<< Click to Display Table of Contents >> Creating a New Package

A PDQ Deploy Package contains the instructions and the files needed to silently install an application, run scripts and commands, or reboot target computers using PDQ Deploy. This section describes how to create and configure custom packages.

To create a Package, start on the Main Console window and click File > New Package or the New Package button (or press Ctrl+N). A new Package window opens—this is where you configure the package. For an introduction to the Package window, see Package Window.

An alternative to creating a new package from scratch is to base a new package on a prebuilt package downloaded from the package library. Duplicate and rename a package that is similar to the new package you need, then edit it to meet your requirements. Examining prebuilt packages is also a great way to learn how packages are constructed and configured. For information about duplicating and editing packages, see Managing Packages.

The creating a new package procedure includes the following parts:

•Part 1: Package Properties

•Part 2: Install Step Properties

•Part 3: Conditions and Options

•Part 4: Adding Command Steps

•Part 5: Adding Additional Steps

VIDEO: Building a Package in PDQ Deploy

(https://support.pdq.com/hc/en-us/articles/115000016811)

Part 1: Package Properties

To create a new PDQ Deploy package:

1.On the PDQ Deploy Main Console window, click New Package on the toolbar (or click File > New Package or press Ctrl+N).

A new blank Package window opens with the Detail tab of the Package Properties selected.

2.On the Details tab, type the name, version, and description for the package.

You are likely to create many packages so it’s important to name them clearly and consistently. We suggest using names that include the product, version, and other important information. It's also important to provide descriptions that clearly and consistently explain the purpose of the package. URLs added in this field will become hyperlinks after pressing the spacebar, or after closing and reopening the package. For additional guidance look at packages in the Package Library.

NOTE: Generally you can include 64 and 32-bit applications in the same package. For the example used in this procedure, we are creating a simple custom package for the 64-bit version of Microsoft Silverlight only.

3.Click the Options tab.

4.(Conditional) Select the Copy Mode to determine how package files are copied to target computers.

The options are:

•Push: Files are copied from the PDQ Deploy Console computer to target computers (default).

•Pull: Files are copied from a network share (via accessible UNC path). (Requires Pro or Enterprise mode)

You can use the Copy Mode default setting (Preferences > Performance) or override it here. For more information, see Copy Mode in Performance Preferences.

5.(Conditional) Select a PDQ Inventory scanning setting for the package. (Requires PDQ Inventory in Pro or Enterprise mode.)

Enabling the Scanning feature will initiate an Inventory scan to be executed on the target computers following the deployment. This is a great way to keep your inventory up-to-date.

The target computers must already be in PDQ Inventory with names or host names that match the names used in PDQ Deploy.

You can use the Scanning default setting (Preferences > Deployments) or override it here. For more information, see Scanning in Deployments Preferences.

6.(Conditional) Select a Run As setting. (Requires Pro or Enterprise mode to choose Deploy User (Interactive) or Logged on User.)

Selects how the Windows service "logs on" to the target computer after it is created and the how the package steps are executed. Deploy User is the recommended setting and should be used unless there is an explicit requirement to use another method. For detailed information about Run As settings, see Run As in Deployments Preferences.

7.(Optional) Set a custom timeout value.

Use the default value (60 minutes) or if you are creating a complicated package (for example, a package containing many nested packages), or you can increase the value here.

8.Click the Offline Settings tab.

9.(Optional) You can use the Offline Status default settings from Preferences or override it for the package by doing the following:

a.Clear the Use settings from Preferences checkbox.

While there are only two options for offline computers, the following four behaviors are available:

•Uncheck both Ping before deployment and Send Wake-on-LAN and attempt deployment: This will attempt the deployment to all targets whether they are online or offline.

•Check only Ping before deployment: Do not attempt deployment: Target computers are pinged to determine their online status. The deployment is only attempted on online computers.

•Check only Send Wake-on-LAN and attempt deployment: Attempts the deployment first, sends a Wake-on-LAN to any offline targets, then attempts a second deployment to those targets that come online. A third deployment is attempted after 5 minutes for any targets that remains offline. 

•Check both Ping before deployment and Send Wake-on-LAN and attempt deployment: Prior to deploying, this will ping the targets to determine offline status and then send a Wake-on-LAN to offline targets. The deployment is then attempted on all targets, after 5 minutes a second deployment is attempted on any targets that remain offline.

NOTE: Use of Send Wake-on-LAN and attempt deployment requires PDQ Deploy in Pro or Enterprise mode and PDQ Inventory. Furthermore, PDQ Inventory must have the MAC address of the target computers’ NICs.

You can edit the default Offline Status settings in Preferences > Deployments. For more information, see Deployments Preferences.

10.(Optional) You can use the Retry Queue default settings from Preferences or override it for the package by doing the following:

a.Clear the Use settings from Preferences checkbox.

b.To set a custom retry value for the package, select Put Offline Targets in Retry Queue, then specify the number of retry attempts.

To set unlimited retries set the value to 0.

You can edit the default Retry Queue settings in Preferences > Deployments. For more information, see Deployments Preferences.

11.Continue to Part 2: Install Step Properties.

Important: The package cannot be saved until a step has been added. It is advised once a step is added you periodically save changes. You can also close (and save) the package window, then continue later.

Part 2: Install Step Properties

When you create a new package, no steps are added automatically, however there is a page for Steps to be added. For details see Install Step Properties.

To configure the Install Step properties:

1.Click New Step > Install or Steps and select Install.

 The step property tabs display:

•Details: Properties unique to the step type.

•Conditions: Criteria that must be met for the step to be processed.

•Options: Additional options for the step.

This part of the procedure is about the Install Step properties on the Details tab. To configure deployment properties, see Part 3: Conditions and Options.

2.(Optional) Type a name for the step.

To clearly identify the step, use names that include the step type (for our example, Install Step), product name, version, and other important information such as architecture (for example, 32 or 64- bit). For additional naming guidance look at how steps are named in the Package Library.

3.Click the Browse for the main install file button , navigate to and select your primary install file (for this example, Silverlight_x64.exe), then click Open.

You can store install files for the custom packages you create anywhere, but a good strategy is to put them in the same Repository where prebuilt packages imported from the Package Library are saved. $(Repository) is a system variable within PDQ Deploy, configured in Preferences > Repository.

NOTE: For consoles using the Central Server running in Client or Server Mode, all files used in a package must either be stored in the Server's repository or in a location that is accessible to the background user on the Server. To identify the repository location, click on Preferences > Repository. For details, see Repository Preferences.

For information about including additional files with the primary install file, see the table in step 4.

4.Add the additional information for the Install Step.

The following table reviews each option on the Details tab:

5.Save changes and continue to Part 3: Conditions and Options.

Part 3: Conditions and Options

Modifying Step Conditions or Options requires Pro or Entererprise mode.

Video: PDQ Live! Successful Deployments: How to Use Conditions and Options

(https://support.pdq.com/hc/en-us/articles/220537507)

 

To configure settings on the Conditions and Options tabs:

1.Click the Conditions tab.

2.Click the O/S Version list to select the Windows version(s) on which the step will run.

3.Click the O/S Architecture list to select whether the step will run on 32-bit, 64-bit, or both types of systems.

4.(For Install Step and PowerShell steps only) Click the PowerShell Version to select the PowerShell version or versions on which the step will run.

IMPORTANT: PowerShell version 1 is not supported in PDQ Deploy.        

5.Click the Logged On State list to determine if the step runs based on whether or not the user is logged on to the target computer.

The options are shown in the following table:

For an example of how this option can be used, see Conditions for Message Steps.

6.(Conditional) Click the File Exists or Does Not Exist if you would like to ensure a file exists or does not exist on the target computer before running the step.

The File options are shown below:

7.(Conditional) Click the Registry Exists or Does Not Exist if you would like to ensure a registry entry exists or does not exist on the target computer before running the step.

