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how can I target applications to specific hardware

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One of the big problems with deploying computers today is getting all drivers installed correctly, some drivers will install just fine using the standard PNP (plug and play) routines within Windows Setup providing of course that you have first added the drivers to driver packages and distributed them to your distribution point(s), some drivers however are not so easy to install and require an application to be run in order for the hardware to function, examples are Bluetooth, Wireless, 3G amonsgt others. These applications contain the drivers needed plus several support files/apps and what not.

 

Therefore you need to have a method of installing applications and in addition you need to be able to target what hardware these applications get installed onto (you don't want wireless drivers being pushed out onto a non-wireless desktop for example.

 

 

 

In the example below we will deploy an application called Quickset on a Dell Latitude D430, and I will quide you through the processes needed to get you there. Obviously you can replace the Hardware type with whatever model you are using and in addition you can use whatever application/driver you wish, the purpose of this guide is to show you how to target selected hardware

 

 

 

Get the Application

 

download the following file and run it on a test Dell computer, it will decompress the files to c:\dell\drivers\R180762, copy that folder and all files in it to your drivers share on your SCCM server (eg: \\servername\drivers\R180762)

 

2008-10-27 09:29 <DIR> .

2008-10-27 09:29 <DIR> ..

2008-02-22 17:04 8 413 184 QuickSet.msi

2007-08-08 16:10 8 544 readme.html

2008-02-22 16:49 230 680 Setup.exe

2008-05-21 20:24 688 Version.txt

 

Create a Package

 

Ok now that we have the files, and copied them to our SCCM drivers share, we need to create a package in SCCM, so open the Software Distribution node and expand Packages. Right click on Packages and choose New, Package.

 

new_package.jpg

 

When the Wizard appears fill in the general details

 

quickset_details.jpg

 

place a checkmark in this package contains source files and click on Set

 

set_source.jpg

 

fill in the path to where you copied the driver (a driver share on your SCCM server)

 

path.jpg

 

and place a checkmark in update distribution points on a schedule this will allow you to update versions of this application by simply copying the files to that folder...

 

data_source.jpg

 

click next and leave data access settings as they are

 

data_access.jpg

 

set the Distribution Settings to High for sending priority

 

distribution_settings.jpg

 

leave reporting and security as default

 

reporting.jpg

 

security.jpg

 

review the summary and verify all green ticks, then click close at the confirmation screen

 

confi.jpg

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I know this is a really old thread but I was looking for something else and ran across this so I thought I would update it in case it helped anyone else.

 

When you want to run a query using WMI a good starting place is to use a machine with a Windows image on it and use msinfo32.exe to see what the information stored on each machine is like to be used in your query. For Lenovo machines I find the best way to query is to use the machine model number, my Lenovo laptop is a X201 which has the model number 3626F7U. When I create a WMI query for Lenovo machines I use the first 4 digits of the model number and create a query like this....

 

For a single model type:

SELECT * FROM Win32_ComputerSystem WHERE Model LIKE "2522"

 

For multiple model types:

SELECT * FROM Win32_ComputerSystem WHERE Model LIKE "5143" or Model LIKE "3623" or Model LIKE "5485"

 

This will pick up any model numbers that contain the numbers above so you may want to use SMS/SCCM to query all machine model numbers to ensure you don't pick-up the incorrect machine as it contains part of the model number you are looking for. I only have to deal with Lenovo and Dell so I have not had any issues with conflicting machine model numbers.

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Is this still the best way to accomplish the task, considering the new functionality in SCCM 2012?

 

I have a hotkey software package for our lenovo laptops that doesn't install as a driver, it needs the installer package to be run. I thought I could just add it as an application, and add a custom restriction to the deployment type, to only run on computers matching a specific hardware type. Then I could create a deployment to all of our workstations, and the restriction in the application would determine where the package should be installed.


Or I could do the opposite, not put the restriction in the application/deployment type, but create a device collection based on a query for make/model, and deploy the application to that collection only.

 

Would one of those be a better option than the process described in this thread? Or is there any reason that the solutions I'm thinking of wouldn't work?

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