Package Wizard

1 Overview

Open it from Applications › Package Wizard.

The Applications menu open, with Package Wizard highlighted in red below Application Wizard, Create Multiple Applications and Application Management. — Applications › **Package Wizard**. The item is outlined in red in this picture.

The Package Wizard in SoftwareCentral is used to import packages into SCCM. It is a simple wizard in three steps: Template, Source and Files and Naming. The steps are shown across the top of the wizard, and the step you are on is highlighted.

When you click Create Package on the last step, the wizard creates the package, its collections and advertisements, deploys the package to those collections and distributes it to the distribution points of the template.

Use Next to go to the next step and Previous to go back. Cancel leaves the wizard and clears what you have entered.

Create Package The older seven-step Create Package wizard is no longer in the Applications menu. See Create Package.

2 Template

The first step is Template. Select a template if you want to use predefined settings, or click Next to use the default settings.

The Package Wizard on its Template step. The text reads 'Select a template for the package, or skip this step if it is unnecessary', with an empty template box below it. Cancel is at the bottom left and Next at the bottom right. — Step 1, **Template**. Pick a template in the box, or leave it empty and click **Next**.

The box lists the templates you have created in Package Templates. The settings of the template you pick are used for the package.

If you leave the box empty, the wizard uses the default package settings: the default program flags and run times, the operating systems, the distribution points, the distribution point groups, the Package Security Groups, the SCCM package folder and the distribution options. The defaults are Mandatory ticked, Priority Normal, source files not compressed, and Automatically download content when packages are assigned to distribution points.

3 Source

In step 2 you must select the folder where the package’s root files are. If the files are not on the share yet, you can upload them in the file explorer.

A folder is selected when it is highlighted or opened. The path to the selected folder is written in the box below the explorer.

Earlier capture of the Source step: a grid of folders in the file explorer, the toolbar with refresh, new folder, delete and Upload, the Filter by box, the page controls and the path box under the explorer. — Earlier version of step 2, **Source**. The picture is kept until this step can be captured again. The explorer is described in the table below.

Earlier version of the Source step with numbers 1 to 7 over the explorer: 1 refresh, 2 new folder, 3 delete, 4 upload, 5 filter box, 6 page controls, 7 the path box under the explorer. — Earlier version of the explorer, with the parts numbered 1 to 7 in the same order as the table below. The picture is kept until this step can be captured again.

Part of the explorer	What it does
Refresh (first icon, Ctrl+R)	Refreshes the current view – for instance if you have added a new folder using Windows Explorer.
New folder (second icon, Ctrl+N)	Creates a new folder.
Delete (red X, Ctrl+Delete)	Deletes a file or folder.
Upload (Ctrl+U)	Uploads one or more files. The maximum file size allowed is 1 GB. If you upload a zip file, it is extracted automatically into a folder with the same name, and the zip file is removed.
Filter by	Searches for files and folders in the folder.
< and > with Current Page	Only 100 files or folders can be displayed at once. Use the arrows to change page, or search for the item you are looking for.
Path box below the explorer	The path to the selected root folder is written here. Enter opens the highlighted folder, and Ctrl+Backspace goes back.

Click Next to go to step 3. You cannot continue without a folder: You must select a root folder is shown if no folder is selected, and Invalid folder is shown if you selected the package share itself rather than a folder in it.

4 Files and Naming

In step 3 you must select the files used to install the package, and name the package. SoftwareCentral tries to detect the files and the name from the folder you selected.

First choose the Type of installer. The fields below change with the type:

Type	Files you give
*Windows Installer (.msi file)**	Installation program: type the path or click Browse.... After you choose an MSI file, Add Transform File becomes available for a transform (MST) file.
Script Installer (scripts and executables)	Installation program and Uninstall program, each with Browse....

Earlier capture of the Files and Naming step: the Type box set to Windows Installer, the installation program under Files, the Manufacturer, Name, Version and Language boxes under Naming with Read name from MSI, and Cancel, Previous and Create Package at the bottom. — Earlier version of step 3, **Files and Naming**. The values in the picture are masked. The picture is kept until this step can be captured again.

If SoftwareCentral has made suggestions, the Discard Auto Suggestions button is shown. Click it to discard the auto suggestions.

Under Naming enter Manufacturer, Name, Version and Language. The language can be picked from the list or typed. If you wish to read the name from an msi file in the source folder, click Read name from MSI. This opens a file explorer where you can select the msi file to read the name from.

The package name is built from these fields. The manufacturer is only part of the name if your administrator has enabled that setting.

5 Create the package

When the files and the name are filled in, click Create Package to create the package.

The wizard creates the package with its install and uninstall programs, and then:

What is created	Taken from
Collections and advertisements	The install and uninstall settings and the advertisement flags of the template (or the default settings).
Distribution points	The distribution points selected in the template. The content is copied to each point in the background.
Distribution point groups	The groups selected in the template. They are only added on a ConfigMgr 2012 site.
Package Security Groups	The Package Security Groups selected in the template.
SCCM package folder	The folder selected in the template, if one is selected.

The package description is Created by SoftwareCentral. If your administrator has enabled it, the name of the user who created the package is added: Created by followed by the user name.

If the wizard finds a problem before it creates the package, it returns you to the step with the problem and shows the message there. If creation fails part way, the error is written to the Log. See Troubleshooting below.

6 Verify the package creation

To verify that the package has been created, you can use the Log in SoftwareCentral or the notifications popup.

If nothing is marked as an error with the icon in the log, the package has been created successfully.

If the package could not be created, the log holds a critical entry Failed to create package. with the details of the error.

7 See also

8 Best practice

Put each package in its own folder on the package share and select that folder, so the wizard can suggest the installer and the name.
Set the distribution points, distribution point groups, Package Security Groups and SCCM folder in a template, not on each package. The wizard copies them from the template into every package it creates.
Check Manufacturer, Name, Version and Language before you click Create Package. A package with the same four values cannot be created again.
Check the Log after each import. A package that failed is reported there with Failed to create package.

9 Troubleshooting

Symptom	Cause	What to do
“You must select a root folder”	Step 2 has no folder selected.	Select a folder in the explorer, then click Next.
“Invalid folder”	The package share itself is selected, not a folder inside it.	Open a folder inside the package share and select it.
“No installation program defined”	Neither the MSI nor the script installation program is filled in on step 3.	Click Browse... next to Installation program and choose the file, or type its path.
“You must enter a name for the application”	The Name box is empty.	Type a name.
“This name already exists”	A package with the same Manufacturer, Name, Version and Language already exists on this site.	Change one of the four values.
“Invalid package name” at the bottom of step 3	The name cannot be used: it is empty, or a package with the same name exists.	Fix the name as described in the two rows above.
The Log shows “Failed to create package.”	An error stopped the creation. The entry holds the details of the error.	Open the entry in the Log, fix the cause, and create the package again.