Performing a Quick Delivery of a Single Software Resource

You can perform a quick delivery of a single software resource that runs with minimum configuration. You can use the task-based Quick Delivery method to specify the software to deliver, the action to perform, and the computers to deliver to.
Because the software resources and the delivery settings are predefined, Quick Delivery makes it easy for administrators and non-administrators to deliver software. For example, help desk personnel can easily deliver hotfixes because all they have to do is select the correct hotfix from the Software Catalog. They do not need to know which package to select or how to create the command line.
Most organizations can use Quick Delivery for the majority of their software delivery needs. Quick Delivery helps you reduce the amount of time that you spend on routine deliveries so that you can devote more time to advanced activities.
The software that you deliver in this way must be defined as a deliverable software resource in the Software Catalog. It must also have at least one command line.
After the initial instance of a Quick Delivery task runs, you can edit and rerun it. For example, you can deliver the software to different computers or run a different command line on the same computers. You can also edit the delivery settings for the task. For example, you can change the user credentials under which the task runs.
If you need to perform compliance checks or other advanced delivery activities, use Managed Software Delivery instead of Quick Delivery.
Process for performing a quick delivery of a single software resource
Step
Action
Description
Step 1
Create a Quick Delivery task.
The options for creating a Quick Delivery task are as follows:
Step 2
(Optional) Configure the task settings.
Every task inherits the default run settings. You can override the default settings for a particular task.
For example, if you want to deliver a large package over slow network, you may want to increase the
End task after
value.
Step 3
Schedule the task and choose the delivery destinations.
When you use the
Quick Delivery
wizard to create the task, you choose the destinations in the wizard. Those destinations apply to that instance of the task only. You do not have to schedule the task because it runs as soon as possible.
When you edit the task or create it without the wizard, you define the schedule and the delivery destinations every time you run the task.
The options for scheduling the task are as follows:
  • Run the task now.
    This option runs the task as soon as possible, unless it must wait for a maintenance window.
    On computers with Cloud-enabled Management this option only works like a schedule. Computers with Cloud-enabled Management receive the task from the task server that depends on the task agent schedule. Symantec recommends that you increase the default timeout period in the advanced options for the tasks that are scheduled on computers with Cloud-enabled Management. An increased timeout period can significantly improve software delivery for Quick Delivery to computers with Cloud-enabled Management. By default, the
    End task after
    is set to 300 minutes (five hours). A recommended value to change the timeout period to is 1440 minutes (24 hours). The maximum timeout is 2160 minutes (36 hours).
  • Schedule the task to run at a specific time.
Step 4
After the task runs, view the reports.
The Software Management reports let you monitor the software deliveries.
The delivery reports provide information about the status of the software downloads and executions. For example, the software downloads for each computer, including the status and the download date.