Create an Application in ConfigMgr 2012 with PowerShell

I’ve been meaning to create a script that will create applications in ConfigMgr 2012 for a while now. Instead of using the ConfigMgr 2012 PowerShell cmdlets I wanted to try to do it the hard way. When looking around on the web I found out that the basic functionality on how to create an application is provided in the Package Conversion Manager (found here). I set out to try and use some parts from PCM code to see how it would go. And to my amazement, it worked!

In this post I’ll provide you with what I put together from the PCM code. I’ll not take any credits, that goes to the PCM team. Basically the script below creates an application with a MSI deployment type and sets some configurations. My next mission is to create a script out of this that accepts parameters and will essentially replace the New-CMApplication cmdlet for me.

What does it do

Creates an application in ConfigMgr 2012 named TestApp (that’s easily changed of course) with a MSI Installer deployment type. The detection method is set to the product code (as of now fake, see note below).

The script

Note! Change the variables under the Variables comment if you’d like to use this in a lab environment. As of now, this script generates a fake Product Code for the detection method. If you’d to use this script in a production environment, you’d have to get the Product Code out of the MSI and replace it in the script.

[System.Reflection.Assembly]::LoadFrom((Join-Path (Get-Item $env:SMS_ADMIN_UI_PATH).Parent.FullName "Microsoft.ConfigurationManagement.ApplicationManagement.dll")) | Out-Null
[System.Reflection.Assembly]::LoadFrom((Join-Path (Get-Item $env:SMS_ADMIN_UI_PATH).Parent.FullName "Microsoft.ConfigurationManagement.ApplicationManagement.MsiInstaller.dll")) | Out-Null

# Variables
$SiteServer = "CM01.contoso.com"
$SiteCode = "PS1"
$ContentSourcePath = "\\CM01\ContentLibrary$\Software\TestApp"
$ApplicationTitle = "TestApp"
$ApplicationVersion = 1.0
$ApplicationSoftwareVersion = "1.0"
$ApplicationLanguage = (Get-Culture).Name
$ApplicationDescription = "Test description"
$ApplicationPublisher = "TestCorp"
$DeploymentInstallCommandLine = "setup.exe"
$DeploymentUninstallCommandLine = "setup.exe /uninstall"

# Get ScopeID
$GetIdentification = [WmiClass]"\\$($SiteServer)\root\SMS\Site_$($SiteCode):SMS_Identification"
$ScopeID = "ScopeId_" + $GetIdentification.GetSiteID().SiteID -replace "{","" -replace "}",""

# Create unique ID for application and deployment type
$ApplicationID = "APP_" + [GUID]::NewGuid().ToString()
$DeploymentTypeID = "DEP_" + [GUID]::NewGuid().ToString()

# Create application objects
$ObjectApplicationID = New-Object Microsoft.ConfigurationManagement.ApplicationManagement.ObjectId($ScopeID,$ApplicationID)
$ObjectDeploymentTypeID = New-Object Microsoft.ConfigurationManagement.ApplicationManagement.ObjectId($ScopeID,$DeploymentTypeID)
$ObjectApplication = New-Object Microsoft.ConfigurationManagement.ApplicationManagement.Application($ObjectApplicationID)
$ObjectDeploymentType = New-Object Microsoft.ConfigurationManagement.ApplicationManagement.DeploymentType($ObjectDeploymentTypeID,"MSI")

# Add content to the Application
$ApplicationContent = [Microsoft.ConfigurationManagement.ApplicationManagement.ContentImporter]::CreateContentFromFolder($ContentSourcePath)
$ApplicationContent.OnSlowNetwork = [Microsoft.ConfigurationManagement.ApplicationManagement.ContentHandlingMode]::DoNothing
$ApplicationContent.OnFastNetwork = [Microsoft.ConfigurationManagement.ApplicationManagement.ContentHandlingMode]::Download

# Application information
$ObjectDisplayInfo = New-Object Microsoft.ConfigurationManagement.ApplicationManagement.AppDisplayInfo
$ObjectDisplayInfo.Language = $ApplicationLanguage
$ObjectDisplayInfo.Title = $ApplicationTitle
$ObjectDisplayInfo.Description = $ApplicationDescription
$ObjectApplication.DisplayInfo.Add($ObjectDisplayInfo)
$ObjectApplication.DisplayInfo.DefaultLanguage = $ApplicationLanguage
$ObjectApplication.Title = $ApplicationTitle
$ObjectApplication.Version = $ApplicationVersion
$ObjectApplication.SoftwareVersion = $ApplicationSoftwareVersion
$ObjectApplication.Description = $ApplicationDescription
$ObjectApplication.Publisher = $ApplicationPublisher

# DeploymentType configuration
$ObjectDeploymentType.Title = $ApplicationTitle
$ObjectDeploymentType.Version = $ApplicationVersion
$ObjectDeploymentType.Enabled = $true
$ObjectDeploymentType.Description = $ApplicationDescription
$ObjectDeploymentType.Installer.Contents.Add($ApplicationContent)
$ObjectDeploymentType.Installer.InstallCommandLine = $DeploymentInstallCommandLine
$ObjectDeploymentType.Installer.UninstallCommandLine = $DeploymentUninstallCommandLine
$ObjectDeploymentType.Installer.ProductCode = "{" + [GUID]::NewGuid().ToString() + "}"
$ObjectDeploymentType.Installer.DetectionMethod = [Microsoft.ConfigurationManagement.ApplicationManagement.DetectionMethod]::ProductCode

# Add DeploymentType to Application
$ObjectApplication.DeploymentTypes.Add($ObjectDeploymentType)

# Serialize the Application
$ApplicationXML = [Microsoft.ConfigurationManagement.ApplicationManagement.Serialization.SccmSerializer]::SerializeToString($ObjectApplication)
$ApplicationClass = [WmiClass]"\\$($SiteServer)\root\SMS\Site_$($SiteCode):SMS_Application"
$ObjectApplication = $ApplicationClass.CreateInstance()
$ObjectApplication.SDMPackageXML = $ApplicationXML
$Temp = $ObjectApplication.Put()
$ObjectApplication.Get()

Creating an application by using the script

1. Save the script as New-CMApplication.ps1 (or whatever you like) and open a PowerShell console.
2. Browse to the folder you’ve saved the script in and run the following command:

.\New-CMApplication.ps1

3. After a while (took about 10 seconds in my lab environment), the application will have been created.
4. Check in the ConfigMgr console to see the application.

Below is some pictures of the TestApp and it’s settings:

Really cool!

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Nickolaj Andersen

Chief Technical Architect and Enterprise Mobility MVP since 2016. Nickolaj has been in the IT industry for the past 10 years specializing in Enterprise Mobility and Security, Windows devices and deployments including automation. Awarded as PowerShell Hero in 2015 by the community for his script and tools contributions. Creator of ConfigMgr Prerequisites Tool, ConfigMgr OSD FrontEnd, ConfigMgr WebService to name a few. Frequent speaker at conferences and user groups.