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Distributing Applications Using the Distribution Wizard

AdminStudio 2025 | 29.0 | Distribution Wizard

You can use the Distribution Wizard to publish an application or group of applications from the Application Catalog to a distribution system. Each supported distribution system supports different deployment types.

note

AdminStudio supports the following ConfigMgr (Formerly called as System Center Configuration Manager):

  • SCCM 2012 or later supports deployment types like Windows Installer, App-V (4.x and 5.0), Apple iOS (local and public store), Google Android (local and public store), Microsoft UWP app packages (.appx), Legacy installer, PowerShell wrapped packages (.ps1), and MSI Package
  • ConfigMgr 2002 or later supports the MSIX Package deployment type.

Supported Deployment Types Per Distribution System​

The following table lists the supported deployment types per distribution system:

Supported Deployment Types Per Distribution System

Distribution SystemSupported Deployment Types
ConfigMgr Server (Formerly called as System Center Configuration Manager)Windows Installer App-V (4.x and 5.0) Apple iOS (local and public store) Google Android (local and public store) Microsoft UWP app packages (.appx) Legacy installer PowerShell wrapped packages (.ps1) MSI Package MSIX Package Note the following: To publish mobile apps, SCCM 2012 SP1 or later is required. To publish MSIX packages, ConfigMgr 1906 is required. To publish other deployment types, SCCM 2012 or later is required.
Citrix XenApp ServerCitrix XenApp profiles App-V 4.x
Microsoft App-V ServerApp-V (4.x and 5.0)
Symantec Altiris Management ServerWindows Installer VMware ThinApp Legacy installer PowerShell wrapped packages (.ps1)
JAMF Casper Suite ServerApple disk image package (.dmg) Apple installer package (.pkg) Apple Mac App Store application
Workspace ONE ServerApple iOS (local and public store) Google Android (local and public store) MSI Package EXE Packages PKG Packages DMG Packages If you are using an Application Catalog that has been upgraded from a release of AdminStudio prior to AdminStudio 2013, and the iOS application was imported prior to the upgrade, you will need to reimport the iOS application before you will be able to successfully publish it to Workspace ONE Server.
Microsoft Intune ServerMSI Package MSIX Package Intunewin
Custom Distribution SystemWindows Installer App-V (4.x and 5.0) Apple iOS (local and public store) Google Android (local and public store) Microsoft UWP app packages (.appx) Legacy installer Citrix XenApp VMware ThinApp PowerShell wrapped packages (.ps1) MSI Package MSIX Package Intunewin

Supported Distribution Systems Per Deployment Type​

The following table lists the supported distribution systems for each deployment type:

Deployment TypeConfigMgr)Citrix XenApp ServerSymantec Altiris ServerMicrosoft App-V ServerWorkspace ONE ServerCasper ServerMicrosoft IntuneCustom Distribution System
Windows Installer / MSI Package
App-V 4.x
App-V 5.0Supported via Microsoft App‑V Server
Apple iOS
Apple macOS
Google Android
Microsoft UWP app packages
Legacy installer
Citrix XenApp
VMware ThinApp
PowerShell wrapped packages (.ps1)
MSIX Packages
Intunewin
PKG Packages (.pkg)
DMG Packages (.dmg)
info

When publishing applications to one of these distribution systems, the selected applications’ supported packages will be published. However, if an application contains packages of other deployment types, those packages will be ignored.

PKG and DMG packages are supporting files that will be published to Workspace ONE.

MST files (excluding SoftwareId.mst) are the only MSI supporting files that will be published to Workspace ONE. Other supporting files like MSPs will be skipped during publish.

Files dependent on MSI (other than MSTs) will not be published to Workspace ONE.

Example: cabinet files, configuration xml files, .dlls, .configs etc.

To publish applications from the Application Catalog to a distribution system, perform the following steps.

To publish an application or group of applications to a distribution system:

  1. Create a named connection to a distribution system on the Server Options > Distribution System tab of the Options dialog box, as described in Creating Multiple Named Connections to Distribution Systems.

  2. For each application that you want to publish, specify deployment settings on the following subtabs of the Home Deployment Type View:​

    Deployment Data Tab ​

    App-V Deployment Data Tab

info

In order to publish to Citrix XenApp Server, there are mandatory fields that you must specify on the XenApp Deployment Data Tab, as described in Specifying a Package's XenApp Deployment Settings. For all other deployment technologies, editing deployment data is optional.

  • If you are using an Application Catalog that has been upgraded from a release of AdminStudio prior to AdminStudio 2013, and the iOS application was imported prior to the upgrade, you will need to reimport the iOS application before you will be able to successfully publish it to Workspace ONE Server.

  1. In the Application Catalog tree, select the application or group of applications that you want to publish and click the Distribute button in the ribbon. The Target Server Details opens.
tip

Instead of clicking the Distribute button in the ribbon, you could instead select Distribute Application or Distribute Group from the shortcut menu.

info

Because you cannot publish applications to System Center 2007 Configuration Manager, do not select a named connection to a System Center 2007 Configuration Manager server from this list. To publish a package to System Center 2007 Configuration Manager, you need to use the Package Distribution Wizard, as described in Publishing Packages to ConfigMgr (Formerly called as System Center Configuration Manager).

  1. Choose the application or applications that you want to publish and click Next . The Choose Applications panel opens with the application or group that was selected when you clicked the Distribute button already selected.
    • By selecting the Deploy selected applications check box, the selected application will not only be published to Microsoft Configuration Manager (ConfigMgr), but will also be deployed to the targeted end-user machines. These targets are defined by the Collections, Distribution Points, or Distribution Point Groups configured during the deployment setup.
    • Once this check box is selected (enabled by default), the deployment process ensures that the application gets automatically installed on all systems included in the selected collections streamlining the delivery process and reducing manual steps.

    • The Deploy selected applications check box will be available only for publishing application(s) to the Intune and ConfigMgr distribution systems.

    • Based on the Target Server Type selection, only supported deployment types will be appearing under Choose Applications panel. You can select individual package under an application node which needs to be published to the desired Distribution System .

    • When you select Custom Distribution System, you can select only one application/package. If you select more than one, an error message popup will appear.

  2. Click Next . One of the following occurs:
    • If you are publishing to ConfigMgr or Workspace ONE, the Destination Group panel opens. Proceed with Step 8 .
    • For all other distribution systems, the Summary panel opens. Skip to Step 9 .
  3. Select the group in the connected ConfigMgr (Formerly called as System Center Configuration Manager) or Workspace ONE server that you want to publish applications to.

    • If you originally imported the application from ConfigMgr (Formerly called as System Center Configuration Manager) server, the Destination Group panel will not open, and the application will be published in its source location.

    • Workspace ONE permits publishing a single application only once to an Organization Group. Therefore, if you attempt to publish an application to an Workspace ONE Organization Group (Distribution Group) that already contains that application, the publication will fail.

  4. Click Next . The Summary panel opens, displaying a summary of all settings configured in the previous panels.
  5. Click Next . The distribution begins and the Distributing panel opens, which displays a progress bar and status messages during distribution.
  6. When distribution is complete, click Finish to exit the wizard.

See Also

Distributing Packages Using the Package Distribution Wizard

Distribution Wizard