How to exclude specific computers so that the client software is not automatically installed in Systems Management Server

In some scenarios, you may want to exclude specific computers from the Microsoft Systems Management Server (SMS) 2.0 Remote Client Installation or SMS 2003 Client Push Installation process. Although you can use a registry key to prevent SMS client software installation on computers, the excluded computers are still discovered.

Warning If you use Registry Editor incorrectly, you may cause serious problems that may require you to reinstall your operating system. Microsoft cannot guarantee that you can solve problems that result from using Registry Editor incorrectly. Use Registry Editor at your own risk.To exclude server and workstation computers from a client push installation, you can specify the computers in the exclude list in the registry on the SMS site server. To add computers to the exclude list, follow these steps:

1. Click Start, click Run, type regedit, and then click OK.
2. Locate and click the following registry sub key:
   HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\SMS\Components\SMS_DISCOVERY_DATA_MANAGER
3. Double-click ExcludeServers.
4. In a new SMS 2.0 installation, the value may appear similar to the following value:

   0000	00 00		..

   Delete the "..", and then type the computer names that you want to exclude. Include a space between the computer names.
5. In an SMS 2003 installation, type the computer names that you want to exclude. Press the ENTER key after each computer name to make sure that each computer name is on a separate line.
6. After you type the computer names that you want to exclude, click OK, and then quit Registry Editor.

After the computer is discovered and is in the discovery database in SMS 2.0 hierarchies, removing the computer name from the ExcludeServers list will not automatically install the client software. You can install the client software if either Logon Discovery method or Logon Installation method is enabled, and you run Smsman.exe on the client computer.

If you delete a computer name from the ExcludeServers list, you must run the Clear Install Flag maintenance task. This task lets the SMS 2003 Client Push Installation to automatically install the SMS 2003 client software. Alternatively, you can run the SMS 2003 client Setup program on the client computer to manually install the client components. To run the Clear Install Flag task, follow these steps:

1. In the SMS 2003 Administrator console, expand Site Database\Site Hierarchy\your site code\Site Settings\Site Maintenance\Tasks.
2. Double-click Clear Install Flag, click to check the Enable this task check box, and then click OK.

For additional information about a related topic, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base: For more information about installing the SMS 2003 client, see the SMS 2003 Concepts, Planning and Deployment Guide, Chapter 17: Installing and Configuring SMS Clients. To download this publication, visit the following Microsoft Web site: