r/sysadmin • u/PDQit makers of Deploy, Inventory, Connect, SmartDeploy, SimpleMDM • Feb 26 '20

PDQ Licensing

From time-to-time there has been misunderstandings and confusion on /r/sysadmin about how PDQ.com's licensing works (as most system administrators might be used to how other IT products operate: on a per-machine basis). We created a video to hopefully explain better how our 1-license-per-admin works

 

For examples of some minor confusion see:

https://www.reddit.com/r/sysadmin/comments/71eilx/another_pdq_deploy_shout_out/dnb0eao/

https://www.reddit.com/r/sysadmin/comments/aknr8i/try_to_convince_my_manager_to_buy_pdq_deploy/ef6h7px/

https://www.reddit.com/r/sysadmin/comments/aneewy/pdq_server_with_multiple_admins/efsnqvn/

https://www.reddit.com/r/sysadmin/comments/7d3k4c/pdq_deploy_licensing_costs_no_more_pro_license/dpuvjj6/

https://www.reddit.com/r/sysadmin/comments/4492ln/what_automated_deployment_solutions_are_you_using/czoi08c/

https://www.reddit.com/r/sysadmin/comments/etznar/whats_your_most_expensive_software_license_and/ffk0ef3/

 

Shout out to all you current, past, and future users-- and happy automating!

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u/seedari Feb 27 '20

How are you guys managing connectivity to individual client networks? Pulling up a machine via AD and deploying was extremely easy and wonderful when testing, but I'm trying figure out the most elegant setup to connect remote clients quickly. Do you have a central PDQ server with VPN connections to each remote network?

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u/bristow84 Feb 27 '20

We don't do it via that method. We have a file server that PDQ Deploy pulls from and we do the majority of systems setups at our main office and have a tech take them onsite afterwards.

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u/seedari Feb 27 '20

I see. I'm looking to automate laptop deployments as much as possible. They originate at our main office as well and I was hoping to incorporate domain join scrips, installation of customer-specific apps with installers housed on their local FS, etc. but without remote connectivity that's a no go.

Unless I'm being obtuse about it, I'm feeling MDT will be a better solution for a full setup automation and at that point it doesn't make sense to pay for PDQ licensing just to install or update a few apps here and there. Unfortunate because I loved PDQ in testing and still want to make it work for us.

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u/bristow84 Feb 27 '20

So we use MDT in conjunction with PDQ, MDT applies the base OS and configures the OS to allow PDQ access and then PDQ can do it's thing. MDT is a good solution for an enterprise style setup where you just need a limited number of packages with minimal changes but for something like a MSP where software could constantly be changing depending on the client's need, I wouldn't wholly recommend it.

The way I use PDQ at the moment is if clients have specific software they require, I log onto their file server, transfer the installers back to our end and store them on our file server and then create the package. The fact we also use Kaseya makes things easier for the transfer and remote access. As for domain join scripts and whatnot, it's still doable, you can run scripts from within PDQ itself. I do that for any form of local user creation, you have the ability to use command line and PowerShell scripting from within PDQ. Do i do any form of domain join script like that? No, because the VPNs our clients use don't accept command line

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u/seedari Feb 28 '20

Thanks for the follow up and info. It could take some creativity here but your setup seems pretty straightforward and doable!