SCCM Task Sequence Deployment: Running Packages from a Distribution Point

By default, when a task sequence or package/program is deployed from a Configuration Manager distribution point, clients download the content into their local cache first and then run it from there — even if the machine already has fast, reliable access to the distribution point itself.

Running Directly From the Distribution Point

For legacy Packages and Programs, this behaviour is controlled from the program’s properties: on the Environment or Advanced tab (the exact tab name varies slightly between ConfigMgr versions), there’s an option controlling whether the program runs from the distribution point directly versus downloading to the local client cache first. Enabling “run from distribution point” avoids filling up client disk space with a local copy, which is particularly useful for large packages that only need to run once. For modern Applications and Task Sequence content references, the equivalent control is on the deployment type’s Content tab, where you can choose whether clients are allowed to run content directly from a distribution point as a fallback, rather than always requiring a local download. Because exact tab names and defaults have shifted across ConfigMgr 2007, 2012, and Current Branch, check your specific console version’s package/application properties directly rather than assuming the older UI paths still match exactly — the underlying option (download-and-run vs. run-from-DP) has stayed conceptually the same throughout.

Still Current on Configuration Manager 2603 (Updated for 2026)

The run-from-DP vs. download-to-cache setting works exactly as described above in current Configuration Manager (2603) — no change to the option itself for either legacy Packages/Programs or modern Applications. The more relevant recent development is on the content-serving side: Microsoft Connected Cache (MCC), the successor to classic Peer Cache for larger-scale content offload between clients, continues to roll out across recent Configuration Manager versions and received a proxy-server content-download fix in the 2603 update. Peer Cache itself is unchanged. Worth a look if you’re managing client cache pressure across a large estate today, alongside the per-package setting covered above.

Resources

• OSD