the following:
   • SMSADDIN.EXE, if you want to register the application for launch from the SMS Administrator console. See Console Application Integration for details.
   • VB4SMS32.OLB, if your application is written in Visual Basic. See Using the SMS API with Visual Basic for details.

Note that SMSAPI.DLL, OBJECTTY.DLL, SMSADDIN.EXE, and VB4SMS32.OLB are redistributable and can be shipped with your application.