If you’re looking to deploy VLC media player using SCCM, this guide is for you. The VLC media player is a cross-platform multimedia player and framework that is free and open source. It can be installed on Windows devices using SCCM.
VLC media player plays most multimedia files as well as DVDs, Audio CDs, VCDs, and various streaming protocols. This player is compatible with almost all the operating systems. It also allows customization using some cool skins.
I have successfully tested the deployment of the latest VLC player version using SCCM current branch, and this guide has been updated to reflect the process. The VLC silent installation can be achieved by utilizing the appropriate installation commands and switches. Additionally, the uninstallation process has been thoroughly tested across multiple Windows endpoints.
Before you begin
- Prerequisites: Ensure your SCCM infrastructure is properly configured, and the target devices have the latest version of SCCM client installed.
- Testing: Test the deployment on a small collection before rolling it out organization-wide.
- Permissions: Ensure the shared folder containing the VLC installer has appropriate permissions for SCCM to access it.
Step 1: Download VLC Media Player Installer
Go to the official VLC website. Download the latest version of the VLC media player installer. You don’t get a .msi installer for VLC so you must download the VLC executable file for deployment.
If your Windows devices are 64-bit, download the 64 bit installer from the site others use the 32-bit installer. In this guide, I am going to use 64-bit VLC player for deployment. Save the installer into the sources folder and download the VLC player icon that we’ll use it for deployment.
Step 2: Create VLC Media Player Application in SCCM
Launch the Configuration Manager console. Go to Software Library > Overview > Application Management. Right-click Applications and select Create Application. On the General window, select Manually specify the application information and click Next.
Provide the details such as Name, Publisher, and Description. Click Next.
On the Software Center tab, provide the VLC Player details for Software Center. At the bottom, click the Browse button and select the icon for VLC media player. This icon will appear with the application in the software center for users. Click Next.
Step 3: Add new deployment for VLC player
On the Deployment Types page, click the Add button to add a new deployment type for VLC application. At this point, I recommend reading the guide on Supported Deployment Types for Applications in SCCM. Click Next to continue.
On the General window of Create deployment type wizard, select Manually specify the deployment type information. Click Next.
On the Content window, specify information about the content to be delivered to target devices.
- Content Location: Specify the content location, which is the actual folder path where you have the VLC Media Player installer.
- Installation Program: To silently install VLC application, specify the command: vlc-3.0.21-win64.exe /L=1033 /S.
- Uninstall Program: %ProgramFiles%\VideoLAN\VLC\uninstall.exe /S.
Click Next.
To add a new detection method for VLC application, click Add Clause. On the Detection Rule window, create a rule with the following options.
- Setting Type: File System
- Type: File
- Path: %ProgramFiles%\VideoLAN\VLC\
- File or folder name: vlc.exe
- Property: Version
- Operator: Greater than or equal to
- Value: 3.0.21
Click OK and click Next.
Specify User Experience settings for VLC app deployment. I have specified the following settings in the below example.
- Installation program visibility: Hidden.
- Installation behavior: Install for system.
- Logon requirement: Whether or not a user is logged on.
Click Next.
Additionally, you can specify the requirements and dependencies for the VLC application. Click Next and on Completion window, click Close. This completes the procedure to create VLC media player application in SCCM.
Step 4: Deploy VLC media player using SCCM
To deploy the VLC media player application in SCCM console, navigate to Software Library > Application Management > Application. Right-click VLC player app and select Deploy.
On the General tab, click Browse and select a device collection to which you want to deploy the VLC application. Click Next.
On the Content page, click Add button and specify the distribution points to which you would like to distribute the VLC media player application content. You may also select distribution point groups. Click Next to continue.
On the Deployment Settings window, specify how you would like to install this application on Windows computers. Select the Action as Install and Purpose as Available. Learn the difference between Available and Required deployment in SCCM. Click Next.
Complete the remaining steps of the deployment software wizard and close it.
Step 5: Monitor Deployment
Go to Monitoring > Deployments in the SCCM Console. Search for VLC application to check the status of the VLC deployment.
Step 6: Testing the VLC Media Player Installation
In this final step, I will test the VLC application installation on the client computer to see if it installs correctly. Log in to a client computer, and launch the Software center. Click on the Applications tab and select VLC media player application and click Install. The application is now downloaded from the local distribution point server for installation.
Troubleshoot any errors by reviewing the logs on the client machine (e.g., AppEnforce.log). To know the location of this file and other files, refer to the SCCM Log files.
Testing the VLC app uninstall and it works fine. Cheers 🙂
Hi Prajawal, I am new to this. My organisation wants me to push the update for VLC media player later version through intune. I will be grateful if you can guide me through this.
The current version is 3.0.8 and we want to update it to the latest one in all the PCs.
Kind regards,
Shivani
i came across your post and i am having an issue uninstalling VLC using the software center. under more information on the issue “The software could not be found on any servers at this time.”
any thoughts?
Have you distributed the software to distribution point ?.
Is there any way to stop the installation forcing an icon on the desktop?
This is the same way as I have installed my VLC and even if you delete the desktop icon, the next sccm audit puts it back
I think that can be done with some customization.
Thank you very much sir!
Thanks Pablo.
I had to use quotation marks for Installation Program, such as “vlc-2.2.6-win32.exe” /L=1033 /S
*you also forgot the EXE above, as you had vlc-2.2.6-win32 /L=1033 /S
Thank you for the post, as it helped a great deal…as all your SCCM posts have helped me.
Instead of adding the .exe extension, I specified vlc executable name.
I get an error that says – The software could not be found on any servers at this time.
I got the same issue…
While it’s on the DP and on the software center I cannot install it
Check your boundary group and ensure the content is distributed to DP. If that’s already done, post the questions in my community forums.
Also interesting for 2.2.6:
Adding –no-qt-privacy-ask –no-qt-updates-notif to the the VLC .lnk file and you won’t get the notification on startup
Thanks Nico
This doesn’t work for me. I still get the annoying pop-up.
Thank you for the post. Is there a way to disable auto updates for VLC before deployment?
Why do you want to do that ?. VLC releases security fixes often, so i don’t think you must disable auto update option.
because non admins don’t have the rights to install or update an executable, so it’s a waste of time for them.
thanks for shareing this @prajwal
Thank you