Symantec Management Platform (SMP) Community

Description

This document contains the Symantec Administrator Software Development Kit (ASDK) Version 7.5 Release Notes.

Support for Symantec Management Platform v7.5

The Symantec Administrator Software Development Kit (ASDK) version 7.5 has been updated to support Symantec Management Platform version 7.5. ASDK 7.5 contains support for NS 7.5 core, Task Server 7.5, Deployment Solution 7.5, Software Management 7.5, and Software Management Framework 7.5 functionality. The ASDK also continues to support the legacy Software Delivery.

Supported Symantec Management Platform Versions

The ASDK 7.5 is supported for the following Symantec Management Platform versions:

• Notification Server:  7.5
• Task Server:  7.5
• Software Delivery Solution: 7.5
• Deployment Solution: 7.5
• Software Management: 7.5
• Software Management Framework: 7.5

New Features and Modifications

The ASDK 7.5 contains 1 new library for the Deployment Solution:

DSTaskManagement:

• RunDeploymentSolutionTask – this method takes an XML tag delimited string to run the various tasks possible within the Deployment Solution.
• There are a number of helper classes that are included to help you build the XML string. These are noted as DSH_ (input helpers) and DSOH_ (output helpers). These methods are available only through COM. The input helper classes help you build the XML string while the output helper methods help you break apart the XML for easy access to structure members. These helper methods are fully documented in the accompanying ASDK documentation.

The ASDK 7.5 contains 5 new libraries for the Software Management Framework (SMF):

InventoryRuleManagmenent:

• AddExpression – Merge two expressions into one.
• AddOperatorToExpression – Add an operation to an expression.
• CreateExpressionXXX methods – these are used to create a corresponding Expression for new inventory rules.
  • CreateExpression64BitWindowsInstalled
  • CreateExpressionFileVersion
  • CreateExpressionMSIProductCode
  • CreateExpressionMUIInstaled
  • CreateExpressionProcessorType
  • CreateExpressionRegistryKeyExits
  • CreateExpressionRegistryKeyPathToFileVersion
  • CreateExpressionRegistryKeyPathToProductVersion
  • CreateExpressionRegistryKeyToFileVersion
  • CreateExpressionRegistryKeyValue
  • CreateExpressionRegistryKeyVersion
  • CreateExpressionSoftwareFile
  • CreateExpressionSoftwareFileAddFile
  • CreateExpressionStaticFile
  • CreateExpressionStaticShortcutTarget
  • CreateExpressionWindowsLanguage
  • CreateExpressionWindowsVersion
  • CreateInventoryRule
  • CreateInventoryRuleFromExpression
• ExportRuleDefinition – Export a rule definition XML
• ExportRuleDefinitionsFromComponent – Exports definitions of inventory rules assigned to a software component.
• GetExpressionsFromRule – Return a list of expressions from an inventory rule.
• GetExpressionsFromRuleFile – Return a list of expressions from an inventory rule file.
• RemoveExpression – Removes an expression from an inventory rule.
• UpdateInventoryRule – Updates an existing inventory rule.
• UpdateInventoryRuleFromExpression – Updates and existing inventory rule based on an expression.

SoftwareCommandLineManagement:

• CreateCommandLine – Create a new command line item.
• DeleteCommandLine – Delete a command line item.
• GetCommandLine – Return an existing software command line resource.
• SetCommandLineProperty – Set software command line properties.

SoftwareComponentManagement:

• AddAssociationToSoftwareComponent – Associate an NS object with a software component.
• AddCommandLineToSoftwareComponent – Associate a software command line with a software component.
• AddPackageToSoftwareComponent – Associate a software package with a software component.
• AddRulesToSoftwareComponent – Add applicability and detection rules to a software component.
• CreateServicePack – Create a new software service package component.
• CreateSoftwareRelease – Create a new software release.
• CreateSoftwareUpdate – Create a software update.
• DetailedExport – Perform a detailed export of a software component.
• DetailedImport – Perform a details import of a software component.
• GetAssociatedResources – Return a list of resources associated with a software component.
• GetSoftwareComponent – Returns and existing SoftwareComponent or its sub-classes SoftwareRelease and SoftwareUpdate.
• ImportSoftwareRelease – Import a new software release based on the specified binaries.
• RemoveAssociationFromSoftwareComponent – Remove an association between a resource and a software component.
• RemoveCommandLineFromSoftwareComponent – Remove a command line from a software component.
• RemovePackageFromSoftwareComponent – Remove a package from a software component.
• RemoveRulesFromSoftwareComponent – Remove an inventory rule from a software component.
• ResolveDuplicatedSoftware – Resolve duplicate software resources.
• SetSoftwareComponentProperty – Set various software component properties.

SoftwarePackageManagement:

• AddFile – Add a file to a software package.
• CreatePackage – Create a new software package resource.
• DeletePackage – Delete a package.
• GetPackage – Retrieve an existing package resource.
• RemoveFile – Remove a file from a software package.
• SetPackageProperty – Set various package properties.
• SetPackageServerSettings – Specify package server properties for a package.
• SetPackageSource – Set the package source and location.
• UpdateDistributionPoints – Update the package distribution points.

SoftwareProductManagement:

• CreateSoftwareProduct – Create a software product resource.
• GetSoftwareComponents – Get a collection of software component resources.
• GetSoftwareProduct – Get and existing software product resource.

