We have been using different Methods / Scripts to install SMS/SCCM Client from Previous version of Configuration Manager.

In SCCM 2012,We do have the same methods what is available in SCCM 2007 , But with the release of Configuration Manager 2012, New tool has been introduced which is ClientpushGenerator.exe. More info will follow. http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/gg682191.aspx

This tool can be found from SCCM Installation Drive folder:\AdminConsole\bin\ClientpushGenerator.exe.

This procedure requires you to enable Client push installation the site where the clients assigned to.

How to enable Client push installation :

From the administration Pane–Site Hierarchy—>Sites–>Right click on site ,you see client installation Settings—>Client Push Installation

Move onto Accounts Tab and create New Account.

Configure with Domain User Account with Admin Rights on Target Computers, You may follow the procedure http://eskonr.com/2010/09/make-account-member-of-local-adminswhich-may-be-useful-in-configuration-manager-for-installation-of-sccm-client-push/

We are now done with requirements before we use Tool.

Run the Tool from the Above said Path

As you can see from the tool Above ,It asks for list of computers in text file and SiteCode to assign the clients to.(SiteCode will be pulled Automatically from the Hierarchy)

This tool helps you to install SCCM Client based group wise , how you defined the Boundaries.

If you boundaries are defined based on AD subnet/IP Address Range ,Get list of Computers from the specified Subnet/IP Address range and save them to Notepad.

Create a notepad ,pipe the computers into it and save it.

From the Tool, Click on Browse and select the notepad File what you created above and select the SiteCode,Click on Push

As soon you click on Push,Site server will create CCRs for each computer ,which you can see from CCR.box inbox folder.

some Important Information to know About Client push Installation :

1.When you click on Push button, SCCM generates a client configuration request (CCR) file. The CCR file contains the client computer name and additional information.

2.SCCM Client Configuration Manager connects to the ADMIN$ share on the client using the credentials what you supplied in client push installation Account. This is based on the information in the CCR file.

3. The Client Configuration Manager connects to the client registry and gathers information about the client. This process is displayed as a log entry in the Ccm.log as connecting to IPC$.

4. The SCCMcore component files, MobileClient.tcf and Ccmsetup.exe, are located in the SMS\bin\I386\ folder. These files are downloaded to the %windir%\ccmsetup folder on the client computer.

5. The Client Configuration Manager verifies that the Ccmsetup service started successfully before disconnecting. The CCR file is added to the SCCM\Inboxes\Ccrretry.box folder for verification that the installation succeeded. On a second verification pass, SCCM determines that the SMS Agent Host is running, and then deletes the CCR file.

6. If the Client Configuration Manager encounters any errors during this process, the CCR file is renamed to the request ID of the target client computer and is put in the SCCM\Inboxes\Ccrretry.box folder. The Client Configuration Manager checks for files in this inbox folder every 60 minutes and tries to reprocess them 168 times (7 days) before they are discarded. This information is logged in the Ccm.log. More info http://support.microsoft.com/kb/925282

In my case,it is only 3 computers and process will be quick.

So look at ccm.log how the installation is going on :

As you can from above screen shot, All the 3 machines that i tried to installed failed with error messages “Access Denied or Invalid path” and these CCR request are moved to CCRRETRY.Box with file name as Request ID as you can from below :

For the Computers which are online and connect to admin$,Client will be installed successfully.

References:

Prerequisites for Client Deployment in Configuration Manager http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/gg682042.aspx

Determine the Client Installation Method to Use for Windows Computers in Configuration Manager: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/gg682191.aspx

How to Install Clients on Windows Computers in Configuration Manager –> http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/gg712298.aspx

Until Then !

Getting AD information into SCCM Database can be done using AD discovery Methods From SCCM Configmgr but there are cases where in some of the computers may not be discovered or Computers do not exist in AD but do available in SCCM Database.

I used MaikKoster Old blog post as reference and made some customizations/Updates in the query to retrieve information about only Active Computers (Exclude disabled Machines).

Comparing AD Computer information with SCCM Database sometimes interesting to know about client health and are there any missing out clients did not discover into SCCM Database.

This also helps you to focus more on clients inventory issues .There are cases where in User will be logged into domain(last logon timestamp) but client will not report to site .With this you can create hardware inventory report for computers not reported with in X number of Days with AD last logon Timestamp.(if your discovery is not customized and run frequently).

You can use this procedure in SMS 2003, SCCM 2007 and SCCM 2012 environments.

Updated : Please be clear what information do you want to retrieve from AD into SCCM Database in the initial phase else you may lead to an issue to update the existing table with custom values.

