Initial Configuration

1 Root folders and collections

The first and most important thing to do is to configure your root folders and collections. Open Settings › SCCM Folders and Collections. The middle of the page has five panels, and the buttons Create default structure, Create collection and Create folder are on the left.

The SCCM Folders and Collections page with the SCCM root collection panel open, showing the Root tree with the folders Folder lvl 1, OSD, Software Distribution and Software Distribution Packages and the collections below them, with All Systems selected. The left menu has Create default structure, Create collection and Create folder. The other four panels are closed below, with a Save button on the right. — The SCCM root collection panel is open and **All Systems** is selected. The four other panels are closed; click a panel header to open it. The names in this picture are examples.

Panel	What it holds	What to choose
SCCM root collection	The root device collection.	All Systems, a device collection.
SCCM root user collection	The root user collection.	All Users, a user collection.
Package root folder	The folder that holds your package collections.	A device folder, for example Software Distribution Packages.
Application Distribution Devices	The folder that holds your application device collections.	A device folder, for example Software Distribution.
Application Distribution Users	The folder that holds your application user collections.	A user folder, for example Software Distribution.

The SCCM root collection and the SCCM root user collection must always point to All Systems and All Users. The first-time setup button Apply SCCM defaults sets these two defaults for any root that is not yet assigned.

The SCCM Folders and Collections page with the Package root folder panel open, showing the Root tree with the folders Folder lvl 1, OSD, Software Distribution and Software Distribution Packages, and Software Distribution Packages selected. The other panels are closed. — The **Package root folder** panel is open. It holds the folder for your package collections, here **Software Distribution Packages**.

The SCCM Folders and Collections page with the Application Distribution Devices panel open, showing the Root tree with the folders Folder lvl 1, OSD, Software Distribution and Software Distribution Packages, and Software Distribution selected. The other panels are closed. — The **Application Distribution Devices** panel is open. It holds the folder for your application device collections, here **Software Distribution**.

Application Distribution Users is the folder that holds your application user collections. Choose the user folder for it, for example Software Distribution.

Create default structure creates the three folders that SoftwareCentral uses if they do not exist: a user folder Software Distribution, a device folder Software Distribution and a device folder Software Distribution Packages. It asks you to confirm first, and it does not change the five panels. Select the folders you want and click Save in the box headed Save SCCM collection settings.

Only collections in the two root panels The SCCM root collection and SCCM root user collection panels need a collection. If you select a folder there, the page says Root collection can't be a folder and nothing is saved.

2 Limiting collections

By default, when SoftwareCentral creates collections, the limiting collection is the root collection from section 1: All Systems for devices and All Users for users in a standard setup.

You can change this from Settings › SCCM › Collections, in the boxes Limiting User Collection and Limiting Device Collection. Choose a collection in each box, then click Save Settings.

The Settings page with SCCM and Collections selected, showing Limiting User Collection set to All Users and Limiting Device Collection set to All Systems, with the other collection settings below them and a Save Settings button. — Settings › SCCM › **Collections**. Set **Limiting User Collection** and **Limiting Device Collection**, then click **Save Settings**. The values in this picture are examples.

Setting	What it does	If the box is empty
Limiting User Collection	The limiting collection for the user collections SoftwareCentral creates.	The SCCM root user collection from section 1.
Limiting Device Collection	The limiting collection for the device collections SoftwareCentral creates.	The SCCM root collection from section 1.

3 Program names

For SoftwareCentral to identify the install and uninstall programs, you must define a default install and uninstall program name. This is done from Settings › SCCM › Packages.

The Settings page with SCCM and Packages selected, showing Install Program Name set to install and Uninstall Program Name set to uninstall, followed by the Software Group settings and a Save Settings button. — Settings › SCCM › **Packages**. Enter the names in **Install Program Name** and **Uninstall Program Name**, then click **Save Settings**. The values in this picture are examples.

These two rows are hidden when SoftwareCentral runs as Application Manager Only.

The full description of the folders page is in SCCM Folders and Collections. For the collection structures you can build yourself, see Custom Collection Structures.

4 Best practice

Create the folders with Create default structure before you select them. It only adds the folders that are missing, so running it again is safe.
Keep the two root panels on All Systems and All Users. These are the same defaults that Apply SCCM defaults uses in the first-time setup.
Leave the limiting collections empty unless you need to narrow the collections SoftwareCentral creates. An empty box uses the root collection.
Click Save on the SCCM Folders and Collections page, and Save Settings on the Collections and Packages tabs. A change that is not saved is lost when you leave the page.
Use the same install and uninstall program names for every package, because SoftwareCentral uses them to find the install and uninstall programs.

5 Troubleshooting

Symptom	Cause	What to do
“Root collection can't be a folder”	A folder is selected in the SCCM root collection or SCCM root user collection panel.	Select a collection in those two panels and click Save. Nothing was saved.
The folders in the trees are not the ones you expect	The trees show the site selected in the Select site box at the top of the page.	Choose the right site and reload the page.
The panels show the old values after you clicked Create default structure	Create default structure creates the folders but does not save the panels.	Select the folders in the five panels and click Save.