BDD allows you to automate the installation of base applications as part of the image building or deployment process.

This is really useful if your company can't afford an application management suite like SMS or Alteris. This functionality is also helpful if you want to automate the way a base application is installed in your image (for instance Microsoft Office).

To add an application into your build/deployment process click the Distribution Share->Applications branch. In the actions pane click "New" This will start the new Applications Wizard.

We will setup Adobe Acrobat Reader 8. This application is pretty common on most corporate installs. For this install we will choose the first installation option "Application with source files". This will allow us to specify an application that is installed from an installer package. If we wanted to install an application that is launched form a shortcut. (network installed apps) we can use the second option seen in the following image.

Next select a folder where the necessary installation source files are stored. Make sure you have all the necessary installation files needed to install the application. in the root of the folder you choose. Some applications will have a more complex folder structure in in their installation media. Make sure the full installation folder structure is in the root of the folder you specify. If the application is in a temporary download folder or other temporary location on your BDD server you can choose to move the installation files to your Distribution share. (C:\Distribution\Applications)

Specify a Descriptive folder name for the application. Often if you will be using multiple languages you may want to specify that in this field. Spaces are permitted, and should not cause any issues later on.

Finally specify a working directory, and the command line to install the application in and automated and or silent mode. Most applications installs now come with switch options that allow them  to be installed in an automated fashion.

If the package is a standard msi you can use "msiexec /quiet /norestart install_package.msi"

Some packages may require an MST of a Microsoft Transform File. A good example of this is Office 2003. In order to make an MST file you usually need a packaging software, or in the case of Office the Office Resource Kit has tools to help with this. We will cover packaging Office for BDD in a future article.

Once we have added the package to our BDD workbench we can try it out in our image build/deployment process.

During the "Deployment Wizard" any applications we have added will appear in during the wizard interview process. We can pick and choose the applications we want to install.

When the deployment process enters the "Install Applications" stage the applications will be installed

A side note for XP installs:

It is recommended in the BDD documentation to use the applications feature in BDD to install Hotfixes and roll-ups.