I tried adding more attributes from AD to the existing SQL Job what is already been created but i failed . I have to drop the table ,Change the query and run the job to make it Work.

This procedure requires you to download Log Parser (http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=24659) and install it on CM server.If your SQL hosting on different Box,Install it on SQL Box with default settings (next,next,next,close )

Start SQL server Management Studio

Move onto SQL server Agent—>Jobs—>Create New Job

On the General Tab,Enter the required Fields as per appropriate.

Move to Next tab Steps .This is the step where you Create Job to execute and get AD computer Information into SCCM Database.

Click on New

You are prompted to select Different fields like Step Name (AD info), Type(ActiveX Script) and Run as(SQL server Agent Service Account).

Next is to import the the script to execute. Download the Script from Maikkoster website here and Import it using Open.

Once you are imported , you are required to supply values for the below Objects :

strLDAP = “LDAP://eskonr.com”
strSQLServer = “sccmSQL”
strDatabase = “SMS_CEN”
strTable = “ADComputersInfo“

Note: Strtable is Table not view

Replace the below customized query with existing One after ‘ Create query text

strQuery = “SELECT cn, objectpath, operatingSystem, operatingSystemServicePack”
strQuery = strQuery & “, CASE LastLogonTimestamp WHEN 0 THEN NULL ELSE ”
strQuery = strQuery & ” TO_TIMESTAMP(ADD(DIV(TO_REAL(LastLogon), 10000000.0), TO_REAL(TIMESTAMP(’1601′,’yyyy’)))) END AS [LastLogon]”
strQuery = strQuery & “, CASE pwdLastSet WHEN 0 THEN NULL ELSE ”
strQuery = strQuery & ” TO_TIMESTAMP(ADD(DIV(TO_REAL(pwdLastSet), 10000000.0), TO_REAL(TIMESTAMP(’1601′,’yyyy’)))) END AS [PwdLastSet]”
strQuery = strQuery & ” INTO ” & strTable & ” FROM”
strQuery = strQuery & “‘” & strLDAP & “‘” & ” where ”
StrQuery = strQuery & “userAccountControl” & “=” & “4096″

Note : You can do customizations to the above query depends on your requirement.

“Please replace the Quotes as the blog converts them to fancy ”

Click Ok.

Go to Schedule Tab,Click New

Schedule it as per the requirement.

Click on Ok, OK

Start the job which we created now.

You see from below,Job is executed successfully.

Now its time to create Various reports based on your needs.

Simple report to list Computers which are not available in SCCM but do Exist in AD as Active.

SELECT [cn] AS ‘Computer Name’
,[ObjectPath] AS ‘Path’
,[operatingSystem] AS ‘OS’
,[operatingSystemServicePack] AS ‘SP’
,[LastLogon]
,DATEDIFF(dd, [LastLogon], getdate()) AS ‘days LastLogon’
,[PwdLastSet]
,DATEDIFF(dd, [PwdLastSet], getdate()) AS ‘days PwdLastSet’
FROM [DatabaseName].[dbo].[tablename]
WHERE cn NOT IN (SELECT name0 FROM v_GS_Computer_System)
ORDER BY LastLogon

Replace the Database name and table what you given in VB Script earlier.

Until Next !

I have seen this question asked and answered in some articles and blog posts, however, after teaching the Concepts and Admin Workshop for the new version of the product recently, and getting more familiar with the new Endpoint Protection feature in System Center 2012 Configuration Manager, and I discoverd a feature in Endpoint Protection that lets you see what the default exclusions should be for System Center 2012 Configuration Manager (as well as many other server types). The trick is to import the Antimalware Policy Template which I will walk you through here:

From the System Center 2012 Configuration Manager Console, click on the Assets and Compliance Workspace:

Next under Endpoint Protection in the navigation pane, Right Click on Antimalware Policies, and select Import:

From the list of templates to import, select "SCEP 12_Default_CfgMgr2012.xml", then Click Open:

This will import the template named "Endpoint Protection Configuration Manager 2012":

Next, click on the Exclusion settings, and then click the Set button next to the Excluded file and folders settings:

This will bring up the recommended files and folders to exclude from Antivirus scanning for System Center 2012 Configuration Manager:

You will need to expand the column and scroll to see it all, however, there is the list of exclusions needed. There are many other templates to import from there as well, and if you need multiple to apply to the same group of systems, you can import the ones you need, and then multi select them and right click and select Merge. This will allow you to combine multiple Antimalware Policies together for more efficient management of the policies.

