Creating P2P Test Packages in ConfigMgr for Peer Cache and BranchCache

When setting up ConfigMgr for P2P - either via Peer Cache or BranchCache - it help a lot having a set of test packages available that are used for verifying your  setup. These test packages have a very simple program that does not really install anything, they just create a text file in the C:\Windows\Temp folder, showing that they "installed". In my own lab I have quite a few of them, ranging from smaller to larger packages, with both single and multiple files in them. Files that I gathered from real application installers in my environment. Here is my list:

Creating the Test Packages

To create, distribute, and deploy these packages in my lab I use a PowerShell script that simply creates a package for each subfolder in the P2P Test Packages folder. This means I only have to create some folders with meaningful names, copy some files to them, and then run the script. You find the script on GitHub: BranchCache/Creating P2P Test Packages at master · 2pintsoftware/BranchCache · GitHub

Here is the program for one of the packages

Verifying P2P Efficiency

While we certainly hope you want to use our StifleR product for real-time insight of all your ConfigMgr deployment, across all your network, for a single small test, you can also check the BITS event log with a bit of PowerShell. Check out the Get-BITSInfoFromEventLog.ps1 script here: BranchCache/Creating P2P Test Packages at master · 2pintsoftware/BranchCache · GitHub

Below is a screenshot from StifleR showing the P2P efficiency (green color), when downloading one of the test packages via Software Center.

Happy testing, Johan Arwidmark