Omar's Blog on Systems Management: Blog

Task sequence media and storage best practise

Tue, 08 Jul 2008 11:28:02 GMT

When you create your Task Sequence Media (e.g. when you want to deploy your images offline) and all goes well, you'll probably wonder why I'm getting excited about a little thing as the location SCCM uses to store the packages temporarily during compilation.

It's the temp folder under your user profile (%USERPROFILE%\Local Settings\Temp). In a test environment that brought me into trouble because my system drive had not enough disk space (you get a 0x80070070 error that states that SCCM failed to stage {PackageCode} in your CreateTSMedia.log). So depending how much stuff you need to pile into your image, the temp folder can easily grow to the size of the content of your average desktop / laptop system drive.

From a network perspective, it's interesting to understand what happens when you are working from a administrative desktop with your SCCM console. If you start to build your offline task media all necessary files and packages will be copied over the network into your %USERPROFILE%\Local Settings\Temp. Then if you selected a remote share on the network to store your images on, all that data (as one or more ISO files) will travel a second time over the network. And what happens if you decide to burn the ISO on your local DVD burner? I guess you get the point ...

So what could you do as a best practise? You could consider the following:

SCCM has currently no native way to configure an alternative location for the temporary store. The only thing you could do is change the user variable %USERPROFILE%\Local Settings\Temp to another location.
Create a local share on your desktop and use it as the target directory for your ISO. This will limit network access to the minimum during the ISO creation and if you want to burn it on DVD's.

SCCM Certificate Infrastructure example and checklist

Mon, 09 Jun 2008 13:13:51 GMT

Microsoft has published a few technet articles about the Certificates that are neccesary to have SCCM run in Native mode. They provide guidelines and a example setup of the certificate infrastructure. You can find it at http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb680312(TechNet.10).aspx

A Blog @ MyITForum.com!

Mon, 09 Jun 2008 13:08:55 GMT

At the MMS 2008 I've got an invitation from Rod Trent to start a blog at MyITForum.com. Ain't that cool? As soon as I have a little more time I'll be posting my first entry over there.

Minke: de brief uit Atascadero is voor mij

Wed, 04 Jun 2008 20:46:21 GMT

Minke, ik kan je geen mail sturen, maar de brief uit Atascadero is voor mij. Hij is van mijn oom en tante naar aanleiding van het overlijden van mijn vader. Laat aub een berichtje achter hoe ik je kan bereiken.

Ruff month...

Tue, 03 Jun 2008 09:07:02 GMT

It was a ruff month: the day I came home from MMS, my father passed away. After a week of arrangements and the funeral, I took some time off to spend two weeks in Spain with my family. I'm back now and I'll be taking up the postings and blogs soon again

SCCM R2 and SoftGrid Highlight review

Wed, 30 Apr 2008 19:58:18 GMT

The full integration of MAV 4.5 (SoftGrid) and SCCM and how well it is done really makes me happy. I have made a short high light report on the most important points they have presented during MMS 2008.

Infrastructure integration

the current SVAS infrastructure has been integrated into SCCM 2007 R2. By using HTTP and Virtual directories, it is now possible to stream any application from a IIS based Distribution Point.
HTTP streaming: SVAS used RTSP RTP protocols to manage streaming. The session I attended wasn't suitable to ask the presenter to elaborate on how streaming was controlled via HTTP. I'll add some info at this point when I know more!

Console integration

All deployment activities are integrated into the SCCM console. MSFT took care to have all former SG UI actions to deploy applications to look like the regular work you do in SCCM when you deploy a classic application. Changes have been made to the Advertisements interface to allow streaming from an available distribution point. The DP properties window now contains a 'Streaming' tab to enable / disable streaming.

Managed installation / deinstallation will only be available for virtualized applications, so if you are a package specialist and you do understand which way the word is coming to: You know which training / specialization you should choose.

Attached Knowledge Services technology compairs performance of your organization to others anonymously..

Wed, 30 Apr 2008 18:39:16 GMT

During the second day keynote of MMS 2008, Bratt Anderson introduced a new concept that will launch as a Service Enabled environment, called a attached service (e.g. WSUS) . This solution is still in beta and goes by the name of Attached Knowledge Services technology.

The solution is focused on creating decision/business information about the effectiveness / innovation factor between organizations. Bratt Anderson described it in a recognizable way: the answer to questions about 'how are we doing IT versus other organizations? This information will be generated by SC family products: If you participate your SCCM / SCOM etc. environent generates data and will be send anonymously to a microsoft Inet location. The information will display KPI of your organisation in comparison to other organizations level of technology. This should give decision makers information on where they stand in comparison to their compatitor companies.

It seems an easy way for the IT pro to use this service as a foundation for roadmapping and to base future investments on it. But I get a little scaired with the idea that this information miht fall in the wrong hands... .

Intel AMT technology makes SCCM even better

Wed, 30 Apr 2008 18:36:28 GMT

During the second day key note of MMS 2008, the enhancements that will be available for SCCM R2 in combination with Intel Advanced Management Technology (AMT) were made very clear. A demo showed a few scenario's that will need on site support, but with AMT that could be history.

