Quantcast
Channel: The Official Configuration Manager Support Team Blog
Viewing all 715 articles
Browse latest View live

Troubleshooting: ConfigMgr 2007 error 2816: the actual site control file %path does not exist

$
0
0

imageHi everyone, Tyler Franke here once again with another troubleshooting tip for you.  Consider the following scenario:

In an otherwise healthy and functional site you find one or more of the following.

1) SMS Site Control Manager Site status message:

SMS Site Control Manager
Message ID: 2816
Message: The actual site control file %1 does not exist.
Solution: The SMS server components cannot function without this file. SMS Site Control Manager will shut down SMS Executive immediately. Contact Microsoft for help in restoring the actual site control file.

2) The following error in the sitectrl.log:

The delta site control file "D:\Program Files\Microsoft Configuration Manager\inboxes\sitectrl.box\incoming\.<site> via the SMS SDK on Mon Feb 27 17:32:41 GMT. The record was assigned the serial number 788 at site <site>. SMS_SITE_CONTROL_MANAGER 2/27/2012 11:33:06 AM 16676 (0x4124)
STATMSG: ID=2807 SEV=I LEV=M SOURCE="SMS Server" COMP="SMS_SITE_CONTROL_MANAGER" SYS= SITE= PID=34520 TID=16676 GMTDATE=Mon Feb 27 17:33:06.925 2012 ISTR0="D:\Program Files\Microsoft Configuration Manager\inboxes\sitectrl.box\incoming\" ISTR1="Microsoft.ConfigurationManagement.dll" ISTR2="AD\E143665" ISTR3="%computername%" ISTR4="" ISTR5="2012 02 1 27 17 32 41 000" ISTR6="788" ISTR7="" ISTR8="" ISTR9="" NUMATTRS=0 SMS_SITE_CONTROL_MANAGER 2/27/2012 11:33:06 AM 16676 (0x4124)
Wrote temporary file "D:\Program Files\Microsoft Configuration Manager\inboxes\sitectrl.box\temp\000003D2.ct0". SMS_SITE_CONTROL_MANAGER 2/27/2012 11:33:06 AM 16676 (0x4124)
Copied file "D:\Program Files\Microsoft Configuration Manager\inboxes\sitectrl.box\sitectrl.ct0" to "D:\Program Files\Microsoft Configuration Manager\inboxes\sitectrl.box\history\000003D1.ct0". SMS_SITE_CONTROL_MANAGER 2/27/2012 11:33:06 AM 16676 (0x4124)
WARNING: Could not move file "D:\Program Files\Microsoft Configuration Manager\inboxes\sitectrl.box\temp\000003D2.ct0" to "D:\Program Files\Microsoft Configuration Manager\inboxes\sitectrl.box\sitectrl.ct0". The operating system reported error 32: The process cannot access the file because it is being used by another process. SMS_SITE_CONTROL_MANAGER 2/27/2012 11:33:06 AM 16676 (0x4124)
Sleeping for five seconds... SMS_SITE_CONTROL_MANAGER 2/27/2012 11:33:06 AM 16676 (0x4124)

WARNING: Failed to complete processing of delta site control file "D:\Program Files\Microsoft Configuration Manager\inboxes\sitectrl.box\incoming\g0hrz08y.CT1". SMS_SITE_CONTROL_MANAGER will try to process the file again later. SMS_SITE_CONTROL_MANAGER 2/27/2012 11:34:07 AM 16676 (0x4124)
ERROR: The master site control file "D:\Program Files\Microsoft Configuration Manager\inboxes\sitectrl.box\sitectrl.ct0" does not exist. SMS_SITE_CONTROL_MANAGER will shut down SMS_EXECUTIVE immediately. SMS_SITE_CONTROL_MANAGER 2/27/2012 11:34:07 AM 16676 (0x4124)
STATMSG: ID=2816 SEV=E LEV=M SOURCE="SMS Server" COMP="SMS_SITE_CONTROL_MANAGER" SYS= SITE= PID=34520 TID=16676 GMTDATE=Mon Feb 27 17:34:07.132 2012 ISTR0="D:\Program Files\Microsoft Configuration Manager\inboxes\sitectrl.box\sitectrl.ct0" ISTR1="D:\Program Files\Microsoft Configuration Manager\inboxes\sitectrl.box" ISTR2="" ISTR3="" ISTR4="" ISTR5="" ISTR6="" ISTR7="" ISTR8="" ISTR9="" NUMATTRS=0 SMS_SITE_CONTROL_MANAGER 2/27/2012 11:34:07 AM 16676 (0x4124)
SMS_EXECUTIVE is stopping... SMS_SITE_CONTROL_MANAGER 2/27/2012 11:34:07 AM 16676 (0x4124)

3) The following error in the MPControl.log:

SMS_MP_CONTROL_MANAGER 2/27/2012 12:05:33 PM 36352 (0x8E00)
SMS_MP_CONTROL_MANAGER received START notification. SMS_MP_CONTROL_MANAGER 2/27/2012 12:05:33 PM 36352 (0x8E00)
MPStart(): RegOpenKeyEx(MPNotify) returned 2. SMS_MP_CONTROL_MANAGER 2/27/2012 12:05:33 PM 36352 (0x8E00)
SMS_MP_CONTROL_MANAGER failed to start with 0x80070002 SMS_MP_CONTROL_MANAGER 2/27/2012 12:05:33 PM 36352 (0x8E00)
SMS_EXECUTIVE started SMS_MP_CONTROL_MANAGER as thread ID 37408 (0x9220). SMS_MP_CONTROL_MANAGER 2/27/2012 1:05:52 PM 39744 (0x9B40)

4) Service control manager events reporting that SMS_EXECUTIVE is terminating unexpectedly:

Log Name: System
Source: Service Control Manager
Date: 2/27/2012 10:12:55 PM
Event ID: 7034
Task Category: None
Level: Error
Keywords: Classic
User: N/A
Computer: %computername%
Description: The SMS_EXECUTIVE service terminated unexpectedly. It has done this 3 time(s).

Cause

This can potentially be caused by one of more of the following:

1) File system corruption.
2) No Anti-virus scanning exclusion for %programfiles%\Microsoft Configuration Manager\Inboxes.
3) Someone manually or improperly editing the sitectrl.ct0 file on the site.

Resolution

To resolve this issue, execute and complete a site reset on the affected site server to create a new sitectrl.ct0 file.

More Information

About Performing a Site Reset: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb633159.aspx

How to Perform a Site Reset: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb694286.aspx

Tyler Franke | Senior Support Escalation Engineer

Get the latest System Center news on Facebook and Twitter:

clip_image001 clip_image002

App-V Team blog: http://blogs.technet.com/appv/
ConfigMgr Support Team blog: http://blogs.technet.com/configurationmgr/
DPM Team blog: http://blogs.technet.com/dpm/
MED-V Team blog: http://blogs.technet.com/medv/
Orchestrator Support Team blog: http://blogs.technet.com/b/orchestrator/
Operations Manager Team blog: http://blogs.technet.com/momteam/
SCVMM Team blog: http://blogs.technet.com/scvmm
Server App-V Team blog: http://blogs.technet.com/b/serverappv
Service Manager Team blog: http://blogs.technet.com/b/servicemanager
System Center Essentials Team blog: http://blogs.technet.com/b/systemcenteressentials
WSUS Support Team blog: http://blogs.technet.com/sus/

The Forefront Server Protection blog: http://blogs.technet.com/b/fss/
The Forefront Endpoint Security blog : http://blogs.technet.com/b/clientsecurity/
The Forefront Identity Manager blog : http://blogs.msdn.com/b/ms-identity-support/
The Forefront TMG blog: http://blogs.technet.com/b/isablog/
The Forefront UAG blog: http://blogs.technet.com/b/edgeaccessblog/


Troubleshooting: The 'Backup ConfigMgr Site Server' site maintenance task fails

$
0
0

imageHi everyone, Tyler Franke here again with one more issue I ran into recently.  Consider a scenario where you have your System Center Configuration Manager 2007 (ConfigMgr) site database on a remote/dedicated SQL Server wherein a drive fails or has to be replaced.  Afterward, the 'Backup ConfigMgr Site Server' site maintenance task fails to run and the following site status error messages are found under SMS Component manager thread:

SMS Site Component Manager could not create the SMS server components' installation directory "I:\SMS_site_server_name" on site system "\\My_SQL_Server" or set the correct permissions on the directory. The operating system reported error 53: The network path was not found.

