The Official Configuration Manager Support Team Blog

Symptoms In System Center 2012 Configuration Manager, if the Management Point is in HTTPS mode but the Distribution Point hosting the PXE server is in HTTP mode, the PXE boot may fail. Examining the SMSPXE.log may reveal the following errors: ProcessMessage...(read more)

The Application Catalog is one of the new and exciting features in the System Center 2012 Configuration Manager. Dave Randall recently posted a great blog post that helps you plan for the Application Catalog deployment and provide a great experience to...(read more)

Consider a scenario where you have encountered issues with the installation of KB2720211 (An update for Windows Server Update Services 3.0 Service Pack 2 is available) which forced you to remove and reinstall WSUS. Afterward, when reinstalling 2720211 it fails to install and in the MWusSetup.txt file you find the following:

2012-07-01 15:45:58 Success CustomActions.Dll Successfully set propery of WSUS admin groups' full names
2012-07-01 15:46:14 Error CustomActions.Dll CSqlConnection::Open: Failed to open SQL connection to instance SERVERNAME\MICROSOFT##SSEE (Error 0x80004005: Unspecified error)
2012-07-01 15:46:14 Error CustomActions.Dll GetDatabaseLocation: Failed to open connection to SQL instance %computername%\MICROSOFT##SSEE (Error 0x80004005: Unspecified error)
2012-07-01 15:46:14 Error CustomActions.Dll SetWyukonInstallDirProperty: Failed to get installed location of SUSDB in WYukon (Error 0x80004005: Unspecified error)
2012-07-01 15:46:14 Error CustomActions.Dll SetUnInstallProperties: Failed to set WYUKON install directory (Error 0x80004005: Unspecified error)

Following this, let’s say you decide to change the value of 'wYukonInstalled' to 0 in the registry under 'HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Update Services\Server\Setup' and after doing so KB2720211 installs successfully. However, a short time later the "Update Services' service fails and will not start and you begin seeing events logged like the one below.

To resolve this, on the server use the SQL Server Configuration Manager tool to check the network configuration of the ‘MICROSOFT##SSEE’ Windows internal database. You need to identify specifically which (if any) protocols are enabled.

1. Open the Sql Server Configuration Manager (Start > Programs > Microsoft SQL Server 2008 R2 > Configuration Tools)
2. SQL Server Network Configuration > Protocols for MICROSOFT##SSEE

If you find that the ‘TCP/IP’ protocol and/or the ‘Named Pipes’ protocols are enabled, then next launch the SQL Client Configuration Utility (Cliconfg.exe) on the server and enable the appropriate protocols to match, then apply the changes.

Following this, next use the services MMC (services.msc) to stop ‘Update Services’, restart the ‘Windows Internal Database’ Service and then start ‘Update Services’ once again. Once this is done, attempt to install the KB2720211 update again on the server.

NOTE The steps above are also applicable if the SUSDB is running in a full version of SQL Server as well.

Tyler Franke | Senior Support Escalation Engineer

Get the latest System Center news on Facebook and Twitter:

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/

This blog will introduce the prerequisites for installing the System Center 2012 Configuration Manager client on Windows Embedded Devices, provides a sample script that you can use with Configuration Manager to automatically disable and enable the Windows...(read more)

Microsoft’s own Kevin McKinnerney just published a new test lab guide on ConfigMgr 2007 R3. This Test Lab Guide (TLG) allows you to expand upon the Base Configuration test lab to build a functioning proof of concept environment for Microsoft System Center Configuration Manager 2007 Service Pack 2 with R3.

The test lab guide contains instructions for setting up a test lab based on the Microsoft System Center Configuration Manager Service 2007 Service Pack 2 with R3 Test Lab Guide and deploying Microsoft System Center Configuration Manager 2007 Service Pack 2 with R3 using one server computer and one client computer. The resulting Microsoft System Center Configuration Manager 2007 test lab demonstrates simple System Center Configuration Manager 2007 functionality.

