Thought of sharing Valuable Videos by Our SCCM Guru Wally Mead from different Locations.Worth Watching it

Since there are many videos from Wally Mead On SCCM 2012 ,Posting all in One post may slow down the browsing of website initially for sometime.so splitting the videos to multiple posts with Tile of the videos in each post.

System Center Configuration Manager 2012 Windows 8 Support, Wally Mead

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0LTMd8H7iqM

ConfigMgr 2012 Software Distribution Part 1 – With Johan

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=15wPybTZvjg

ConfigMgr 2012 Software Distribution Part 2 – With Johan

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_kZf9gtUIkU

Interview with Wally Mead about System Center 2012 Configuration Manager and SP1

 httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n8r_Apm7sgE

SCCM GURU Webcast Series – Episode 1:

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p4BOrAw8noI

Rest Go Through http://eskonr.com/2012/11/sccm-2012-wally-mead-sessions-2/

Justin Gao Documented how to deploy Win 8 Using SCCM 2012 SP1 Beta as System Center 2012 Configuration Manager SP1 beta Supports now.

In this post , Justin documented how to use System Center 2012 Configuration Manager(SCCM 2012) SP1 Beta to deployment Windows 8 .

    Including these parts:

• Configuring a Distribution Point to Support PXE
• Capturing a Reference Computer
• Preparing the Site to Support Operating System Deployment
• Deploying an Operating System Image to a Bare Metal Client
• Installing the Operating System Image on a Bare Metal System

Complete post and download PDF document step by step,available here

P.S:Please use Adobe Reader X or above version to open !

Via http://blogs.technet.com/b/justin_gao/archive/2012/10/07/how-to-use-system-center-2012-configuration-manager-sp1-beta-to-deploy-windows-8.aspx

Our Deployment Master(Johan) Recently posted Hydration Kit for SCCM 2012 SP1 Beta which build your own ConfigMgr 2012 SP1 beta infrastructure, complete with Windows Server 2012 and SQL Server 2012 in either Hyper-V or VMware: One Domain Controller and one ConfigMgr 2012 SP1 Beta member server – Including pre-requisites like .Net Framework, SQL Server 2012 CU2 (or higher) and IIS – all fully automated.

If you have Good Memory and Processor,it takes about 2 Hours to complete the required setup once you Once configured.

Full Details and download link are here http://www.deploymentresearch.com/Research/tabid/62/EntryId/73/The-Hydration-Kit-for-ConfigMgr-2012-SP1-Beta-with-Windows-Server-2012-SQL-Server-2012-is-available-for-download.aspx

Thought of sharing nice post on Task sequence replication issue to child site by Frank Rojas.

Symptoms :

When creating a new Task Sequence or updating an existing Task Sequence on a parent primary site in System Center Configuration Manager 2007, the Task Sequence may not replicate down to child primary sites. Packages and other Task Sequences replicate to the child primary site without issue.

Examining the logs associated with site replication (despool.log, replmgr.log, sched.log, sender.log) on both the parent and child primary sites does not reveal any errors. However examining the distmgr.log on the child primary site reveals the following errors:

Processing incoming file <ConfigMgr_Install_Directory>\inboxes\distmgr.box\INCOMING\<Random>.PKG. SMS_DISTRIBUTION_MANAGER
Adding package <Task_Sequence_ID> to the active package array. SMS_DISTRIBUTION_MANAGER
Adding these contents to the package <Task_Sequence_ID> version <x>. SMS_DISTRIBUTION_MANAGER
Updated replicated package info for package <Task_Sequence_ID> SMS_DISTRIBUTION_MANAGER
Failed to insert SMS Program ID <y> because the referenced program <Software_Package_ID>-<Software_Program_Name> is not present in the PkgPrograms table. Will try later. SMS_DISTRIBUTION_MANAGER
Cannot update the package program for package <Task_Sequence_ID> in the package source, error = 40 SMS_DISTRIBUTION_MANAGER
Removing package <Task_Sequence_ID> from the active package array. SMS_DISTRIBUTION_MANAGER

Cause

This issue is caused by a software package specified in the Task Sequence not replicating down to the child primary site. Any other Task Sequence that also has the problematic software package will also not replicate to child primary sites. However any Task Sequence that does not have the problematic software package will replicate to child primary sites without issues.

The problematic software package will be contained in the distmgr.log in the following line:

Failed to insert SMS Program ID <y> because the referenced program <Software_Package_ID>-<Software_Program_Name> is not present in the PkgPrograms table. Will try later.

Use the package ID and package name to identify the problematic software package.

Please note that not replicating to the child primary site means that information about the software package has not been replicated to the child primary site. It does not mean that the software package has not been copied to the child primary site’s Distribution Point.

