ITMU/SCCM/Patchinstall command line switches

A question came up the other day about how to set the patchinstall command line switches for ITMU in SCCM.  In SMS 2003 it was a simple edit to the command line for the program but in SCCM there is no such ability since we do all of the command line building based on UI settings and don’t expose the result (except in the patchinstall log when the deployment runs) for the user to edit.

I did some testing and come up with the list of switches below along with the corresponding SCCM UI setting that determines whether the switch is used or not.  This list is possibly not exhaustive and there are some command line switches that appear to be static and always used, like /p.

/s - This switch maps to the setting 'collect hardware inventory immediately' that is in the 'SMS 2003 settings'. The /s switch is present when the option is NOT selected.

/q - This switch maps to the setting 'hide deployments from sms 2003 client computers' in the advanced node of 'SMS 2003 settings'. The /q switch is present when the option IS selected.

/l - This switch maps to the setting 'enforce start time' in the advanced node of 'SMS 2003 settings'. The /l switch is present when this option IS checked and the numerical value for the switch comes from the configured time value.

/t - This switch seems to map to the 'maximum run time' for the patch.  There may be more to it for this switch since this setting is per update rather than per deployment.

/p - This switch appears to be set by default and no UI setting I've found has an impact on removing this switch. But removing the switch really shouldn't be necessary as long as it is paired with a properly configured /g switch.

/g - This switch maps to the setting 'set a deadline for software update installation' in deployment properties. The /g switch is present if this option is selected and the numerical value for the switch comes from the configured time value. Setting a value of 0 for this switch will cause the deployment to execute immediately even with the /p switch.

/n - This switch maps to the 'allow display notifications on clients' in deployment properties. The /n switch is present if 'allow notifications on clients' option IS selected.

/z - This switch maps to the system restart settings in deployment properties. The /z switch is present when a restart is suppressed for either servers or workstations.

/f - This switch maps to the system restart settings in deployment properties. The /f switch is present when no restart suppression is configured.

Comments

• Anonymous
  April 20, 2009
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• Anonymous
  April 21, 2009
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• Anonymous
  July 16, 2013
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