Options

Description

Concurrent Targets per Deployment

The maximum number of targets that can be deployed concurrently for each deployment. The higher the number, the greater the use of server memory, CPU resources, and network bandwidth.

The default setting is 8. Additional targets are placed in a queued state until a connection is available.

This number cannot be higher than the Total Concurrent Targets.

IMPORTANT: This setting is available only in Pro or Enterprise mode.

Total Concurrent Targets

The maximum number of concurrent targets in total (multiple deployments). The higher the number, the greater the use of server memory, CPU resources, and network bandwidth.

Once this limit is reached, additional targets are placed in a queued state until a connection is available.

The default setting is 32.

IMPORTANT: This setting is available only in Pro or Enterprise mode.

Copy Mode

Defines how PDQ Deploy copies deployment files to target computers.

When files (such as installation files) are copied to a target, PDQ Deploy uses either Push or Pull Copy Mode. By default, PDQ Deploy uses Push Copy Mode.

This global setting can be overridden in the individual Package properties.

VIDEO: Understanding Push and Pull Deployments

(http://www.adminarsenal.com/videos#!pdq-deploy:-understanding-push-and-pull-deployments)

Push

Copies files to the target computers from the PDQ Deploy computer. This method is best if the package’s install files are located on the PDQ Deploy computer.

This option is the default copy mode.

Bandwidth throttling (see below) applies to all simultaneous file copies combined.

Pull

Sends lists of files to the target computers which then pull the files from a centralized location. This method works best in WAN environments where the files may be on a file server closer to the target computers than the computer where PDQ Deploy is running.

For this method to work, all files need to be accessible using a UNC path (e.g. \\server\share\installer.msi).

WARNING: Files on fixed or mapped drives are not accessible to the target computers; therefore, a valid UNC path must be provided.

Note Bandwidth throttling (see below) is not enforced when using Pull Copy Mode.

IMPORTANT: This setting is available only in Pro or Enterprise mode.

Bandwidth Limit

Sets the percentage of available bandwidth to use during the copy phase of the deployment when large files are being copied down to the target computers.

PDQ Deploy can throttle bandwidth as it copies software to target computers. This can be particularly helpful over slow links. The throttling works based on a percentage of available bandwidth, with the default rate being 50%. This limit is achieved by ensuring that the server waits between packets long enough to keep its utilization below the given threshold. Therefore, even if the server is copying to a computer on the same subnet and a computer over a slow WAN, it will keep 50% headroom on each link.

If set to 100%, then no limit is imposed and the file copy operation takes as much bandwidth as is available.

IMPORTANT: The Bandwidth Limit will apply to all simultaneous file copies combined.

NOTE: Throttling doesn't apply when using Pull Copy Mode (see above).

VIDEO: How to Throttle Bandwidth in PDQ Deploy

(http://www.adminarsenal.com/videos#!how-to-throttle-bandwidth-in-pdq-deploy)

Service Manager TCP Connection

Microsoft’s service control manager (SCM) is a remote procedure call (RPC) server that allows PDQ Deploy to manage services on remote machines. SCM supports procedure calls over both Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) and named pipes (NP).

The following settings manage how the Windows SCM connects to target computers to perform deployments.

IMPORTANT: These are Windows settings and, as such, are system wide. They cannot be set per process or application. Be aware that changing these values will affect other applications that use remote service manager connections and the Windows service control. If another application or process (such as GPO) changes this setting, then PDQ Deploy uses the changed value.

Default

Lets Windows manage the RPC connection settings.

By default, Windows first attempts the RPC over TCP. If the TCP connection isn’t successful, Windows times out the connection for 21 seconds, then retries the connection over named pipes.

The default TCP timeout of 21 seconds will cause remote connections to be slow if firewall settings prevent access to the RPC ports. Blocking RPC/TCP is quite common, so if scans are typically in the “Connecting” state for longer than 20 seconds, then lowering the timeout or disabling TCP may be in order. Click Disabled to disable RPC/TCP connections and use only named pipes; click Timeout to redefine the timeout interval.

Another point to consider is that, unlike named pipes, TCP uses the credentials of the connecting process instead of the credentials of an SCM connection. This can cause Access Denied to Service Manager errors when connecting to computers in different domains (or non-Domain computers). To fix this, click Disabled to disable RPC/TCP and use only named pipes.

Disabled

Disables RPC over TCP and uses only named pipe (RCP/NP) connections.

Timeout

Redefines the timeout interval for the Default setting.

The Windows default is 21 seconds. Decreasing the interval may improve deployment performance if scans are typically in the “Connecting” state for longer than 20 seconds.

The default timeout setting is 10 seconds.

Test Multiple Addresses in Name Resolution

If a target computer has multiple addresses in DNS, PDQ Deploy pings each address and uses the first that responds.

Enabling this setting helps when deploying to targets that frequently change IP addresses (such as roving laptops).