Question : SEP Deployment via Symantec Console or AD Group Policy

Hello guys,

Looking for some advice, i have client with the following network :

Central Office
5 Servers
30 Desktops

Remote office's x 30 Sites
Each remote home has a site to site vpn to the central office.
Each home has 3 desktops computers.
All remote home computers are in workgroup mode, not domain mode.

All computers are XP Pro, with Symantec Antivirus V9 and 10.

My task is to roll out SEP to all computers throughout the entire Network.

I'm planning to install the main console in the Central office then deploy SEP to all local computers via the console.

For all remote office's i was going to create a SEP Package file then burn to cd and send out to the remote offices and then slowly one by one dial into them, uninistall old SAV and install new SEP.

We will be using all the new features of the SEP, Firewall, Spywere etc....

My question is should i be using Active Directory Group Policy to roll out to my local computers?  Are there any real benifits etc etc, my partner seems to tell me the deployment will be a lot easier and faster, i'm not to sure here.

As my remote computers are not on the domain AD Group Policy wont work, so this will have to be done via a cd rom.

What i'm asking for is pro's and cons to rolling out to pc's either through the console or GP.

Thnaks guys

Answer : SEP Deployment via Symantec Console or AD Group Policy

Hi.

I  deployed sep 11 mr5 to several of my locations 18 location with 2 computers each. I had export the package with all the settings and install it manually at each location (time consuming). i attempted to deploy my clients using a website but unfortunately my sites are running 768k or lower connections which caused packet loss during the deployment. What i ended up doing was exporting the packages with all the settings then running the set up once the clients checked in to the default sep manager then you can move it to groups.

see solution below

 
Solution:
 
A. Export a Client Install Package from the SEPM:
1. Click the Admin tab, then click Install Packages.
2. Click Client Install Packages, then click the package to be exported from the right-hand pane (32-bit or 64-bit)
3. Click Export Client Install Package...
4. Browse to a directory where you would like to save the exported package.
5. Leave the box to create a single .EXE file checked.
6. Set the remaining features as you require (Note: If you are migrating from a previous SEP build, any changes you make to the default settings will not be applied unless you select to un-check the "Maintain existing client features when updating" when applying the install package to a group later -- See Step C below).
7. Click OK to export the new package.

 

B. Host the Install Package on your Web Server.
(Note: At this time, there is not any one specific, recommended or supported Web server that must be used. Any Web server that can serve files via http or https should work.)
You can test to make sure the file is being properly hosted by the Web server by downloading it from another computer. If you can access and download the file from a web browser, then SEP should be able to access the file as well.

 

C. Apply the Install Package to a Group:
1. In the SEPM, go to the Clients tab.
2. Select the group you want to upgrade.
3. Select the Install Packages tab.
4. Under Tasks, select Add Client Install Package.
5. Under Download Source, select "Download the client package from the following URL (http or https)"
6. Enter the URL to the setup.exe file.
(Example: http://IP_address/SEP_Install/setup.exe)
7. Click OK to save the settings to the group.