Software Distribution: Windows NT Client

The SMS 2.0 software distribution feature processes advertisements from the site server to a specific group of clients. This flowchart documents the actions that occur on a Windows 2000 or Windows NT client to discover and process advertisements targeted to that client. These actions include:

• Periodically checking the CAP for advertisements targeted to the system, to the currently logged-on user, or to user groups to which the currently logged-on user belongs.
• Displaying and processing scheduled advertisements.
• Processing user-initiated changes to schedules for advertisements.
• Executing programs from the distribution points.

You use the SMS Administrator console to schedule software distribution, but the software distribution agent (Advertised Program Manager) runs on each individual client computer.

For more information about the site server’s role in the software distribution process, see Chapter 21, “Software Distribution Flowcharts.”