I was trying to setup New Configuration Manager 2012 SP1 build on Windows server 2012 with SQL Server 2012 SP1 installed .Everything went fine except Windows server update services .It keeps saying error with restart needed.Here is what i get every time when i install WSUS after Restart needed.

“The request to add or remove features on the specified server failed. the operation cannot be completed because the server that you specified requires a restart.”

Why does it fail every time though server is restarted as stated from above screen ?

Go to event viewer ,windows logs-system ,you see below error message:

The MSSQL$MICROSOFT##WID service was unable to log on as NT SERVICE\MSSQL$MICROSOFT##WID with the currently configured password due to the following error:
Logon failure: the user has not been granted the requested logon type at this computer.
Service: MSSQL$MICROSOFT##WID
Domain and account: NT SERVICE\MSSQL$MICROSOFT##WID
This service account does not have the required user right "Log on as a service."

User Action
Assign "Log on as a service" to the service account on this computer. You can use Local Security Settings (Secpol.msc) to do this. If this computer is a node in a cluster, check that this user right is assigned to the Cluster service account on all nodes in the cluster.
If you have already assigned this user right to the service account, and the user right appears to be removed, check with your domain administrator to find out if a Group Policy object associated with this node might be removing the right.

How do i fix this ?

You need to Assign the Log on as a service user right to NT SERVICE\ALL SERVICES.

This can be implemented via GPO.

Go to your group policy management console,edit default domain policy

Computer Configuration—>Policies—>Windows Settings—>Security Settings—>Local Policies—>User Rights Assignment

Note: It is not mandatory to edit the default domain Policy to enable this setting.You can also create new GPO and ensure to have Enforced (running on Server 2012) option is selected which can not be overwritten by Default Domain Controller.

Go to properties of Logon as Service,click on Add user or Group,Enter NT SERVICE\ALL SERVICES ,click ok.

Now move onto the server,open command prompt and type gpupdate /Force to apply the GPO settings.

To check if the settings are applied or not,you can run rsop.msc from the run command and see the changes applied or not.

Once you confirmed the settings are applied,Start the installation of WSUS role again,this time It should be okay.

Hope it Helps!

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 !

Another interesting package replication problem.John Marcum posted solution on his blog with DB edit but that did not solve my problem though package issue is similar.

I have to do couple of more things to fix the issue what John said in his blog. Am not going to explain more about why it happens etc. If you interested,Read Johns Blog.

When you do Preload for Bulk number of PCK file,Sometimes you may not succeeded in decompressing all the files and arise issues like below from distmgr.log .

From the console,if you look at package status,you end up with Install pending .

The error message from distmgr.log :

“A newer version (21) of package xxx000C1 has already arrived, delete the replication file F:\SMS\inboxes\distmgr.box\INCOMING\4EE5A01M.PCK for version 19”

Tried refreshing the package ,removing from DP and Reading ,did not help.

In order to fix this error,i have to do couple of things . 1) Edit the Database 2) Delete the files from pkginfo.box,distmgr.box

Note : Directly editing the DB is not supported unless you really know what you are doing else do not proceed. and ensure you have Database Backup before you do this.

1) Edit DB to change the PCK Source Version to 0.

Update PkgStatus

Set Status = ’2′, SourceVersion = ’0′

Where ID = ‘P01005DC’ and sitecode=P01′ and type=’1′

If this is child site and reporting to another Site,Do the same procedure until you reach Central site.

As per John Article,After refreshing the package,it did not succeded and it still gives me the same error .If John procedure works, Well and Good else Follow the below step to fix it.

2) Next delete the package files from pkginfo.box(ICO,NAL,PKG) and distmgr.box(PKG) for the specific package.

Now Refresh the package from central/Primary where it is created and monitor Distmgr.log file on problem site.

You see something like below after package refresh replication to problem site.

Updated Replicated package server 

Updated replicate package program info for package

Successfully processed .PKG file

Also you see something like below

The compressed files for package P01XXXXX hasnt arrived from the site P01 Yet, will try later

Preload the latest PCK file now using Preloadpkgonsite tool, You will see the decompress of the package

Recently I had major issue while replicating the patch packages to sites and they started experiencing the problem to process the patch information (CID and SDMpackages).

I am really not sure if this is because of recent MS patch released in October 2012,More info can be found here  ,due to this,all the revised updates (which you can see from WSUS console )went back downloaded=No from Downloaded=Yes .