Possible cause: The destination drive is full.
Solution: Make more space available on that drive.

Possible cause: The site system is not exporting the default drive letter shares, such as "\\My_SQL_Server\C$", "\\My_SQL_Server\D$", and so on.
Solution: You might have disabled the default drive letter shares for security purposes. SMS requires these shares. Please re-enable these shares using the Windows NT Disk Administrator.

Possible cause: The site system is turned off, not connected to the network, or not functioning properly.
Solution: Verify that the site system is turned on, connected to the network, and functioning properly.

This occurs as a result of the ConfigMgr site server not being able to access the folders and files on the SQL server site system.

<drive-letter>:\SMS_site_server_name\bin\<architecture>\smssqlbkup.exe
<drive-letter>:\SMS_site_server_name\logs\SmsSqlBkup.log
<drive-letter>:\SMS_site_server_name\srvacct\srvacct.<site_code> (e.g. srvacct.PR1)

NOTE The last folder shown above (i.e. srvacct) is a hidden folder

Please take the following steps to resolve:

1. On the site server, click on the start menu and navigate to Microsoft System Center-> Configuration Manager 2007, then click on “ConfigMgr Setup”.
2. Once the setup wizard appears on the screen click next on the Welcome page.
3. On the available setup options page, select “Perform site maintenance or reset this Site” and click Next.
4. On the site maintenance page, select only the “Modify SQL Server Configuration” option and then click Next.
5. On the SQL Server Configuration page, verify the existing information is correct for the SQL Server instance and site database names, then click Next and wait for the process to complete.

More Information

In a situation where the drive has not failed and/or changed and only the drive-letter was changed you can most likely resolve this by simply going into the registry of the SQL Server under HKLM\System\CurrentControlSet\services\SMS_SITE_SQL_BACKUP and changing the value of the "ImagePath" string value to reflect the new and correct drive-letter.

Tyler Franke | Senior Support Escalation Engineer

Get the latest System Center news on Facebook and Twitter:

clip_image001 clip_image002

App-V Team blog: http://blogs.technet.com/appv/
ConfigMgr Support Team blog: http://blogs.technet.com/configurationmgr/
DPM Team blog: http://blogs.technet.com/dpm/
MED-V Team blog: http://blogs.technet.com/medv/
Orchestrator Support Team blog: http://blogs.technet.com/b/orchestrator/
Operations Manager Team blog: http://blogs.technet.com/momteam/
SCVMM Team blog: http://blogs.technet.com/scvmm
Server App-V Team blog: http://blogs.technet.com/b/serverappv
Service Manager Team blog: http://blogs.technet.com/b/servicemanager
System Center Essentials Team blog: http://blogs.technet.com/b/systemcenteressentials
WSUS Support Team blog: http://blogs.technet.com/sus/

The Forefront Server Protection blog: http://blogs.technet.com/b/fss/
The Forefront Endpoint Security blog : http://blogs.technet.com/b/clientsecurity/
The Forefront Identity Manager blog : http://blogs.msdn.com/b/ms-identity-support/
The Forefront TMG blog: http://blogs.technet.com/b/isablog/
The Forefront UAG blog: http://blogs.technet.com/b/edgeaccessblog/

Tips and Tricks: How to Take Action on Assets That Report a Failed Deployment in System Center 2012 Configuration Manager

$
0
0
You’re up and running with the new software deployment features in System Center 2012 Configuration Manager – deploying applications, software updates, package and programs, configuration baselines. But there will inevitably be a few deployments...(read more)

Creating queries, collections and reports for Window Server 2008 Core in System Center Configuration Manager 2007

$
0
0

imageHi folks, my name is Sanman Parvalkar and I’d like to share some information regarding the creation of queries, collections and reports for Window Server 2008 Core in System Center Configuration Manager 2007.

System Center Configuration Manager 2007 SP2 allows client installation on Windows Server 2008 Core systems* but it does not differentiate between Windows Server 2008 and Windows Server 2008 Core machines in either queries, collections or reports.

* Configuration Manager 2007 SP2 Supported Configurations: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ee344146.aspx

To determine which SKU a particular machine is running, you can use the following command:

wmic OS get OperatingSystemSKU

SKUs for Windows Server 2008:

  • 12 = Windows Server 2008 Datacenter Edition (core)
  • 13 = Windows Server 2008 Standard Edition (core)
  • 14 = Windows Server 2008 Enterprise Edition (core)
  • 40 = Windows Server 2008 Standard Edition without Hyper-V (core)

Reference: http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa394239(VS.85).aspx

This field is only present on Windows Vista / Server 2008 upwards.  Running the command above on a Windows XP or Windows Server 2003 computer will result in the following error:

Node - Machine1
ERROR:
Code = 0x80041017
Description = Invalid query
Facility = WMI

NOTE The table and field in SQL are:

Table - v_HS_OPERATING_SYSTEM
Column - OperatingSystemSKU0

In WMI it is:

Class - SMS_G_System_OPERATING_SYSTEM

And

Property - OperatingSystemSKU

The first step is to modify the sms_def.mof by adding a section in Hardware Inventory to collect the version information from the clients within their WMI repository.  Modify the mof file at \<SCCM Server Install Folder>\inboxes\clifiles.scr\hinv\ sms_def.mof to include the following:

[ SMS_Report     (TRUE),
  SMS_Group_Name ("Operating System"),
  SMS_Class_ID   ("MICROSOFT|OPERATING_SYSTEM|1.0") ]
add >
    [SMS_Report (TRUE)     ]
        uint32     OperatingSystemSKU;

Once complete, you can do the following to speed up the process of the client reporting this information back to Configuration Manager.

- On the ConfigMgr console: Modify the hardware inventory agent to run at quicker interval.

- On the client: Trigger a 'hardware inventory cycle' on the client via the Configuration Manager applet in Control Panel

To verify that the collection took place, open the ConfigMgr admin console and navigate to Computer Management > Collections and right click on the client machine.  Click Start and then Resource Explorer > Hardware and click on Operating System.  A new column named  'OperatingSystemSKU' should appear.

Creating a WQL Query

Once the OS information is being collected, you can use the query below to search for all Windows Server 2008 Core or Windows Server 2008 R2 Core systems only. To query for just Windows Server 2008 you can change %Server 6.% to %Server 6.0% or for Windows Server 2008 R2 you can change it to %Server 6.1%.

select SMS_R_System.Name, SMS_R_System.SMSAssignedSites, SMS_R_System.IPAddresses, SMS_R_System.IPSubnets, SMS_R_System.OperatingSystemNameandVersion, SMS_R_System.ResourceDomainORWorkgroup, SMS_R_System.LastLogonUserDomain, SMS_R_System.LastLogonUserName, SMS_R_System.SMSUniqueIdentifier, SMS_R_System.ResourceId, SMS_R_System.NetbiosName from  SMS_R_System join  SMS_G_System_OPERATING_SYSTEM on SMS_R_System.ResourceID=SMS_G_System_OPERATING_SYSTEM.ResourceID where SMS_R_System.OperatingSystemNameandVersion like "%Server 6.%"
and SMS_G_System_OPERATING_SYSTEM.OperatingSystemSKU IN (12,13,14,40)

 

Creating a Collection

A new Collection can be created by importing the WQL Query Statement we used above.

