Deploy java via Group Policy

How to deploy java via Group Policy. I will be doing this on Sever 2008 R2. Should be pretty close to the same for other versions.

Download

First download java from oracles website where offline packages are available. Javas website is just an online installer that wont work.

http://www.java.sun.com 

On their homepage click Java SE. Now you can see the latest version. Click the download under JRE. Select the Offline Package.

 Extracting the MSI

I’ve heard there are many different way to extract the .msi from the .exe you just downloaded. The easiet way I’ve found is to run the download (DONT INSTALL IT).  You should have a windows close to this:

While that window was opening it was extracting the files for you. You can find them at:

C:Users%username%AppDataLocalLowSunJava

Look for the folder that matches your version you downloaded. Example Java SE7 U07 is in jre1.7.0_07. Copy the whole folder to your share directory. We use “gpo_managed”.

Deploy via Group Policy (GPO)

Now you are ready to deploy the package via Group Policies. The general process is to do the following:

Share

Be sure with your share everyone has read access and put the java folder you copied from the appdata folder to it.

 Create and Edit your GPO

In the Group Policy Management program right click your domin and select Create a GPO in this domain, and link it here.  A new box will pop up asking you to name it. I prefer to keep all mine organized and named it Install – Java.

Right click the gpo you’ve just created and select edit. Navigate to

Computer Configuration > Policies > Software Settings > Software Installation

Right click Software Installation and select New > Package…

IMPORTANT STEP

While adding your package DON’T browse for it. Find it using your network path. Example \ServerNamegpo_managed NOT C:gpo_managedjre1.7.0_07

Close the windows and your done!

If you wish to test it out on a client machine you can force the update on thier machine. Open up a cmd and type gpupdate /force . It should as you to restart and booting will take a little longer as its installing. To verify its there you can go to add or remove programs, it should be listed.