About assigning packages to package servers automatically

When you assign a software package to a site server on the Package Server tab, one of the options is Package Servers automatically with manual prestaging. If you select this option for a package, the package gets assigned to sites automatically and gets downloaded to the package servers in those sites. The Package Server tab appears on a package's Add or Edit Package dialog box in the Software Catalog and when a package is selected from the Settings menu.

See Package tab settings.

A software package that is configured for automatic assignment is automatically assigned to a site when one of the following occurs:

For example, you create and enable a Management Software Delivery policy that delivers a package that is configured for automatic assignment to package servers. The policy targets computers in one or more sites so all of those computers need to download the package. The next time package refresh runs, the package is assigned to the sites of all of the targeted computers. Package refresh is a shared schedule that runs by default once a day. When the package is assigned to a site, the package is downloaded to all of the package servers in the site. When a Symantec Management Agent in the site needs to download the package, it downloads it from one of the package servers. If the agent requests the package before package refresh runs, an immediate automatic assignment of the package to the site occurs. The agent then waits until the package is downloaded to the site's package servers and downloads it from one of those servers.

See Managing shared schedules.

After a policy or task is enabled, the automatic assignment of a package only occurs when one of the following actions is performed:

A package might automatically be assigned to a site unexpectedly if any of the following are true: