The software distribution facility distributes and installs software to a client from the central server (managing server), over a network. The client contains JP1/Software Distribution Client and the server contains JP1/Software Distribution Manager. If the network is large or the system consists of many clients, software can be distributed more efficiently if a relay system that uses JP1/Software Distribution Client is positioned between the managing server and clients. The following figure shows an overview of the software distribution facility.

Figure 1-1 Software distribution facility

The software distribution procedure consists of three stages: preparation, execution, and confirmation, as described below.

To distribute software:

1. Register the software to be distributed (packaging).
   In the managing server, you first need to register the software to be distributed. This step is called packaging. To package software, you use a program called the Packager. Software that has been packaged and is ready to be distributed is called a package. When you package software, you can specify various types of information, such as installation conditions for the software to be distributed.
   

   Figure 1-2 Packaging

   

2. Specify software distribution (remote installation).
   Create and execute a job that specifies the clients to which the software is to be distributed and how the software is to be distributed. For example, you can create a job to distribute specified software to specified clients in specified departments, at a specified date and time. The software will be distributed and installed exactly as specified by the job.
   

   Figure 1-3 Remote installation

   

3. Confirm the installation status and results.
   You can easily check the status and results of the job from a window at the managing server:
   

   Figure 1-4 Job Status window

   

The facility for transferring a software package from the managing server to clients and installing it is called remote installation.

JP1/Software Distribution provides various facilities to achieve efficient software distribution. This section describes some of these facilities.

(a) Grouping of distribution destinations

You can group the clients to which software is to be distributed so that the groups best match what you are trying to achieve. Because individual clients can belong to multiple groups, clients in different department groups can also be grouped into the same project group, as illustrated in the following figure.

Figure 1-5 Grouping of distribution destinations

By grouping the distribution destinations, you can specify a group (project A) as the target of software distribution instead of having to specify individual clients (clt2 and clt3).

(b) Using a relay system

A relay system has functionality to act as a relay for software distribution as well to act as a managing server. Thus, software can be distributed by using the central server in a centralized arrangement and also by using relay systems as departmental servers in a distributed arrangement. Even in a distributed application, the central server can use a relay system to obtain the status of software that has been installed remotely. The central server can thus be used to centrally manage software information throughout the entire network.

Note that a relay system can also function as a client. The central server can execute remote installation for a relay system just as it can for any client.

(c) Installation conditions

When installing software remotely, you can check whether the software to be installed is appropriate for the destination clients. For example, while packaging software or creating a job, you can use the window shown below to specify conditions that the hardware must satisfy.

Figure 1-6 System Conditions page

Specifying hardware conditions can prevent installation of software in clients where insufficient hard disk space or an incompatible operating system may cause the installation to fail.

In addition to hardware conditions, you can also check whether particular software has already been installed, or before installation you can start an external program to perform checks with your own specified conditions.

(d) Distribution time and installation time

The timing for remote installation can be divided into two stages: the time for distributing the software (that is, the data transmission time) and the time for installing the software onto the clients.

When you create a remote installation job, you specify a time for executing the job. This becomes the software distribution date and time (data transmission time). Specifying a time at night, when traffic on the network is relatively light, can result in more efficient transmission.

The time for installing the distributed software onto the clients is specified separately from the transmission time, and is specified for each package. This option is convenient for upgrading a program at all clients at a specific time.

(e) Split package distribution

You can split a package into multiple segments of specified sizes and distribute them separately. Because this facility allows a pause between transmissions of package segments, you can smooth out the workload on the network when you have a large package to distribute.

(f) Multicast distribution

In a multicast distribution, the system at a higher level than the clients sends the packets for a single job only, but the software is distributed to multiple lower-level clients. This facility reduces the number of packets sent when a large volume of software is distributed.

(g) Job suspension and restart

You can temporarily suspend job execution on a host during remote installation. For example, if a job is scheduled to be executed while an application is stopped, but the job has not been completed at the time the application is scheduled to resume, you can suspend job execution and restart it after the application has terminated.

(h) Use of client control facility

This facility enables you to use one PC to start, over a network, any other PC that supports AMT or Wake on LAN. It also enables you to shut down, over the network, any PC that supports automatic shutdown. Using this facility, JP1/Software Distribution can install software on remote PCs that have been turned off at night or on a weekend when network traffic is light.

A JP1/Software Distribution system can distribute software and manage inventory over a network. It also enables you to install software on stand-alone PCs without using a network. This feature is useful when the PC where software is to be installed is not on the network, or is on the network but you do not want to increase the line load. JP1/Software Distribution supports stand-alone PCs (offline machines) on which JP1/Software Distribution Client is installed.

To install software on an offline machine, at the managing server you first create the files needed for installation, and then save them to storage media, such as CD-R or MO. You then transport this storage media to the location of the offline machine and execute the installation. This method of installing software without using a network is called offline installation.