The ASDK 7.5 contains 3 new libraries for the Software Management (SWM):

SoftwareDeliveryPolicyManagement:

• AddDeliveryItem – Add a software resource to a policy.
• CreatePolicy – Create and empty software delivery policy.
• GetDefaultPolicySetting – Get a default policy setting.
• GetDeliveryItems – Get policy delivery item(s).
• GetDeliveryItemSetting – Get a delivery item setting.
• GetPolicySetting – Get a policy setting value.
• RemoveDeliveryItem – Remove a delivery item from a policy.
• SetDefaultPolicySetting – Set a default policy setting.
• SetDeliveryItemSetting – Set a delivery item setting value.
• SetPolicySetting – Set a policy setting value.

SoftwarePortalManagement:

• AddUserOrGroupToPublishingItem – Add a user or group to a publishing item.
• GetSoftwarePortalSetting – Get a software portal setting.
• GetSoftwareRequestsForAdmin – Retrieve a list of software requests that need a manager’s approval. These requests are also visible to software portal administrators.
• GetSoftwareRequestsForManager – Retrieve  a list of software requests that need a manager’s approval.
• GetUsersForPublishingItem – Get information about the user’s or group’s publishing item.
• PublishPolicy – Create a publishing item for managed software delivery policy.
• PublishSoftwareResource – Create a publishing item for software resources command line.
• RemoveUserOrGroupFromPublishingItem – Remove a user or group from the publishing item.
• SetSoftwarePortalSetting – Set a software portal setting.
• SoftwareRequestAction – Run action for a software request.

SoftwareTasksManagement:

• CreatePackageDeliveryTask – Create a package delivery task.
• CreateQuickDeliveryTask – Create a quick delivery task for a software resource.
• CreateSourcePathUpdateTask – Create a source path update task.
• CreateVirtualizationTask – Create a software virtualization task.
• CreateWindowsInstallerRepairTask – Create a windows installer repair task.

Installation Instructions

The ASDK 7.5 is installed via the Symantec Installation Manager (SIM) tool. Please see the Symantec Management Platform documentation for information regarding the download location of the installation manager tool. The ASDK installation has been broken down into its logical components.

• The ASDK core components: Notification Server, Task Server, Software Management Framework (SMF), and the Documentation and examples are installed with the core SMP.
• The ASDK Deployment Solution component is installed with the Deployment Solution.
• The ASDK Software Management (SWM) and Software Delivery components are installed with the Software Management solution.

Each of these installations downloads and installs the various modules, as well as supporting assemblies along with coding and scripting samples. It will install the “integration assemblies” (Altiris.ASDK.NS.dll, Altiris.ASDK.Task.dll and Altiris.ASDK.NS.SoftwareDelivery.dll, …) in the Global Assembly Cache (GAC) of your SMP server, as well as installing the ASDK’s web services. It will also install the CLI executables. The ASDK web service permissions and access are inherited from the SMP installation.

The SIM software also installs assemblies that support the COM layer for the ASDK modules (so that you can run the ASDK from a VBScript, for example). If you want to run the COM interface from your SMP server, no further installation action is necessary. However, if you want to install and run COM from a remote computer, please follow the steps in Part III, below. The installation also includes an additional CLI executable for the Altiris Agent. This Agent CLI may be run on the SMP server, or on any computer that has an Altiris Agent installed. The Agent CLI will allow you access the existing Agent’s COM components via the Command Line.

To install the ASDK 7.5, complete the following steps:

Part I – Uninstall prior ASDK version

1. Warning: Before you begin, if you have any custom scripts you must make sure that they are not placed within the ASDK folder structure as those folders and files will be removed. Please relocate them as appropriate. The removal is handled through SIM, as described in step 2.
    
2. Through SIM the Administrator SDK (ASDK) is not displayed as a separately installable product. Instead, it is installed as part of the SMP. SIM will run readiness checks during the SMP installation process. These are checks for pre-requisites or needed modifications. Similarly the ASDK must be installed clean so its check will look for a prior installation of the ASDK. If any is found, the installation process will pause and you will be prompted to make a correction. The correction is to select the link indicating that the ASDK must first be removed. Selecting that link will automatically take care of this removal process. Once that is done, then SIM will re-run the readiness check and the installation procedures will continue.

Part II – Install the ASDK Server and COM components 

1. As the ASDK is now considered part of the core SMP there is nothing else that needs to be done. The installation is handled during the installation of the SMP/ITMS process.
    

Part III – Install the COM components on a remote computer (optional)

1. The  SMP installation places all the installation package files into the “%ProgramFiles%\Altiris\Symantec Installation Manager\Installs\Altiris\” folder on your SMP server. To install the ASDK’s COM components on a remote computer, you will need to copy the Symantec_ASDK_*_COM_*.msi files from this folder to the remote computer. Please note that the remote computer must be a Windows computer with Microsoft .NET Framework v3.5 installed.   MSI files with “x86” in the file name are for installation on computer running a 32-bit OS; MSI’s with “x64” in the file name are for installation on 64-bit machines.
    
2. Run each MSI that you want to install on the remote computer and follow the prompts until the each installation is complete. You will need to run the MSI from the command line using the msiexec utility. On the command line, add the option “SKIPAIM=true.” This will allow the MSI to be run outside the SIM environment. For example:     msiexec /i Symantec_ASDK_NS_COM_x64.msi skipaim=true