On the part of Out of band management:

Using a serial console, it is possible to control a system in the pre-boot environment so that BIOS setup can be done remotely
In data recovery scenario's, it is possible to boot the system remotely off a file. This will make possible that even local data can be saved remotely

One of the best parts is that AMT integrates with AD and uses Kerberos for Out of Band management

SCOM: Cross Platform Management

Wed, 30 Apr 2008 18:19:59 GMT

From my collegue Walter Eikenboom:

For SCOM 2007 he announced the Cross platform Agents and Management pack for SCOM 2007. With this announcement he made a big step into monitoring heterogeneous environment with the look and feel of the Windows Server platform.

For the whole story visit the Buit.org website at http://www.buit.org/2008/04/30/scom-2007-cross-platform-monitoring-announcement-mms/

MMS 2008: Generation -Y and 'That Old Admin guy'...

Wed, 30 Apr 2008 18:14:45 GMT

The keynote for the second day of MMS 2008 was presented by Brad Anderson, GM of the Management and Solutions division and focussed on the the challenges for IT for delivering service in the future. One of the key elements will be the next generation users who aren't afraid of computers; they grew up with it and experience 'mobility' as a part of their daily routine. Or as Brad put it: Now the Client is the User.... .

Their expectations of the service an IT organization should give are parrtially defined by the way they are used to use technology. They use their home pc, cellphone, laptop or office PC transparantly, which challenges the way the IT organization manages application deployment and data availability. Security, Centralization and Virtualization were again keywords where the solutions from the System Center family were used as examples how to get things done (Xen Desktop virtualization, SoftGrid App virtualization, Terminal Services, NAP, DCM) in a controlled environment (e.g. the Domain) with managed systems. If you are interested in a managed workspace solution that already has all these components integrated, please visit the Getronics FRW site.

I expect that this 'evolution' of the user will be becoming far more complicated than we are able to solve now. I am already involved in projects where organisations are being confronted with unmanaged clients and still need to deliver applications and services to what I call 'Alienated Environments'. In the next couple of weeks I will try to write some articles about the issues and possible scenario's, for example the challenges of "Bring your own hardware" environments.

For a full annotation of Brad's keynote see Joseph Hinkle's article

The Virtual Data Center: VMM will manage VI3 infrastructure

Tue, 29 Apr 2008 18:57:02 GMT

In het first key note of MMS 2008, VP Bob Muglia talked about Dynamic IT: Transforming Management and the Data Center. He confirmed that most of us already understood: Virtualization is the way to go, especially for Data Center environments. The announcement of the VM Manager Beta 2 release was followed by a short demo that showed SCVMM managing a heterogenous VM environment of Windows Hyper-V and ESX servers. For ESX, VM Man drills into the VM tools installed on the VM machine so you are actually able to perform a guest-OS migration between ESX host servers.

OMG - I'm in 'RodneyVision'!!

Tue, 29 Apr 2008 14:13:31 GMT

At the MMS 2008 Exhibitioners opening party of last night, I ran into Rodney and his camera team and got interviewed. Rodney is the stand-up comedian who does all daily intro's @ MMS. I wasn't that sober anymore, so I wonder what it's going to be after they have edited....

Auwch!

SCOM: OpsMan Authoring Console released

Tue, 29 Apr 2008 14:07:25 GMT

At MMS 2008 Microsoft announced the release of the SCOM Authoring Console. The current methode (using notepad) for creating xml for Model Based Management was too difficult and did not support off-line action. This should give you the highlights:

Online / Offline authoring in SCOM
simplified by using wizards for service and health models

Microsoft expects great opportunities for software manufacturers and specialists to build customized models for their environments.

2010: A System Center Odyssey

Mon, 28 Apr 2008 23:48:29 GMT

Without disclosing any extra information, I can only the year 2010 will be a big year for System Center with the release of new versions. So get better reserve some money for your 2010 + budget !

SCCM SDK Arraybbuilder scheduled task

Mon, 28 Apr 2008 23:43:46 GMT

During MMS 2008, Microsoft partner DELL showed a add-on to the SCCM OS deployment tasks. Based on the SCCM SDK, they have build the array builder which configures your disk array during OSD task sequence. The most brilliant part was that the task was highly flexible: depending on the ammount of disks detected, the raid configuration could be set. For instance, if a raid set of six disks was detected, the task sequence would arrange the disks as 2x RAID 1, 3x RAID 5 and one hot spare. The same task could be used for other disk configurations, consequently configuring the raidset as defined. HP and IBM have co-operated too, providing similar task sequences for their hardware.

This tool I think looked awsome and would love to use it, but it seems that this SDK is only planned for (OEM) partners

erratum: I got the following mail from Jim Dempsey:

"Your statement that the SCCM SDK is not planned for public release is incorrect. It has been available for public download for over a month: http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyId=064A995F-EF13-4200-81AD-E3AF6218EDCC&displaylang=en . If you're talking about the OEM toolkit, that's a different story, and I don't really have any information on it other than the fact that it was created using the standard SDK. So even if it is not available other than to OEMs, you can still accomplish the same things with the SDK."

I would like to thank Jim for correcting this part. All I can say is that the session I attended was quite confusing because the presenter added some humor and other statements during his presentation that I must have misunderstood. The folks at DELL told me that they are going to add some of they task sequences to their Website shortly just for 'evaluation resons'.

