Cliff Hobbs at myITforum.com

[SMS 2003] How do I know if I have Asset Intelligence installed?

Wondering how you find out if AI is installed? Let us show you how... [Go to article]

[MS KBs] New KB Articles At Microsoft 28 Sep 2010

[MS KBs] New KB Articles At Microsoft 27 Sep 2010 - Weekly Summary

[ConfigMgr 2007] New KB: The Active Directory system discovery process cannot detect a client if the DNS suffix of the client differs from its DNS domain name in System Center Configuration Manager 2007 SP2

Microsoft has published another new KB for ConfigMgr 2007:

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2345551

SYMPTOMS

[ConfigMgr 2007] New KB: You cannot import a driver package into a System Center Configuration Manager 2007 SP2 site if one or more driver files in the package are already imported into the site

Microsoft has just released the following new KB:

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2213600

SYMPTOMS

[MS KBs] New KB Articles At Microsoft 24 Sep 2010

[FAQ][ConfigMgr 2007] How do I configure my Reports to NOT open in a new window?

[FAQ][ConfigMgr 2007] How do I configure my Reports to open in a new window?

Question:

The first time I clicked on one of the Web Reports on the Software Updates page I was asked which Reporting Server to use for running Reports against and whether I wanted to "Open reports in a new window". I decided to leave the checkbox unchecked and now whenever I click on any of the reports it opens them within the Admin Console rather than in the Report Viewer.

How do I configure my Reports to open in a new window?

Answer:

Not immediately obvious this one but all you need to do is:

1. Right-click the relevant "Site Database (<site_code> - <description>)" item in the root of the Admin console.

2. Select "Report Options".

3. Check (or uncheck if required) the "Open reports in a new window" checkbox.

4. Click "OK". 

[FAQ][ConfigMgr 2007] "Status of Targeted Resources" shows as "Program failed (unexpected restart)"

Question:

I've sent a Package to upgrade my SMS 2003 Clients to ConfigMgr 2007 but when I run the "Status of an advanced client distribution report" I'm seeing some machines reporting as "Failed" under the "Status of Targeted Resources".

Drilling down I see a large number of machines reporting "Program failed (unexpected restart)". How do I resolve this?

Answer:

You don't need to as this machine will have been upgraded and this is normal behaviour.

The reason for the error is during the Client upgrade CCMExec needs to be restarted. When this happens the "error" message is generated.

[FAQ][SQL 2008] There are no SQL Server instances or shared features that can be updated on this computer

Question:

Why when I try to instal SQL Server 2008 SP1 I get the following error message:

There are no SQL Server instances or shared features that can be updated on this computer.

Answer:

Make sure you are not trying to install SP1 onto a an unsupported version as in this case where SQL 2008 SP1 was being attempted to be applied on SQL 2008 R2.

[FAQ][ConfigMgr 2007] How do I inventory a Registry Key?

Question:

I want to be able to inventory a certain Registry key. How do I do this in ConfigMgr?

Answer:

Unlike SMS 2003 where you modified the SMS_def.mof, in ConfigMgr you may need to modify both the SMS_def.mof and the new Configuration.mof file introduced with ConfigMgr. This is not as straightforward as it could be and my best advice is if you find yourself needing to do this is to use Mark Cochrane's fantastic free "RegKeytoMof" tool which you can download from here.

Once you've downloaded the tool use this excellent post by Sherry Kissinger who walks you through using the tool mapped to a "real world" example:

http://myitforum.com/cs2/blogs/skissinger/archive/2009/04/13/mark-cochrane-s-regkeytomof.aspx

[ConfigMgr 2007] Fix: The ConfigMgr 2007 database grows excessively large and DPs do not honor the "Number of retries" and "Delay before retrying (minutes)" retry settings

This is one KB you SERIOUSLY need to consider as noted on the Configuration Manager Support Team Blog:

"You may notice that an unusually large number of System Center Configuration Manager 2007 status messages are generated causing significant growth in database size.  Further investigation also shows a large number of these entries repeating over and over again in the distmgr.log:

Compressed files for package xxx hasn't arrived from site xxx

Note: These messages can occur on a normally functioning site.  It is only a cause for concern when an excessively large number are repeatedly seen.

