Software Installers are not really patches at all but are full installations provided for some Windows products. They let you install the product and, in some cases, are required to move from one major version of the product to the next if the normal patch does not provide that upgrade path.
Scanning a device to discover applicable Software Installers significantly increases scan time and significantly increases the number of patch entries in the ZENworks database.
In the Legacy Patch Platform, Software Installers were enabled by default. In fact, there was no way to turn them off. After migration to the Advanced Patch Platform, scanning for applicable Software Installers is turned off so that you can decide if you want to use them.
If you decide to enable Software Installers in the Patch system, you can do it through ZENworks Control Center using a variable. You can enable the variable at the zone, device folder, or individual device level. In general, if you are using Software Installers you will probably want to define the system variable at the zone level so that all Windows devices can scan, install, and report status for Software Installers. But you can set it at a lower level if you wan to target a smaller set of Windows devices.
To enable Software Installers at the zone level:
In ZENworks Control Center, navigate to Configuration > Management Zone Settings > Device Management, and select System Variables.
Click Add in the System Variables panel.
Type scan.software.installers (all lowercase) in the Name field.
Type true in the Value field; then click OK, and apply the changes.
To enable Software Installers at the device folder level:
Select Devices in the navigation pane, and click (Details) on the device folder where you want to enable Software Installers.
Navigate to Settings > Device Management > System Variables.
Click Add in the System Variables panel.
Type scan.software.installers (all lowercase) in the Name field.
Type true in the Value field; then click OK, and apply the changes.
To enable Software Installers for an individual device:
Click Devices and navigate to, and select, the desired device link in its respective folder.
Navigate to Settings > Device Management > System Variables.
Click Add in the System Variables panel.
Type scan.software.installers (all lowercase) in the Name field.
Type true in the Value field; then click OK, and apply the changes.