{"id":8597,"date":"2006-10-22T22:32:00","date_gmt":"1999-11-29T20:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/aidanfinn.com\/?p=8597"},"modified":"2006-10-22T22:32:00","modified_gmt":"1999-11-29T20:00:00","slug":"sms-2003-r2-inventory-tool-for-custom-updates","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/aidanfinn.com\/?p=8597","title":{"rendered":"SMS 2003 R2: Inventory Tool for Custom Updates"},"content":{"rendered":"

I’ve just finished a white paper<\/a> on the Inventory Tool for Custom Updates feature pack that is included with SMS 2003 R2.\u00a0 I also describe how to use the Custom Updates Publishing Tool.<\/p>\n

Although many organisations may not be aware or choose not to utilise them, we have many
solutions available for updating Microsoft operating systems and products. Solutions include the
free WSUS 2.0 or 3.0 (currently in beta) or the Inventory Tool for Microsoft Updates feature pack
for SMS 2003.<\/em><\/p>\n

However, what do you use to maintain the same level of updates for 3rd party products or even
your own in-house implementations? Microsoft sees SMS as a solution for medium to large
organisations. These organisations often have large implementations of 3rd party products and in
house applications. 3rd party products sometimes have their own deployment mechanisms and
sometimes have no mechanism at all. But medium to large organisations usually have at least
one home bread application. These are the most difficult to manage because they are often
tweaked on a frequent basis by developers who have little understanding (or care) for how the
updates should be deployed and managed. They just build them and expect them to magically
appear on PC\u2019s, usually at short notice.<\/em><\/p>\n

This gap between the developer and the system administrator is something Microsoft has started
to recognise. In fact, it was the subject of their keynote speech at TechEd Europe 2005.
Microsoft has responded by developing the Dynamic Systems Initiative. The aim to resolve these
problems by changing the way we build, deploy and manage applications starting with design in
Visual Studio to management with Microsoft Operations Manager and SMS.<\/em><\/p>\n

One of the solutions is the Inventory Tool for Custom Updates (ITCU) feature pack that is
included with SMS 2003. By using ITCU you can deploy non-Microsoft updates to applications
on your SMS clients using the software updates functionality of SMS 2003. Microsoft\u2019s aim with
ITCU is to open up their own catalogue solution that third parties can use with the Inventory Tool
for Microsoft Updates in SMS 2003. By itself, the ITCU is supported by Adobe and by Citrix.
There are also some rumblings that 1E will also adopt the usage of ITCU. But, you can use
another tool that is included with SMS 2003 R2 (and via MSDN) called the Custom Updates
Publishing Tool (CUPT) to create your own updates catalogue and import them into SMS 2003.<\/em><\/p>\n

The document<\/a> continues …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I’ve just finished a white paper on the Inventory Tool for Custom Updates feature pack that is included with SMS 2003 R2.\u00a0 I also describe how to use the Custom Updates Publishing Tool. Although many organisations may not be aware or choose not to utilise them, we have manysolutions available for updating Microsoft operating systems … Continue reading “SMS 2003 R2: Inventory Tool for Custom Updates”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8597","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t