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

Test Lab Guide: System Center Configuration Manager 2007 Service Pack 2 with R3 (http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=30394)

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

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Consider the following scenario: When running setup for System Center 2012 Configuration Manager (ConfigMgr 2012), in the Setup window you receive the following warnings:

You will also see the following error messages in ConfigMgrPrereq.log:

INFO: Computer Account is <DOMAIN\SiteServerCOMPUTERNAME$>

ERROR: Connected to SQL Server but failed to execute query IF NOT EXISTS (select * from master.sys.server_principals where name=' DOMAIN\SiteServerCOMPUTERNAME$') BEGIN CREATE LOGIN [DOMAIN\SiteServerCOMPUTERNAME$] FROM WINDOWS; SELECT 1; END ELSE SELECT 0
save to ini file SQLCONNECT:SQLFQDN\INSTANCE.
ERROR: Failed to connect to SQL Server Site Server FQDN.
SiteServer FQDN; Site System to SQL Server Communication; Warning; A communication error has been detected between the specified site system and the site database computer. This error can occur when the site database server is offline or if a valid SPN has not been registered in Active Directory Domain Services for the SQL Server instance hosting the site database. Setup cannot continue.

In the ConfigMgrSetup.log you will get these error messages:

CWmiRegistry::GetValues: Failed to connect to registry on machine SQL FQDN. Error code: 2
INFO: File \\SiteServerFQDN\admin$\sms_get_ADPERMS_svc.exe does not exist. No zapping needed.
CSql Error: Cannot find type data, cannot get a connection.
INFO: File C:\Windows\sms_account_test_svc.exe does not exist. No zapping needed.
INFO: Connected to ROOT\CIMV2 WMI namespace on SQL Server
INFO: SQL Server version detected is 10.50, 10.50.2811.0.
INFO: File \\SiteServerFQDN\admin$\sccm_sysroletosql_connect_test.exe does not exist. No zapping needed.
CSql Error: Cannot find type data, cannot get a connection.
*** IF NOT EXISTS (select * from master.sys.server_principals where name= ‘DOMAIN\SiteServerCOMPUTERNAME$') BEGIN CREATE LOGIN [DOMAIN\SiteServerCOMPUTERNAME$] FROM WINDOWS; SELECT 1; END ELSE SELECT 0
*** [42000][15401][Microsoft][ODBC SQL Server Driver][SQL Server]Windows NT user or group ‘DOMAIN\SiteServerCOMPUTERNAME$' not found. Check the name again.

In this case, although you may have created a domain group where you have added the Site Server System Account and gave this group sysadmin rights on the SQL instance dedicated for ConfigMgr 2012, you might still receive these error messages.

In this case, you will most probably have to add the Site System account (computer name) with admin rights in SQL:

If you try to add the computer name you will see that with advanced search you are not able to select Computers (only users or groups):

To add a computer as an admin in SQL, you will have to type in the Login Name: DOMAIN\COMPUTERNAME$ and press OK. If the computer name is not found in AD you will receive an error similar to the one below:

With a remote SQL server, you will need to make sure that the site system account has admin rights for the SQL instance, dedicated for ConfMgr.

Adding computers to SQL Logins individually can be done using the syntax DOMAIN\COMPUTERNAME$, or by using groups.

Other means of troubleshooting:

1. Check if 1433 port is configured for TCP Port for every IP section (including IP All) and TCP Dynamic Ports fields are empty as bellow:

1433 is the default port that is used and should not be changed to another or a dynamic port.

2. Create a UDL file to test connectivity between machines (See http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/e38h511e(v=VS.71).aspx for more information):

Radu Tomoiaga

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Microsoft’s own Kevin McKinnerney just published a new test lab guide on FEP 2010. This Test Lab Guide (TLG) extends the Base Configuration and System Center Configuration Manager 2007 test lab to include Forefront Endpoint Protection 2010. It includes both instructions for installing Forefront Endpoint Protection 2010 Server on a ConfigMgr 2007 server and distributing the Forefront Endpoint Protection 2010 Client.

This paper contains instructions for setting up a test lab based on the Microsoft Forefront Endpoint Protection 2010 Test Lab Guide and deploying Microsoft Forefront Endpoint Protection 2010 using one server computer and one client computer. The resulting Microsoft Forefront Endpoint Protection 2010 test lab demonstrates simple Forefront Endpoint Protection 2010 functionality.

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

Test Lab Guide: Forefront Endpoint Protection 2010 (http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=30396)

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

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The Documentation Library for System Center 2012 Configuration Manager has been updated on the web and the latest content has Updated: July 1, 2012 at the top of the topic. There are no changes this month for the Configuration Manager 2007 Documentation...(read more)

Here’s a new Knowledge Base article we published. This one talks about an issue where Security Update MS10-019 may not visible in the Configuration Manager console for some operating systems.

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Symptoms

Security Update MS10-019 (KB979309) is not visible in the System Center Configuration Manager 2007 console for the following operating systems:

Windows Server 2008
Windows Server 2008 R2

NOTE This security update is visible for the Itanium versions of the above mentioned operating systems.

