Skip to main content

Posts

Showing posts from April, 2013

Software Update Management- SCCM 2012

The below post explains the end to end process of software updates management in SCCM 2012 Pre-requisites: 1.  WSUS Server (WSUS 3.0 SP2 ) should be installed on the SCCM site server or if you want to install WSUS on another server, it is important that you install WSUS administration console as the SCCM Server uses API. This  link explains the step by step procedure to install WSUS 3.0 SP2 2. Install SUP-Software Update Point on the SCCM Server . 3. Reporting Services Point: Install reporting services point role as described in this link . 4. Client agent: The software update client agent should be enabled(will be enabled by default) and the settings have to specified as per the requirement. On SCCM console, go to Administration>Site Configuration>Client settings>Right click on Default client settings> Click on Properties. If required, we can create custom client settings and then enable client settings for that settings. Unde

Prerequisites for SCCM 2007 Client Installation:

There are several pre-requisites for installing SCCM 2007 Client successfully. The software version numbers listed here are minimum version numbers only. I have made a list of Pre-requisites that needs  to be checked to have a successful client deployment.     1 . Client Hardware requirements       2 .   OSrequirements        3.   Microsoft Background Intelligent Transfer Service (BITS) version 2.5  BITS is used for bandwidth throttling purpose, there will also be a BITS  service on the system. Follow the steps in this link to determine the version of BITS Note:          On computers running Windows 2000, BITS version 2.0 will be installed.          When BITS is installed on client computers, a restart is generally required. If BITS is being installed during client installation (by CCMSetup.exe), then the client installation is not completed until the computer is restarted. For this reason, it is recommended that you pre-deploy BITS on client computer

Checking MSXML Version

Below steps explain on how to check the version of the MSXML 1.        Go to Run , type “%windir%\System32” 2.        Search for the dll file “msxml(NUMBER).dll”, right click on it and select properties. (Where number= the version ,   check for the highest number available in system32 folder) 3.        Click on Details tab, it will show the version of the MSXML. Here, the product version is 6.30.7601.17988. The minimum MSXML version should be 6.0.3883.0 for SCCM .

Checking Windows Update Agent Version:

Below steps explain how to check the version of the Windows Update agent. 1.Go to Run , type “%windir%\System32” 2.Search for the dll file “wuapi.dll”, right click on it and select properties. 3.Click on Details tab, it will show the version of the Windows update agent.   Here, the product version is 7.6.7600.256. The minimum Windows update agent version should be 7.0.6000.363 for SCCM.

Checking Windows Installer Version

Msiexec is the command for Windows Installer. The below steps can be used to find out the version of Windows installer. 1.Go to  Start>Run>type CMD 2.In the command prompt window, enter “Msiexec /help”. 3.It will open a window with the Windows installer version as shown. Here, the version is 5.0.7601.17514 Note that for SCCM client to be installed, the minimum supported version is 3.1.4000.2435

Configure Client Agent Settings-Post SCCM Installation -Configuration Task 7

Definition: Client agents are SCCM 2007 components that run on top of the base client components. Client agent settings are required in order to manage the SCCM clients. Without enabling the SCCM client agent settings, we cannot manage any systems even though the SCCM client is installed on those machines. Every client agent enables different feature, for example: Software inventory client agent: enables software inventory. Pre-requisites: It varies with the type of client agent that is going to be enabled. Enable and configure Client agent: 1.   In the Configuration Manager console, navigate to   System CenterConfiguration Manager   /   Site Database   /   Site Management   / < site code > - < site name > /   Site Settings   /   Client Agents . 2.   Right-click the client agent that has to be configured, and then click   Properties . 3.   Enable and configure the client agent.Click   OK . There are 11 client agents available with SCCM 2007 SP2

Reporting Point-Post SCCM Installation -Configuration Task 6

Definition: A reporting point is an optional but recommended site server role that hosts files used by Configuration Manager 2007 so that you can see information in reports about the clients you are managing. Reporting points communicate only with the local site database; thus, you implement reporting points only in primary sites, not secondary sites. Pre-requisites:         The site system computer must have Internet Information Services (IIS) installed and enabled.          Active Server Pages must be installed and enabled.          Microsoft Internet Explorer 5.01 SP2 or later must be installed on any server or client that uses Report Viewer.          To use graphs in reports, Office Web Components (Microsoft Office 2000 SP2, Microsoft Office XP, or Microsoft Office 2003) must be installed.          When you install ASP.NET on a Windows Server 2008 operating system reporting point, you must also manually enable Windows Authentication. Note: Office Web Co

Configure fallback status point -Post SCCM Installation -Configuration Task 5

Definition: The fallback status point is an optional but recommended site system role that helps you manage clients and identify any client-related problems. It receives state messages from Configuration Manager 2007 clients when they install and when they fail to communicate with a management point. The state messages sent to the fallback status point provide administrators with information about client status. Using the Fallback Status Point for Client Deployment: Examples of state messages a client might send to a fallback status point if it encountered problems during client deployment include the following:     The client failed to install properly (for example, because of incorrect setup options or syntax errors, or because it failed to locate the required files).     The client failed to be assigned to a site.     The client failed to register with its assigned site.     The client failed to locate its management point.     There was a network connectivity

Server Locator Point Requirement-Post SCCM Installation -Configuration Task 4

Definition: Server locator points are used in a Configuration Manager 2007 hierarchy to complete client site assignment on the intranet and help clients find management points when they cannot find that information through Active Directory Domain Services. Use SLP if any of the below conditions prevail: 1. AD Schema is not extended.  2. Clients do not belong to the same AD forest as the site server's forest. 3. Site is not published in AD. 4. Workgroup clients. It is used for: ·         Site assignment for clients. ·         Locating default management points for clients. A server locator point is also required if clients cannot locate the default management point from Active Directory Domain Services, DNS, or WINS. Prerequisite : IIS should be installed. Configuring Server Locator Point: To create a server locator point: 1.        In the Configuration Manager console, navigate to System Center Configuration Manage

Discover Resources-Post SCCM Installation -Configuration Task 3

Discovery Definition: Discovery identifies computer and user resources that can be managed by a Configuration Manager 2007 site. When a resource is discovered, Configuration Manager creates a record in the database for the resource and its associated information called DDR (Data Discovery record) .You must run Discovery before you can install clients by using client push. However, the other client installation methods do not require that you run Discovery. Resources might include systems, users, network devices and groups. To discover resources, you must run at least one discovery method that is suitable for the resource that you want to discover. Use the table in this link to decide which discovery method to configure in SCCM. Prerequisites: Site server computer account should have read permission on Active directory domain services if any of the AD discovery methods are being used. Modify permission for the Site Security object class or instance to conf