Later month Ago,MS released fix for this to get the issue sorted out also some other functions more here http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2783466

Below is the Error message which I get on problem site (distmgr.log) and unable to insert the Patch info into Database.The reason I tell you below why it is not.

“Failed to Insert SMS package CEN00XXX because SDM type Content xxxxxxxxxxxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx is not prensent in CI-Contents Table,will try later”

 

from objreplmgr.log :

Processing replication file F:\SMS\inboxes\objmgr.box\INCOMING\Retry\Sitecode_66082.CID in retry.

SDM Package Name Site_B97EB0D1-435F-4CEC-88B7-5A1E7645B585/SUM_07f87a3d-23b3-4ec1-b35c-6461a82ded35 Version 2 has not arrived yet. Will retry

Failed to insert Object 07f87a3d-23b3-4ec1-b35c-6461a82ded35 from replication file F:\SMS\inboxes\objmgr.box\INCOMING\Retry\Sitecode_66082.CID.

Problem site is looking for object 07f87a3d-23b3-4ec1-b35c-6461a82ded35 with version 2 which is not arrived.

Before you follow this guide,I would suggest you to read steve Rachui Blog explaining about Software updates and process Part1 and Part 2.Thanks to Steve for nice explanation on software updates and CI.

*************This post is more of Database Editing to fix the issue and no warranties provided. If you don’t know what you are doing /without enough information,you are at Risk**************

To check how many CIDs left over to process, check it from inbox folders . Path \Inboxes\objmgr.box\incoming\retry

If the CID files are processed max number of times,they are moved to retry\bad folder.

To get all SDMpackage names,try to filter the log with word “SDM Package Name” ,you may get bulk number of IDs out of which some of them are Repeated.

Copy the SDM package names to Excel and remove duplicates.

Copy the results to excel and remove the duplicates. You now have all SDM packagenames.

I have something below from the log/Excel after removing duplicates.

Site_B97EB0D1-435F-4CEC-88B7-5A1E7645B585/SUM_0d9f9145-9e83-4c44-a8d5-9decbe25a586

Site_B97EB0D1-435F-4CEC-88B7-5A1E7645B585/SUM_cc5d5d63-32bb-4593-bd6f-3b61ba97707f

Site_B97EB0D1-435F-4CEC-88B7-5A1E7645B585/SUM_f4ba81de-c60b-4e2f-9589-9cc888bc09da

If you want to know more about what it says,Please Refer Steve blog.

Let’s have a look at Database on problem site and its parent site to see what information they contain and are they really out of sync ?

I take an example with central,Parent and child

Take the first ID :0d9f9145-9e83-4c44-a8d5-9decbe25a586

If I run the below query on central DB ,I get below results :

select * from CI_SDMPackages WHERE (SDMPackageName like ‘%0d9f9145-9e83-4c44-a8d5-9decbe25a586%’)

Problem Parent :

Problem site :

Look at problem site, it still has version 1 and IsDeleted value is not set to 1 and it does not have latest Version =2.

How do we fix it ?

We will change the LastModifiedData and set Isdeleted=1 for these error Objects on central and let the sync happens with child sites.

Set the DateLastmodified on Central DB:

UPDATE CI_ConfigurationItems SET DateLastModified = GETDATE() WHERE CI_UniqueID in (

‘0d9f9145-9e83-4c44-a8d5-9decbe25a586’,

‘cc5d5d63-32bb-4593-bd6f-3b61ba97707f’,

‘f4ba81de-c60b-4e2f-9589-9cc888bc09da’)

UPDATE CI_SDMPackages SET DateLastModified = GETDATE() WHERE (

SDMPackageName like ‘%0d9f9145-9e83-4c44-a8d5-9decbe25a586%’ OR

SDMPackageName like ‘%cc5d5d63-32bb-4593-bd6f-3b61ba97707f%’ OR

SDMPackageName like ‘%f4ba81de-c60b-4e2f-9589-9cc888bc09da%’ )

Run the below query on problem site to Fix isdeleted=1 for the older version and let the current version sync.

update ci_sdmpackages

set IsDeleted = 1

WHERE (

SDMPackageName like ‘%0d9f9145-9e83-4c44-a8d5-9decbe25a586%’ OR

SDMPackageName like ‘%cc5d5d63-32bb-4593-bd6f-3b61ba97707f%’ OR

SDMPackageName like ‘%f4ba81de-c60b-4e2f-9589-9cc888bc09da%’ )

and SDMPackageVersion = ’1′

Let’s wait for couple of hours to sync the modified data with problem site.