Cause

KB979309 bundles another update, KB978601, for the affected operating systems and is superseded by KB2653956. By design in Configuration Manager, no superseded updates are synced. This causes a condition where the update KB978601 is not synced because KB979309 contains this KB for the above operating systems. KB979309 is not synced because it has been superseded by KB2653956.

NOTE This may not affect all System Center 2012 Configuration Manager customers. In this version of the product, there is an option that allows for syncing of superseded updates and by default keep them for 3 months. If that option is chosen then this issue will not occur in System Center 2012 Configuration Manager.

Resolution

There are two workarounds available to deploy the update for these Operating Systems.

1. Download the update manually and deploy it using a System Center Configuration Manager package. You will need to configure the command line for the program properly so that it installs silently and does not prompt for user input.

2. Approve the update in WSUS, ensuring that the group policies are configured to allow the clients to scan at a schedule and install the updates from WSUS.

More Information

For more information on how to deploy using System Center Configuration Manager packages, see Tasks for Software Distribution

For more information on how to approve the update in WSUS, see Approve and Deploy Updates in WSUS 3.0

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

2733816 - Security Update MS10-019 is not visible in the Configuration Manager console for some operating systems

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

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On a System Center Configuration Manager 2007 Service Pack 2 (SP2) client computer that is running Windows Server 2008 R2, the Systems Management Server (SMS) Agent Host service (Ccmexec.exe) crashes intermittently. Additionally, the following error is logged in the event log:

Log Name: Application
Source: Application Error
Event ID: 1000
Level: Error
Keywords: Classic
Description:
Faulting application name: CcmExec.exe, version: 4.0.6425.2000, time stamp: 0x4a14c745
Faulting module name: ntdll.dll, version: 6.1.7600.16385, time stamp: 0x4a5bdb3b
Exception code: 0xc0000005
Fault offset: 0x0009cb74
Faulting process id: 0xa04
Faulting application start time: 0x01ca273b4637f18e
Faulting application path: C:\Windows\SysWOW64\CCM\CcmExec.exe
Faulting module path: C:\Windows\SysWOW64\ntdll.dll

Cause

This issue occurs because an access violation occurs in the Ntdll.dll module, and then the wrong function is called in the Caltrack.dll module.

For all the details on this issue as well as a download link for the hotfix, please see the following Knowledge Base article.

KB2724939 - The SMS Host Agent service crashes on a System Center Configuration Manager 2007 SP2 client computer that is running Windows Server 2008 R2 (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2724939)

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

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Here’s a new Knowledge Base article we published. This one talks about an issue where a Configuration Manager 2007 backup doesn't backup the database files even though the backup logs show that it was successful.

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Symptoms

A scheduled Configuration Manager 2007 backup runs and appears to complete but the database files are not present in the backup location. There are no errors logged in the smsbkup.log or the smssqlbkup.log and they both show that the backup was successful.

Cause

This can occur if the database was attached in SQL using lower case characters for the database name. Note that this issue happens only when the database was first detached and then reattached again using the lower case database name.

Resolution

Follow the steps mentioned below to properly detach the database and attach it back with an upper case name.

1. On the Configuration Manager site server, stop the following services:

SMS_Executive
SMS_Site_Backup
SMS_Site_Component_Manager
SMS_Site_VSS_Writer
SMS Agent Host (on the server where the management point for that site is installed)

2. On the SQL Server stop the following service:

SMS_Site_SQL_Backup_(siteservername)

3. Perform the following SQL commands or manually right-click and choose the Tasks->Detach option.

USE master;
GO
EXEC sp_detach_db @dbname = '<DB Name>';
GO

4. Attach the database either using the SQL commands below or manually by using the Databases->Attach option. If you're doing it manually, make sure that the Attach As column has the correct DB name in upper case.

USE master;
GO
CREATE DATABASE <DB Name in upper case>
ON (FILENAME = '<SQL DB file path>\<db>.mdf'),
(FILENAME = '<SQL DB log file path>\<db>.ldf')
FOR ATTACH;
GO

4. Restart the services on the SQL server and the Configuration Manager server.

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

KB2733915 - A Configuration Manager 2007 backup doesn't backup the database files even though the backup logs show that it was successful (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2733915)

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

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In System Center 2012 Configuration Manager, the ‘Backup Site Server’ maintenance task may fail if the Backup Destination is set to a network share. An example is below:

When this happens, the following errors are logged:

SMSSQLBKUP.LOG

Error: Backup folder \\MachineName\1234 does not exist or backup service does not have permission to access the folder.

