2008 R2 GPO's and software installs (MS Office 2010 Standard)

scj6771 · Post by **scj6771** » Wed Mar 14, 2012 10:03 am

Using this method I have been able to deploy Office 2010 Standard using GPO and OCT, my question is, what are the difference in placing a startup script in the "Computer Configuration" and "User Configuration"?

If I have a GPO with two users and apply the startup script in "User Configuration" it works fine, however of course and as predicted it will try and run every time the two users reboot.

The method described in the article places the script under "Computer Configuration" Is this best practice when deploying software? Won't the script still startup every time the machine reboots just like it would if the script were placed withing "User Configuration"? Is there a "run once" technique?

Post by **YeOldeStonecat** » Wed Mar 14, 2012 11:59 am

I deploy software via GPO to computer config....so make sure you're applying it to a computer OU, not a users OU.

scj6771 · Post by **scj6771** » Wed Mar 14, 2012 1:53 pm

I simply pulled the two test machines from their original OU and created another OU called "Office 2010 Installs" and created the GPO on that OU.

For whatever reason I cannot get it to work running under the "Computer Configuration" POLICIES/WINDOWS SETTINGS/SCRIPTS STARTUP/SHUTDOWN, I am getting an error in the event viewer of the machine "could not execute, system cannot find the file specified" If I add the same script to the "User Configuration" under POLICIES/WINDOWS SETTINGS/SCRIPTS LOGON/LOGOFF it works fine when that user logs on.

The path to the script it claims it cannot find I can enter the same path on the same machine and run the script no problem.

How is it that it can find the same file in the same path under "User Configuration" POLICIES/WINDOWS SETTINGS/SCRIPTS LOGON/LOGOFF?

Is it possible the machine has not made a real network connection when the policy hits? Perhaps that is why it "cannot find path"?

scj6771 · Post by **scj6771** » Thu Mar 15, 2012 9:31 am

Well I decided to simply move the installation to another server and it works, not sure why I didn't do that in the first place, anyway, that brings me to my second question, when I usually setup s software deployment using the "Software Installation" package method, the software will only run once on a machine, using the method I am now (startup script), will it continue to try and run every time the machine reboots? Sure I could just move the machine back to it's original OU but was just curious if there was a "run once" option for startup scripts. Thanks.

Post by **YeOldeStonecat** » Thu Mar 15, 2012 10:24 am

If you made a new share and it works..it was probably a permission issue.
When you deploy software via group policy, it will install the first time. And following boot ups/logins...it will detect that it's already installed and not install "again"..the GPO is already satisfied.