Mass deployment of PIP through e.g. group policy?

Question

Are there any recommendations on how to facilitate mass deployment of Petrel PIP files (plugin packages) using e.g. group policy?

The package content (plugin files) is easy enough, but the user-specific PluginManagerSettings.xml file needs to be handled carefully. The concept doesn't sit very well with clients who expect to be able to customize and repackage MSI files for this purpose.

It would be prudent of Schlumberger to provide some documentation and suggested best practices in this area. If the documentation exists, I apologize, and would appreciate a pointer.

Answer 1

In the Ocean 2012 (in beta test right now) the new PluginManager.exe has the possibility to install uninstall enable and disable plug-ins from pip file via a command line. Several of these commands may be added to an msi file. This is explained in the 2012 version of the white paper "Plug-in Identity and Deployment" in the Ocean chm help.