 

Creating a Report

The SQL statement below will search for all unique Windows Server 2008 or Windows Server 2008 R2 machines:

select distinct v_R_System.Name0 as 'Machine Name', v_HS_OPERATING_SYSTEM.caption0 as 'OS Type', CSDVersion0 as 'Service Pack Level', case v_HS_OPERATING_SYSTEM.OperatingSystemSKU0 when 12 then 'Yes' when 13 then 'Yes' when 14 then 'Yes' when 40 then 'Yes' else 'No' end as 'Windows Core' from v_R_System join v_HS_OPERATING_SYSTEM on v_R_System.resourceID = v_HS_OPERATING_SYSTEM.resourceID where v_HS_OPERATING_SYSTEM.OperatingSystemSKU0 is not null

The SQL statement above  will exclude all machines that have NULL in the SKU field and display a column indicating if the machine is Core or not.

Sanman Parvalkar | System Center Support Engineer

Get the latest System Center news on Facebook and Twitter:

clip_image001 clip_image002

App-V Team blog: http://blogs.technet.com/appv/
ConfigMgr Support Team blog: http://blogs.technet.com/configurationmgr/
DPM Team blog: http://blogs.technet.com/dpm/
MED-V Team blog: http://blogs.technet.com/medv/
Orchestrator Support Team blog: http://blogs.technet.com/b/orchestrator/
Operations Manager Team blog: http://blogs.technet.com/momteam/
SCVMM Team blog: http://blogs.technet.com/scvmm
Server App-V Team blog: http://blogs.technet.com/b/serverappv
Service Manager Team blog: http://blogs.technet.com/b/servicemanager
System Center Essentials Team blog: http://blogs.technet.com/b/systemcenteressentials
WSUS Support Team blog: http://blogs.technet.com/sus/

The Forefront Server Protection blog: http://blogs.technet.com/b/fss/
The Forefront Endpoint Security blog : http://blogs.technet.com/b/clientsecurity/
The Forefront Identity Manager blog : http://blogs.msdn.com/b/ms-identity-support/
The Forefront TMG blog: http://blogs.technet.com/b/isablog/
The Forefront UAG blog: http://blogs.technet.com/b/edgeaccessblog/

Machine added to a ConfigMgr group is not captured during the Delta Discovery Process

$
0
0

bulbHi folks, my name is Sanman Parvalkar and I’d like to share information with you regarding Group Memberships and the Delta Discovery process in System Center Configuration Manager 2007.

When adding machines to a Security group you usually want them to appear in the collection quickly although there can be a delay while waiting on full discovery.  If increasing the Full Discovery Polling schedule is not an option, we wondered if there might be another way to speed up this process by getting the machine's updated memberof information captured via the Delta Discovery process.

To test this we added machine A to Security Group - Computers-TEST.  We also created a collection based on the security group Computers-TEST:

select SMS_R_SYSTEM.ResourceID,SMS_R_SYSTEM.ResourceType,SMS_R_SYSTEM.Name,SMS_R_SYSTEM.SMSUniqueIdentifier,SMS_R_SYSTEM.ResourceDomainORWorkgroup,SMS_R_SYSTEM.Client from SMS_R_System where SMS_R_System.SystemGroupName = "SMS\\Computer-TEST"

We then enabled delta discovery [default 5 minutes] on the following:

Active Directory System Discovery
Active Directory System Group Discovery
Active Directory Security Group Discovery

Unfortunately when the delta discovery process ran there was no DDR created for the machine A.  We checked the LDAP search filters that were applied [for the LDAP path specified in the discovery method] and found the following in the Active Directory Security Group Discovery log:

search filter = '(&(uSNChanged>=149673)(&(objectCategory=group)(groupType:1.2.840.113556.1.4.804:=2147483648)))'
In the above LDAP filter - it is checking for any Security Group with a uSNChanged value greater than or equal to 149672
information available here >
1.2.840.113556.1.4.804 = LDAP_MATCHING_RULE_BIT_OR

A match is found if any bits from the attribute match the value. This rule is equivalent to a bitwise OR operator (http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/windows/desktop/aa746475(v=vs.85).aspx). 

2147483648 = ADS_GROUP_TYPE_SECURITY_ENABLED (http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/windows/desktop/ms677935(v=vs.85).aspx)

We checked the Active Directory System Discovery log and found this:

search filter = '(&(uSNChanged>=149673)(&(objectClass=user)(objectCategory=computer)))'

The same was found in the Active Directory System Group Discovery log:

search filter = '(&(uSNChanged>=149673)(&(objectClass=user)(objectCategory=computer)))'

In the above two LDAP filters, it is checking for a Class-User and Category-Computer with respective higher than or equal to uSNChanged values.

NOTE The default logging does not indicate what Active Directory Attributes are to be viewed. These are listed on the Active Directory System Discovery > Properties > Active Directory Attribute tab.

We then manually ran the LDAP search filters via LDP and found that  when adding a computer to a security group, the security groups uSNChanged value increases and the computers uSNChanged value remains the same.

The 'member' attribute changes on the security group which triggers the uSNChanged bump.  The USN value for the machine does not increase as it is a "back link" attribute that is not populated like normal attributes (source : http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc961761.aspx).

So the uSNChanged value of the machine has to increase for System Group Discovery Process to create a DDR for that machine, and only then will the attribute be fetched. Delta Discovery does not capture this occurrence of change in the machine due to this "back link" factor, hence the full discovery process is required for the machine to appear.

A workaround would be to change a field like the 'Description' field which then bumps up the uSNChanged value.  This  gets captured via the System Group Discovery Process and a DDR is created.

Here’s how to run the LDAP filters manually.  The example below shows a list of computers with an uSNChanged value above 149673:

launch 'ldp.exe' >
connection > connect 'leave the name field blank' - default port 389
connection > bind > default is 'bind as currently logged on user' > ok
Browse > Search >
Base DN : DC=contoso,DC=com
Filter : search filter = '(&(uSNChanged>=149673)(&(objectClass=user)(objectCategory=computer)))'
Scope - select 'Subtree'
Attributes - add uSNChanged - so it would look like
objectclass;name;description;canonicalName;usnchanged
now Hit – Run

The output will look something like this:

ldap_search_s(ld, "DC=contoso,DC=com", 2, "(&(uSNChanged>=149673)(&(objectClass=user)(objectCategory=computer)))", attrList, 0, &msg)
Getting 1 entries:
Dn: CN=Machine-A,OU=Computers,DC=contoso,DC=com
canonicalName: contos.com/computers/machine-A;
description: its time for change !;
name: Computer-A;
objectClass (2): top; person; organizationlPerson; user; computer;
uSNChanged: 149689;

The above ldap output indicates that 1 entry returned the computer "Machine-A" whose uSNChanged value was 149689 (higher than the search filter).

Reference article:

How to poll for object attribute changes in Active Directory on Windows 2000 and Windows Server 2003: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/891995

Sanman Parvalkar | System Center Support Engineer

Get the latest System Center news on Facebook and Twitter:

clip_image001 clip_image002

App-V Team blog: http://blogs.technet.com/appv/
ConfigMgr Support Team blog: http://blogs.technet.com/configurationmgr/
DPM Team blog: http://blogs.technet.com/dpm/
MED-V Team blog: http://blogs.technet.com/medv/
Orchestrator Support Team blog: http://blogs.technet.com/b/orchestrator/
Operations Manager Team blog: http://blogs.technet.com/momteam/
SCVMM Team blog: http://blogs.technet.com/scvmm
Server App-V Team blog: http://blogs.technet.com/b/serverappv
Service Manager Team blog: http://blogs.technet.com/b/servicemanager
System Center Essentials Team blog: http://blogs.technet.com/b/systemcenteressentials
WSUS Support Team blog: http://blogs.technet.com/sus/

The Forefront Server Protection blog: http://blogs.technet.com/b/fss/
The Forefront Endpoint Security blog : http://blogs.technet.com/b/clientsecurity/
The Forefront Identity Manager blog : http://blogs.msdn.com/b/ms-identity-support/
The Forefront TMG blog: http://blogs.technet.com/b/isablog/
The Forefront UAG blog: http://blogs.technet.com/b/edgeaccessblog/

Migration to System Center 2012 Configuration Manager

$
0
0

FlowChartMicrosoft’s own Eric Orman just posted a great article over on the Server and Cloud Platform blog.  In the article, Eric talks about upgrading to System Center 2012 Configuration Manager and the Migration Distribution Point upgrade job:

My favorite migration feature within System Center 2012 Configuration Manager is Migration Distribution Point upgrade, which is the ability to perform an in-place upgrade of an existing Configuration Manager 2007 Distribution Point to a Configuration Manager 2012 Distribution Point, while also preserving migrated content and converting it into the new content library. The entire end-to-end process is orchestrated by creating a Migration Distribution Point upgrade job….