There could be several reasons why the software package has not replicated to the child primary site, but usually the cause is that the software package has a bad property in it such as invalid path to its source files.

Read Complete post on http://blogs.technet.com/b/system_center_configuration_manager_operating_system_deployment_support_blog/archive/2012/06/29/a-system-center-configuration-manager-2007-task-sequence-does-not-replicate-to-a-child-site.aspx

OS Deployment and patch management has always been big challenge for many admins around the world. Not just the testing, but also to get the customer image patched made many ConfigMgr admins a lot older .

One of the new features in ConfigMgr 2012 allows you to apply updates to an OS image that’s been imported to the ConfigMgr 2012 library. This feature only supports "Component Based Servicing" (CBS) updates, and can be applied to Windows Vista and above.

To use this feature, navigate to Software Library -> Overview -> Operating Systems –Operating System Images, select the Image that you wish to update, and click Schedule Updates from the ribbon.

Full information, Please read on http://www.ronnipedersen.com/2012/03/configmgr-2012-offline-service-for-os-images/

Frequently we see some issues with sccm clients when PXE boot for OS deployment with some locations(WDS servers) because of IP helpers and to identify the issue is caused because of this,it took some days because we have to check from server side if there are any issues running around.

When attempting PXE boots via a System Center Configuration Manager 2007 PXE Service Point, PXE boots will initially work and succeed but then all of a sudden stop working.  Examining the server where the PXE Service Point and Windows Deployment Services (WDS) are installed reveals that the Windows Deployment Services Server service has crashed and is in a hung state. Attempting to restart the Windows Deployment Services Server service on the WDS server does not resolve the issue. Restarting both the Windows Management Instrumentation and the Windows Deployment Services Server services or restarting the server may temporarily resolve the problem, but the issue will eventually reoccur and WDS will eventually crash again.

Trying to reproduce the issue by continually attempting to PXE boot PCs reveals that although the issue may happen frequently, the issue cannot be reproduced on a consistent basis and that the crashes will happen randomly.

Examining the WDS server where the ConfigMgr 2007 PXE Service Point is installed reveals the following errors in Event Viewer

System Event Log:
<Date> <Time>  Error         <WDS_Server>    Service Control Manager          N/A             N/A                                The Windows Deployment Services Server service terminated unexpectedly.  It has done this <x> time(s).  The following corrective action will be taken in 120000 milliseconds: Restart the service.

Continue in reading the rest of the post Via http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;EN-US;2510665

The SuperFlow interactive content model provides a structured and interactive interface for viewing documentation. Each SuperFlow includes comprehensive information about a specific dataflow, workflow, or process. Depending on the focus of the SuperFlow.

you will find overview information, steps that include detailed information, procedures, sample log entries, best practices, real-world scenarios, troubleshooting information, security information, animations, or other information. Each SuperFlow also includes links to relevant resources, such as Web sites or local files that are copied to your computer when you install the SuperFlow.

The SuperFlow for Configuring Software Updates provides detailed steps that help you to plan for and configure software updates at a site. This SuperFlow also includes troubleshooting information and additional resources that you can use to learn more about configuring software updates in Configuration Manager 2007

Below are SuperFlows currently available covering the following topics:

Configuration Manager 2007 Client Installation and Assignment SuperFlow

Backup and Recovery for Configuration Manager 2007 SuperFlow

Creating SQL Server Reporting Services Report Models in Configuration Manager 2007 SuperFlow

Configuring Software Updates SuperFlow

Software Update Deployment SuperFlow

Software Updates Synchronization SuperFlow

Operating System Deployment via PXE SuperFlow

Though the original post is avilable in windows-noob , having utilised the original task seqeunce, there are slight modifications done to carryout this task which are simple to upgrade WinXP to win7.

To use the existing Task sequence in 64 Bit OS , you will have to create additional packages like USMT and Micrisoft runscanstate pacakges which are used to in exisitng TS.

1. Create a New package“USMT x64 Only” which will point to source directory c:\program files\WAIK\tools\USMT\amd64. Do not create any program for this. MAke it avialble on to DP.

2.Open notepad ,paste the below code and name it as like runscanstate-offlinewindirx64.bat

@set USMT_WORKING_DIR=%~2%\USMTbits\amd64

“%~2\USMTbits\amd64\scanstate.exe” “%~1″ /c /o /hardlink /efs:hardlink /nocompress /offlinewindir:c:\windows /v:5 /l:%~2\windows\TEMP\SMSTSLog\scanstate.log /progress:%~2\windows\TEMP\SMSTSLog\scanstateprogress.log /i:%~2\USMTbits\amd64\miguser.xml /i:%~2\USMTbits\amd64\migapp.xml

Now Create package called “runscanstate-offlinewindirx64″  with program command line “runscanstate-offlinewindirx64.bat” with default avilable options.Make it avialable to DP also.

