[wpkg-users] Just running one package at each run

[Kevin Keane]

First, one more pitfall warning: regardless of what you do, remember that WPKG will also *UNINSTALL* software if it has a package definition, but is not listed in your profile. So if a user already installed software that is not yet in his profile, WPKG would actually remove it (at least, that's the default behavior).

For controlling desktop settings, such as wallpapers, I think you may be better off using Group Policies. With GPOs, you can prevent the user from changing the wallpaper in the first place. Great as it is, WPKG is not necessarily the best tool for *everything*.

For my strategy, you actually only need two profiles for all your hosts: one that contains all the original settings, and one that contains all the packages you want to add.

Profiles.xml:

<profiles>
   <profile id="original-profile">
     <!-- whatever you always had goes here -->
   </profile>
   <profile id="new-profile">
     <depends profile-id="original-profile"/>
     <!-- whatever you want to add goes here -->
   </profile>
</profiles>

Hosts.xml:
<wpkg>
  <host name="host1" profile-id="original-profile" />
  <host name="host2" profile-id="original-profile" />
  <host name="host3" profile-id="original-profile" />
  <host name="host4" profile-id="original-profile" />
  <host name="host5" profile-id="new-profile"/>
  <host name="host6" profile-id="new-profile"/>
  <host name="host7" profile-id="new-profile"/>
</wpkg>

Every day, you would change one or two of the hosts from profile "original-profile" to profile "new-profile".

> -----Original Message-----
> From: wpkg-users-bounces at lists.wpkg.org [mailto:wpkg-users-
> bounces at lists.wpkg.org] On Behalf Of simplesi
> Sent: Wednesday, November 11, 2009 11:00 PM
> To: wpkg-users at lists.wpkg.org
> Subject: Re: [wpkg-users] Just running one package at each run
> 
> 
> 
> Kevin Keane-2 wrote:
> > The first request should be fairly easy to do: just add only one
> > application at a time to your profiles.
> 
> My main issues are machines that for one reason or another haven't run
> WPKG
> each day - e.g wireless machines that have failed to connect to the
> wireless
> since the last time I've been in :(.
> 
> Also, teacher laptops that only come into the school once in a while.
> 
> 
> For the second request, you could set up WPKG using task scheduler to
> run
> only once per week. Schedule it to run on Monday on some computers,
> Tuesday
> on some others, and so on.
> 
> Some tasks I have set to run always (wallpaper resetters etc) so I'd
> still
> need them to work but maybe I could have 2 separate WPKG setups and
> just do
> something with the second one - I'll have to think about it :)
> 
> 
> Alternatively, create a new profile just for the new application. Every
> day,
> update the hosts file by adding the new profile to a few more hosts.
> You can
> do that with a script that runs nightly.
> 
> I did think about doing something like this but it would mean that each
> host
> would have to have its own profile but that's probably the way to go so
> I
> might try that out at my smallest site :)
> 
> Thanks for suggestions (and Chris too :) )
> 
> regards
> Simon
> 
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> View this message in context: http://old.nabble.com/Just-running-one-
> package-at-each-run-tp26306054p26314327.html
> Sent from the WPKG - Users mailing list archive at Nabble.com.
> 
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