This can be caused by the issue documented in the following Knowledge Base articles:

SP1 version:  KB978875 - The Distribution Manager does not honor the "Number of retries" and "Delay before retrying (minutes)" retry settings on SCCM 2007 SP1 site servers

SP2 and later version:  KB978021 - The Distribution Manager that is in System Center Configuration Manager 2007 SP2 does not honor the "Number of retries" and "Delay before retrying (minutes)" retry settings

To resolve this issue apply the appropriate hotfix referenced above.

Troubleshooting and verification:

You can use this script to determine that the status specific tables are largest in the ConfigMgr database:

http://www.sqlteam.com/article/finding-the-biggest-tables-in-a-database

Then you can use these queries to determine the components generating the most status messages.  In this specific scenario you'll find that it is Distribution Manager.

select Component, count(*) from vStatusMessages group by Component order by count(*) desc 
select MessageID, count(*) from vStatusMessages group by MessageID order by count(*) desc

ref: http://blogs.technet.com/b/configurationmgr/archive/2009/01/27/troubleshooting-database-growth-issues-in-configuration-manager-2007.aspx

You should find that the SMS_DISTRIBUTION_MANAGER thread has been generating status message ID's 2342, 2300 and 2301 or similar every 5 seconds, repeatedly.

So what's the takeaway from all this? 

If you have System Center Configuration Manager 2007 SP1 or later and are doing software distribution then you need this hotfix!

Clint Koenig | Senior Support Escalation Engineer

The App-V Team blog: http://blogs.technet.com/appv/ 
The WSUS Support Team blog: http://blogs.technet.com/sus/ 
The SCMDM Support Team blog: http://blogs.technet.com/mdm/ 
The ConfigMgr Support Team blog: http://blogs.technet.com/configurationmgr/ 
The OpsMgr Support Team blog: http://blogs.technet.com/operationsmgr/ 
The SCVMM Team blog: http://blogs.technet.com/scvmm/ 
The MED-V Team blog: http://blogs.technet.com/medv/ 
The DPM Team blog: http://blogs.technet.com/dpm/ 
The OOB Support Team blog: http://blogs.technet.com/oob/ 

The Opalis Team blog: http://blogs.technet.com/opalis"

http://blogs.technet.com/b/configurationmgr/archive/2010/09/22/fix-the-configmgr-2007-database-grows-excessively-large-and-dps-do-not-honor-the-quot-number-of-retries-quot-and-quot-delay-before-retrying-minutes-quot-retry-settings.aspx

[ConfigMgr 2007] New KB: WDS Multicast settings in the Distribution Point properties do not seem to apply in System Center Configuration Manager 2007 R2 and R3

You’re not going crazy if you thought you’d change settings like the "MultiCast address", "UDP port range", and "Transfer rate" settings  and ConfigMgr seems to be ignoring them as this KB detailed on the Configuration Manager Support Team Blog:

“Symptoms

When modifying Multicast settings in the properties of a Distribution Point, the values for "MultiCast address", "UDP port range", and "Transfer rate" can all be modified under the "Multicast" tab of the ConfigMgr distribution point Properties. After configuring the settings, the settings are modified and applied in the GUI of the "Multicast" tab of the ConfigMgr distribution point Properties.

However, when attempting to Multicast, the Multicast sessions do not work, or do not work based on the values sepcified in the "Multicast" tab of the ConfigMgr distribution point Properties. Performing network traces confirms that the values being seen in the network traces seem to indicate that the Multicast sessions are using the default values originally set in the "MultiCast" tab of the ConfigMgr distribution point Properties, and not the modified values. Reinspecting the values under the the "Multicast" tab of the ConfigMgr distribution point Properties shows that the settings and values in the GUI have been modified and are set to the desired values.

Other values under the "Multicast" tab of the ConfigMgr distribution point Properties window that may have been changed seem to have been applied and work correctly, such as "Specify the account to connect to the database", "Enable scheduled multicast", and "Maximum" clients. Only the "MultiCast address", "UDP port range", and "Transfer rate" settings seem to have issues.