You can read the rest of Eric’s article here.

J.C. Hornbeck | System Center & Security Knowledge Engineer

Get the latest System Center news on Facebook and Twitter:

clip_image001 clip_image002

App-V Team blog: http://blogs.technet.com/appv/
ConfigMgr Support Team blog: http://blogs.technet.com/configurationmgr/
DPM Team blog: http://blogs.technet.com/dpm/
MED-V Team blog: http://blogs.technet.com/medv/
Orchestrator Support Team blog: http://blogs.technet.com/b/orchestrator/
Operations Manager Team blog: http://blogs.technet.com/momteam/
SCVMM Team blog: http://blogs.technet.com/scvmm
Server App-V Team blog: http://blogs.technet.com/b/serverappv
Service Manager Team blog: http://blogs.technet.com/b/servicemanager
System Center Essentials Team blog: http://blogs.technet.com/b/systemcenteressentials
WSUS Support Team blog: http://blogs.technet.com/sus/

The Forefront Server Protection blog: http://blogs.technet.com/b/fss/
The Forefront Endpoint Security blog : http://blogs.technet.com/b/clientsecurity/
The Forefront Identity Manager blog : http://blogs.msdn.com/b/ms-identity-support/
The Forefront TMG blog: http://blogs.technet.com/b/isablog/
The Forefront UAG blog: http://blogs.technet.com/b/edgeaccessblog/

Building Custom Endpoint Protection Reports in System Center 2012 Configuration Manager

$
0
0
One of the advantages of having the Endpoint Protection and Configuration Manager data integrated into a single database in Configuration Manager 2012 is that it simplifies building custom reports. Though we offer over 400 total System Center 2012 Configuration...(read more)

KB: Software Metering rules do not apply when targeted to secondary sites in System Center Configuration Manager

$
0
0

imageHere’s a new Knowledge Base article we published today. This one explains why in System Center Configuration Manager, when you set the Site Code of a Software Metering rule to a secondary site, that rule will not be applicable to any clients:

=====

Summary

In System Center Configuration Manager, when you set the Site Code of a Software Metering rule to a secondary site, that rule will not be applicable to any clients.
This is expected behavior.

More Information

SMS 2003 Advanced Clients and Configuration Manager clients within a secondary site boundary also obtain policy from the primary site’s site database. If the Site Code of a Software Metering rule is set to a secondary site, no policy will be generated for that rule, so that no clients will receive that rule. You must set the “Site Code” of a rule to a primary site’s site code to make it assigned to clients.

=====

For the most current version of this article please see the following:

2688305 : Software Metering rules do not apply when targeted to secondary sites in System Center Configuration Manager

J.C. Hornbeck | System Center & Security Knowledge Engineer

Get the latest System Center news on Facebook and Twitter:

clip_image001 clip_image002

App-V Team blog: http://blogs.technet.com/appv/
ConfigMgr Support Team blog: http://blogs.technet.com/configurationmgr/
DPM Team blog: http://blogs.technet.com/dpm/
MED-V Team blog: http://blogs.technet.com/medv/
Orchestrator Support Team blog: http://blogs.technet.com/b/orchestrator/
Operations Manager Team blog: http://blogs.technet.com/momteam/
SCVMM Team blog: http://blogs.technet.com/scvmm
Server App-V Team blog: http://blogs.technet.com/b/serverappv
Service Manager Team blog: http://blogs.technet.com/b/servicemanager
System Center Essentials Team blog: http://blogs.technet.com/b/systemcenteressentials
WSUS Support Team blog: http://blogs.technet.com/sus/

The Forefront Server Protection blog: http://blogs.technet.com/b/fss/
The Forefront Endpoint Security blog : http://blogs.technet.com/b/clientsecurity/
The Forefront Identity Manager blog : http://blogs.msdn.com/b/ms-identity-support/
The Forefront TMG blog: http://blogs.technet.com/b/isablog/
The Forefront UAG blog: http://blogs.technet.com/b/edgeaccessblog/


KB: Configuration Manager 2007 hotfix 2509007 does not install correctly when installed at the same time as 977203 or 977384

$
0
0

imageHere’s a new Knowledge Base article we published today. This one talks about an issue where attempting to install System Center Configuration Manager 2007 (ConfigMgr 2007) hotfix 2509007 along with either 977203 or 977384 via the PATCH= option in the "Setup Windows and ConfigMgr" task of an OSD Task Sequence, 2509007 appears to fail and the problem described in 2509007 still occurs:

=====

Symptoms

When attempting to install System Center Configuration Manager 2007 (ConfigMgr 2007) hotfix 2509007 along with either 977203 or 977384 via the PATCH= option in the "Setup Windows and ConfigMgr" task of an OSD Task Sequence, 2509007 does not appear to install correctly and the problem described in 2509007 still occurs.

Under the "Components" tab of the ConfigMgr 2007 control panel the "ConfigMgr Software Updates Agent" will show as being updated to version 4.0.6487.2188. However, inspecting the DLL that 2509007 is supposed to replace, Updateshandler.dll, reveals that it has not been replaced and is at version 4.0.6487.2000 instead of version 4.0.6487.2188.

Attempting to rerun the 2509007 hotfix to try and resolve the issue does not fix the problem.

Cause

There original released hotfixes contained MSPs that may cause the issue described. As of June 2011, updated versions of the hotfixes have been released that resolves the issue described.

Resolution

To resolve the issue, the following two actions should be taken:

  1. Uninstall KB977203, KB977384, and KB2509007 from the site server, download the latest versions of these KB hotfixes, and then reinstall the latest versions on the site server.
  2. In the PATCH= statement, ensure that the KBs are installed in the order that they were released.

Please note that both KB977203 and KB977384 are not needed.

Reinstall KB Hotfixes On Site Server

In the below instructions, both KB977203 and KB977384 may be installed or only one of them may be installed. If only one is installed, it is only necessary to reinstall the KB hotfix that was originally installed.

If both KB977203 and KB977384 are installed, KB977384 contains the hotfix found in KB977203, so normally KB977384 is sufficient. However KB977203 may still be desired to be installed since it includes CCMCertFix.exe. KB977384 does not contain CCMCertFix.exe.

  1. On the affected site server, uninstall the KB977203, KB977384, and KB2509007 hotfixes:
    Windows Server 2008 and newer
    1. Open the "Programs and Features" control panel.
    2. On the left pane, click on "View installed updates".
    3. On the right pane scroll through the list of updates and find the section "System Center Configuration Manager 2007".
    4. One at a time double click on KB977203, KB977384, and KB2509007 to uninstall the hotfixes. In the "Windows Installer" dialog box, click on the "Yes" button to confirm uninstalling the hotfix.

