Program Properties Page

Use the Program Properties page in the Configuration Manager 2007 Distribute Software Wizard to specify the conditions under which the program can run, as well as the action to take after it runs.

This page contains the elements described in the following table.

UI Element List

Name

Description

Program can run

Specifies the logon conditions necessary for the program to run:

• Only when a user is logged on: Prevents the program from running if no user is logged on to the client computer. This is the default setting.

• Only when no user is logged on: Prevents the program from running until the user logs off the computer.

  Note

• Whether or not a user is logged on: Enables the program to run with or without a user logged on the client computer.

Run with administrative rights

Specifies whether the program runs with administrator credentials. If selected, this option forces the program to run under the local administrator account on the client computer.

If this option is selected, the following option is available:

• Allow users to interact with this program: Specifies whether to allow users to interact with the program. This check box is available only when Run with administrative rights is selected.

  Select this option only for programs that must run in an administrative context and that require the user to interact with the program. If you select this option, the user interface for the program is visible to the logged-on user, and that user can interact with the program.

  Leave this option clear for all programs that do not display any user interface or that display a user interface but do not require the user to interact with the program.

  Note

After running

Specifies the action that occurs after this program has completed successfully:

• No action required: No restart or log off is required. This is the default value.

• Program restarts computer: The program requires a restart and performs this action automatically.

• ConfigMgr restarts computer: The computer is restarted automatically by Configuration Manager 2007.

• ConfigMgr logs user off: The current user is logged off the computer after the program is completed. Use this option if the program requires that the user log off and then log on again before it can run.

Important

Both the ConfigMgr restarts computer and ConfigMgr logs user off actions are done forcefully after providing the user with a grace period. Applications that are running on clients when this occurs do not have an opportunity to save their states or data.

Maximum allowed run time

Specifies the maximum time (in minutes) that the program is expected to run on the client computer. This setting can be specified as a whole number greater than zero or as Unknown.

The default setting is 120 minutes.

It is not recommended that you set this value to Unknown because this value is used for two important purposes:

• To monitor the results of the program.

• To determine if a program will be launched when maintenance windows have been defined on the client computers.

On client computers, the specified value for published programs appears in Run Advertised Programs in Control Panel and helps the user decide if and when to run the advertised program.

Monitoring Program Results

If the value is set as Unknown, Configuration Manager 2007 interprets the maximum allowed run time as 12 hours (720 minutes).

If this maximum run time (whether set by the user or as the default value) is exceeded, Configuration Manager 2007 will stop the program if it is set to Run with administrative rights and the Allow users to interact with this program setting is not selected.

If the program itself is not stopped, Configuration Manager 2007 stops monitoring the program after the maximum allowed run time is exceeded. This allows Configuration Manager 2007 to continue with other software distribution functions, such as running other advertised programs. As a result, Configuration Manager does not do the following:

• Stop the program.

• Free up any drives that have been mapped for the advertised program.

• Free up any network connections made for the advertised program.

• Remove security rights granted to the Client Token account, if any.

• Free up operating system resources used by Configuration Manager when running advertised programs.

Maintenance Windows

When a maintenance window is in place, a program will be launched only if there is time available remaining in the maintenance window to accommodate the Maximum Allowed Run Time setting (plus the Advertised Programs Client Agent countdown duration).

Important

A conflict might occur if the Maximum allowed run time is longer than the scheduled maintenance window. If the maximum run time is set by the user to a period exceeding the length of any available maintenance window, that program will not be run. For more information, see About Maintenance Windows.

If an advertised program has the Maximum allowed run time option set to Unknown, however, the available time evaluation proceeds differently. Although an Unknown setting is evaluated by Configuration Manager 2007 as 12 hours, this is for monitoring purposes only. When determining whether there is sufficient time to run a program within a given maintenance window, a setting of Unknown is evaluated as 0 minutes, regardless of whether the program actually takes 1 minute to run or 3 hours.

As a result, a program with the maximum run time set to Unknown will start running during a maintenance window that has even 1 minute available and can continue to run even if it finishes outside the designated maintenance window.

Previous

Goes to the previous page of the wizard.

Next

Goes to the next page of the wizard.

Finish

Goes to the Summary page of the wizard.

Cancel

Discards the settings, and exits the wizard.

See Also

Concepts

About Maintenance Windows
About Packages
About Programs