I hope you found this useful.

Anti-virus scan exclusions for Configuration Manager 2012 http://configmgrblog.com/2012/05/09/anti-virus-scan-exclusions-for-configuration-manager-2012/

Via Cliff Hughes Microsoft Premier Field Engineer http://blogs.technet.com/b/systemcenterpfe/archive/2012/11/29/system-center-2012-configuration-manager-antivirus-exclusions.aspx

This post is in Continuation to previous post on Wally Mead sessions on SCCM 2012. http://eskonr.com/2012/11/sccm-2012-videos-wally-mead-sessions/

System Center Configuration Manager 2012, Managing non-Windows systems

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rsl7skEII_Q

SCCM GURU Webcast Series – Episode 6: Wally Mead Returns

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZdKNeNIagn0

Wally Mead, System Center Configuration Manager 2012, QA

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZdKNeNIagn0

System Center Configuration Manager 2012 Overview, Wally Mead

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

How to make a successful ConfigMgr implementation, Wally Mead

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ya5kF6NIuPs

Rest walkthrough on http://eskonr.com/2012/11/sccm-2012-videos-wally-mead-finlan/

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/

Dell Safranka Recently posted Nice Article on Configmgr 2012 DP and how Single Instance Store works and how to notice them but it is in Hungarian Language ,I try to post the content in English here.

The Configuration Manager 2012, the distribution points for the more efficient use of disk space to a single method of storage for file-level, single instance store. It is somewhat more difficult to check whether a particular package includes all right lejutott the distribution points. Here are the steps I want to present in this post:

The installation kits for each of the folders that contain the source files to the Deployment Type to specify the Location of the Content separate:

You can check the contents of this how to has a DP from content status in the following way:

We know the application (Application). To do this, in the console, under the Monitoring of the Status of the Distribution Content Statust application and look for the description of the part and look at the "Package ID":

Then, the distribution point, the "SCCMContentLib" folder, navigate to the "PkgLib" folder and then open the Package ID to.INI file. In this we find the Application Deployment Type-r content identifiers ("<számok> Content_)

You can then navigate to the "SCCMContentLib" folder in the "DataLib" folder and open it in looking for "belonging to the Deplyoment Content_ Type" folder. It contains the original source folder structure and files, once again, a description of the .INI FILE:

Then open the a file in the INI file and look at the file’s Hash and write down the first four characters:

You can then navigate to the "SCCMContentLib" folder in the "" folder and FileLib open file hash for the first four characters. (hint: use the Windows Explorer browser, because the sort order can be confusing). The contents of the open folder:

Then, find the file, in this case, the real has the "Setup.exe" file data (and hash verification):

This change is due to the introduction of the file adatduplikáció at the level of the ConfigMgr for 2012 was required, thereby increasing the distribution points use the mass storage. Note that the hash of the count, just CPU resources can enter into. The added benefit is that it is possible to leelenőrizzük that are actually valid content in the distribution points. This or manually in the Administration\Distribution Points by selecting the DP under the Properties tab and then click the "Content" tab in the "Validate" button, or by using the application evaluates Content Locations "tab" in the "Validate" button allows you to:

Or you can check out the content automatically perform scheduled installations (not recommended, only if a particular case is going to be "suspicious" DP thing). To do this, the Administration\Distribution Points by selecting the DP, under the Properties tab and then click on the "Content Validation" tab.

Original Post :http://blogs.technet.com/b/scm/archive/2012/11/13/configuration-manager-2012-dp-k-233-s-single-instance-store.aspx

In this post,I will get some information about Distribution Points and content locations when you Distribute Packages and what happens and Tips .

1.How to set Drive Settings when installing Sec site DP role ?

2.How to avoid selecting the most disk space drive as Content location(DP) ?

3.How to check what are the next available Drives for Content location ?

4.How to remove DP role,Verify it is removed and reinstall the Role ?

when you install SCCM 2012 Secondary Site from primary ,Management point and Distribution Point roles will be added by Default and you choose the settings in installation Process.

When you are at Drive Settings for the Distribution Point Role,you need to cautious in choosing the drive letters for Content library location and package share location as primary and secondary because you can not change them at later stages AFAIK.

Below is the screen shot what am talking about you see when installing secondary Site.

Drive space reserve (MB): The Disk space reserved(MB) you configure determines the amount of free space on a drive before Configuration Manager 2012 chooses a different drive and continues the copy process to that drive. Content files can span multiple drives.If the current DP drive free space reaches 1024,it choose another drive(Max Disk space) as DP drive.

This reserve space is applicable to both Content library and package share location.

Content Locations:

Primary/Secondary Content Library Location: SCCM 2012 will copy the content to Primary content location (First Priority) until the amount of free space reaches the value specified for Drive space reserve (MB).

By default the content locations are set to Automatic and the primary content location will be set to the disk drive that has the most disk space at installation and the secondary location assigned the disk drive that has the second most free disk space.

Note : To Avoid selecting the most disk space drive as Content location,Place NO_SMS_ON_DRIVE.SMS in the root of drive.

When the primary and secondary drives reach the drive space reserve, Configuration Manager will select another available drive with the most free disk space and continue the copy process.

If you specify the Drive location and later if you want to change,You will have to remove the DP role and Install it.

How to check what are the Drives that available to be configured(selected) as Next Content Locations ?

go to administration Node—>Distribution Points—>click on secondary Site.

On the bottom ,you see drives wit list available and their priority.

If you see any other drives which u don’t want to be here,place NO_SMS_ON_DRIVE.SMS in the root of the drive.

so back to the error :

Primary site started Distributing the packages to sec site server to H drive as given in drive settings but there is no H drive on the server. So it started throwing error

“Cannot create SCCMCOntentLib” on H drive Error:67,Network Path Not found.

I looked at secondary Site Registry if I can remove the H drive to make it work .Below are the registry settings path where you see the above selected settings.

HKLM\Software\Microsoft\SMS\DP\ContentLibUsableDrives

HKLM\Software\Microsoft\SMS\DP\UsablePackageShareDrives

In my Case,server selected H (Primary) ,G(Secondary),E(Next Secondary) drive for DP.

removal of Drive and restart DP Component manager did not solve the issue.

What Next ?

Either Add missing Drive to copy the content or Remove the DP role and install it to get the drive settings Option.

Removal of DP Role :

Go to administration node—>site Configuration->servers and site System Roles

How to check DP role is removed or not ?

1) you can check from Registry on Secondary site server Registry path: HKLM\Software\Microsoft\SMS\DP .You will not see any entries from here

2)Go to administration node—Distribution Points—>Secondary site.

In the drive tab,you see no drives available.

I added the DP role for the secondary Site system and get option to select the content library /Package library locations.

When my G Drive is free space reached 1024MB,it chooses nextmost disk space available (In this case,I have only this drive as DP).

lets Verify this :

as you see,my Primary content library and Package share locations are G drive.

This time,packages went well with No Issues.

Until Next!

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

Summary:

In this post, Chris focused on helping many of us get started in testing your environment by not requiring you to do it against your packages/programs.   Instead, Chris provided you with files you can use to test PCM and get familiar with it.  This will allow you to go through the various scenarios that PCM solves for you.

In the past few months, we’ve received a lot of requests to help many of you focus on “testing” the new Package Conversion Manager (PCM) that is available in the Microsoft Download Center.  It is rather trivial to actually download PCM and install in your production environment yet for many it is very scary to do so.  You *can* safely do this without concerns as we do not modify any System Center Configuration Manager 2012 database settings during install.  Instead, we simply update the Administration Console to enable the functionality.  The backend database pieces are part of Configuration Manager 2012 that you received already.  As such, we reference PCM as a Configuration Manager 2012 Feature Pack.

In today’s post, I want to help many of you get started by providing you some files that will import some basic packages/programs into your Configuration Manager 2012 system.  Beyond this, I wanted to enable you to test our collection intent functionality enabling you to easily move WQL query targets to the new Application Model’s Global Conditions & Requirements.

Lastly, I’ve also attached a tool (PPDAC) that allow you to easily “clean” the system and run through various times to get the hang of it.  This tool is available as-is and isn’t supported by Microsoft.

Read the complete post on Chris Blog http://blogs.technet.com/b/chrad/archive/2012/10/07/kicking-the-tires-for-configuration-manager-2012-s-package-conversion-manager-pcm.aspx

Raphael Finally released beta Version of his most loving project which is called CM12 Automation using scripts.

What it Does basically ?

Prepare Active Directory

Install the Prerequisites for Configuration Manager 2012 like IIS,SQL etc.

Install SCCM Site with MDT Integrated

Install Site Roles

More information about this project ,Feed back and downloads refer http://cm12automation.codeplex.com/

How to use this and Feedback http://wmug.co.uk/wmug/b/dotraphael/archive/2012/09/28/project-cm12-automation-beta-is-coming.aspx

You can also email directly to Raphael @ raphael@rflsystems.co.uk

Thanks to Raphael for getting this done !