Windows Server 2003

  1. Open the "Add or Remove Programs" control panel.
  2. Make sure that the "Show updates" checkbox is checked.
  3. Scroll and find "System Center Configuration Manager 2007".
  4. Under "System Center Configuration Manager 2007" find KB977203, KB977384, and KB2509007.
  5. On each hotfix click on the "Remove" button. For each hotfix navigate through the "Software Update Removal Wizard" to properly uninstall the hotfix.
  1. In the Configuration Manager 2007 Admin Console, under the "Computer Management" --> "Software Distribution" --> "Packages" node, delete any packages that were created by the original install of KB977203, KB977384, and KB2509007.
  2. On the site server where ConfigMgr 2007 is installed, navigate to the directory where ConfigMgr 2007 is installed.
  3. In the ConfigMgr 2007 install directory, navigate into the "Logs" folder and delete the folders "KB977203", "KB977384", and "KB2509007".
  4. In a web browser navigate to the sites for the hotfixes 977203, 977384, and 2509007, and request to download them.
  5. Once the KB977203, KB977384, and KB2509007 hotfixes have been downloaded, reinstall them on the site server. Please note that if installing both KB977203 and KB977384, KB977203 should be installed before installing KB977384.
  6. Update the Distribution Points for the ConfigMgr 2007 client package being specified in the "Setup Windows and ConfigMgr" task of affected Task Sequences.
    Please note that if the data source for the ConfigMgr 2007 client package being specified in the "Setup Windows and ConfigMgr" task is not pointing to the path
    \\<ConfigMgr_Site_Server>\<Site_Code>\Client
    then the ConfigMgr 2007 client package being used will need to be manually updated with the newly installed hotfix MSP files followed up updating the Distribution Points for that package.

Ensure Hotfixes Are Installed In The Correct Order

  1. In the Configuration Manager 2007 Admin Console, navigate to the "Computer Management" --> "Operating System Deployment" --> "Task Sequences" node.
  2. Right click on the affected Task Sequence and choose "Edit"
  3. Click on the "Setup Windows and ConfigMgr" task.
  4. If installing KB977203 and KB2509007, the following line is the correct syntax for the PATCH= option that should be included in the "Installation properties" text window:
    PATCH="C:\_SMSTaskSequence\OSD\<Package_ID>\i386\hotfix\KB977203\SCCM2007AC-SP2-KB977203-x86.msp";"C:\_SMSTaskSequence\OSD\<Package_ID>\i386\hotfix\KB2509007\SCCM2007AC-SP2-KB2509007-x86-enu.msp"
    where <Package_ID> is the Package ID of the ConfigMgr 2007 client install package. Do not include the brackets (<>) as part of the Package ID.
  5. If installing KB977384 and KB2509007, the following line is the correct syntax for the PATCH= option that should be included in the "Installation properties" text window:
    PATCH="C:\_SMSTaskSequence\OSD\<Package_ID>\i386\hotfix\KB977384\SCCM2007AC-SP2-KB977384-x86-enu.msp";"C:\_SMSTaskSequence\OSD\<Package_ID>\i386\hotfix\KB2509007\SCCM2007AC-SP2-KB2509007-x86-enu.msp"
    where <Package_ID> is the Package ID of the ConfigMgr 2007 client install package. Do not include the brackets (<>) as part of the Package ID.

Notes

  • The paths in Steps 5 and 6 may need to be modified if the Task Sequence cache folder (_SMSTaskSequence) resides on a drive other than C:. The Task Sequence cache folder will usually reside on the drive or partition with the largest amount of free space. It is not recommended to use the variable %_SMSTSMDataPath% as part of the path. This variable initially evaluates while in WinPE and its value can change once the Task Sequence boots into the full OS. This may cause the paths to become invalid.
  • Please note that KB977203 or KB977384 are placed before KB2509007. Ensure that that order is correct.
  • If installing KB977384, KB977203 should not also be included as KB977384 includes the hotfix in KB977203.

=====

For the most current version of this article please see the following:

2673515 : Configuration Manager 2007 hotfix 2509007 does not install correctly when installed at the same time as 977203 or 977384

J.C. Hornbeck | System Center & Security Knowledge Engineer

Get the latest System Center news on Facebook and Twitter:

clip_image001 clip_image002

App-V Team blog: http://blogs.technet.com/appv/
ConfigMgr Support Team blog: http://blogs.technet.com/configurationmgr/
DPM Team blog: http://blogs.technet.com/dpm/
MED-V Team blog: http://blogs.technet.com/medv/
Orchestrator Support Team blog: http://blogs.technet.com/b/orchestrator/
Operations Manager Team blog: http://blogs.technet.com/momteam/
SCVMM Team blog: http://blogs.technet.com/scvmm
Server App-V Team blog: http://blogs.technet.com/b/serverappv
Service Manager Team blog: http://blogs.technet.com/b/servicemanager
System Center Essentials Team blog: http://blogs.technet.com/b/systemcenteressentials
WSUS Support Team blog: http://blogs.technet.com/sus/

The Forefront Server Protection blog: http://blogs.technet.com/b/fss/
The Forefront Endpoint Security blog : http://blogs.technet.com/b/clientsecurity/
The Forefront Identity Manager blog : http://blogs.msdn.com/b/ms-identity-support/
The Forefront TMG blog: http://blogs.technet.com/b/isablog/
The Forefront UAG blog: http://blogs.technet.com/b/edgeaccessblog/

Introducing the Application Catalog and Software Center in System Center 2012 Configuration Manager

$
0
0
System Center 2012 Configuration Manager introduces many exciting new features for deploying software that benefit both administrators and end users. With Configuration Manager, users get a consolidated view of the software status by using Software Center...(read more)

HOTFIX: OSD tasks stop responding in System Center Configuration Manager 2007 SP2

$
0
0

CaptureHere’s a new Knowledge Base article we published recently. This one is a hotfix for an issue where a ConfigMgr 2007 SP2 task to install a virtual application that is located on an App-V distribution point that has streaming enabled hangs (stops responding):

=====

Symptoms

Consider the following scenario. You create an operating system deployment (OSD) task on a site server that has Microsoft System Center Configuration Manager 2007 Service Pack 2 (SP2) installed. You configure the task to install a virtual application that is located on a Microsoft Application Virtualization (App-V) distribution point that has streaming enabled. In this scenario, the OSD task stops responding….

=====

For the most current version of this article and a download link for the hotfix itself please see the following:

2678547 : OSD tasks stop responding in System Center Configuration Manager 2007 SP2

J.C. Hornbeck | System Center & Security Knowledge Engineer

Get the latest System Center news on Facebook and Twitter:

clip_image001 clip_image002

App-V Team blog: http://blogs.technet.com/appv/
ConfigMgr Support Team blog: http://blogs.technet.com/configurationmgr/
DPM Team blog: http://blogs.technet.com/dpm/
MED-V Team blog: http://blogs.technet.com/medv/
Orchestrator Support Team blog: http://blogs.technet.com/b/orchestrator/
Operations Manager Team blog: http://blogs.technet.com/momteam/
SCVMM Team blog: http://blogs.technet.com/scvmm
Server App-V Team blog: http://blogs.technet.com/b/serverappv
Service Manager Team blog: http://blogs.technet.com/b/servicemanager
System Center Essentials Team blog: http://blogs.technet.com/b/systemcenteressentials
WSUS Support Team blog: http://blogs.technet.com/sus/

The Forefront Server Protection blog: http://blogs.technet.com/b/fss/
The Forefront Endpoint Security blog : http://blogs.technet.com/b/clientsecurity/
The Forefront Identity Manager blog : http://blogs.msdn.com/b/ms-identity-support/
The Forefront TMG blog: http://blogs.technet.com/b/isablog/
The Forefront UAG blog: http://blogs.technet.com/b/edgeaccessblog/

Software Update Content Cleanup in System Center 2012 Configuration Manager

$
0
0
In System Center 2012 Configuration Manager, we’ve added the capability to automatically remove software update content from distribution points when that content is related to expired updates. This process helps manage drive space on your distribution...(read more)

Operating System Deployment and Endpoint Protection Client Installation

$
0
0
With the integration of Endpoint Protection into System Center 2012 Configuration Manager, it’s easy to get your clients rapidly protected from malware, and managed by System Center 2012 Endpoint Protection as part of the operating system deployment...(read more)

Launching a Windows Defender Offline Scan with Configuration Manager 2012 OSD

$
0
0
In the System Center 2012 Endpoint Protection Status monitoring dashboard, one possible malware- remediation status is Offline Scan Required . What does this mean, and how can you address this status? First, what this means is that a particular malware...(read more)

A look at transaction based replication in Configuration Manager 2007

$
0
0

FlowChartHi folks, my name is Umair Khan.  I am on the Configuration Manager support team here at Microsoft and I wanted to take a minute to go through transaction based replication between sites in Configuration Manager 2007.  Keep in mind that what I’ve written below assumes that you already know the basic flow of Site to Site communication so you may want to review this before reading further:

http://blogs.msdn.com/b/steverac/archive/2010/07/16/understanding-site-to-site-communication-in-sms-sccm.aspx).