The Registry options are shown below:        

8.Click the Options tab.

9.Click or clear the Enabled checkbox to determine whether or not the step runs.

The default setting is enabled.

10.(Conditional) Select a Run As setting.

Deploy User is the recommended setting and should be used unless there is an explicit requirement to use another method. For detailed information about Run As settings, see Run As in Deployments Preferences.

NOTE: The step level Run As option only applies to Install, Command, PowerShell, Nested Package, and File Copy steps.

11.Click the Error Mode list to select how the deployment responds if the step fails.

The Error Mode options are shown below:

12.(Conditional) Click the Installation Requires Source checkbox if additional features, modifications, or repairs need to be made locally by the end user. Files will be automatically saved on the target computer to ADMIN$\AdminArsenal\PDQDeployRunner\Installers\{GUID}. The root directory is defined in Preference > Target Service.

Note: The Installation Requires Source feature is not intended as an installation source and should be used sparingly. Usage of this features should occur only for applications that specifically require a local copy/path of the original installation files in order to perform post-deployment programmatic modifications.

13.(Conditional) Save changes and do one of the following:

•If your package is complete, close the Package window.

If you are ready to create a deployment to test your new package, see Manually Deploying Packages.

•To add a Command step, continue to Part 4: Adding Command Steps.

•To add a step other than Install or Command, continue to Part 5: Adding Additional Steps.

Part 4: Adding Command Steps

Command steps are used to execute commands silently on target computers (Pro or Enterprise mode required). For more details, see Command Step Properties.

To add a Command step to the package:

1.Click New Step > Command or Steps and select Command.

2.Type a name for the step.

To clearly identify the function of the Command step, use names that include an action (for example, Stop, Disable, or Remove), the product or process the step will act on, and other important information such as architecture (for example, 32 or 64-bit). For additional naming guidance look at how Command steps are named in the Package Library.

3.Type a command, then add the additional information for the Command Step.

Our example shows a command to kill Firefox using taskkill.exe.

The following table reviews each option on the Command step Details tab:

4.Specify the deployment properties on the Conditions and Options tabs.

For details, see Part 3: Conditions and Options.

5.(Conditional) Save changes and do one of the following:

•If your package is complete, close the Package window.

If you are ready to create a deployment to test your new package, see Manually Deploying Packages.

•To add a step other than Install or Command, continue to Part 5: Adding Additional Steps.

•To add an Install step, continue to Part 2: Install Step Properties.

Part 5: Adding Additional Steps

This section describes the additional step types that are available for building your packages. To add additional Install or Command steps, see Part 2: Install Step Properties or Part 4: Adding Command Steps.

VIDEO: Multiple Steps in Deployment Packages

(https://support.pdq.com/hc/en-us/articles/220538647)

 

To add additional steps to the package:

1.Click the New Step > Step Type or Steps and select one of the following step types:

2.Type a name for the step.

To clearly identify the function of the step, use names that include the step type, the function of the step, and other important information about the step. For additional naming guidance look at how steps are named in the Package Library.

3.Specify the step properties on the Details tab.

See the following topics for information about specific step type properties:

•PowerShell Step Properties

•Nested Package Step Properties

•File Copy Step Properties

•Reboot Step Properties

•Sleep Step Properties

•Message Step Properties

•Logoff Step Properties

4.Specify the deployment properties on the Conditions and Options tabs.

For details, see Part 3: Conditions and Options.

5.(Optional) Rearrange the order of the steps by clicking and dragging the steps to the desired order.

6.(Conditional) Save changes and do one of the following:

•If your package is complete, close the Package window.

If you are ready to create a deployment to test your new package, see Manually Deploying Packages.

•To add an Install step, continue to Part 2: Install Step Properties.

•To add a Command step, continue to Part 4: Adding Command Steps.

•To add a step other than Install or Command, repeat Part 5: Adding Additional Steps.

 

 

 

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