Software Deployment via Group Policy Object (GPO)
Prerequisites
- Access to a Windows Server with Group Policy Management installed.
- Network share accessible by target client machines.
Deployment Steps
Step 1: Download and Prepare the Installer
- Download the MSI installer from the following URL:
https://adminconsole.net/downloads/msici.msi
- Create a shared network folder accessible by all target client computers.
- Copy the
msici.msi
file into the newly created shared folder.
Step 2: Access Group Policy Management
- Open Server Manager.
- Navigate to Tools and select Group Policy Management.
Step 3: Create a New Group Policy Object (GPO)
- In the Group Policy Management console, expand Domains.
- Right-click on your domain.
- Select “Create a GPO in this domain, and Link it here…”.
- Provide a descriptive name for the new GPO (e.g., “MSICI Software Deployment”).
Step 4: Edit the Group Policy Object
- Locate the newly created GPO in the Group Policy Management console.
- Right-click on the GPO and select “Edit…”. This action will open the Group Policy Management Editor.
Step 5: Configure Software Installation Policy
- In the Group Policy Management Editor, navigate to: Computer Configuration > Policies > Software Settings > Software Installation.
- In the right-hand pane (container window), right-click.
- Select New > Package.
Step 6: Select the Installer Package
- Browse to the shared network location where you placed the
msici.msi
file. Important: It is mandatory to select the file using its network share path (e.g.,\\YourServer\ShareName\msici.msi
). Directly selecting the physical path will prevent the file from being transferred to client machines. - Select the
msici.msi
file and click Open. - When prompted “How do you want to deploy this software?”, select Assigned.
- The selected package (
msici.msi
) will now be displayed in the “Software Installation” container.
Step 7: Configure Security Filtering
- Close the Group Policy Management Editor window.
- Return to the main Group Policy Management console.
- Select the GPO you created.
- In the Security Filtering section (typically on the right-hand side), click the Add button.
- In the “Enter the object name to select” text area, type your domain name.
- Click Check Names.
- From the results, select Domain Computers and click OK.
Step 8: Apply the GPO
The GPO is now configured and ready for deployment. To ensure the policy is applied to client computers:
1.On client computers, open Command Prompt as an administrator.
2.Execute the command: gpupdate /force
This command will force an immediate update of Group Policy settings on the client machine.