MMS 2008: SCSM gets three databases!

Mon, 28 Apr 2008 23:32:01 GMT

At MMS 2008 the SCSM team opened up about the issues that resulted in a reset of the SC Service Manager. Poor performance (database tables) and tooling that did not worked as well as thought up, meant a complete redo of SCSM.

One of the redesigned features of SCSM is that the system can/will use three databases:

CMDB: this database will contain all assets (SCCM / SCOM will provide extensive data)

Datawarehouse: this database will contain all workflows etc.

Reporting: This database will provide the reporting services for SCSM. This database will probably also be used for sustaining CMDB information that is being discarted form de the actual CMDB database.

SMS 2003 support update: Extended support ends January 2015

Fri, 18 Apr 2008 13:13:41 GMT

As mentioned in an earlier blog, Systems Management Server (SMS) 2003 and Systems Management Server 2003 R2 will transition from Mainstream Support to Extended Support on January 12, 2010. Extended Support will now end on January 13, 2015. Both the Mainstream and Extended Support dates were extended once the follow-on product, System Center Configuration Manager 2007, was released to manufacturers

Server 2003 mainstream support ends 2010

Fri, 18 Apr 2008 13:03:22 GMT

Microsoft announced today Windows Server 2003 and Windows Server 2003 R2 – Mainstream Support Ends July 13, 2010, Extended Support Ends July 14, 2015
Windows Server 2003 and Windows Server 2003 R2 will transition from Mainstream Support to Extended Support on July 13, 2010. Extended Support for both will end on July 14, 2015. This date was announced because the follow-on product, Windows Server 2008, was released to manufacturers on February 4, 2008.

This transition timeline is in line with the Support Lifecycle policy, which states that Mainstream Support for Business and Developer products will be provided for either five years or for two years after the successor product (N+1) is released, whichever is longer.

for more information see http://support.microsoft.com/lifecycle

Getting ready for MMS 2008

Mon, 14 Apr 2008 13:38:39 GMT

It has been a while since I posted to this blog. Due to personal circumstances and my involvement with a new developmentproject within our company, blogging became a second or even thirth level priority. Anyway, buzz will fade away this week and at the end of this month: Viva MMS2008 Las Vegas!

From that time on I hope to blog some usefull and interesting articles from 'the Mother of all Management Conventions'. I would be suprised as this will be the last year to be called MMS since there is much more focus on the whole of the System Center family. Eitherway some points on my agenda I am looking forward to:

The Invitee only sessions on monday
The MyITforum party (I do hope they didn't change the buttons, I still have mine from last year...)
Getting in touch with the guys and girls again (Marc, Anthony C., April, Rod, I hope to see you there!)
beefjerkey (Costs a fortune in Europe, but with the current dollar I''ll be shipping it back to the max. Probably will be gone in three weeks)

See you at MMS 2008?

Mon, 03 Mar 2008 18:29:33 GMT

Today the approval for my attendance @ MMS 2008 came through. I hope to meet some of you there. @ Rod Trent: Save me a button!

Service Manager delayed untill Q2 2010

Wed, 13 Feb 2008 14:48:05 GMT

On Monday 11th February Microsoft announced that the Service Manager’s planned release has been delayed until the first half of 2010. A refresh of the Service Manager beta will be released towards the end of 2008. The reason for the delay is the feedback for beta 1 and can be summarized as a need to:

Improve the performance of the product
Provide improved integration across System Center

Senior Product Marketing Manager for SCSM Paul Ross comments the delay: "I’m confident that our strategy for Service Manager is going to provide the capabilities that our customers are asking for in terms of the IT service desk, deep integration across System Center products, and support for service management process frameworks such ITIL or MOF. I know any delay is unfortunate, but we must ensure that the product is ready on day one, rather than deliver a product that has to be changed once it is deployed in customers' environments."

Many thanks to my friend and colleague Gerben pointing out to http://blogs.technet.com/systemcenter/archive/2008/02/07/system-center-service-manager-update.aspx

SCCM R2 Beta release with SoftGrid integration!

Wed, 13 Feb 2008 10:13:00 GMT

Together with the SP1 beta release, Microsoft has also decided to publish the ConfigMan R2 beta for Beta Participants. And one of the biggest ones for this year: Application virtualization is added! I'll be quick so I will not drewl over my keyboard :-)

What's new for SCCM 2007 R2?

Application Virtualization Management support
Forefront Client Security Integration
SQL REporting Services Reporting - Allows you to report on ConfigMan activity using Reporting Services
Client Status Reporting that provides a set of tool and ConfigMan reports to asses status of client computers (Client health)
OS deployment enhancements like:
- Unknown computer support without adding computer infomation to the SCCM database
- Multicast Support (about time ;-))
- Running command lines in Task Sequences with credentials other than the Local System account
Support for new Intel Vpro based network cards (no more issues with Network switches / routers).

