Ninite helps us patch 3rd party applications. Complements CM's Windows and MS Office patching.
Table of contents
Download Chemistry IT's Ninite installer (private page)
See also
Ninite's web site:
- https://ninite.com/ (this page lists software covered by the non-Pro version)
They have a page explaining what you get with the paid "Pro" version, and another page listing the software they cover:
- https://ninite.com/pro
- https://ninite.com/applist/pro.html - a larger number then more non-Pro
Once you log in with a Pro account credentials, you access their easy-to-use and understand console.
- With the console, one can install, uninstall, reinstall apps across all machines or individual machines.
- Actions work for off-campus machines which CM can’t support.
How to pronounce Ninite:
- https://ninite.com/help/home/pronunciation.html
- They say NIN-ite.
- Many people seem to say NI-nite. Though they don't prefer that, it at least leads to the correct spelling.
Preface
Both CM and Ninite can patch select applications which already exist on a computer, however they got installed. The table below lists some ways they differ operationally.
- By "CM", we are also meaning the use of WSUS in CM to pull in packaged updates coming from Flexera for systems put into "managed systems" groups.
Pricing
- ~$720/yr for 100. ~$1,300/yr for 200 systems.
- 3/29/2018: Our Technical Risk Assessment (TRA) for Ninite Pro was approved by Tom Horton, ITSO (required by Cornell Purchasing).
| Criteria | Ninite | CM | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Number of apps patched, if already exist on system | Many, many apps patched. Including 100% of the ones CM currently patches. | Firefox, Flash, iTunes, Java, and Chrome patched. Others? See right => | Where does Cornell document CM's currently patched 3rd party apps? Process to add? All packaged by Flexera? |
| Capacity to install or uninstall a covered app | See above: Many app. Trivial to do per-machine, ad hoc adds and removes via web interface. It's actually fun! | See above: Limited number. Not easy to add or remove in an ad hoc manner, much less per machine. | |
| Timely availability | Immediately available, and we control directly | Sometimes protracted delayed availability. And then staged deployed over 1.5 weeks via first a test group, and then on to all "managed" systems. | What gates initial availability from CIT's Managed Desktop (MD) group? (Why would there be much of a Cornell-side availability delay, especially as compared to Ninite? |
| Visibility of outcomes, and ease of ad hoc review | Clear, fast web-based view by authorized IT staff. | CM has report capabilities so if crafted to meet needs, swell. Less so for ad hoc query interests. Flexera reporting back is NOT visible to TSPs, right? | What value might Flexera's reports have to us TSPs managing systems? |
| Infrastructure requirements | None | AD and CM. AND must be in a group accepting all Windows/ Office updates. | RESEARCH-specific: For sensitive or research machines, CIT's updates and methods are often not appropriate. |
| Reliability | Pending. Presumed good. | Data points: Firefox will often install 32-bit version on systems with a 64-bit installed(?!). Firefox will sometimes "update" to an OLDER version(?!). | |
| Use of campus | Yes | No | If off campus AND use VPN, then CM may work. |
| Use on campus 10-space areas | Pending. Updating works if use proxy storage (have not yet tried this). And initial call-in of a client must be on full-space to tie client to our collection. (Subsequent communications through proxy storage?) ITSO added all-but-one of the Ninite-related domains and we must now confirm sufficient. | Yes. | RESEARCH-specific concern. |
Data point
From: Michael E Hint
Sent: Monday, March 26, 2018 4:35 PM
Subject: Ninite Pro success - Firefox ESR 52.7.3
Thought I’d pass along that Firefox ESR 52.7.3 was released today. I was able to push it to 30 or so machines immediately in seconds, and the rest should get it when people close out of Firefox. A Ninite Pro success story.
Michael
One example in which Ninite performs better then CSI (Cornell is using within CM), for our needs
Q: Chemistry IT has been trying to move our users from Firefox 32-bit to 64-bit. As part of this transition, we uninstall 32-bit, but it appears these machines are getting patched by CM and 32-bit gets reinstalled. Is there anything we can do to stop this?
A: Keene Silfer, Desktop Engineering.
Incident INC000002216166
Wednesday, April 11, 2018
Subject: Re: Incident INC000002216166, 'A&S Chemistry - Firefox CM patching
[...]
Check to see if there's a copy of the 32-bit Firefox .EXE file somewhere on the computer's hard drive (maybe in the Windows.old folder).
Since the CSI patches are path-based, if the CSI client detects that .EXE file somewhere on the hard drive, and that path gets added to the applicability metadata of the patch, it will end up "reinstalling" 32-bit Firefox as it attempts to patch that not-really-installed Firefox.