Application detection method for windows update files (.msu) using PowerShell

I decided to package and deploy Remote Server Administration Tools (RSAT) for IT staff using SCCM 2012 R2.

Deploying the software is easy, detecting the installed update was a bit different. Not entirely difficult but noteworthy.

1. Setup the application with the unattended silent install of the .msu update

wusa.exe KBxxxxxx.msu /quiet /norestart


2. In the detection method tab, set the option to "Use a custom script to detect the presence of this deployment type" and click "edit"

3. Change the script type to PowerShell and enter in the cmdlets

get-hotfix | Where-Object {$_.HotFixID -match "KBxxxxxx"} 

The deployment should now be good to go. If you run into any execution policy errors or script not signed. You'll need to change the PowerShell Execution Policy to bypass on the SCCM agent client settings.

BlackBerry Link v1.2.2 unattended\silent install using the .msi for SCCM 2012

BlackBerry themselves were too lazy to publish a document which tells you how to do a silent install of their latest Blackberry Link Management Software.

I actually went ahead and packaged BlackBerry Link but during testing, it was failing with error 1602 on some machines.

I eventually found out that Microsoft .NET 4.0 is a pre-requisite for BlackBerry link. Figured I'd post the instructions for packaging it in SCCM.

1. Download BlackBerry Link v.1.2.2 and the prerequisite Microsoft .NET Framework 4.0

• BlackBerry Link from: http://www.blackberry.com/blackberrylink
• .NET 4.0 Framework here: http://www.microsoft.com/en-ca/download/details.aspx?id=17718

2. BlackBerry Link will come in a .exe archive so use your preferred archive manager to extract the contents

3. Create a two packages in SCCM 2012 with the following silent install commands 

Microsoft .NET Framework 4.0
dotNetFx40_Full_x86_x64.exe /q /norestart

BlackBerry Link v1.2.2
msiexec.exe /i "BlackBerry Link.msi" /qn /norestart SHORTCUT_DESKTOP=0 ALL_USERS=1

4. For BlackBerry Link in SCCM 2012, set Microsoft .NET Framework 4.0 to "Run Another Program First" so the pre-requisite gets installed prior to installing the BlackBerry Link software.

Quest (Dell) Archive Manager 4.8.x.x not working with (IE) Internet Explorer 11 but works with Chrome & Firefox

It appears Quest (Dell) Archive Manager 4.8.x.x doesn't work correctly with Internet Explorer 11. When you search for old emails, you don't get no results.  Works fine for Google Chrome and Mozilla Firefox.

This is a confirmed issue with Quest Software. A quick fix would be to add the url in the compatibility view settings and hope it does't break something else until an update comes out.

Java Runtime Enviroment (JRE) unattended\silent install using the .msi for SCCM

1. Download and launch the Oracle Java Runtime Environment Windows Offline Installation executable (.exe) file. 


2. Navigate to LocalAppData folder (the user's Application Data folder). The location of the LocalAppData folder differs for each Windows platform.

• Windows 7 - C:\Users\</user>\AppData\LocalLow\Sun\Java\jre*\jre*.msi 

• Windows XP - C:\Documents and Settings\</user>\Local Settings\ApplicationData\Sun\Java\ jre*\jre*.msi</user> 

3. Use the silent install command line:

msiexec.exe /i "jre*.msi" /qn /norestart to silently install the application