Software administration on a large number of computers can be done in various ways.
Windows[]
Windows programs tend to use many different installers. There are lists of how to create installation scripts for various software on these websites:
- PDQ Deploy - Tutorial showing how to deploy msi's to multiple targets
- WPKG silent installers - Subpage on the WPKG open source software deployment wiki
- AppDeploy
- Unattended project
MSI deployment[]
Programs with .msi installations can be installed unattended, with the following command:
msiexec /I"My program.msi" /qb
For a completely silent installation, without showing progress, use the following command:
msiexec /I"My program.msi" /qn
Linux[]
Linux programs can often be installed through package management systems (such as apt on Debian and Ubuntu), that simplify both installation and upgrades of a large number of applications on many computers.
OmniTTY[]
On linux you can send commands to e.g. install and update programs through ssh on multiple machines with OmniTTY. This means you can give commands to many computers at once and easily see if the resulting output varies on any of the machines (e.g. in case of errors). It's also easy to select and deselect machines if you want to give commands only to some machines.
External links[]
- WPKG
- The software section of the sysadmin topic on wikiversity - List of preferred programs for sysadmins
- Admin Arsenal