It assumes that ,u have already created another USMT package which will point to USMT folder (x86,amd64) in c:\program files\WAIK\tools\USMT.

once the above packages are ready , you can import the avilable Task Sequence . Edit the TS to ensure the correct packages are referenced like USMTx64 only,USMT Both version( USMT folder) and scanstate package.

You will also need to make some command line changes in xcopy x64 usmt to usmtbits\amd64 step since i have used the default TS from noob and it tries to copy all the DP pakcages to usmtbits folder so i modified the commands like below as it works fine for me.

The command prompt which i use looks like xcopy %_SMSTSC01000D0%* %systemdrive%\USMTbits\amd64 /herciy Where C01000D0 is package ID of  USMT x64 only.

and another task xcopy runscanstate.bat to usmtbits command looks like xcopy %_SMSTSC0100047%* %systemdrive%\USMTbits /herciy where C0100047 is package ID of runscanstate-offlinewindirx64.

Rest of the process is same,you need to Advertise the above tasksequence to the respective collection and do a WINPE to carryout the task.

Task Sequence is given below with snap shot:

Here are the some of the points which  are summarized on how operating system deployment works in PXE/Media intiated.

How OSD Works on a bare metal System when Media Intiated:

1. Administrator imports the information about the bare metal system to the SCCM database using ”import computer information wizard” If you are not running SCCM 2007 on R2.SMS provider inserts computer info into SCCM Databse (for more info look at SMS provider.log)

2. Admin prepares the task sequence for installation and targets to a collection which contains bare metal machines.If you are on SCCM R2 with service pack ,you can advetise to all Unknown computers.

  2.1  When Admin prepares the TS for OS deployment ,TS provider wakes up to begin processing Task sequence addtion(more info look at task seuence log file).

SMS provider processes TS addtion information. SMSDBMON wakes up and writes .PKN notifacation file to wake up Distrubutoin manager .DP manager process the flag file and furhter process the task sequence addtion.

3. System is booted from SCCM OSD image installation CD .

Wizard retrives and displays list of avilables task sequences. OSD Install CD polls management point for list of avilable task sequence informaiton .

MP retrives assigned  poliies from SCCM Databse. Policy containing the Task sequnce advertisement return to the wizard .Admin selects which to apply.

Task sequence exectues and installs the New OS on target machine.

when the TS engine executes ,it formats the hard disk and apply operating system with Windows and network setings with Drivers and Config Mgr client installed.

How OSD Works on a bare metal System when PXE Boot Intiated:

1. If you have not configured PXE Role on SCCM server,Admin enables PXE service point on WDS Server

2 .Administrator imports informaiton about bare metal system to the SCCM Databse using import computer information wizard,If you are not running SCCM on R2.

3. Admin prepares the task sequence for installation and targets to a collection which contains bare metal machines.If you are on SCCM R2 with service pack ,you can advetise to all Unknown computers.

4.System is PXE Booted(Admin press the F12 during thesystem startup to intiate Network Boot and gets the IP from the DHCP.

System attches to PXE,PXE point intercepts call and provides boot image to begin OSD install process(more info look at wdsserver.log and pxe log)).

5.System is PXE booted from SCCM OSD installation Boot medis.wizard is displayed.

6. When Admin prepares the TS for OS deployment ,TS provider wakes up to begin processing Task sequence addtion(more info look at task seuence log file).SMS provider processes TS addtion information. SMSDBMON wakes up and writes .PKN notifacation file to wake up Distrubutoin manager .DP manager process the flag file and furhter process the task sequence addtion.

7.  System is booted from SCCM OSD image installation CD .

Wizard retrives and displays list of avilables task sequences. OSD Install CD polls management point for list of avilable task sequence informaiton .

MP retrives assigned  poliies from SCCM Databse. Policy containing the Task sequnce advertisement return to the wizard .Admin selects which to apply.

Task sequence exectues and installs the New OS on target machine.when the TS engine executes ,it formats the hard disk and apply operating system with Windows and network setings with Drivers and Config Mgr client installed.

For more information look at http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb632767.aspx

Just want to show you how you can enable Language bar at welcome screen in windows 7 at the left corner topside.

Log into your windows 7 computer 1) Go to control panel ,click on Region and Language shown below with screen shots.

Once you have done the all above changes ,Log off the computer. Next time,when you login ,you should be able to see Language bar on the left side top corner to select which Language.