When the Scheduler activates either a Run Command On Workstation job or a Share Package On Server job, it builds the list of target distribution servers from the machine group you specified in the Put On Specified Distribution Servers box in the Job Details dialog box. The distribution server list is compiled at the time that the Scheduler activates the job, so if you added a computer to a machine group between the time the job was created and when it was activated, this new computer is included in the distribution server list. If you added a computer after the job is activated, the new computer is not included.
The Scheduler puts all the computers from this machine group into the distribution server list, regardless of what types of computer they are.
When the Despooler processes the job, it tries to install the package on the target servers.
If a target site for the job does not have a computer in the specified machine group, the Scheduler uses the servers listed in that target site's Default Servers group.
If you select the Default Servers machine group as the distribution target, the Scheduler creates the list of target distribution servers from the Default Servers set for each target site. When the Scheduler activates the job, the Scheduler uses the Default Servers currently stored in the site database for the target sites.
Note that the Default Servers group can contain computers that are not part of the SMS system. If you use a non-SMS computer, you must ensure that the SMS Service Account has administrative privilege for the computer. The Despooler treats a non-SMS computer like a computer running Windows NT Workstation.
Note that the Despooler retries failed instructions (including the instruction to place a package on a distribution server) 100 times at the retry interval before it stops processing the instruction and reports that the instruction could not be completed. The retry interval is set according to the site's service response rate.