SMSBKUP.LOG

Error: Backup folder \\MachineName\1234 does not exist or backup service does not have permission to access the folder.

If you look at the network share you see that the folder does exists and permissions are correct. So why does it fail? To know more, please download Procmon tool from here and capture a trace on both SQL and ConfigMgr site server with following filters while running the backup:

Process Name is ‘SMSSQLBkup.exe’
Process Name is ‘SMSBkup.exe’
Result is ‘BAD NETWORK NAME’

Screenshot:

Once you see the error(s) mentioned at the start of this post, please stop the trace and look at the result.

If you look closely enough at Path column the backup task triggers a CreateFile operation on \\MachineName\123 which doesn’t exist. The correct path is \\MachineName\1234 . It drops the last character ‘4’ and as a result the backup task fails to complete successfully.

At the moment you can choose to use any of the following three workarounds to get the backup task to work.

1. Create a sub-folder under existing folder and configure the backup task accordingly. For example:

\\MachineName\1234\456

2. Save the files on local drive.

3. Create and use a network share on SQL Server instead.

NOTE This issue is schedule to be addressed in Service Pack 1

Additional information on Backup Site Server task can be found here.

Symptoms

When installing the System Center Configuration Manager (ConfigMgr) client, the process fails with the following error:

There was a problem starting PolicyAgentProvider.dll The specified module could not be found

You may also see the following in the ccmsetup.log after clicking OK on the error above:

MSI: Action 11:53:11: CcmRegisterWmiMofFile. Registering WMI settings
MSI: Setup failed due to unexpected circumstances
The error code is 80004005
MSI: Action 13:01:48: Rollback. Rolling back action:
Installation failed with error code 1603

Cause

This can occur if the value of CWDIllegalInDllSearch in the Registry is set to 0xFFFFFFFF per the following Knowledge Base article:

KB2264107 - A new CWDIllegalInDllSearch registry entry is available to control the DLL search path algorithm (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2264107)

Resolution

There are two resolutions to this issue:

1. Remove the CWDIllegalInDllSearch entry or change this to a different value.
2. Add the full path to the CCM folder to the environmental variables PATH:

C:\Windows\SysWOW64\CCM or C:\Windows\system32\CCM depending on the architecture of the OS the client is being installed on.

More Information

CcmSetup is running the following command when this failure occurs:

rundll32.exe PolicyAgentProvider.dll,setup_checknamespaces

If CWDIllegalInDllSearch has been configured to 0xFFFFFFFF then rundll32.exe is unable to find the PolicyAgentProvider.dll when running in the current working directory.

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

2737378 - Installing a Configuration Manager client fails with "There was a problem starting PolicyAgentProvider.dll The specified module could not be found"

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

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Here’s a new Knowledge Base article we published. This one talks about an issue where changes to an App-V package may not get delivered when the app is deployed using ConfigMgr 2012.

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Symptoms

Consider the following scenario:

You create a Microsoft Application Virtualization (App-V) application.
You deploy the source for the application to a System Center 2012 Configuration Manager distribution point.
You change the application by using the App-V Sequencer.
You deploy the content for the updated application to the distribution point.

In this scenario, when users run the application, your changes are not included in the application.

Cause

This problem occurs because the App-V Sequencer saves the virtual application's SFT file (.sft) using a different name when changes are saved for the application. For example, if your virtual application is named MyApp.sft, the App-V Sequencer will save the changed application as MyApp_2.sft. Without manual adjustment, the Deployment Type for the App-V application will still refer to the original .sft file name.

Workaround

To work around this problem, change the Deployment Type to refer to the current .sft file manually.

Status

Microsoft has confirmed that this is a problem in the Microsoft products that are listed in the "Applies to" section.

More Information

Because the file name changes when you update an App-V application, Binary Delta Replication is not used to download the updated content to the clients. Binary Delta Replication is possible only when you work with two versions of a file that have the same name.

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

2683934 - Changes to an App-V application are not included when deployed using System Center 2012 Configuration Manager

J.C. Hornbeck | Knowledge Engineer | Management and Security Division

Get the latest System Center news on Facebook and Twitter:

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/

The good folks from the Configuration Manager product team just released a great article describing all of the documentation available for System Center 2012 Endpoint Protection and where to get it. So why is this coming from the Configuration Manager product group? Because starting with System Center 2012 Configuration Manager, Forefront Endpoint Protection (FEP) has now been integrated into Configuration Manager and is called System Center 2012 Endpoint Protection:

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Starting with System Center 2012 Configuration Manager, Forefront Endpoint Protection (FEP) has now been integrated into Configuration Manager and is called System Center 2012 Endpoint Protection. From your feedback, we have heard that some FEP customers who are now using System Center 2012 Endpoint Protection are having problems finding the information they need to install and configure Endpoint Protection. This blog post answers the questions we’ve been hearing about the documentation. A thank you to Diana Smith (a Microsoft Senior Support Escalation Engineer), for her help in working with us to get the right information to you.

Where is the documentation for Endpoint Protection?

The main documentation for Endpoint Protection is located….

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You can continue reading straight from the source here.

J.C. Hornbeck | Knowledge Engineer | Management and Security Division

Get the latest System Center news on Facebook and Twitter:

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/

We’ve seen this issue come up a couple of times so I wanted to give it a mention here just in case you run into it. The problem is that if you are using System Center Configuration Manager 2007 (ConfigMgr 2007) or System Center 2012 Configuration Manager (ConfigMgr 2012) and trying to push packages to a VPN client, the client reports the below error and also fails to get the content location.

Current AD site of machine is XYZ 1/1/1601 12:00:00 AM 0 (0x0000)
Adapter {D4CB67B7-FC80-439A-BC06-C41489B73259} has 1 IPv4 address(es). 1/1/1601 12:00:00 AM 0 (0x0000)
Adapter {23C23F44-8A8E-46A1-A863-8BC925CBBA05} has 0 IPv4 address(es). 1/1/1601 12:00:00 AM 0 (0x0000)
Discarding DP with SiteLocality 'FALLBACK'. Accepting only 'LOCAL' DPs. 1/1/1601 12:00:00 AM 0 (0x0000)
The number of discovered DPs(including Branch DP and Multicast) is 0 1/1/1601 12:00:00 AM 0 (0x0000)
LSGetSiteCodeFromWMI 1/1/1601 12:00:00 AM 0 (0x0000)
LSGetSiteCodeFromWMI : Site code returned from WMI is <XYZ> 1/1/1601 12:00:00 AM 0 (0x0000)

Troubleshooting:

We checked and found that this issue occurred only with the VPN clients, as only those clients were not getting the content location. We then checked and found that the VPN clients have two NIC’s with two different IP’s, but there was no boundary for the clients VPN boundary.

Cause:

The VPN subnet needs to be added as a boundary to the site server according to the DHCP scope set for VPN clients.

Solution:

We need to understand that the client machine connects to the domain after logging on to the workstations and after dialing in to the VPN tunnel, and until that time it already has an IP assigned to its physical NIC. After connecting to the VPN it also gets another dynamic IP through the DHCP server of the domain, and this IP is assigned to the virtual NIC configured for connecting to VPN tunnel. At this point, the machine in the domain will be identified by this VPN NIC IP address and not the physical NIC IP address of the workstation, meaning that the client machine will do the content location lookup using the VPN NIC IP address. If the ConfigMgr server does not have a boundary configured with that IP subnet or address range, the VPN client will fail the content location, and also it will not fail over to the physical NIC IP address to find a suitable boundary.

More Information:

This problem can occur when the VPN clients get dynamic IP address assignments that are not a part of any boundary. If you’d like to verify this scenario, you can take a NetMon trace here to find the client machines network connection, and also enable verbose logging.

The TechNet articles below have more information on this:

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc984479.aspx

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/gg682077.aspx

Arvind Kumar Rana

Get the latest System Center news on Facebook and Twitter:

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/

With the release of System Center 2012 Configuration Manager, the Configuration Manager Sustained Engineering team has moved to a new servicing model for product updates. Instead of individual hotfixes, there will be regularly released cumulative updates...(read more)

Consider the following scenario:

You set System Center 2012 Configuration Manager (ConfigMgr) Client Agent\Computer Agent\Show notifications for new deployments to "False".
You create a Software Updates Deployment in ConfigMgr.
The Software Updates Deployment contains software updates that require a machine restart in order to complete installation.
You configure the User Experience\User Notifications configuration setting for the deployment to "Hide in Software Center and all notifications".
You configure the User Experience\Device Restart behavior configuration setting to “Suppress the system restart for both Servers and Workstations”.

Expected behavior:

No user notifications are displayed before, during, or after the software updates installation processes run..