So here is the outcome on problem Site after couple of hours

Now move the .CID file back to objmgr.box\incoming folder from retry folder to process it and monitor objreplmgr.log if that succeeds or not.

Note :This procedure is recommended only if you have less objects failed rather going with synchild/.sha that generates huge traffic .If more objects failed to process, go with synchild/.sha non-office hours.

Detailed information available here on http://blogs.technet.com/b/mwiles/archive/2011/06/24/troubleshooting-failed-to-insert-object-error-message.aspx

Recently I was looking at Collection http://eskonr.com/2009/08/sccm-collection-report-for-hardware-inventory-not-reported-for-x-days/ to see how many clients have not reported inventory back to sccm since X days and I see quite number of computers did not reported but they do receive applications,patches etc.

you know what would be the impact if Client did not report back inventory back to sccm particularly if you are using Query based Collection using inventory information.

I picked random computer from the collection and check inventoryagent.log to start with. Below is the snippet what I can see.

Note: You might see a different Error from inventoryagent.log which causes the hardware inventory not to be sent to Site.So have a look at log file and see what kind of class is that giving error to add the information.

Error Code : Failed to add an instance of class SMS_MIFGROUP to historical Store:80041001

Failed to Addreport() for SMS_MIFGroup to historical Store:80041001

failed to process instance of SMS_MIFGROUP:80040900

What does it mean ? Client failed to read entries and add to report from SMS_MIFGROUP .

This issue is not going to fix with WMI repair or SCCM Client removal and installation and more over it is not issue with WMI.

Then what error is that ?

Some information about SMS_MIFGROUP :

The SMS_MIFGroup class is a client Windows Management Instrumentation (WMI) class, in Configuration Manager, that serves as a dynamic instance provider class allowing WMI reporting of Management Information Format (MIF) files that extend the client inventory.

This class is used by the Inventory Client Agent to enumerate the third-party MIF files at a designated collection directory. For each file, the instance provider parses the file against the MIF syntax, validates the contents against Configuration Manager restrictions, and reports each individual MIF group in a generic form that is usable by the Inventory Client Agent and management point.

The generic instance format is specifically designed to translate consistently and easily between MIF syntax for any number of MIF group definitions and values. This translation is especially important on the management point, where the Inventory Client Agent report is translated back into MIF format for processing at the Configuration Manager site server.

The preferred way to extend client inventory is through WMI instances (static or dynamic). However, this provider allows a migration step for SMS 2.0 MIF files already in use.

The SMS_MIFGroup class is specifically used to expose No Identification MIF files (NOIDMIFs) through WMI in client inventory. NOIDMIFs are used to extend client inventory beyond that requested for specific WMI instances in the site policy (see InventoryDataItem). For example, hardware vendors can supply asset information by using NOIDMIFs.

For more information about Inventory Agent Client WMI Classes http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc143240.aspx

Let’s have a look at WMI what MIFGROUP Contains and why does it says it failed to add instance of Class SMS_MIFGROUP.

Connect to WMI using either CIM Studio or Wbemtest. I prefer to go with Wbemtest.

Open WBEMTEST of problem computer:

Click on Query and run the query which is failed from the log file (above the error):

SELECT __CLASS, __PATH, __RELPATH, ArchitectureName, ComponentName, MIFGroupVerbatim, MIFClassVerbatim, MIFKeysVerbatim, AttributeKeyValues, MIFAttributesVerbatim, MIFFile, MIFDirectory, MIFFileSize FROM SMS_MIFGroup

Result you see below :

Open SMS_MIFGROUP=<No Key>

Click on Show MOF

You see from above result, AttributeKeyValues has some strange characters for some reason .

So we have identified where the issue but for why this error ? how to fix it ?

You can either modify the MIF/ MOF file for this particular error or Try deleting the SMS_MIFGROUP Class and force Hardware inventory action.

You see this time no errors from inventoryagent.log ,also you can see the results from resource Explorer from sccm console.

How to Delete SMS_MIGGROUP Class?

