How to direct all traffic from the SMS 2003 Inventory Tool for Dell Update to a Dell-hosted HTTP site (906372)

INTRODUCTION

The Systems Management Server (SMS) 2003 Inventory Tool for Dell Update uses both the HTTP protocol and the FTP protocol to transfer data. The Inventory Tool for Dell Update transfers data from Microsoft and from Dell to an SMS site server or to another computer that is designated as the synchronization host.

This data includes catalog components, update scanning components, and individual Dell updates, such as drivers and firmware.

In some environments, the Distributed Software Updates Wizard may not automatically download some components. Additionally, the ITDUSync.exe program may not automatically download catalogs and related files.

These issues may occur in environments that are configured as follows:

FTP traffic and HTTP traffic are routed to different proxy servers.
Firewalls or content caching engines block FTP traffic

If the failure occurs when you try to download catalog-related components, an error that is similar to the following is logged in the ITDUSync.log file:

Failed to download the component 'pre-req.cab' Sync tool failed to Update Scan Tools. Error code: 53

Note The error code in this case does not represent the standard Win32 "Network Path Not Found" error. Instead, the error code is internal to the Inventory Tool for Dell Update.

If the failure occurs when you try to download specific Dell updates by using the Distributed Software Updates Wizard, you receive a pop-up error that is similar to the following:

Distribute Software Updates Wizard
Error downloading file filename:
Data error (cyclic redundancy check)

This article describes how to direct all traffic from the Inventory Tool for Dell Update to a Dell-hosted HTTP site. This option eliminates the use of FTP communications for data retrieval.

MORE INFORMATION

You can now modify the Inventory Tool for Dell Update for use with HTTP-only file transfers. To do this, modify the ITDUDownload.ini file to change URLs and to direct the tool to an alternative location to download the Scantoolsupdate.cab file. Follow these steps only if you require HTTP-only transfer.

Note You may already have modified the ITDUDownload.ini file to obtain content from a local source for manual updates. In this case, restore the original ITDUDownload.ini file before you follow these steps.

On the site server where the Inventory Tool for Dell Update was installed, create a backup copy of the ITDUDownload.ini file. By default, the ITDUDownload.ini file is located in the %ProgramFiles%\Dell Update Inventory Tool\PkgSource folder.
Modify the file as follows:
1. Find and replace all instances of "ftp://" with "http://". The URLs now point to http://ftp.dell.com.
2. In the [WebDownload] section of the file, set "Enabled=1".
3. Modify the "URL=" line in the same section as follows:
  URL=http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=54871
  Note This URL points to and updates the Scantoolsupdate.cab file. This file contains references to the Dell HTTP site.
4. Save the file.
Update the distribution points for the Dell update package.
Run the Dell Software Updates Sync package (ITDUSync.exe) from a client that has received the offer for that package.
As soon as the ITDUSync.exe program has finished, you can use the Distribute Software Updates Wizard in the SMS Administrator console to download Dell components or system updates from the HTTP site.
Optionally, you can query the UpdatesSummary table in the SMS database to confirm that updates will be downloaded from the HTTP site. The following query against the SMS database will return the Update Name, the Type, and the BinPath:
SELECT Title,Type,BinPath from UpdatesSummary where ScanAgent like '%DELL%'
This information makes up the URL for the package source.

Note Any client that is targeted for the synchronization advertisement will use the modified ITDUDownload.ini file after a computer policy retrieval cycle.