KACE AppDeploy

Overview:

AppDeploy is an independent community operated by Dell KACE. Founder, Bob Kelly (Author and Microsoft MVP) provides videos and articles and works day-to-day in the moderation and approval of content to ensure quality of the materials. AppDeploy provides a much needed resource having established a home for the community of IT professionals focused on application and system deployment. AppDeploy provides a place to share notes, ask questions and read about tools and techniques that can make all the difference in the world when tackling this otherwise intimidating challenge.

There are a number of resources at AppDeploy. Below is a summary of some of the most popular items in order for you to quickly determine which areas will be of greatest value:

Package Knowledge Base - A place for sharing facts as they relate to specific versions of specific applications. Members contribute regularly and each submission is reviewed and edited before being made available to the community.

Software Knowledge Base – Leveraging data provided by opt-in users of Dell KACE Management Appliances, members have access to over 150,000 software listings. Each entry provides details including name, version, manufacturer, command line tips, threat level and software category listings.

Community Message Boards – Several active message boards are available where the community congregates to ask and answer questions from their peers. Forum threads are updated in real time and are not actively moderated to allow quick interaction between members. However, every post that is made is reviewed soon after it is posted to ensure there is no spamming, sharing of in appropriate information, or other problem information posted

Video Library – Featuring over 6 hours of instructional video presentations and demonstrations, members are offered free, on-demand training on popular topics including how to deploy some common applications, best practices around deployment and repackaging, and how to take advantage of some of the more complex capabilities of the Windows Installer. Other desktop deployment topics also include Microsoft’s Windows PE and Remote Installation Services.

MSI Error Database - Windows Installer can be very complex to manage and troubleshoot. As such, it has its own internal set of error codes and messages unique to the Windows Installer. This online database describes each of the possible errors that may be encountered with suggestions and links to help on each. Additionally, this is yet another area where the community contributes.

AppDeploy Repackager
The AppDeploy Repackager is a freeware repackager which lets users perform a before/after snapshot to determine the contents needed to build a Windows Installer setup. It also makes use of a sharable project file which lets the AppDeploy community share their work to help others.

AppDeploy Live
AppDeploy feeds data directly to the deployment console of the KACE Management Appliance for contextual help from the community, right where you need it.

AppDeploy Statistics Over 350,000 visitors each month, viewing over a million pages. The site was a finalist for the 2008 and 2009 CODiE awards and is top rated among IT web sites.

AppDeploy Live:

AppDeploy Live, a feature of the KACE Management Appliance, provides contextual access to AppDeploy.com's comprehensive database of systems management information and best practices. AppDeploy.com is the leading destination for systems management professionals. With AppDeploy Live, the latest and most relevant information on systems management and application deployment is conveniently delivered to the KACE Management Appliance console, when and where it is needed.

Information on hundreds of thousands of applications automatically cataloged by the KACE community, combined with best practices from well over twenty five thousand AppDeploy.com members, are now directly available via the familiar and easy-to-use KACE Management Appliance console.

Saves You Time and Saves Your Company Money

AppDeploy Live eliminates time previously spent hunting through multi-site user documentation, knowledge bases, user forums and readme files, as contextual information for the target application is available from a single, reliable community-based source. Read the King Research Report The Value of Online Communities outlining how over 80% of systems professionals save over an hour per week using communities like AppDeploy.com.

With AppDeploy Live and the KACE Management Appliance, you can merge the collective power of today's most comprehensive systems management community, AppDeploy.com, directly with the tool that enables you to take action . And because KACE typically deploys in one day, requires no hardware or software pre-requisites and takes only hours—not weeks or months—of training, you'll see immediate return.

Easy-to-Use

AppDeploy Live enables you to find the precise knowledge you need using the familiar, easy-to-use KACE Management Appliance console.

Comprehensive

AppDeploy Live empowers you to leverage the combined expertise of the largest, most informed group of systems management professionals available. You access accurate and detailed tips, techniques and proven short cuts for the successful management and deployment of thousands of applications.

Affordable

AppDeploy Live capabilities are included in the KACE Management Appliance. The appliance provides full systems management capabilities in an appliance-based solution, which have a low total cost of ownership.

AppDeploy Repackager:

Administrators prefer Windows Installer setups for deployment. They offer many benefits including full customization, roll back, logging, and extensive command line options. However, many vendors still do not deliver their products as Windows Installer setups, requiring administrators to migrate the installation into this desired format. Administrators are left to repackage these older setups into Windows Installer setups, but doing so requires expensive and complex software. Through trial and error, experience may be gained in understanding the art of repackaging, but it can be a time-consuming task.

The AppDeploy Repackager introduces a free, easy-to-use snapshot tool for the creation of Windows Installer (MSI) setup packages. The AppDeploy Repackager is designed as a tool for administrators who need to migrate legacy application setups to the preferred Windows Installer format. Even better, it does this utilizing an open and sharable project file format so that users can contribute to and benefit from the collective efforts of the active AppDeploy community. This significantly reduces the time and effort required for repackaging.

The AppDeploy Repackager offers:

• A shareable file format lets you share your packages and leverage those shared by your peers
• An exclusion list which includes a description field for flagging items that do not belong in packages
• The ability to run from network share to better keep your reference computer free of unnecessary changes
• A freeware solution available to Dell KACE Appliance users and the AppDeploy community

Download AppDeploy Repackager

AppDeploy Repackager - Frequently Asked Questions:

What is Repackaging?

Repackaging is the conversion of a vendor-provided setup into a customized installation suitable for deployment in corporate environments. Today, Windows Installer is the preferred setup format for many reasons (including detailed customization support, rollback, logging and extensive command line support). When vendors do not provide a Windows Installer setup and one is desired, administrators must repackage the vendor-provided setup.

What is a Repackager?

A repackager is a tool used by Windows administrators to determine the changes made by a setup in order to generate a new, customized setup, normally in an alternate format. The most common way a repackager determines the intended changes of a setup is the before/after snapshot method. With this method, a scan of a computer is performed both before and after an installation is performed. The detected differences between these snapshots form the basis for the new [repackaged] setup.

What is the AppDeploy Repackager?

The AppDeploy Repackager is a freeware repackager which lets users perform a before/after snapshot to determine the contents needed to build a Windows Installer setup. It also makes use of a sharable project file which lets the AppDeploy community share their work to help others.

What is unique about the AppDeploy Repackager?

The AppDeploy Repackager the only free tool dedicated to repackaging. While competitive products like Wise Package Studio (Altiris), Admin Studio (Acresso, formerly Macrovision/InstallShield) and MSI Studio (ScriptLogic) provide a full GUI environment for authoring setups, the AppDeploy Repackager is focused on the simple task of repackaging. These other tools can be very expensive and complex—the very opposite of AppDeploy Repackager.

AppDeploy Repackager is the only tool that produces a sharable project file that can be leveraged by the community. All others include registry data that may contain personally identifiable information and even license information, which make sharing of work impossible.