Connect to wmi of problem computer with right namespace.(this case it is invagt)

Click on Enum classes and select recursive

You see all classes. Select SMS_MIFGROUP and  Delete.

You are done J.

You can also do this using VBScript :

ON ERROR RESUME NEXT
Set fso=CreateObject(“scripting.filesystemobject”)
Set objinputfile=fso.OpenTextFile(“Computers.txt”,1,True)
Set objoutputfile=fso.OpenTextFile(“MIFresults.txt”,2,True)
Do While objinputfile.AtEndOfLine <> True
strcomputer=objinputfile.ReadLine
Set objWMIService = GetObject(“winmgmts:\\” & strComputer & “\root\cimv2″)
If Err.Number <> 0 Then
objoutputfile.WriteLine (strcomputer & ” is not connected”)
Err.Clear
Else
strNamespace = “\Root\CCM\invagt”
strclass = “SMS_MIFGROUP”
Set objSWbemServices = GetObject(“winmgmts:\\” & strComputer & strNamespace)
objSWbemServices.Delete strclass
objoutputfile.WriteLine (“MIF Deleted, ” & strcomputer)
end if

loop
msgbox “Done”

The SMSPKG share contains the compressed PCK files for the packages that have been targeted to a particular SMS/SCCM Site.

When the SMS /PCK drives Full /Limited space available,you would require to either extend the disk space or the PCK files to different drive But what happens when you move ?

Cut and past will work ? are there settings/configurations needs to be done to make the new PCK file work ?

P.S :Below are the steps which I have noticed while carrying out this activity and you may have different approach /solution in getting this done.

Below is the process to get this done.

1.Identify the packages(.PCK) files which you want to move to different drive (H) to get more space and move them do different drive.

2.check if Read only Attribute is Set and No Archive.

3.********Editing Database*******. Please use at your own risk and TEST, TEST, TEST in a non-production environment

The pck file path has to be changed from current path(for Ex: \\servername\f$\smspkg\P010012E.PCK  to New path \\servername\H$\smspkg\P010012E.PCK

query to check PCK file path:

select * from pkgstatus where ID=’P0100012E ‘ and sitecode=’P01’ and type=1

The above query gives you information about PCK file path where it is stored.

Now we will change the PCK file path to new location. Use the below query to change .

Note: If you have 2-3 tier hierarchy,you will have to change the pck file path with location on all the reporting site database. Let say I have Primary (P01) reporting to PE1 and PE1 reporting to Central site.

So I will have to execute the below query on all 3 databases(P01,PE1 and CEN).

Update PkgStatus Set Location=’\\servername\H$\SMSPKG\P010012E.PCK’ where ID=’P010012E’ and Type=’1′ and SiteCode=’P01′ 

If you have multiple packages,you can run multiple queries at one go but make sure you provide correct path.

Ok now we have changed the PCK file path what next ? are we done with this ? No

Lets Watch out whether my P01 site is aware about these changes ? how do I do this ? try Refreshing the package and see if P01 will identify the changes about new pck file path change ?

From above ,you see Error  SMS Distribution Manager failed to decompress package “P010012E” from “F:\SMSPKG\P010012E.PCK .The compressed Package  “F:\SMSPKG\CEN00613.PCK” is either missing or corrupted.

CTool Return Code=3.

So SMS Distribution Manager will attempt to recover the package by requesting a new compressed package image from the site that sent it.

This Error is expected because we moved the package to New Drive location.

For all the packages,you may not see the same error,sometimes you may also see “The compressed files for package P010012E hasn’t arrived from site CEN yet, will retry later”.

To Fix this error ,try doing Preload of the moved package using below syntax:

PreloadPkgOnSite.exe PackageID /updatestoredpkgversion X

 

OR you can also simply try

 

PreloadPkgOnSite.exe PackageID

For more information about Preload Tool and updatestoredpkgversion value,please refer TechNet Blog http://blogs.technet.com/b/configurationmgr/archive/2009/05/07/configmgr-2007-the-preload-package-tool-preloadpkgonsite-exe-explained.aspx

This process should start setting up the PCK location in the database and start verifying/Decompressing it.You are done.

For some reason,if the preload says below Below Error ,You may have to try refreshing the package once ,wait for the status updates and then do preload,that should work.