Introduction:

There are two types of replication where we have the site to site communication in System Center Configuration Manager 2007 (ConfigMgr). The first is transaction based replication and the other is non-transaction based replication. This replication provides a method so that every site has the latest data and the receiving site has the capability to reject the old data.

1. Transaction based replication

For this type of replication, Replication manager creates a .RPT file in the replmgr\ready.

Objects that have transaction based replication:

Objects

Section name as in sitecode.TRS file

Site control files

[SITECTRLCT1SRCSITE]

Catalogue Information

[CATOBJHANDLER]

SDM Package Information

[SDMOBJHANDLER]

Package Advertisements

[OFFERREPLDATA]

Individual CI information

[CIOBJHANDLER]

2. Non Transaction based replication.

For this type of replication, Replication manager creates a .RPL file in the replmgr\ready. Items not listed in the transaction based table above use non-transaction based replication.

Basic Flow of Transaction based Replication:

Every site has a replication ID located in the registry at the following location:

HKLM\Software\Microsoft\SMS\Components\SMS_REPLICATION_MANAGER\Transaction ID

When creating a replication job, the sending site will mark it with a number based on the replication ID and the replication ID is incremented by 1.

When arriving at the receiving site, the receiving site performs a verification check by verifying the number attached to the file with the number that is locally stored in the replmgr\history known as sitecode.TRS. · If the number is less than the number stored in the sitecode.TRS file for the corresponding object then the file is rejected.

A sample rejection message from the replmgr.log on the receiving site would look something like this:

Replication file C:\Program Files\Microsoft Configuration Manager\inboxes\replmgr.box\incoming\1goq1xsi.RPT has an old transaction ID (Object Type = SITECTRLCT1SRCSITE, Object ID = CS1, Transaction ID = 1112), the current transaction ID is 1113, delete it.

Here the data in the TRS file is 1113 which is greater than the number attached with the file (e.g. 1112), hence the file is rejected.

Example:

I am taking an example of the hierarchy as shown below (which is also the hierarchy in my lab):

image

Assuming this type of hierarchy means the following:

Site

Files in the replmgr.box\history

CS1

PS1.TRS

PS1

CS1.TRS , SS1.TRS

SS1

CS1.TRS, PS1.TRS

Scenario:

I am making a change in the properties of the child primary (PS1) site from the central site console (say by adding a comment).

Process:

1. An .RPT file will be created at the CS1 site in the replmgr\ready folder and will be attached a number mentioned in the registry at HKLM\Software\Microsoft\SMS\Components\SMS_REPLICATION_MANAGER\Transaction ID.

2. It will follow the normal site to site process and the despooler will receive the .PCK (don’t confuse this one with the package PCK as every file information file is converted to a .PCK at the receiving site) and .SNI file and verify the signature, then move it to replmgr\incoming as a .RPT file.

3. The replmgr of the PS1 site will compare the number attached to file with the CS1.TRS file located in the replmgr.box\history folder. As this is a site control file replication, the section that will be checked in the CS1.TRS file is [SITECTRLCT1SRCSITE]:

clip_image005

This is the snapshot of the CS1.TRS file in the PS1 site. So if the received file has an attached value that is less than 1112 it will be rejected. Also notice the scroll bar for this file to get an idea as to the size.

To verify that we have the latest number updated in the CS1.TRS file of the PS1 site, we can check the replication id registry (at the path mentioned previously) in the CS1 site. A snapshot of this is shown below:

clip_image007

We see that the registry has the number 1113 (Incremented by 1) at the CS1 site. This also means that the next transaction based replication to any other sites will contain the number 1113.

Important note: Taking this example of the hierarchy, we cannot have a number for any stored object in the CS1.TRS file for the PS1 site that is greater than the number 1113 (assuming the site is working of course).

Format of a .TRS File

A .TRS file contains many sections. The basic format is shown below:

 
image  

Here, the number that is assigned to each of the objects is the replication ID registry number of the sending site at the time when the object was last replicated (the last modified change in the object).

As an Example of a CS1.TRS file from the PS1 site:

image

Considering an example from the [CIOBJHANDLER] section, we can say that the last time the object BB727F46-94A3-4D23-9704-DDE66A3674BB replicated to the PS1 site was when the Replication ID of the CS1 site was 163.

FAQ

Note: All questions will assume the previously mentioned hierarchy for a sense of better understanding.

1. Is it necessary to have the .TRS file in the receiving site?

· Yes. It’s required for storing the serial number data for the objects when they are received from the sender site.

2. What if I delete the CS1.TRS from the PS1 site? Will the site to site replication from CS1 to PS1 be broken or will the CS1.TRS file will be recreated? If it’s recreated then from where and how?

· Yes, A new CS1.TRS file will be created in the PS1 site but will contain only the new data that is being replicated from now on. For example, my earlier CS1.TRS file at the PS1 site was about 4MB since it contained information about all the packages, CIs and advertisements, however the newly created file is only a few bytes containing info about the section [SITECTRLCT1SRCSITE] as it was site control file replication.

clip_image009

Detailed Explanation:

The first thing to note is that the CS1.TRS file on the PS1 site grows in size gradually as the time passes. This is because of the changes made in the CS1 site like packages created, advertisements, CIs synched etc.

Whenever any object is replicated from CS1, it will be given the replication ID of the CS1 site at the time the object was replicated, meaning that at any point in time the serial numbers for any stored object in the CS1.TRS file will contain various serial numbers depending upon the time they were synched but the largest of all the numbers will always be less than the Replication ID at the central site.

3. What are the consequences of deleting the CS1.TRS file from the PS1 site?

· After deleting a CS1.TRS file on the PS1 site server, the first transaction-based replication job received from the CS1 site server will be processed and the transaction ID will be recorded to a new CS1.TRS file in the PS1 site. This might result in replication jobs being processed out of order, as the processed replication job may or may not be the first job sent to the PS1 site server after the file was deleted (As we do not have the information to compare the latest ID). If replication jobs are processed out of order, valid replication jobs can be discarded.

4. So if the new CS1.TRS file contains only the new information, but what about the previous information? How will the other objects be checked when they are replicated?

· The answer is we have lost the data. But this will not affect the flow of communication between the sites. As explained in the previous question, when we have an object that is not present in CS1.TRS, it will be inserted with the latest Replication ID that it was attached and there will be no verification checks as there is no data in the CS1.TRS file. Only after if the same object is replicated again (Object changes in the CS1 site) will we have the data in the CS1.TRS file where it will check the attached number with the value in the CS1.TRS site and if greater then will accept the file and update the CS1.TRS with the latest value. This means that even if the file is deleted, it will gradually grow as the objects are replicated down.

5. I have restored my PS1 site and now I find that the files are rejected by the CS1 site and the SS1 site. What can I do to make the PS1 site work again?

· The first thing to note is that if I restore the PS1 site, the incoming connections to the PS1 site will not be rejected as the values of the objects in the CS1.TRS file or SS1.TRS will still be older than the current replication IDs registry value for the CS1 and the SS1 site. The communication that would be hampered is the outbound connections (e.g. connections to the CS1 and the SS1 site). This is because the objects stored in the PS1.TRS file in the CS1 site and the SS1 site will have a higher value than the current Replication ID registry of the PS1 site (as it was restored). Thus, any files replicated from the PS1 site to the CS1 or SS1 will be rejected.

