Common Step Properties

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Common Step Properties

Most steps have the following common properties. Pro or Enterprise mode is required to set step properties.

Step Title

Conditions Tab

Options Tab

Step Title

An optional value that gives a description to the step. It is shown in the Deployment Status during deployment to make it easier to track the status of the deployment.

Conditions Tab

All conditions on the target computer must be met for the step to run. If the step can’t run due to conditions, then it is skipped and the next step runs. If no steps can run in a package for a particular target, then the deployment fails and returns an error message stating “Conditions not met: No steps were able to run”.

Condition

Description

O/S Version

Select the version or versions of Windows for which the step will be applied.

Architecture

Choose whether the step is to run on 32-bit, 64-bit, or both operating system architectures.

Logged On State

Determines whether or not the step runs, based on whether or not a user is logged on to the target computer.

 

Always Run

Run this step regardless of logged on state.

Only run if no user is logged on

Only run this step if no users are logged on.

Only run if a user is logged on

Only run this step if a user is logged on.

Video: Successful Deployments: How to Use Conditions and Options

(http://www.adminarsenal.com/pdq-deploy/videos#!successful-deployments:-how-to-use-conditions-and-options)

Options Tab

Option

Description

Enabled

Enables the current step.

If this option is not selected, the step is skipped during the installation. This feature enables administrators to “turn off” steps that they may want to enable in the future without deleting the step itself.

If a step is disabled, the name of the step is struck-through. Steps can also be enabled or disabled by right-clicking the step and toggling from Disabled to Enabled.

Run As

Select an option to determine what account the step uses when running on the target machine.

NOTE: This option only applies to Install, Command, File Copy, and Message steps.

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 Credentials Preferences.

The default (and generally appropriate) setting is Deploy User. Change the default in Preferences > Credentials or override the default here.

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

For a sample demonstration of the Run As options, see the following video.

VIDEO: Deployment Run As Options

 

(http://www.adminarsenal.com/videos#!deployment-run-as-options)

 

(use program default)

The default Run Package As setting defined in Preferences.

Deploy User

Executes deployments on target computers in a non-interactive session as the Deploy User.

This setting is appropriate for the vast majority of deployments. Consequently, this is the recommended setting.

Deploy User (Interactive)

Executes deployments that include both silent and interactive steps. This setting is the same as Deploy User with one important exception—the Windows process running the deployment is run in an interactive session.

This setting is most appropriately used for individual deployments that require user input, but the overall process still requires Administrator rights that logged on users may not have. Because these types of deployments are more specialized and because running the deployment in interactive mode requires more processing resources, it is recommended that you apply this setting only as needed at the Step level.

Local System

Executes deployments using the Local System account on the target computer. PDQ Deploy connects to the target computer using the Deploy User credentials, copies the specified files, creates the PDQDeployRunner service, then instructs the service to log on as Local System.

This setting is used only for installations that require Local System. These types of deployments are very rare. Consequently, it is recommended that you apply this setting only as needed at the Step level.

IMPORTANT: Steps that run as Local System are not able to access network resources.

Logged on User

Attempts to run packages in interactive mode as the Logged On User of the target machine.

This setting is used to deploy applications that are installed per user or when the Logged on User needs to provide information for the deployment to succeed such as a license key. It can also be used to modify the HKEY_CURRENT_USER registry hive for the Logged on User or to access user-specific settings such as %APPDATA% or the Logged on User’s user directory. These types of deployments are highly specialized. Consequently, it is recommended that you apply this setting only as needed at the Step level.

Error Mode

Select an option to determine how the deployment responds if a step fails.

 

Stop Deployment with Error

If the step fails, stop deployment with returned error.

Continue

Continue deployment even if the step fails.

Stop Deployment with Success

If the step fails, stop deployment and report success.

NOTE: Success Codes are defined at the Package level. They are the numerical value for Windows system error codes. The default success codes are 0 (action completed successfully), 1641 (reboot initiated), and 3010 (reboot required).

 

 

 

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Help Version: 8.1.0.0