SCCM 2007 Service Pack 1 available for Beta participants

Wed, 13 Feb 2008 09:57:45 GMT

Microsoft has released the beta versions for SCCM 2007 Service Pack (SP) 1 and R2. These are not public (yet) but to give a general idea:

What's new in SCCM 2007 SP 1

Introduction of a new feature for Out of Band management
The Length of the evaluation period has changed in Configuration Manager 2007 SP1 to be more consistent with other Microsoft products. In Configuration Manager 2007, the evaluation period is 120 days. In Configuration Manager 2007 SP1, the evaluation period is 180 days
The Application Compatibility Toolkit (ACT) Connector and the System Center Updates Publisher are no longer included with the Configuration Manager 2007 SP1 installation media
Microsoft System Center Configuration Manager 2007 SP1 provides support for Windows Server 2008 as clients and site systems

Note: Windows 2008 does not include WebDAV by default, which is needed for Management Points (MP) and Distribution Points (DP)

SMS 2003: Mainstream support until January 2010

Tue, 12 Feb 2008 11:40:35 GMT

Microsoft has published new information on SMS 2003 support for the near future. Mainstream support has been extended to january, 2010.

Originaly the support for SMS 2003 and SMS 2003 R2 was planned to go off mainstream support from April 19th, 2009. Due to the release of SCCM, Microsoft has decided to extend this period. A prolonged support program will be offered until 2015.

For more information, see http://support.microsoft.com/gp/lifean29

SCSM: All quiet at the Service Manager front?

Tue, 22 Jan 2008 09:40:02 GMT

It has been a while since Microsoft has released any information about System Center Service Manager. The product team of Ken van Hyning and Stefan Negritolu (ITIL integration lead) had released their first (and only) public beta in june 2007. I have been told that there has been 'a reset with the project' and more information will follow @ MMS 2008. Understandably, there was no much more elaboration on the reasons for this situation.

At MMS 2007 it looked like if the SM team (and I do hope that MSFT does not change the product name ) had their stuff together. but I remember the discussion at the thursday session (it was about the database) where the 'techies' were confronted with the 'process' people. After a quite well executed presentation, a young lady came up to the Microphone and asked: "What do you consider to be the configuration database?" - The presenters looked startled and there was applause from the audience...

In basic: SCSM will use (or would? Let's go on in present tense) a single database for storing process information (eg. the call logged from the SD rep, RfC's, Asset information) and it's own operational information (e.g. workflows how to get from a software request to automaticly deploy the software using SC ConfigMan). The core of the question was: who owns the process information an can it - from a formal standpoint - be contained in one database? This caviat could become a mayor issue if you want to implement SCSM in an ITIL compliant organization.

Ownership will be a principal discussion. In ITIL, the process (Change Management Asset Management etc. - and it's information) is owned by the relevant manager. Operational procedures are mostly executed by administrators or 'officers'. These people are in charge of controlling and verifying are are often non-technical specialists or back-office personel. ITIL is quite strong on the part of separating procedure and IT-operations. This implies that no single database can be used to store both.

Another aspect is the fact that the data that is generated , is becoming 'business information'. The cumulative information from the processes (e.g. a Change process answers in general "Who-When-Where-What-How Much?), can give some insight on the financial 'household' of the IT department. Especially good asset management and release management can be money savers. Imagine Clickmaster J. owning your asset information and all accompanied cost-center information? I don't think so!

Of course the techies came up with technical solutions as database partitioning and a security context but that is not the answer. You can delegate control over an OU to Clickmaster J. but that does not mean that he is really responsible. Formally, at the end the AD admin is. And that is what ITIL is essentially all about: Formality to sustain that open view on IT operations and avoid actions that might knock-out the core business of your organization.

Let's wait untill MMS 2008 to see if the SM team will 'take the pain to gain' and if they will adress this issue.

SCCM: Maintenance Windows Explained

Mon, 21 Jan 2008 19:37:36 GMT

In ConfigMgr there is a new feature that hasn’t gotten much attention called Maintenance Windows. This is a feature that I have heard numerous requests for and it gets a bit closer to the infamous ‘Big Red Button’.

SCCM: International Client Packs (ICP) available

Wed, 16 Jan 2008 07:23:08 GMT

Finally, they 're here!

ICP's are used to present the SCCM client interface in the same language as the client locale. So your French and German collegues will be happy again! Dowload can be done at

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=9DF19109-C067-46C7-89F6-1B3D17D6F615&displaylang=en

SCCM: PXE Service Point setup procedure

Tue, 15 Jan 2008 12:53:31 GMT

By request, a step-by-step procedure how to configure a PSP. I'll presume that you will add the PSP role on one of your current Site Systems, otherwise you need to know how to add a new Site System to a Site.

On the Site System (Windows 2003 SP 2) server that will act as the PSP, go to Add or Remove Programs (Control Panel), Add/Remove Windows components and select Windows Deployment Services. Click next to start the installation. Keep installation source at hand, the wizard will ask for it's location. At the end of the installation, click Finish and reboot the server.
After reboot is complete Do Not Configure WDS using any GUI that is added during installation.
From the SCCM console select the site system and add the PSP role. Verify that no errors have occurred using status messages and logs.
From the SCCM console deploy the boot-images to the SMSPXEIMAGES$ share that is mentioned in the Distribution Point wizard. If you have multiple PSP in your environment, you will see multiple SMSPXEIMAGES$ shares (on different servers ;-)).
As a final check, verify if the REMINST share is available on your PSP's. You'll find the SMSPXEIMAGES$ share as a subdir.

