Distribution

1 Open the interface

This interface can be found under the Applications menu.

The Distribution page with Applications selected in the top menu. The left side has the radio buttons Package, Distribution Point and Distribution Point Group, a Select Distribution Point box, a search box and the Only show failed distributions tick box. The middle shows the PACKAGES list with a tick box in front of each package, and a Save Changes button at the bottom right. — The **Distribution** page. The top menu shows **Applications** as the current area. The left menu holds the three views; the list shows the packages, and **Save Changes** is at the bottom right.

The interface can distribute one package to many distribution points or groups, or many packages to one distribution point or group.

2 The three views

Start by selecting Package, Distribution Point or Distribution Point Group in the left menu.

View	What you can do
Package	Distribute a package to multiple distribution points or distribution point groups. You can also see where the package is distributed and get the content status.
Distribution Point	Distribute multiple packages to a distribution point. You can also see all packages currently distributed to a distribution point and get the content status.
Distribution Point Group	Distribute multiple packages to a distribution point group. You can also see the content status for each package.

3 Distribute multiple packages to a Distribution Point

Start by selecting a distribution point from the Select Distribution Point box in the left menu.

The Distribution page with Distribution Point selected and one distribution point chosen in the Select Distribution Point box. Each package in the list has a ticked tick box, a green status icon in the STATUS column and a blue recycle icon in the UPDATE CONTENT column. The Save Changes button is at the bottom right. — One distribution point selected. Each ticked package is assigned to it. The green icon in the **STATUS** column means success, and the blue recycle icon in **UPDATE CONTENT** updates that package on this point.

The checkboxes next to each package indicate whether or not the package is assigned to the distribution point. Check a package to add it to the distribution point, and uncheck a package to remove it from the distribution point.

You must click Save Changes before the packages are distributed.

To the right of each package there are two icons: a status icon and the Update Content icon. See sections 6 and 7.

4 Distribute a package to multiple Distribution Points

Choose Package from the left menu, then select the package from the Select Package box.

The Distribution page with Package selected and 7-Zip x64 15.14 chosen in the Select Package box. The upper table lists one distribution point with its site code, status and update icon. The lower table lists one distribution point group, with its status. — One package selected. The upper table lists the distribution points, and the lower table lists the distribution point groups. Tick a row to add the package to it; untick it to remove the package.

The checkboxes next to each distribution point and distribution point group indicate whether or not the package is assigned to that distribution point or group. Check a distribution point to add the selected package to it, and uncheck a distribution point to remove the package from it.

You must click Save Changes before the package is distributed.

To the right of each distribution point or group there are two icons: a status icon, and the Update Content icon.

5 Distribute multiple packages to a Distribution Point Group

Choose Distribution Point Group from the left menu, then select the group from the Select Distribution Point Group box.

The Distribution page with Distribution Point Group selected and Example group chosen in the Select Distribution Point Group box. The PACKAGES list shows a tick box and a STATUS count with a green icon for each package, and an UPDATE CONTENT icon. — One distribution point group selected. The number next to each green icon shows how many distribution points in the group report that state for the package.

The checkboxes next to each package indicate whether or not the package is assigned to the distribution point group. Check a package to add it to the group, and uncheck a package to remove it from the group.

You must click Save Changes before the packages are distributed.

To the right of each package there are two icons: a status icon and the Update Content icon.

6 Status icons

The status icon shows the result of the last distribution. It can be green, yellow or red.

Icon	Meaning
Green	Success.
Yellow	Pending or unknown.
Red	Error.

Hover the mouse over the status icon to get a detailed status message. When a package is distributed to several targets, a number next to the icon shows how many of them have that state.

The Distribution page with the status tooltip open over a green status icon. The tooltip is a small table with the columns Distribution Point, Last Status Time and Status Message, and one row for the distribution point with the message Content was distributed to distribution point. — Hover over a status icon to open this tooltip. It shows the distribution point, the last status time and the status message. The name of the distribution point in this picture is an example.

To see only the packages with an error, tick Only show failed distributions in the left menu.

7 Update Content

The blue recycle icon updates the package content on the selected distribution point, or on the distribution points in the selected group.

The content is updated immediately, so you do not need to click Save Changes afterwards.

The recycle icon only appears for a package that is already distributed to that target. If you have just ticked a new package, save first.

8 Best practice

Click Save Changes before you leave a view. Only the saved ticks are distributed. A tick you made but did not save does nothing.
Use Update Content after the source of a package changes. It sends the content again at once, so it does not need Save Changes. Use it on the distribution point or group that needs the new content.
Check the status after you save. Hover over the icons to read the messages. Use Only show failed distributions to find the failed ones quickly.
Set the defaults for new packages. New packages and applications that are not created from a template start with the distribution points and groups set on Distribution Settings.

9 Troubleshooting

Symptom	Cause	What to do
"This application has no content and cannot be distributed." (tooltip on the locked check box)	The application has no content, so there is nothing to distribute.	Add content to the application, then distribute it.
A red status icon	The last distribution failed.	Hover over the icon and read the status message. Fix the cause on the distribution point, then click the Update Content icon.
A yellow status icon that does not change	The distribution is still pending, or its state is unknown.	Wait for the distribution to finish. If it stays yellow, check the distribution in the Configuration Manager console.
A ticked package is not on the distribution point	Ticks are only distributed after Save Changes.	Click Save Changes.
"Failed to update distributed content at site" in the Log	The content update failed. The Log entry holds the error.	Open the Log entry, read the error, and fix it before you try Update Content again.
No tick boxes, no Save Changes button, or no status and update columns	Your security role does not include the rights for changing the distribution, updating content or viewing the status.	Ask your SoftwareCentral administrator to check your security role.