Cause

This problem is caused by a known issue in ConfigMgr 2007 R2 and R3 where the "MultiCast address", "UDP port range", and "Transfer rate" settings  specified under the "Multicast" tab of the ConfigMgr distribution point Properties may not actually set the settings correctly. Specifically, the "MultiCast address", "UDP port range", and "Transfer rate" settings are Windows Server 2008/Windows Server 2008 R2 Windows Deployment Services (WDS) settings. When these settings are configured in the ConfigMgr distribution point Properties, ConfigMgr 2007 will automatically set the WDS settings in the background. However due to the known issue, the settings are actually never set, even though they show correctly under the "Multicast" tab of the ConfigMgr distribution point Properties GUI.

Please note that the "Transfer rate" setting is a Windows Server 2008 WDS only setting. Windows Server 2008 R2 automatically detects the optimal network speeds and sets the transfer rate settings accordingly, so the setting does not apply to Windows Server 2008 R2 WDS. Setting the "Transfer rate" setting on a Multicast Distribution Point running on Windows Server 2008 R2 has no effect.

Resolution

To resolve the problem, the corresponding registry settings for "MultiCast address", "UDP port range", and "Transfer rate" need to be manually set in the registry after they have been set in the "Multicast" tab of the ConfigMgr distribution point Properties GUI window. Since the recommended practice when using ConfigMgr 2007 is to NOT configure WDS manually, the corresponding settings should not be set in the WDS console. Instead the corresponding resgistry settings should be set manually instead.

1. On the server hosting the Distibution Point role where multicast is being enabled, make sure that WDS is installed and that the "Deployment Server" and "Transport Server" role services are installed. Additionally, make sure that WDS has not be manually configured on the server.
2. In the ConfigMgr 2007 Admin console, navigate to "Site Management" --> "Site Settings" --> "Site Systems".
3. Under the "Site Systems" node, click on the applicable server from Step 1 where WDS is installed.
4. On the right hand pane, rigt click on "ConfigMgr distirbution point" and choose "Properties".
5. In the "ConfigMgr distribution point Properties" window, click on the "Multicast" tab.
6. Make sure that the option "Enable Multicast" is checked.
7. Set all of the appropriate settings under the "Multicast" tab as desired for the environment, even if some of them ("MultiCast address", "UDP port range", and "Transfer rate") do not seem to actually apply.
8. Click on the "OK" or "Apply" button to ensure that the settings are saved.
9. On the server from Step 1, open the Registry Editor by starting "regedit.exe".
10. To manually set the "MultiCast address" and "UDP port range" settings, in the Registry Editor navigate to:
    
    HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\WDSServer\Parameters
    
11. Map the appropriate settings from the "Multicast" tab of the ConfigMgr distribution point Properties GUI to the corresponding registry settings listed below, and then manually change the value of the registry setting to match the settings configured in Step 7:
    • To set the option "Use IP address from the following range" under the "MultiCast address" section:
      • "IPv4 From: " field --> McStartAddr
      • "To: " field --> MCEndAddr
        
    • To set the option "Use UDP ports from the following range:" under the "UDP port range" section:
      • "From: " --> UdpStartPort
      • "To: " --> UdpEndPort
        
12. The "Transfer Rate" setting should only be set in Windows Server 2008. It should not be set in Windows Server 2008 R2. To manually set the "Transfer Rate" setting in Windows Server 2008, in the Registry Editor navigate to:
    HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\WDSServer\Providers\WDSMC
    Change the value of "DefaultProfile" to the desired setting (10Mbps, 100Mbps, 1Gbps, or Custom).
    If using Custom, make sure to make the necessary customizations under the registry key:
    HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\WDSServer\Providers\WDSMC\Profiles\Custom
    Do not make any customizations to any of the built in profiles (10Mbps, 100Mbps, 1Gbps). Use the Custom profile if any customizations are desired.
13. When the registry settings have been changed and set, restart the "Windows Deployment Services Server" service on the server from Step 1 using the Services console found under Adminsitrative Tools.