Because if you do a preload without refreshing,site server will think that ,it already has the correct version of the package and set in Database so no changes are needed. here is what you see if you do a preload without Refresh.

The compressed package path for package [P010012E] is already set in the database OR this is the site where the package was created.
There is no need to use this tool for this package on this site.

Now refresh the package and see what happens ! site is looking for Delta files which are missing and it connects to central site to get them and starts decompressing the package.

This concludes the changes are affected and next time,when you have any updates to the source Version,it gets the new version and process the package without any issues.

These changes you can also monitor from Site Registry what are being processed and what packages are in Queue.

Listing out steps what to be Done :

1.Move the PCK files to different Drive.

2.Change the PCK file path from Database on the existing site and its reporting sites until you reach central.

3.Refresh the package to let server know the pck files are moved.

4.Preload the package .

And Finally,you would require to change the the location of the compressed packages from SMS/SCCM console.

Navigate to Site Database | Site Management | <SiteCode> | Site Settings | Component Configuration | Software Distribution and you will see a box for the drive on which to store these compressed files. Simply changing this drive letter does not affect compressed files that have already been placed on the server, but rather all future files will be placed on the new drive/folder.

Hope if helps !

Until Next

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!

we see lot of file extensions from inbox folders while replicating information to Child sites .what really these files do and  what information do they carry ?

This post is basically talks about what  type of files generated during site-Site Replication. Sometimes I wonder that the file Type is when working with replication issues and see if it requires any attention.

It might help you in understanding about replications files types.

To know more about how Site-Site Replications works in SCCM 2007,Read http://blogs.technet.com/b/configurationmgr/archive/2011/08/29/site-to-site-data-replication-flow-in-sms-2003-and-configmgr-2007-explained.aspx

Also look at this post to know about SCCM Components that helps you in replication issues http://eskonr.com/2012/09/sccm-2007-components-threads-use-site-site-replication/

To know more about Site-to-site SCCM / Configmgr Package Replication http://blogs.msdn.com/b/steverac/archive/2010/07/16/understanding-site-to-site-communication-in-sms-sccm.aspx

Note : This content is taken from Configmgr2007 Site-site replication document from Technet blogs. To know more about Replication look at here http://blogs.technet.com/cfs-file.ashx/__key/CommunityServer-Components-PostAttachments/00-03-34-44-65/ConfigMgr2007Site2SiteReplication.doc

SCCM 2007 Components are critical to perform its activities and if any of the component is stopped(some components start when they have work to do like Discovery methods are only start if discovery runs) ,you may see issues respective to that Component(Ex: Distribution Manager stopped,nothing process about packages).

Some of the components that involved in Site-Site Replication and ensure these components are running before you Dig more into Site-site replication issues.

I do check these components if I see any replication issues on my Child sites and follow the troubleshooting Steps.

For more information about Component Status ,refer Technet http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb680477.aspx

Note: This information is taken from Configmgr 2007 Site-Site replication document from Technet blogs. To Read more about How site-Site Replication works,Dig here http://blogs.technet.com/cfs-file.ashx/__key/CommunityServer-Components-PostAttachments/00-03-34-44-65/ConfigMgr2007Site2SiteReplication.doc.

If you are in Large #SCCM / #Configmgr 2007 Environment with multiple site dispersed geographically and you try to distribute the packages to site .So what happens next ?

Do you keep looking at logs(sender.log) to troubleshoot whether my site is sending any data to child or not ? If so How long would you look at the log ?

Our Friend (Dan) has developed Simple application that would read in and construe the sender.log and display all the details in a nice readable format.

You would require to enter the Parent Site server name (to list all the packages which are sending) and Sitecode.

Let say You have Central(CEN) and Primary(P01—Child of CEN) and Secondary (S01—Child of P01) and you created package in Central site and distributed to P01 and S01 site.

You now need to track what is going on at S01 Site.For this provide detials about P01 site name and site code,it gives all information to which site the information is sending.

Here is snap from Andrew Blog How it looks like.

Download the Application from Here

Where should I Run this application ? To run this application,you must have access to SCCM and you can run this app from any member server or workstation(ensure you have good network speed from the machine to connected server as it connects to the server and read the sender.log).

For full Details about the Application,visit Dans Blog : http://www.danrichings.com/?p=90

For Any Questions /Feedback ,Please get in Touch with Dan at this Blog.

Thanks to Dan for developing such a nice application.