How to Automate or set defaults for package/program/advertisement creation?

[sccmnoob3]

I create a lot of packages, is there a way to set the defaults of the Creation Process, maybe through some type of template/xml/etc ?

 

Example: In Software Distribution -> Packages -> New -> Package -> on "Data Source", automatically select the box "This package contains source files", set the source directory to what I want ("\\server\folder\"), on "Data Access" select: "Disconnect users from DPs", etc. There are probably 10 boxes or settings I set each time that are the same for everything I create.

 

Is there any way to configure those types of things so every time I start the New Package/Advertisement/DP wizards it defaults to what I want (or removes a couple mouse clicks)?

 

Looking to make my package creation process a little more efficient....

 

Thanks for any ideas!

[Trevor Sullivan]

You're in luck -- it's easy to use PowerShell to automate package creation, since almost everything in SCCM is done via the WMI interface (provider). I would write some code myself to demonstrate this, but it appears someone else has already done so (I also have to head out to the airport right now):

 

http://www.powershell.nu/2010/10/07/powershell-sccm-packages/

 

Let us know if you need more specifics, but hopefully this points you in the right direction! It's a pretty well-written article.

 

Hope this helps.

 

Cheers,

Trevor Sullivan

http://trevorsullivan.net

http://twitter.com/pcgeek86

[sccmnoob3]

Thanks a lot, I suck at writting code/scripts but this will give me some motivation to try! , and gives me some good reason to finally learn powershell. Any other resources/links are welcome (directly relating to SCCM+Powershell).

[Lucid]

Also make sure to check out the book SMS 2003 Recipes (yes, many still apply to SCCM): http://books.google.com/books?id=14hWq8NNggwC&printsec=frontcover&dq=sms+2003+recipes+online&hl=en&ei=IyBbTaWXH4K8lQfIvNTIDA&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CEAQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q&f=false

 

And an easy way to get some of those settings is to configure a package as desired, and then use a script to check out the package's property flag (saves time trying to add up numbers and figure out what you need to input to check BoxA, but not BoxB)...