Use Group Policies to Assign a Deployment to Computers

Perform the following procedures from a Windows 7 or 8 computer or a Windows 2003, 2008 or 2012 server that has Group Policy Management Console installed, and has access to the Active Directory server.

Note: For more information, go to Microsoft TechNet and search for "Group Policy Management Console".

To assign a deployment to a computer

1. Start the Group Policy Management Console (gpmc.msc).
2. Right-click the organizational unit where you want to create the group policy object (GPO). Then select Create and Link a GPO Here and name the Group Policy.
3. Edit the policy.
4. In the Group Policy Object Editor dialog box, under Software Settings, right-click Software Installation, and click New Package.
5. In the Open dialog box, navigate to the administrative image created by the deployment process. Navigate to Img\<processor type>\<product name folder>. The processor type is either x86 or x64, depending on the processor type for which you created your deployment.

   Examples
   For x86 deployments: \\server123\Deployment\Img\x86\<product name>
   For x64 deployments: \\server123\Deployment\Img\x64\<product name>

6. Select the Windows Installer Packages file called <product name>-<deployment name>.msi. Click Open.

   If the product was AutoCAD and the deployment was called “Design 2014 64 bit,” then the deployment’s MSI file would be acad-Design 2014 64 bit.msi.

7. In the Deploy Software dialog box, select Advanced and click OK.
8. In the Properties dialog box, Modifications tab, click Add.
9. In the Open dialog box, select the Transform Package file called <product name>-<deployment name>.mst). Click Open.
10. In the Properties dialog box, Modifications tab, click Add.
11. In the Open dialog box, navigate to <deployment location>\Tools and select the Transform Package file called gpo.mst.
12. Click OK to complete the package.

Adding a Language Pack

If your product uses language packs, you may need to add a language pack to your package.

To add a language pack

1. In the Group Policy Object Editor dialog box, under Software Settings, right-click Software Installation for the same object, and then click New Package.
2. In the Open dialog box, navigate to the location of the administrative image that you specified when creating the deployment. Navigate to Img\<processor type>\<locale>\<product name>\<product name>lp.msi. Click Open.

   The <locale> used in the examples is en-us for US English.

   Examples
   For x86 deployments: \\server123\Deployment\Img\x86\en-us\<product name>
   For x64 deployments: \\server123\Deployment\Img\x64\en-us\<product name>

3. In the Deploy Software dialog box select Advanced and click OK.
4. In the <product name> Properties dialog box, Modifications tab, click Add.
5. In the Open dialog box, select the Transform Package file called <product name>-<deployment name>.mst located at Img\<processor type>\acad. Click Open.
6. In the <product name> Properties dialog box, Modifications tab, click Add.
7. In the Open dialog box, navigate to <deployment location>\Tools and select the Transform Package file called gpo.mst.
8. Click OK to complete the package.

To add the product-specific package

1. In the Group Policy Object Editor dialog box, under Software Settings, right-click Software Installation for the same object, and then click New Package.
2. In the Open dialog box, navigate to the location of the administrative image that you specified when creating the deployment. Navigate to Img\<processor type>\<locale>\<product name>ps.msi. Click Open.

   The <locale> used in the examples is en-us for US English.

   Examples
   For x86 deployments: \\server123\Deployment\Img\x86\en-us\<product name>
   For x64 deployments: \\server123\Deployment\Img\x64\en-us\<product name>

3. In the Deploy Software dialog box select Advanced and click OK.
4. In the <product name> Properties dialog box, Modifications tab, click Add.
5. In the Open dialog box, select the Transform Package file called acad-<deployment name>.mst located at Img\<processor type>\<product name>. Click Open.
6. In the <product name> Properties dialog box, Modifications tab, click Add.
7. In the Open dialog box, navigate to <deployment location>\Tools and select the Transform Package file called gpo.mst.
8. Click OK to complete the package.

The GPO is now assigned to all computers that are members of the organizational unit for which the GPO was created. The next time a computer in the organizational unit is restarted, the program will be installed and will be available for all users of the computer. See Verify a Group Policy Deployment to confirm that the group policy has been created correctly.