To resolve this situation we can do two things:

Option 1:

Delete the PS1.TRS files from all of the sites it’s connected to. Here the connected sites are CS1 and SS1. Now the questions come as to how it fixes the problem. Well as the PS1.TRS file is deleted from both the CS1 and SS1 sites, this will result in a new PS1.TRS file getting created on both the sites. And whenever an object is replicated to CS1, SS1 from the PS1 site it will create an entry with the current entry of the replication ID and verification checks will only be made after the second replication of the same object.

Why this is not a good solution?

We already know the consequences of deleting the .TRS file as explained in question 2.  Also, if the PS1 site has many secondary sites then it’s tedious to go to every site and delete the PS1.TRS file from the replmgr\history folder.

Option 2:

Change the Replication ID registry in the PS1 site to a value that is higher than any value for any object in the PS1.TRS of any sites connected to the PS1 site. Changing the value to make it larger will cause new objects to have a value that is greater than the value stored in the PS1.TRS file for any sites (CS1, SS1).

But here comes the million dollar question: How will I know which number to select that would be greater than any stored value for any objects in the PS1.TRS files for the CS1 and the SS1 sites?. Also, it becomes undoable if the number of sites is more. You can’t open each PS1.TRS and look for the highest number.

So what to do in such scenario? Typical methods to arrive at a number to change this value in the registry are as follows:

When recovering sites restored with an SMS Backup or ConfigMgr backup, multiply the number of days the site was down times 1,000, and then add this to the current value of the Transaction ID.

When you recover sites without an SMS Backup or ConfigMgr Backup, if there are only a few sites in the hierarchy, open the \SMS\Inboxes\Replmgr.box\history\sitecode.trs files on the recovered site's parent and all child sites and look for the highest number. Add 20 to this number. If there are many sites in the hierarchy, open a 5 to 10 percent random sample of \SMS\Inboxes\Replmgr.box\history\ sitecode.trs files on other sites, looking for the highest number. Use both parent and child sites as references. Make sure that your sample sites have connected to the recovering site as recently as any other sites; check the client agent time in the resource explorer on these computers, as they are also clients. The highest number found in the .TRS files should be doubled or increased by 1 million, whichever makes a smaller increase.

Reference for questions 3 and 5:

http://blogs.technet.com/b/configurationmgr/archive/2010/07/15/new-deep-dive-document-component-details-and-data-flow-for-site-to-site-replication-in-sms-2003-and-configuration-manager-2007.aspx

Hope this helps!

Umair Khan | System Center Configuration Manager Support Engineer

Get the latest System Center news on Facebook and Twitter:

clip_image001 clip_image002

App-V Team blog: http://blogs.technet.com/appv/
ConfigMgr Support Team blog: http://blogs.technet.com/configurationmgr/
DPM Team blog: http://blogs.technet.com/dpm/
MED-V Team blog: http://blogs.technet.com/medv/
Orchestrator Support Team blog: http://blogs.technet.com/b/orchestrator/
Operations Manager Team blog: http://blogs.technet.com/momteam/
SCVMM Team blog: http://blogs.technet.com/scvmm
Server App-V Team blog: http://blogs.technet.com/b/serverappv
Service Manager Team blog: http://blogs.technet.com/b/servicemanager
System Center Essentials Team blog: http://blogs.technet.com/b/systemcenteressentials
WSUS Support Team blog: http://blogs.technet.com/sus/

The Forefront Server Protection blog: http://blogs.technet.com/b/fss/
The Forefront Endpoint Security blog : http://blogs.technet.com/b/clientsecurity/
The Forefront Identity Manager blog : http://blogs.msdn.com/b/ms-identity-support/
The Forefront TMG blog: http://blogs.technet.com/b/isablog/
The Forefront UAG blog: http://blogs.technet.com/b/edgeaccessblog/


Configuration Manager Support Announcements for April 2012

$
0
0
We are announcing support changes for the following releases. Please look for these changes to be reflected in the Supported Configuration pages within a few months. System Center Configuration Manager 2007 SP2 and R3 support Microsoft SQL Server 2012...(read more)

MDT 2012: Reliable and flexible OS deployment—now with support for System Center 2012 Configuration Manager

$
0
0

image

The latest version of the Microsoft Deployment Toolkit—version 2012— is now available for download.

Visit the Download Center to download MDT 2012.

Deploy Windows 7, Office 2010, Windows 8 Consumer Preview, Windows Server “8” Beta and Windows Server 2008 R2 with the newly released Microsoft Deployment Toolkit (MDT) 2012. MDT 2012 is the newest version of Microsoft Deployment Toolkit, a Solution Accelerator for operating system and application deployment. MDT is the recommended process and toolset for automating Windows 7 and Office 365 deployments.

The Solution Accelerators Team added new features to MDT 2012 that include the ability for users to initiate and customize their own deployments using System Center Configuration Manager 2012, key enhancements in Windows 7 driver support, and much more.

MDT 2012 will provide new benefits such as:

  • Comprehensive tools and guidance to efficiently manage large-scale deployments of Microsoft Office 2010.
  • An enhanced User-Driven Installation (UDI) deployment method that utilizes System Center Configuration Manager 2012. UDI lets end users initiate and customize an OS deployment on their PCs—via an easy-to-use wizard.
  • Ease Lite Touch installation with new capabilities to check on the status of currently running deployments.
  • This release provides support for deploying Windows 8 Consumer Preview in a lab environment.

These features, combined with many bug fixes and other improvements, make MDT 2012 more reliable and flexible than ever.

Support for Configuration Manager 2012: MDT 2012 provides support for Configuration Manager 2012 releases. MDT 2012 fully leverages the capabilities provided by Configuration Manager 2012 for OS deployment. Users now also have the ability to migrate MDT 2012 task sequences from Configuration Manager 2007 to Configuration Manager 2012.

Customize deployment questions: For System Center Configuration Manager customers, MDT 2012 provides an improved, extensible wizard and designer for customizing deployment questions.

Ease Lite Touch installation: The Microsoft Diagnostics and Recovery Toolkit (DaRT) is now integrated with Lite Touch Installation, providing remote control and diagnostics. New monitoring capabilities are available to check on the status of currently running deployments. LTI now has an improved deployment wizard user experience. Enhanced partitioning support ensures that deployments work regardless of the current structure.

Secure Deployments: MDT 2012 offers integration with the Microsoft Security Compliance Manager (SCM) tool to ensure a secure Windows deployment from the start.

Reliability and flexibility: Existing MDT users will find more reliability and flexibility with the many small enhancements and bug fixes and a smooth and simple upgrade process.

Support for Windows 8: MDT 2012 provides support for deploying Windows 8 Consumer Preview and Windows Server “8” Beta in a lab environment.

Next steps:

Get the latest tips from Microsoft Solution Accelerators—in 140 characters or less! Follow us on Twitter: @MSSolutionAccel.

Solution Accelerators background information

The Microsoft Assessment and Planning Toolkit, Microsoft Deployment Toolkit, and Security Compliance Manager provide tested guidance and automated tools to help you plan, securely deploy, and manage new Microsoft technologies—easier, faster, and at less cost. All are freely available, and fully supported by Microsoft.

Planning your migration to new Microsoft technologies

Use the Microsoft Assessment and Planning Toolkit to inventory your IT environment and assess your hardware readiness for migration to Windows 7, Windows Server 2008 R2, Hyper-V, and Microsoft Office 365—in just a few hours. MAP automatically generates detailed reports on hardware, device, and application compatibility—information you can immediately put to work in your migration plans.

Securely deploying and managing new Microsoft technologies

The Microsoft Deployment Toolkit and the Security Compliance Manager are the essential toolset to automate your desktop and server deployment of new Microsoft technologies. Using MDT and SCM, you can significantly reduce the costs and time to securely deploy and manage Windows 7, Windows Server 2008 R2, Hyper-V, and Microsoft Office 2010 across your organization.

