Tranquil IT Forum

Hi everyone,

I'm contacting you again because I'm having a problem. I can't seem to launch package installations when the computers are powered off.

I'd like to be able to schedule package installations for when the computers start up.

Is this possible with this wonderful tool?

Thank you very much.

It seems to me that if you add c:\wapt\waptexit.exe to the machine's startup script (GPO),

the installation/update should happen at startup.

Simon

My machine park is in a workgroup

Local group policies on the machine should work (gpedit.msc);

this should be automatable in a WAPT package.

It's a real shame that you can't schedule an installation when the computer is offline

An "offline" machine is a machine that is turned off; it makes sense that you cannot work on a machine that is turned off.
However, you can install packages on shutdown using wapt-exit.

Yes, I understand the "offline" part, but it's a shame not to be able to plan the package installation in advance when the machine is detected by the WAPT server.

When the workstation starts up, the client will check its host package and the packages it needs to install or update, download the packages, and then wait.

When the workstation shuts down, waptexit will run and install the updates. So, in a way, the installation can be scheduled.

We can go even further. For example, if you want to schedule an installation in the middle of the night, you can have your workstations start in wake-on-LAN mode with a script starting at 2:00 AM and then schedule them to shut down at 2:15 AM. The software will install, and then the workstation will shut down.

You can also have the installation performed at startup with waptexit.exe (and startup scripts).
However, this will make your workstation take longer to start up while installations are in progress.

Another solution, if your users have a strong tendency to never shut down your workstations and to put them in sleep mode (I know some), is to create a scheduled task that will wake the computer to launch waptexit.exe and thus perform the installations.

In short, you can do a lot. For me, standard mode remains the best, with wake-on-LAN mode as an option for machines that don't boot often.

A cool thing you could do is create a script that reads the machine's packages, and if a package isn't up to date, the machine boots in wake-on-LAN mode, while the up-to-date machine doesn't.

Basically, you can do a lot; you just have to be creative!