We have several software packages in portal manager so end-users can install software on their own time instead of calling the help desk. The problem we have run into is that we have to create two separate distribution packages; one for the portal and one for the help desk. The reason we have two distribution packages is because if we create a task that places the package on the portal the name that displays is the one we use to keep things organized from a LANDesk administration standpoint. The name we use to keep things organized is also used in the scheduled task by the help desk. In order for the distribution package to have a end-user friendly name in the Portal manager we have been creating a second distribution package with a friendly name and then creating a task to add it to the portal. This is starting to get difficult to manager because we now have to update two distribution packages when a new version of that software is released.
We looked at using Link Packages but we found that it doesn't show the status of the package (Downloading or Installing) when you launch the task in the Portal. This would be confusing to the end-users as they wouldn't know if it actually started or not. It would actually be really nice is the name of the Scheduled Task is what was displayed in the Portal Manager instead of the name of the Distribution package or if you could create an alias on a distribution package for the portal. Either of those options would make management easier.
Does anyone else have a good solution to listing software on the portal while also having a scheduled task that can be used by the help desk?
We are running LANDesk 9.6 SP1.