SCCM: No DHCP offer for PXE boot (bare metal) in a central DHCP / local PSP environment

Tue, 15 Jan 2008 11:11:57 GMT

Just a benign issue, but when you are starting with SCCM OS deployment, it is a good one to look up for troubleshooting

I just got off the phone talking to one of my infra architect collegues who is responsible for the design and realization of a new environment. I contributed with my first SCCM design, including PSP (WDS) functionality for all locations, but with a central DHCP. In this case you need extra IP helpers to forward DHCP requests to the central DHCP and to the local PSP.

When trying to deploy a new OS to a 'bare metal' system, they ran into the situation that they did not get a DHCP offer for that system. They first thought it might be a problem with the DHCP forwarders, but all other production systems worked well. They discovered that the system wasn't added to the SCCM database, which caused the PSP not to react to the request.

SCCM: PXE Service Point (PSP) installation issues

Mon, 14 Jan 2008 22:40:43 GMT

Setting up a PXE Service Point (PSP) for the first time in SCCM can be quite confusing. The SCCM help files contain quite a lot of information. But for me, the information on how to configure components as WDS or WSUS is too limited. I found the correct procedure on the SCCM newsgroup but that did not save me from some interesting issues that one might run in to.

I Hosted my RIS service on the same server was hosting my SMS 2003 server ) and that went well. For SCCM (Tried to upgrade, went sour and did a clean install of SCCM) I needed the WDS service, so I installed SVR 2003 SP2 as prereq for SCCM and upgraded my RIS installation. WRONG!

If you plan to host your PSP on the same machine that is currently your RIS/WDS server, I would recommend to transfer this functionality to another machine for the time being. SCCM PSP and 'flat' RIS/WDS solutions do not work together well because both will want to answer to PXE requests, but WDS was first… . The funny part is that you can actually activate the PSP role and setup the SCCM boot image distribution point (SMSPXEIMAGES$) that will be created under the existing REMOTEINSTALL directory (REMINST share), but ‘Nice try – No cigar’. Yet.

I did the URIA tango (Uninstall-Reboot-Install-Again) a few times for WDS service (thought I had to configure it, but no, just install it and do not touch any WDS interface) and finally activated the PSP role when I noticed that the component failed to install (PXEMSI.log: Error 25020. Setup failed because it could not configure WDS. The error code is 0004005’)

It seemed that the URIA's for WDS caused the creation of multiple Remote Install folders on different drives of my SCCM server. After removing these and underlaying folders (check if the REMINST share and SMSPXEIMAGES$ shares are deleted!) and a final WDS URIA the PXE service point installed correct.

BTW: When you activate the PSP role, it will create the remoteinstall and underlaying SMSPXEIMAGES$ share on the disk with the highest amount of free disk space. I have not tried to place no_sms_on_drive.sms to counter this behaviour. But would it not be nice to configure this through the SCCM interface?

Microsoft starts survey for SMS V5 feature set

Wed, 26 Dec 2007 18:50:11 GMT

The Microsoft SMS V5 design team has started a survey to establish a feature prioritization list for SMS V5 (SCCM 2009?). During MMS 2006 there were already some informal chats about SMS v5 with members of the v4 design team, but for all I know, this is the first official communication to selected customers and partners about SCCM 2009 content. The survey contains items that span the current operational fuctionality that SCCM provides. Some of these features feel so 'natural' in extending current fuctionality, it almost feels like these are 'left-overs' that did not make it for the SCCM 2007 release.

More remarkable are tems that can only be described as an practical approach to easily integrate management processes like Change and Release management (ITIL) or even Risk Management. Wow..!

SCCM: multiple PXE Service Point deployment considerations

Tue, 18 Dec 2007 14:22:40 GMT

It is quite likely that your current network infrastructure has been designed to keep all intensive network data within the LAN (e.g. your distribution points @ office locations). If you are considering the same for OS deployment, you might want to plan a PXE Service Point (PXE SP) on each office location and prevent running the boot-image over the WAN. Ease of implementation will depend on the way you have deployed your DHCP services.

The PXE PS depends on the Windows Deployment Service (WDS) that is in general responsible for the answering to PXE requests and hosting boot /OS images. Within the Microsoft DHCP service, these requests are part of the DHCP broadcast of a DHCP client for an authorized DHCP server to offer a IP address. So ease of deployment will be depending on your Infra Architecture.

In general there are two types of DHCP implementations: a central DHCP service that services all sites, or a multiple DHCP servers that service designated sites / locations. If you are using the decentralised DHCP service model and you are not going to install the PXE SP on the same server that hosts the DHCP service, you are quickly done. After running the PSP role wizard the PSP will use parts of the underlying WDS service to listen to DHCP broadcasts with TFTP service requests. After receiving a IP-address you can hit [F12] (or run that advertised task using WOL - really cool) and start OS deployment.

If you are using a central DHCP service, you probably use the IP helper table of your routers to pointcast the DHCP broadcast to the Central DHCP. To successfully resolve PXE requests to the 'remote PXE SP' you have to add IP helpers that will simultaniously pointcast DHCP broadcasts to the 'remote PXE SP'.

The use of IP Helpers is Microsoft's preferred way to route DHCP broadcasts in stead of using DHCP options. For more information on how to manage PXE requests and DHCP, check the WDS white paper, Chapter 5.

Just for the record: Don't configure WDS using any interface. SCCM will take care of that.

Fix for SMS_OFFER_STATUS_SUMMARIZER error in SCCM coming...

Thu, 06 Dec 2007 11:10:49 GMT

from Rod Trent's blog @ MyITforum.com:

Good evening all,

Please don't light up the phones to support quite yet, but the hotfix for this issue has been built and tested.

This is a long note but I wanted to cover the details for you all.

KB945898 is the article to reference, it is not quite live yet as we're finishing review, but I'll cover the highlights below.

Within the next 1-2 hours (should be no later than ~9:30PM EST tonight) the fix will be available via a call to support to have them send you the hotfix.

Simultaneously we're releasing this to the download center, but that could take another 24 hours. If that release estimate changes in either direction I will again let you all know.

SCCM: No advertisement status / SMS_Offer_Status_Summerizer does not start / No Component Status

Wed, 05 Dec 2007 23:29:59 GMT

Since the beginning of this month I noticed that the SCCM advertisement status is not being revised or visible for certain advertisements. Futher more when checking the SCCM offersum.log, there is a strange error message containing:

>> Tally 00011280001F2000. New Start Time: 12/01/2007 00:00:00, New Expire Time: 12/08/2007 00:00:00

>> An exception was raised: Unspecified error

Other syptoms:

- Offer status is no longer processed and .SVF files begin to backlog in the \inboxes\offersum.box folder on a site server.

- Advertisement Status node does not show newly added advertisements

- Component Status thread State is stopped and no updates on errors, warnings and information take place.

- Symptoms mentioned occur after december 1st, 2007

Microsoft is aware of the situation and I found this post with a reaction of Wally Mead:

Microsoft is aware of the offer status issue affecting System Center Configuration Manager 2007 (SCCM) customers.

The typical symptom is that offer status is no longer processed and .SVF files begin to backlog in the \inboxes\offersum.box folder on a site server.

Offersum.log shows entries similar to the following are noted:

---

---->: Tally 00011280001F2000. New Start Time: 12/01/2007 00:00:00, New Expire Time: 12/08/2007 00:00:00

---->: An exception was raised: Unspecified error

Warn>: Could not initialize the summarizers properties.

---

This issue came about starting December 1, 2007 due to an incorrect date calculation in the Offer Status Summarizer component and will affect all SCCM sites (both evaluation and licensed RTM version).

There are currently no supported workarounds to this issue.

Some customers have reported modification of the Site Control file have made the issue appear to go away, but this is not supported and the long term ramifications currently unknown.

A hotfix for this issue is under development at the highest priority.

The current plan of record is that once built and tested, the fix will be made available via the hotfix self-service portal so that a call to CSS will not be required to obtain it.

Further information, including the KB article number, how to obtain the fix, and all relevant detail, will be sent back out to the community when ready.

Any changes to the release plan and any schedule updates will be communicated as well.

*********************************************************

I have nothing else I can add to this. I do NOT know when the hotfix will be available. And as you see above, there is NO workaround for this. You just have to live with it until we get a hotfix available.

Please do not create additional posts on this issue, it will only make more posts we have to respond to with the same answer. AS SOON AS THE HOTFIX IS AVAILABLE, I'LL UPDATE THIS POST.

Thanks,

Wally

Windows Server 2008 RTM in 8 flavours with and without Hyper-V 'beta bit' topping...

Mon, 12 Nov 2007 19:33:07 GMT

Microsoft's Brad Anderson anounced that Microsoft plans to introduce 8 versions of Windows Server 2008 around February 2008. The Standard edition, Enterprise edition and Datacenter edition will be available with or without Hyper-V (aka "Hypervisor"). The Windows 2008 Web Server edition and the version for Itanium processors will remain as non-Hyper-V edition.

"The Hyper-V code will still be in Beta during RTM of Windows Server 2008, but we can expect the final code within 180 days available through an update".

Prices are $999 for the standard edition with Hyper-V ($971 without). Enterprise goes for $3,999 with Hyper-V, but you can save 21 bucks by ordering it without the VM environment. Datacenter licenses are 2,999 per processor.

IT Forum 2007 Barcelona: System Center @ the center

Mon, 12 Nov 2007 19:09:22 GMT

During IT Forum 2007 Barcelona www.buit.org reports about a demo where System Center Virtual Machine Manager (SCVMM) is used to manage Virtual Server 2006, Hyper-V and also VMware ESX from one single console.

Can we expect this span of control for other SC products? Just imagine:

Managing Altiris through SCCM 2007?
Managing and controlling HPOV components directly through SCSM?

Citaat

War on VM starts

IT Forum Barcelona 2007: Announcing....

Mon, 12 Nov 2007 19:02:24 GMT

Windows Server 2008 / SQL2008 / Visual Studio 2008 will be launched on Feb. 27th next year. This is a joint launch with a phased product release. This launch will be the biggest launch event ever, split up in 300 events and will have a reach of 15.000.000 people.

Some other Announcements:

The new virtual server role in Server 2008 (Viridian) has lost its codename and will be called Hyper-V. The server running this role will be Hyper-V Server.
Next t o Windows Server 2008 there will also be 2 servers for small businesses, called Windows Small Business Server 2008 (75 seats) & Windows Essential Business Server 2008 (300 seats)
In the summer of 2008 Microsoft will release Microsoft Application Virtualization formally known as SoftGrid.
Business Desktop Deployment (BDD) will be renamed to Windows Deployment and will be capable to deploy clients as well servers.

IT Forum 2007 Barcelona: New Trends

Mon, 12 Nov 2007 18:58:26 GMT

This year I did not have the opportunity to attend Tech Ed 2007, Microsoft's only large venue in Europe. Colleagues Eric Luppes and Jeroen Janssens (Speaker @ Tech Ed on Groove) are attending and do their reporting @ www.buit.org

During the Keynote, Bob Kelly (Corporate VP Infrastructure Server Marketing) focuses on trends that Microsoft is seeing in the market:

Hardware Performance
Web 2.0
Broadband / Wireless / Mobility form factors

SCCM 2007 now available through TechNet Direct

Tue, 06 Nov 2007 14:57:52 GMT

The SCCM 2007 DVD is currently available for download for Technet Direct subscribers. Time to get started!

SCCM 2007 General Availability @ end of November.

Sun, 21 Oct 2007 20:50:03 GMT

SCCM 2007 has been released since the end of August and a evaluation version is available for download at the Microsoft System Center website. I do not mind using eval versions, but for many SMS admins a RTM version will be more apreciated when you want to upgrade your pre-production environment. have been asking sources at Microsoft EMEA and US when to expect RTM for general availability, and that would be end of November using chanels like Technet subscriptions.

If you are interested in a short introduction of a clean installation of SCCM 2007, check the blog of Anthony Clendenen. I'll be posting more frequently from now on and get serious with SCCM after november!

Microsoft Releases SC VM Manager 2007

Mon, 10 Sep 2007 11:58:13 GMT

From the guys PC World:

System Center Virtual Machine Manager 2007, which has been in the works for about a year and a half, has been released to manufacturing and will be generally available in October as part of Microsoft's System Server Management Center suite of products.

Read the story

Microsoft announces SCCM 2007 availability

Mon, 03 Sep 2007 10:43:53 GMT

Microsoft announces the availability of System Center Configuration Manager 2007 on the Systems Management Server homepage. An evaluation version is available for download. Also TechNet has a comprehensive library added for the planning and installation of SCCM.

Download the trail at http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/configmgr/bb736730.aspx and check the documentation at http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb680651.aspx

Silent install scripts for SMS 2003 with SQL 2005 (2)

Tue, 21 Aug 2007 15:06:55 GMT

Second part of my silent installation of an SMS Primary site is set with installing SMS using an *.ini file. Please read the remarks well and test first in an test environment!

Rem *****************************************************
Rem * Setup ini File to install an SMS Primary Site *
Rem *****************************************************

[Identification]
Action=InstallPrimarySite

[Options]
Rem * enable all client agents and options *
AllClientOptionsOn

Rem * Organizational information and Productkey *
FullName=USER NAME
OrgName=ORGANISATION NAME
ProductID=PRODUCTKEY

Rem * Sitecode, name and domain, as in design choice *
SiteCode=
SiteName=
SiteDomain=

Rem * Advanced or standard security as in design choice *
SecurityMode=Advanced

Rem * Estimated number of clients *
NumOfClients=500

Rem * Remote control is neccesary for pre Win XP/2003 *
Rem * or when to log on to locked or idle systems *
Rem * Check your organization's privacy policy on latter *
OptionalUnits=Remote Control

Rem * SMS installation directory *
SMSInstallDir=D:\SMS

Rem * If SQL installation is controlled by this ini, *
Rem * set InstallSQLServer=1. Not preferred method. *
InstallSQLServer=0

Rem * Number of SMS console sessions *
NumberOfAdminUI=5

Rem * Location of SMS provider (Server Name), as in *
Rem * design choice *
SDKServer=

[SQLConfigOptions]

Rem * Set SQL servername (SMS server) and SQL version *
SQLServerName=ServerName
SQLServerVersion=2005

Rem * 1 to have SMS use Windows authentication mode when *
Rem * accessing the SMS site database with Local_System *
Rem * account (SMS server account added to Local Admins *
Rem * group on remote SQL server or use 0 to not use it. *
UseSQLIntegratedSecurity=1

Rem * If Windows Authentification mode is not used, the *
Rem * SMS server needs to access the SMS site database *
Rem * with the configured SA account in SQL *

SQLLoginID=sa
SQLLoginPassword=SA_PWD

Rem * Create database for SMS. set to 0 if existing is *
Rem * used or created using SQL server *
CreateSQLDevice=1

Rem * Set the database name *
DatabaseName=SMS_DataBaseName

Rem * legacy entries for SQL 6.5 funny enough are entries *
Rem * kept within Microsoft example. Just in case... *
DatabaseDevice=SMSdata_DataBaseName
LogDevice=SMSlog_DataBaseName

Rem * A directory path where the SQL Server devices and *
Rem * files used by the site database will be installed *
SQLDevicePath=D:\MSSQL\SMSDATA

Rem * Recommended number of simultaneous connections that *
Rem * the SMS site database can have... *
NumberOfSqlConnections=75

Rem * Set 1 to automatically configure SQL Server connections, *
Rem * Set 0 to not automatically configure *
AutoConfigSqlConnections=1

Silent install scripts for SMS 2003 with SQL 2005 (1)

Tue, 21 Aug 2007 15:03:36 GMT

It has been a while since my last entry. I have enjoyed a rather disappointing holiday on the Belgium Coast but now I am fresh and eager to start with SCCM 2007, which should have been out a few days ago... . Seems like I missed on that one. Anyway, it is time to say goodbye to all SMS 2003 implementations and thats why I want to share with you the installation scripts I use for Installing SQL 2005 and SMS 2003 SP2 and catch some rest during the time. First part is a command file that installs and configures SQL 2005 and installs SMS based on an *.ini file. Make sure you have all sources on a share and use a test environment to check things first because you will be responsible!

@echo off
Rem *****************************************************
Rem * Setup CMD File to install an SMS Primary Site *
Rem *****************************************************

Rem *********************************************************************
Rem * This section installs the Windows 2003 Support Tools. This is *
Rem * only neccesary when SQL Service is not running under local System *
Rem * account to configure Server Principal Name (SPN) with setSPN.exe *
Rem *********************************************************************

Echo Installing the Windows 2003 Support Tools

msiexec /i "\\SERVERNAME\SHARE\W2k3SupportTools\SUPTOOLS.msi" /quiet

Echo Installed Successfully

Rem *************************************************************
Rem * This section installs the SQL Server 2005 Database Engine *
Rem * Check if all accounts are configured and active in AD     *
Rem * When Local System account is used, delete all             *
Rem * account instances except SAPWD entry and replace it by    *
Rem * SQLACCOUNT="NT AUTHORITY\SYSTEM"                          *
Rem *************************************************************

Echo Installing SQL Server 2005 Database Engine

\\SERVERNAME\SHARE\SMSSQL2k5\Disc1\Setup.exe /qb INSTANCENAME=MSSQLSERVER ADDLOCAL=SQL_Engine,Connectivity,SQLXML,SQL_Documentation,SQL_Tools90 SAPWD=SA-P@ssw0rd0! SQLACCOUNT=DOMAINNAME\SQLSERVICEACCOUNT SQLPASSWORD=PW_SQLSERVICEACCOUNT AGTACCOUNT=DOMAINNAME\SQLAGENTACCNT AGTPASSWORD=PW_SQLAGENTACCNT SQLBROWSERACCOUNT=DOMAINNAME\SQLBROWSERACCNT SQLBROWSERPASSWORD=PW_SQLBROWSERACCNT

Echo Installed Successfully

Rem ****************************************************************
Rem * This section installs the SQL Server 2005 Client Componenets *
Rem ****************************************************************

Echo Installing the SQL Server 2005 Client Components

\\SERVERNAME\SHARE\SMSSQL2k5\Disc2\Setup.exe /qb ADDLOCAL=Client_Components

Echo Installed Successfully

Rem ********************************************************
Rem * This section installs the SMS Primary Site *
Rem ********************************************************

Echo Installing the SMS Primary Site

\\SERVERNAME\SHARE\SMS2003\smssetup\BIN\I386\setup.exe /script SMS2003Setup.ini /quiet

Echo Installed Successully

Rem ********************************************************
Rem * This section installs the SMS 2003 Support Tools *
Rem ********************************************************

Echo Installing the SMS 2003 Toolkit 2

msiexec /i "\\SERVERNAME\SHARE\SMS2003Toolkit2\SMS2003Toolkit2.msi" /quiet

Echo Installed Successfully

Rem *****************************************************************************
Rem * This section creates the SQL Service Principal Names for the SMS Database *
Rem * but can be removed if the server local System Account is used *
Rem *****************************************************************************

Echo Creating the SQL Service Principal Names for the SMS Site Database

C:
cd %programfiles%\"support tools"
setspn -A MSSQLSvc/SERVERNAME.FULLYQUALIFIED.DOMAINNAME:1433 SQLSERVICEACCOUNT
setspn -A MSSQLSvc/SERVERNAME:1433 SQLSERVICEACCOUNT

Echo Created Successfully

Pause

SCCM 2007 RC 1 released

Wed, 18 Jul 2007 18:29:00 GMT

Microsoft has anounced the release of SCCM 2007 RC1 (Build 5831) available through the Connect site for the chosen ones .

Windows Server 2003 Service Pack 2 is now supported for site server and site system roles, and is correctly detected as part of setup prerequisite checking.
SQL Server 2005 Service Pack 2 is now required for the SQL database server role.
Windows Server Update Services 3.0 RTM is now required for the Software Update Point site system role.

SMS 2003 SP3 International Client Packs available

Wed, 04 Jul 2007 12:07:57 GMT

The SMS team has released the International Client Packs (ICP1 + ICP2) for SMS 2003 Service Pack 3 environments. The ICP is there to offer an interface for the SMS client in the same language as the client OS. ICP 1 contains the client in default English or German, Spanish, French and Japanese. The larger ICP 2 contains other supported languages including the earlier mentioned.

ICP's are an add-on to the original Service Pack 3, so this is not a 'wrap-up'.

Download the ICP's at http://www.microsoft.com/technet/sms/2003/downloads/clientpacks/clientpacks.mspx