Hi,

I mentioned a while back that my new, compact book "A Beginners Guide to Software Deployment" is finished in print and eBook.
This book is great for all those new to software deployment or interested into getting a glimpse at the machinery in this field.

Why did I write this book? Because I had a hard time finding one myself;-)

Seriously: there are books that specialize in all kinds of fields, from certain products or certain methods.

I was a beginner and needed to know what, where, and when, and most importantly, WHY certain things works as they do.

This book covers the theory and the hands-on part of software deployment; and the "cool" thing is that the information and how-tos are scalable: from a one-man show with a few computers to a company with hundreds or thousands of computers.

This book covers documentation how-tos, starters on scripting, virtualisation, repackaging and even has a look under the hood a an enterprise software deployment / management tool (ZenWorks Configuration Management from Novell)

The book is available on Amazon; a German version is in the making. The link to the US and European store is at the end of the article. Questions? Anytime: Twitter @dbwaldon and Facebook http://www.facebook.com/dennisbwaldon

Here is a sample chapter; Chapter 8: Portable Applications

Chapter 8: Portable Applications

Portable Applications are becoming more and more widespread: these are applications that are bundled in such a way that they can run stand-alone without installation. This is not to be confused with application virtualization (let’s consider it as a close cousin; this will be covered in Chapter 10).

Definition.

Software may be deemed “portable” if its files can be copied anywhere and also started anywhere without installation. Oftentimes these programs are copied onto a USB drive and launched from there. That way, programs can be “carried” along without having to install them again and again on new clients the user may be working with.

Benefits.

It is worthwhile to put thought into using this technology:

· It’s free (there are always exceptions to the rule)!

· It is very simple to deploy (almost zero installation effort)

· It does not leave a “ footprint” (tell-tale marks of a program installation that still leaves “clutter” even though it was uninstalled).

· If there is a newer program version, just swap the file and / or directory. No installation!

Types of Portable Apps

Portable apps can be graphic editors, web design tools, internet browsers and tools, multimedia applications, office suites, programming environments and system tools.

“Installing” these programs is a simple copy of a file or directory, creating a link and you are basically ready to go.

Deploying Portable Apps

Scenarios of using Portable Apps:

· A dedicated directory on your freshly installed clients where the programs are located and launchable from the desktop or start menu

· Links on your desktop or start menu that start the program from a shared network drive

· Integration in your Software Deployment Suite: it downloads, decompresses the software into a directory of your choice and

launches it from there.

This is an example of a desktop that uses shortcuts to Portable Apps that are in a dedicated directory on the hard drive.

None of these applications were installed in the classic sense, only copied into the directory and the links were copied for the user to start them.

Picture 17 - A "Portable App" desktop!  (Screenshot not here, only in the book, sorry)

You will receive some tips and tricks in deploying Portable Apps in Chapter 15.

Sources for Portable Applications

A good site to go looking for portable applications is http://www.portableapps.com, and even try the search engine of your choice if a portable version of your software is available.

Interested in more? Heres the link to the book:

Amazon US Kindle version: click here

Amazon US Print version: click here

Amazon-DE Kindle version: click here

Amazon-DE Print version: click here