Using Systems Management Server to Deploy Windows 98

Whether you are upgrading ten or ten thousand clients to Windows 98, SMS allows you to perform an automatic upgrade with no intervention from you or the user.

For an overall deployment plan, see the general and detailed discussions provided in Chapter 1, "Deployment Strategy," and Chapter 2, "Setting Up Windows 98." This section provides specific information about how SMS tools help you in planning for and automating the Windows 98 rollout to your company.

The first step in the upgrade process is to determine which of your computers are appropriate for upgrading to Windows 98. Using Systems Management Server, query the SQL Server database to locate all computers that match the upgrade specifications. A predefined query included in SMS examines the CPU, the operating system, the available hard disk space, the installed RAM, and so on. You can use this query as is or modify it to include additional criteria important to your installation.

After identifying the target computers, you are ready to roll out Windows 98 to target computers. The following is an overview of the steps involved in deploying Windows 98 with SMS.

• Create and share a package source directory for the Windows 98 files. This directory can be on any server that can be shared with the network.
• Copy the appropriate files from the Windows 98 compact disc to the new package source directory.
• From the SMS 1.2 SP3 compact disc, copy the following files to the package source directory:
  • Win98.inf from Sms\Logon.Srv\Mstest
  • Dos2w98.exe from Sms\Logon.Srv\Mstest (if you are setting up clients that run MS-DOS)
• Review the INF file for your configuration, and make appropriate changes (such as changing the time zone).
• Create a package containing the Windows 98 source directory.
• To install Windows 98 on one or more clients, create a mandatory job to distribute the package to the clients.
• Send the job to the target computers.