Understanding Variables

Variables are used to simplify referencing information that is specific to individual servers. For example:

   Server Name

   Destination Volume

   Working Directory

   DNS Name

   IPAddress

Variables can also be used to specify where a Distribution is to be extracted, including the full path. See the following sections for more information:

• Distribution Variable Example
• Where Variables Can Be Used

Distribution Variable Example

You have a single Distribution with 20 Subscribers. You want to extract the Distribution to a specific volume on each of the Subscriber's servers. However, the volume name varies from server to server: 15 servers are using the DATA volume and five are using VOL1.

The Distribution Volume variable can be edited for some of these Subscribers by changing the Resolve To field on the Subscriber from DATA to VOL1 for the five Subscribers using that volume.

When the Distribution is extracted, it will go to the correct volumes on each of the 20 servers.

Where Variables Can Be Used

Examples of where you can use variables for Distribution packages include:

• Destination volume for a Distribution
• Destination directory for a Distribution

For the Server Software Package component, variables can be used anywhere you can enter text. For example:

• The name of text files that will be modified
• Within the modifications made to text files
• The content of a script to be run
• The directory where the software package will be installed