The Enterprise Deployment Pack (EDP) for Windows Media Player is a downloadable packaging tool that enables network and desktop administrators to centrally configure, deploy, and manage Windows Media Player in the enterprise.
The EDP offers many advantages to the enterprise, including:
Gives IT pros the capability to deploy Windows Media Player in conformance with their standard software deployment processes.
Provides IT pros with the flexibility to configure various settings to support existing enterprise standards and reduce support calls.
Offers end users the productivity benefits of Windows Media Player.
What's new?
The latest version of the Enterprise Deployment Pack includes support for:
Windows Media Player 10
Windows Media Player 9 Series
Standard Microsoft hotfix packages
How it works:
The EDP is a command-line tool that presents the network administrator with a series of Yes/No questions. When the questions have been answered, the EDP creates a Microsoft Installer (MSI) package that can be deployed throughout the organization.
At its most basic level, the EDP:Generates an MSI package. The MSI file wraps Windows Media Player and runs it in redistribution mode. This facilitates deployments that require an MSI package or installation of Windows Media Player by users of managed desktops.
Creates a "silent install" that links Windows Media Player Setup and additional Windows Media Language Packs or hotfixes. Windows Media Player Setup will run in redistribution mode, which means that there is no user interface or requirement for interaction with setup prompts.
The end user will not be prompted with End User Licensing Agreements (EULAs) or configuration options during setup.
Through the EDP, network administrators and IT pros can:
Set local group policy (group policy for Windows Media Player can also be set at the domain level by companies running Active Directory).
Preset Windows Media Player preferences.
Add one or more skin files to the installation.
A custom skin can limit access to consumer features that are not suitable for enterprise usage.
Include Windows Media Player Language Packs with the deployment.
Deploy the customized MSI file through Active Directory or through any software management system.
While the EDP itself is in English, any localized version of Windows Media Player can be included in the MSI file.
I tried to log a call with Microsoft Australia regarding this, but they stated that this cannot be fixed. They asked me to send an email to mswish@microsoft.com. So, here it is:
At the bottom of page 12 of the Deployment of Windows Media Player in the Enterprise guide (June 2005), it discusses using the EDP to include Windows Media hotfixes.
The instructions for including Windows Media Hotfixes is as follows:
Including Windows Media Hotfixes
In cases where your organization requires a Windows Media hotfix, you may wish to include Windows Media hotfixes with your installation package. To do this, copy the hotfix you want to deploy to the \Redist folder. When the installation package is created, EDP will include this file. If more than one hotfix package is included, they will be run in alphabetical order based on the hotfix file name. This is the same order shown when the DIR command is used from a command prompt to list the files in the \Redist directory. Other Windows® hotfixes may be included if they support the following command-line parameters to invoke a silent unattended mode installation. In this example, HotfixFile.exe is the name of the hotfix file:
HotfixFile.exe /R:N /Q:A
Update.exe based hotfixes or the older Windows Media hotfixes based on IExpress technology are supported.
To date, there has been only one hotfix for Media Player 10, and this is KB892313. We can apply the patch manually when logged on with administrative privileges, but it doesn't work using the EDP when logged on as admin.
At first I thought this was due to the hotfix using different switches from /R:N /Q:A, but I pulled the installation apart and found the following in ca_edp.inf:
So, we've established that the EDP supports patches that use the new update.exe switches. Watching the processes in Task Manager shows that windowsmedia10-kb892313-x86-intl.exe does run for a few seconds.
I looked in the event viewer for errors, but didn't see anything. I looked in c:\winnt and found this log:
[KB892313.log]
0.270: ===================================================
0.270: 2005/08/19 09:11:39.171 (local)
0.270: c:\7c6882d278e4d2b996a5872bd1\update\update.exe (version 6.1.22.4)
0.290: DoInstallation: GetProcAddress(InitializeCustomizationDLL) Returned: 0x7f
0.290: Failed To Enable SE_BACKUP_PRIVILEGE
0.290: Setup encountered an error: You do not have permission to update Windows XP.
Please contact your system administrator.
0.290: You do not have permission to update Windows XP.