Note:
Setting the "Transfer rate" setting on a Multicast Distribution Point running on Windows Server 2008 R2 has no effect. The "Transfer rate" setting is actually only a Windows Server 2008 WDS setting. It does not apply to Windows Server 2008 R2 WDS. Windows Server 2008 R2 automatically detects the optimal network speeds and sets the transfer rate settings accordingly.

Inspecting the registry key:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\WDSServer\Providers\WDSMC

on a Windows Server 2008 R2 reveals that there is no "DefaultProfile" value. This is normal and the key value should not be created. Please see the following TechNet documentation regarding this setting:

How to Manage Your Server
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc770637(WS.10).aspx#BKMK_1

General Tasks --> To Configure the network profile for the server
"Note that these procedures only apply to the initial release of Windows Server 2008"

IWdsTransportServicePolicy::NetworkProfile Property
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb736515(VS.85).aspx

"Windows Server 2008 R2:  This property is ignored and has no effect. This property is ignored and has no effect. A WDS Transport Server on Windows Server 2008 R2 automatically uses the optimal network profile."

/set-Server
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc816898(WS.10).aspx

Parameter --> /Transport
[/Profile: {10Mbps | 100Mbps | 1Gbps | Custom}] - Specifies the network profile to be used. This option is only supported for servers running Windows Server 2008

/set-TransportServer
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc794752(WS.10).aspx

Parameter
[/Profile: {10Mbps | 100Mbps | 1Gbps | Custom}]
Specifies the network profile to be used. This option is only available for servers running Windows Server 2008 or Windows Server 2003.

For the latest version of the article see the link below:

KB2419357 - WDS Multicast settings in the Distribution Point properties do not seem to apply in System Center Configuration Manager 2007 R2 and R3

J.C. Hornbeck | System Center Knowledge Engineer”

http://blogs.technet.com/b/configurationmgr/archive/2010/09/22/new-kb-wds-multicast-settings-in-the-distribution-point-properties-do-not-seem-to-apply-in-system-center-configuration-manager-2007-r2-and-r3.aspx

[ConfigMgr 2007] New KB: System Center Configuration Manager 2007 Management Point install fails on Windows Server 2008 with “The error code is 800CC801”

If you’re seeing an error 25006 when trying to install a MP on a Windows 2008 Server then this KB from the Configuration Manager Support Team Blog should help:

“We posted this solution a while back but it's proven to be so popular that it was converted to an official Knowledge Base article.  You can find our original post here but the test of the KB is below:

=====

Symptoms

When attempting to install a System Center Configuration Manager 2007 Management Point (MP) on Windows Server 2008, the setup may fail with the following errors:

MPMSI.LOG
[13:52:07] Enabling BITS
[13:52:08] @@ERR:25006
MSI (s) (DC!FC) [13:52:08:085]: Product: SMS Management Point -- Error 25006. Setup was unable to create the Internet virtual directory CCM_Incoming
The error code is 800CC801

Error 25006. Setup was unable to create the Internet virtual directory CCM_Incoming
The error code is 800CC801
CustomAction CcmCreateIISVirtualDirectories returned actual error code 1603 (note this may not be 100% accurate if translation happened inside sandbox)

MPSETUP.LOG
<08-27-2010 13:43:26> Installing E:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Configuration Manager\bin\i386\mp.msi CCMINSTALLDIR="E:\Program Files (x86)\SMS_CCM" CCMSERVERDATAROOT="E:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Configuration Manager" USESMSPORTS=TRUE SMSPORTS=80 USESMSSSLPORTS=TRUE SMSSSLPORTS=443 USESMSSSL=TRUE SMSSSLSTATE=0 CCMENABLELOGGING=TRUE CCMLOGLEVEL=1 CCMLOGMAXSIZE=1000000 CCMLOGMAXHISTORY=1
<08-27-2010 13:51:30> mp.msi exited with return code: 1603
<08-27-2010 13:51:30> Backing up E:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Configuration Manager\logs\mpMSI.log to E:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Configuration Manager\logs\mpMSI.log.LastError
<08-27-2010 13:51:30> Fatal MSI Error - mp.msi could not be installed.

