HP SoftPaq Download Manager and HP System Software Manager - A Powerful Combination

Setting up HP SSM (Clients)

In client mode, SSM uses the information in the UID database to query for applicable SoftPaqs. If no

database is present, SSM will dynamically create a temporary database on the client by reading

each CVA in the file store over the network. Hence, for optimal performance make sure the SSM

database is present in the file store and is up-to-date.

To run SSM in client mode, you only need to specify the location of the file store and any other

desired command line switches as parameters. SSM.exe should be run from the root of the file store.

The recommended command used to run SSM is:

<file store path>\SSM.EXE . /INSTALL

To prevent network authentication issues it is recommended to map the network share to a drive letter,

and then use that mapped network drive as the file store path.

There are multiple options in getting SSM to run:

 Manual Execution

 Scheduled Tasks

 3

party management tool

You can use the Scheduled Tasks feature in Windows to have SSM run automatically on a regular

basis. Depending on which OS the computers have the setup, the process will vary.

If you use the Schedule Tasks feature, HP recommends the following options be set when setting up

the task:

 In Vista and Windows 7, SSM needs to be run with the highest privileges, so the “Run with

highest privileges” option needs to be checked. No UAC prompt will appear when this

option is set.

 To ensure updates are applied, allow SSM to run even when the user is logged off, and add

the reboot command line option as a parameter.

Maintenance Process

Adding and Removing SoftPaqs

The SDM catalog is updated on a weekly basis on Monday nights (US CST), so you can check back

then if you’re looking for the latest updates for your machines.

As SoftPaqs are added, you may want to remove older or unneeded updates from the share to reduce

size. This can be done manually by clicking on the Explore button in SDM. Be sure to remove the .exe

and the corresponding .cva when removing a deliverable. After adding and removing SoftPaqs,

reload the configuration file in SDM to get an updated list of downloaded SoftPaqs. Note that deleted

SPs from the Download Directory will show up again in the “Available SPs” list.

The SSM database will also need to be rebuilt to reflect the updated SSM file share. Either run

through the SSM setup process again or use the command line option. For details, look in the

Advanced usage of HP SDM and SSM section.