Actual behavior:

Machine restart notifications are displayed on the ConfigMgr client machine after the post-install software updates scan completes. The notifications are displayed on all supported client operating system versions.

First visible indication:

A yellow "Restart Required" balloon notification is displayed.

If you click within the boundary of this yellow balloon notification, a Software Center "Restart your computer" notification is displayed. If you do not click within the boundary of the yellow notification box, the Software Center notification is not created and the yellow balloon notification fades away after approximately 5 seconds.

If you make no selections in the Software Center notification, it remains onscreen indefinitely. If you click Cancel or if you click Snooze and then click “OK”, the Software Center notification closes and a green icon is displayed to the far left of the visible notification area. If you mouse over the icon, a small “restart required” dialogue opens up.

To date, only one method has been identified that will disable all visible machine restart notifications. This method uses a combination of domain GPO Adm template settings and Local Policy Adm template settings with Windows 7 and Windows 2008 R2. The specific Local Policy configuration settings are new with Windows 7 and Windows 2008 R2. Thus these are the only client operating systems with which it is possible to achieve complete and total suppression of the restart notifications. These policies are:

NOTE Best practice discourages unnecessary editing of the Default Domain Policy.

Domain Policy
User Configuration
Policies
Admin templates
Start Menu and Taskbar
Set "Turn off all Balloon Notifications" to "Enabled"

Local policy on Win 7 (New setting for Windows 7):

Local Policy
User Configuration
Policies
Admin templates
Start Menu and Taskbar
Set "Turn off automatic promotion of notifications to the taskbar" to Enabled.

References:

Agent Configuration

Deployment User Experience configuration

Yellow Balloon Notification

Software Center notification

Green notification area icon

Terry McKinney | Premier Field Engineer

Get the latest System Center news on Facebook and Twitter:

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/

Here’s a new Knowledge Base article we published. This one talks about an issue where a ConfigMgr 2012 Task Sequence fails when using Stand-Alone Media.

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Symptoms

Task Sequence execution fails when using stand-alone media (USB flash drive or CD/DVD) in System Center 2012 Configuration Manager. The task sequence will fail to install applications and the SMSTS.log will contain an error similar to the following:

Failed to invoke Execution Manager to Install Software for PackageID='CAS0002C' ProgramID='setup' AdvertID='{00A2B6FB-8E61-47B6-9702-BBDEAD7FBE8A}' hr=0x87d01004

Items in italics above are based on the environment so will not be consistent but the hr code (in bold) will be.

Cause

This occurs because the Software Distribution Agent is not enabled since the client has not yet received policy.

Resolution

To resolve the issue and enable the Software Distribution Agent, add the following Run Command Line step earlier in the Task Sequence, before any Install Package steps:

WMIC /namespace:\\root\ccm\policy\machine\requestedconfig path ccm_SoftwareDistributionClientConfig CREATE ComponentName="Enable SWDist", Enabled="true", LockSettings="TRUE", PolicySource="local", PolicyVersion="1.0", SiteSettingsKey="1" /NOINTERACTIVE

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

2716946 - Task Sequence Fails when using Stand-Alone Media in System Center 2012 Configuration Manager

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

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Here’s a new Knowledge Base article we published. This one talks about an issue where attempting to deploy the Integration Pack for .NET that comes with the Orchestrator Orchestration Integration Toolkit, it fails and logs an event ID 10005.

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Symptoms

When attempting to using System Center 2012 Configuration Manager to Remote Control a system, the connection fails. The Remote Control log and CmRcService.log indicate the following failure:

“WT_CompleteIO failed. Network shutdown : Unknown error (Error: C0000120; Source: Unknown)”

Cause

Certain User Configurations for Remote Desktop Gateway block the remote control session from successfully connecting. The User Configuration settings are:

- Enable connection through RD Gateway: Enabled

o Allow users to change this setting: Enabled

- Set RD Gateway authentication method: Enabled

o Allow users to change this setting: Enabled

o Set RD Gateway authentication method: Use locally logged-on credentials

- Set RD Gateway server address: Enabled

o Allow users to change this setting: Enabled

o Set RD Gateway server address: (enter generic FQDN)

Example screenshot of settings:

Resolution

To resolve this issue, either do not configure User Configuration settings for Remote Desktop Gateway (leaving them as “not configured” as opposed to “enabled”) or specify the RDS Gateway settings as part of the Remote Desktop Connection client user interface in the .rdp file.

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

2716965 - Remote Control fails with error C000012 in System Center 2012 Configuration Manager

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

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