Is there a way for a client to call the server to deploy packages

You can, but it's a bit of a hack job.  If using MDT, create an application that's just a batch file and have it run at the very end of the process with this line in there (you'll need to have psexec on the image, of course):

psexec \\pdqservername -d -n 120 -accepteula "c:\program files\admin arsenal\pdq deploy\pdqdeploy.exe" deploy -package "packagename" -targets %computername%

Change "pdqservername" to the name of your PDQ Deploy server and "packagename" to the name of the package you want to run. 

I seem to remember that before we used MDT, we put this in the SetupComplete.cmd file (in C:\Windows\Setup\Scripts) that runs after sysprep, but occasionally we had some issues with it firing off properly.  Something about the computer name may or may not be set fully at the point that it runs.  Tinker with when you want the script to run automatically, there are many ways to do that after an image drop.

We build a nested package to use with this that installs Flash, Reader, Shockwave, Java, Quicktime, adds selected domain groups to local administrator group, sets some power options, and pushes the wireless profiles.  Last step displays a popup message saying the package has finished.  It's awesome!

hi,

just came across this post, because i wonder if it's possible to execute a PDQ deploy nested package from the client side for use with mdt deployments(task sequences), this would be very nice.

Anyone test this?

You can do it if you have WinRM enabled on the PDQ deploy server. 

Powershell:

Invoke-Command -Computer <pdqhost> { Start-Process 'c:\program files\admin arsenal\pdq deploy\pdqdeploy.exe' -ArgumentList "Deploy" , "<package name", "-Targets <targets here>"}

CLI reference is here: http://documentation.adminarsenal.com/PDQDeploy/11.2.0.0/index.html?deploy-cli.htm

We've been using the method Jududdar mentioned for quite a while, adding the command to a "Run a command line" step in MDT. Runs without any problems.

Now I wanted to create MDT applications that do these PDQ push request, so we can select the packages during the deployment wizard.

I use exactly the same command as I used in a TS "Run a command line" step, and added it to a batch file. Then I created an application with source files (just the install.bat file). The install command is: cmd.exe /C Install.bat

The installation never starts (no trace in PDQDeploy), the BDD.log shows that installation fails with "Application appname returned an unexpected return code: 1".

The strangest thing is, when I create a custom task sequence that only includes the applications to run, and launch that from the same Windows client (by starting LiteTouch.vbs), it does work!

Has anyone successfully created an MDT application for this?

I found the solution for my question above:

https://support.pdq.com/hc/en-us/community/posts/115001838131-How-to-use-MDT-Applications-for-PDQ-push-requests