Note that the failures are observed on Standard, Enterprise, x86, and x64 versions.  The failures are observed in the following circumstances:

• After performing a site repair of a site server running on Windows 2008 with a local MP already installed
• Initial install of an MP on a machine running Windows 2008
• After removing and attempting to reinstall an MP on a machine running Windows 2008

Resolution

As of right now, the easiest way to resolve this issue is to remove and reinstall the BITS component.  If the ConfigMgr 2007 Management Point role was already installed then it will also be necessary to remove and reinstall that role once you've done the same with BITS.

For the latest version of the article see the link below:

KB2419559 - System Center Configuration Manager 2007 Management Point install fails on Windows Server 2008 with “The error code is 800CC801”

J.C. Hornbeck | System Center Knowledge Engineer”

http://blogs.technet.com/b/configurationmgr/archive/2010/09/21/new-kb-system-center-configuration-manager-2007-management-point-install-fails-on-windows-server-2008-with-the-error-code-is-800cc801.aspx

[FAQ][ConfigMgr 2007] Software Updates not being synchronised to my Child Sites

Question:

I've installed WSUS on my Central Site and configured SUP to sync with Microsoft Update. All of the updates are coming down fine. Next I've installed WSUS on a Child Primary Site and configured the SUP.

However, no updates seems to be coming down from the Central Site (the "wsyncmgr.log" just sits there saying "Waiting xx minutes for requests…" and was last updated days ago).

Answer:

Opening the "WCM.log" on the Child Primary showed the following lines indicating there was an issue with the SUP and WSUS communicating:

This <server_name> system is the Top Site where WSUS Server is configured to Sync from Microsoft Update (WU/MU) OR do not Sync.

Waiting for changes for 1 minutes

Wait timed out after 0 minutes while waiting for at least one trigger event.

Timed out…

Active Software Update Point is not selected. WCM will not change any configuration.

Removing and re-installing the SUP didn't work. Checking in WSUS the updates were being synchronised between the Central and Primary Site (open "Synchronizations" in the WSUS Console to view the synchronisation history). 

Removing the SUP/WSUS and re-installing them didn't make any difference.

I noticed that although the last entries from the WSUS-related log files were from 6 days ago the date/time stamps were updating on a regular basis. In the end I ended up renaming the existing files to *.OLD. ConfigMgr re-created them and opening them the sync was actually running:

WCM.log:

This  <server_name> system will Sync from the parent site's WSUS Server as it is not the Top Site.

Followed by:

Verify Upstream Server settings on the Active WSUS Server

WSUS Server settings are correctly configured and Upstream Server is to to <fqdn_of_central_site>

Subscription should only be done at the Top Site

Configuration successful. Will wait 1 minute for any subscription changes

Received site attachment <site_code>.SHA

Deleted site attachment <drive>:\<path>\inboxes\WSUSMgr.box\<site_code>.SHA

Then looking in the "wsyncmgr.log" at around the time the SUP was configured it showed:

Requesting local sync due to a change in main WSUS server location

Performing sync on local request

….

Synchronizing WSUS server <this_server's_name>

Synchronizing WSUS server <this_srver's_fqdn>

sync: Starting WSUS synchronization

sync: WSUS synchronising categories, processed 0 out of 1000 items (0%)

sync: WSUS synchronising categories, processed 1000 out of 1000 items (100%)

sync: WSUS synchronising updates, processed x out of y items (0%)

….

sync: WSUS synchronising updates, processed y out of y items (100%)

Successfully synced site with parent <parent_site_code>, version <number>

I can only surmise that somehow the WSUS-related ConfigMgr log files became corrupt and forcing ConfigMgr to create new one's resolved the issue.

As a FYI, the following Status Messages for the "SMS_WSUS_SYNC_MANAGER" Component will also be generated if the sync is working:

6701 SMS WSUS Synchronization started

6704 SMS WSUS Synchronization in progress. Current phase: Synchronizing WSUS Server

6702 SMS WSUS Synchronization done.

If you see a 6703 then there is a sync issue and the Status Message will give you clues as to what the issue is.