Download Packages

1 The tabs

The list of packages is split over tabs. The first tab, SoftwareCentral Plus, lists the packages of your SoftwareCentral Plus subscription.

Download Packages page with the SoftwareCentral Plus tab selected, a list of packages with Import, Downloaded, Package Name, Date, Size and Previous Versions columns, and the buttons Import as Packages, Import as Applications and Import to Intune on the right — The **SoftwareCentral Plus** and **AppUpdate** tabs, the package list and the three import buttons on the right. The **Import to Intune** button is shown here because Intune is set up for this installation.

Tab	When it appears
SoftwareCentral Plus	Always. Its tooltip says Import Packages from your SoftwareCentral Plus subscription.
AppUpdate	When AppUpdate is enabled for your installation. Its tooltip says Import Packages from your AppUpdate subscription.
Custom FTP (two tabs)	When an external FTP drive is set up. The tab shows the Name you typed. The drive is set up in Settings on the SoftwareCentral Plus ! panel: the Name is the name users see, and the Address is the FTP address of the folder that holds the packages. The Address, user name and password must all be filled in before the tab appears. The Download Packages interface can connect to 2 external FTP drives; this works without SoftwareCentral Plus.

Only the tabs you have are shown If you cannot see the AppUpdate or Custom FTP tab, it is not set up for your installation. Ask your SoftwareCentral administrator, or see the SoftwareCentral Plus topic.

2 The package list

Each row is one package. The Downloaded column indicates whether or not a package has already been downloaded by your company account. It is not an indication that the package exists in your environment.

Package list columns: Import checkbox, Downloaded checkbox, icon, Package Name, Date, Size and the Previous Versions link on the right of each row — The top of the list. Look at the **Downloaded** column for packages your company account has already downloaded, and use the **Previous Versions** link at the right of a row to see its older versions.

Column	What it shows
Import	Tick the packages you want to import. The tooltip says Download and import.
Downloaded	Ticked when your company account has already downloaded the package. It is not an indication that the package exists in your environment.
Package Name	The name of the package, with its icon.
Date and Size	The date of the package (day/month/year) and its size.
Previous Versions	A link in every row. It opens the list of older versions of that package (see Previous Versions).

You can show 20, 50 or 100 rows per page with the Page size list, and move between pages with the buttons at the bottom of the list.

3 Importing packages

Select the packages you wish to import and click on the Import as Packages, Import as Applications or Import to Intune button.

Before the import starts, you will be prompted to select a template.

Import Package box with the Select Template list showing -Select Package Template- and an Import as Packages button — The **Import Package** box. Choose a template in **Select Template**, then click **Import as Packages** to start the import. (This picture was taken with no package ticked.)

Button	What it does
Import as Packages	Opens the Import Package box for the selected packages. Choose a package template and click Import as Packages to start the import.
Import as Applications	Opens the Import Application box. Choose an application template and click Import as Applications to start the import.
Import to Intune	Opens the Import to Intune box. The selected packages will be downloaded, converted to IntuneWin packages and then uploaded from your own installation to your Intune tenant. Choose a template to use predefined settings for the application, then click Import to Intune; Cancel closes the box. Intune must be enabled for your installation and access to Intune must be set up for the button to appear.

Each template box says: If no template is selected, the default settings will be applied. So you can start an import without choosing a template, but then the default settings are used.

Intune-only installations If SoftwareCentral is set up for Intune only, the Import as Packages and Import as Applications buttons are hidden and only Import to Intune is available.

Select a template and click on the import button to start the import.

You can see the status of the import from the Notification popup and from the log. The log shows each download, for example Downloading ‘…’. Size: …. The import will continue when the file has been downloaded. and Successfully downloaded ‘…’.

4 Previous Versions

The Previous Versions link next to each package opens a window with the previous versions of the package. The window is titled Previous versions of ‘…’.

Earlier version of the page: the tabs and the Previous Versions link in the row of a package, marked with a red box — An earlier version of this picture. The **Previous Versions** link is at the right of each row (marked with a red box here). The name of the FTP tab is hidden in this picture; on screen the tab shows the name you set for the FTP drive.

Previous versions window listing older versions of 7-Zip x64 with Package Name, Size and Date columns and an Import link for each version — The **Previous versions** window. Each version has an **Import** link. Use **Close** to close the window.

Click the Previous Versions link in the row of the package.
Click the Import link next to the version you want.
A new box opens, Import Settings, which asks you to choose whether the package should be imported as a package or application.

Import Settings box with the options Import as Package and Import as Application, a Select Package Template list, and Import and Cancel buttons — The **Import Settings** box. Choose **Import as Package** or **Import as Application**, then select a template. Click **Import** to import the package; **Cancel** closes the box without importing.

Click on the Import button to import the package.

Application import on ConfigMgr 2007 On a ConfigMgr 2007 site, Import as Application is disabled in the Import Settings box, so the version can only be imported as a package.

5 Best practice

Choose a template before you import. The import boxes say that the default settings are used when no template is selected. Pick the template that matches how you deploy the application, so the import is set up the way you expect.
Do not read the Downloaded column as an inventory. It only shows that your company account has downloaded the package. It says nothing about whether the package is in your environment.
Read the Log after a large import. Each download is logged with its size, and a failed download is logged with the exception. This is the place to check when a package does not appear.
Set up the Custom FTP drive completely. The tab appears only when the address, the user name and the password are all filled in. A half-filled drive gives you no tab.

6 Troubleshooting

Symptom	Cause	What to do
"Failed to retrieve packages in product family from SoftwareCentral Plus."	The package list of the SoftwareCentral Plus subscription could not be read. The log entry holds the exception.	Open the Log and read the entry for the exception. Then reload the page.
"Failed to download '<package name>."	The package could not be downloaded. The log entry holds the exception.	Read the entry in the Log, fix the cause, and import the package again.
"The server response for a download request for package '<package name>' was: <reason>"	The download service answered the request with an error. The text after was: is the reason given.	Read the reason in the Log, then try the import again once the cause is cleared.
Import as Application is disabled in the Import Settings box	The ConfigMgr site is version 2007.	Import the version as a package.
No Custom FTP tab	The address, user name or password of the FTP drive is empty.	Fill in all three in Settings on the SoftwareCentral Plus ! panel, then reload the page.
No Import to Intune button	Intune is not enabled for the installation, or access to Intune is not set up.	Ask your SoftwareCentral administrator to check the Intune settings.