J.C. Hornbeck | System Center & Security Knowledge Engineer

Get the latest System Center news on Facebook and Twitter:

clip_image001 clip_image002

App-V Team blog: http://blogs.technet.com/appv/
ConfigMgr Support Team blog: http://blogs.technet.com/configurationmgr/
DPM Team blog: http://blogs.technet.com/dpm/
MED-V Team blog: http://blogs.technet.com/medv/
Orchestrator Support Team blog: http://blogs.technet.com/b/orchestrator/
Operations Manager Team blog: http://blogs.technet.com/momteam/
SCVMM Team blog: http://blogs.technet.com/scvmm
Server App-V Team blog: http://blogs.technet.com/b/serverappv
Service Manager Team blog: http://blogs.technet.com/b/servicemanager
System Center Essentials Team blog: http://blogs.technet.com/b/systemcenteressentials
WSUS Support Team blog: http://blogs.technet.com/sus/

The Forefront Server Protection blog: http://blogs.technet.com/b/fss/
The Forefront Endpoint Security blog : http://blogs.technet.com/b/clientsecurity/
The Forefront Identity Manager blog : http://blogs.msdn.com/b/ms-identity-support/
The Forefront TMG blog: http://blogs.technet.com/b/isablog/
The Forefront UAG blog: http://blogs.technet.com/b/edgeaccessblog/

Hotfix rollup for Asset Intelligence compatibility issues in System Center Configuration Manager 2007 SP2: March 2012

$
0
0

KBHere’s a heads up on new Knowledge Base article/Hotfix Rollup Package we published. This hotfix rollup package resolves compatibility issues of Asset Intelligence in Microsoft System Center Configuration Manager 2007 Service Pack 2 (SP2) with other Microsoft volume license products. This hotfix rollup resolves the following issues and is dated March 2012:

  • The query for the Asset Intelligence "License 01A" report does not detect Microsoft System Center Configuration Manager 2007 licenses.
  • The query for the Asset Intelligence "License 01A" report does not detect Microsoft System Center Data Protection Manager 2010 licenses or Microsoft System Center Operations Manager 2007 R2 licenses.
  • The query for the Asset Intelligence "License 01A" report does not detect Microsoft Exchange Server 2003 licenses.
  • The query for the Asset Intelligence "License 01A" report does not detect Microsoft Visio 2010 edition changes after an upgrade operation.
  • The query for the Asset Intelligence "License 01A" report incorrectly reports some editions of Windows Server 2008 as Windows XP.
  • The query for the Asset Intelligence "License 06A" report does not detect Microsoft SQL Server 2005 licenses.
  • The query for the Asset Intelligence "License 06A" report detects Microsoft SQL Server 2005 licenses incorrectly on computers that have Microsoft SQL Server 2005 administration tools installed.
  • The query for the Asset Intelligence "Software 01A" report reports the instance count of Microsoft BizTalk Server 2010 incorrectly. The reported count is two times the number of instances.
  • The query for the Asset Intelligence "Software 01A" report reports the instance count of Microsoft Word 2010 incorrectly. The reported count is two times the number of instances.
  • The query for the Asset Intelligence "Software 01A" report reports the instance count of 64-bit versions of Microsoft SQL Server 2005 incorrectly.
  • Some Asset Intelligence data is not synchronized correctly in System Center Configuration Manager 2007 SP2 because of key constraint violations.
  • Configuration Manager 2007 SP2 does not report SQL Server 2008 R2 in the "License 01D" report after you install SQL Server 2008 R2 SP1.
  • Configuration Manager 2007 SP2 does not completely download and process Microsoft Product Code (MPC) catalog data. This may result in incomplete updates to the Asset Intelligence catalogs.

For all the details and a download link see the following:

2691428 : Hotfix rollup for Asset Intelligence compatibility issues in System Center Configuration Manager 2007 SP2: March 2012

J.C. Hornbeck | System Center & Security Knowledge Engineer

Get the latest System Center news on Facebook and Twitter:

clip_image001 clip_image002

App-V Team blog: http://blogs.technet.com/appv/
ConfigMgr Support Team blog: http://blogs.technet.com/configurationmgr/
DPM Team blog: http://blogs.technet.com/dpm/
MED-V Team blog: http://blogs.technet.com/medv/
Orchestrator Support Team blog: http://blogs.technet.com/b/orchestrator/
Operations Manager Team blog: http://blogs.technet.com/momteam/
SCVMM Team blog: http://blogs.technet.com/scvmm
Server App-V Team blog: http://blogs.technet.com/b/serverappv
Service Manager Team blog: http://blogs.technet.com/b/servicemanager
System Center Essentials Team blog: http://blogs.technet.com/b/systemcenteressentials
WSUS Support Team blog: http://blogs.technet.com/sus/

The Forefront Server Protection blog: http://blogs.technet.com/b/fss/
The Forefront Endpoint Security blog : http://blogs.technet.com/b/clientsecurity/
The Forefront Identity Manager blog : http://blogs.msdn.com/b/ms-identity-support/
The Forefront TMG blog: http://blogs.technet.com/b/isablog/
The Forefront UAG blog: http://blogs.technet.com/b/edgeaccessblog/

KB: System Center Configuration Manager 2007 SP2 does not run some procedures because of a syntax change in the RAISERROR statement after you upgrade to SQL Server 2012

$
0
0

hotfixHere’s a Knowledge Base article/hotfix we recently published. This one describes an issue where a syntax error occurs when Configuration Manager 2007 SP2 runs store procedures after upgrading to SQL Server 2012.

=====

Symptoms

Assume that you upgrade Microsoft SQL Server 2005 or Microsoft SQL Server 2008 to Microsoft SQL Server 2012 on a System Center Configuration Manager 2007 Service Pack 2 (SP2) site server. Configuration Manager 2007 SP2 may run some store procedures that contain the RAISERROR statement, which uses an old syntax that resembles the following:

Raiserror 99903 'This is not a valid group' cannot run well

However, Configuration Manager 2007 SP2 does not successfully run the stored procedures.

Cause

This issue occurs because of a syntax error when Configuration Manager 2007 SP2 runs store procedures.

Resolution

To resolve this issue, install the following hotfix package on the System Center Configuration Manager 2007 SP2 site server.….

=====

For all the details including a download link please see the following:

2676776 : System Center Configuration Manager 2007 SP2 does not run some procedures because of a syntax change in the RAISERROR statement after you upgrade to SQL Server 2012

J.C. Hornbeck | System Center & Security Knowledge Engineer

Get the latest System Center news on Facebook and Twitter:

clip_image001 clip_image002

App-V Team blog: http://blogs.technet.com/appv/
ConfigMgr Support Team blog: http://blogs.technet.com/configurationmgr/
DPM Team blog: http://blogs.technet.com/dpm/
MED-V Team blog: http://blogs.technet.com/medv/
Orchestrator Support Team blog: http://blogs.technet.com/b/orchestrator/
Operations Manager Team blog: http://blogs.technet.com/momteam/
SCVMM Team blog: http://blogs.technet.com/scvmm
Server App-V Team blog: http://blogs.technet.com/b/serverappv
Service Manager Team blog: http://blogs.technet.com/b/servicemanager
System Center Essentials Team blog: http://blogs.technet.com/b/systemcenteressentials
WSUS Support Team blog: http://blogs.technet.com/sus/

The Forefront Server Protection blog: http://blogs.technet.com/b/fss/
The Forefront Endpoint Security blog : http://blogs.technet.com/b/clientsecurity/
The Forefront Identity Manager blog : http://blogs.msdn.com/b/ms-identity-support/
The Forefront TMG blog: http://blogs.technet.com/b/isablog/
The Forefront UAG blog: http://blogs.technet.com/b/edgeaccessblog/

Announcement: Configuration Manager Documentation Library Update for March 2012

$
0
0
The Documentation Library for System Center 2012 Configuration Manager has been updated on the web and the latest content has Updated: March 1, 2012 at the top of the topic. This is the official release version of this library. There are no significant...(read more)
Viewing all 715 articles
Browse latest View live


<script src="https://jsc.adskeeper.com/r/s/rssing.com.1596347.js" async> </script>