Please contact your system administrator.
0.290: Update.exe extended error code = 0xf004
0.290: Update.exe return code was masked to 0x643 for MSI custom action compliance.
Interestingly, the EDP guide says:
In this version of EDP, users who are not Administrators or in the Administrators Group can run the installation package on the target computer. The installation package, which is designed to prevent impersonation of a logged-on user, runs under the local system account.
I'm not certain as to what they meant here, but if a non-admin user double-clicks the MSI, the package tries to install, but fails.
Logged back on as Administrator, I added the "Back up files and directories" and "Manage auditing and security log" rights explicitly to SYSTEM, but this didn't fix the issue.
I think what is happening is that although the system has the rights to install Windows Media Player, it simply doesn't have the rights to install the hotfix. Whatever is happening, one of the primary reasons for using the EDP is diminished.
It would be great if this could be fixed and either an update to the hotfix, or for the EDP could be issued (depending on where the exact problem lies).
I tried to log a call with Microsoft Australia regarding this, but they stated that this cannot be fixed. They asked me to send an email to mswish@microsoft.com. So, here it is:
At the bottom of page 12 of the Deployment of Windows Media Player in the Enterprise guide (June 2005), it discusses using the EDP to include Windows Media hotfixes.
The instructions for including Windows Media Hotfixes is as follows:
Including Windows Media Hotfixes
In cases where your organization requires a Windows Media hotfix, you may wish to include Windows Media hotfixes with your installation package. To do this, copy the hotfix you want to deploy to the \Redist folder. When the installation package is created, EDP will include this file. If more than one hotfix package is included, they will be run in alphabetical order based on the hotfix file name. This is the same order shown when the DIR command is used from a command prompt to list the files in the \Redist directory. Other Windows® hotfixes may be included if they support the following command-line parameters to invoke a silent unattended mode installation. In this example, HotfixFile.exe is the name of the hotfix file:
HotfixFile.exe /R:N /Q:A
Update.exe based hotfixes or the older Windows Media hotfixes based on IExpress technology are supported.
To date, there has been only one hotfix for Media Player 10, and this is KB892313. We can apply the patch manually when logged on with administrative privileges, but it doesn't work using the EDP when logged on as admin.
At first I thought this was due to the hotfix using different switches from /R:N /Q:A, but I pulled the installation apart and found the following in ca_edp.inf:
So, we've established that the EDP supports patches that use the new update.exe switches. Watching the processes in Task Manager shows that windowsmedia10-kb892313-x86-intl.exe does run for a few seconds.
I looked in the event viewer for errors, but didn't see anything. I looked in c:\winnt and found this log:
[KB892313.log]
0.270: ===================================================
0.270: 2005/08/19 09:11:39.171 (local)
0.270: c:\7c6882d278e4d2b996a5872bd1\update\update.exe (version 6.1.22.4)
0.290: DoInstallation: GetProcAddress(InitializeCustomizationDLL) Returned: 0x7f
0.290: Failed To Enable SE_BACKUP_PRIVILEGE
0.290: Setup encountered an error: You do not have permission to update Windows XP.
Please contact your system administrator.
0.290: You do not have permission to update Windows XP.
Please contact your system administrator.
0.290: Update.exe extended error code = 0xf004
0.290: Update.exe return code was masked to 0x643 for MSI custom action compliance.
Interestingly, the EDP guide says:
In this version of EDP, users who are not Administrators or in the Administrators Group can run the installation package on the target computer. The installation package, which is designed to prevent impersonation of a logged-on user, runs under the local system account.
I'm not certain as to what they meant here, but if a non-admin user double-clicks the MSI, the package tries to install, but fails.
Logged back on as Administrator, I added the "Back up files and directories" and "Manage auditing and security log" rights explicitly to SYSTEM, but this didn't fix the issue.
I think what is happening is that although the system has the rights to install Windows Media Player, it simply doesn't have the rights to install the hotfix. Whatever is happening, one of the primary reasons for using the EDP is diminished.
It would be great if this could be fixed and either an update to the hotfix, or for the EDP could be issued (depending on where the exact problem lies).
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