Number2 Blog - myITforum

SCCM Guru Webcast Q&A #5 - Indexing Tables

2011-09-21T03:00:00Z

This is part of the blog series where I finish answering all the questions that came up during my SCCM Guru Webcast session. QUESTION: I’ve heard you mention indexing tables in the ConfigMgr database that aren’t indexed by default out of the box. Which tables do you recommend and why? What should I index, and from a “I only know just enough about SQL because it’s part of CM” point of view…Do you have a blog or some directions on how to index and how to determine it’s working as expected without impact...(read more)

SCCM Guru Webcast Q&A #4 - Memory Capacity Planning

2011-09-20T04:54:00Z

This is part of the blog series where I finish answering all the questions that came up during my SCCM Guru Webcast session. QUESTION: Often, we see SQL Server 2008 SP2, 64-bit consume all of max memory. Multiple blogs discuss that this is by design and there are even suggested tables on setting up upper limits on SQL for SCCM. Please share your knowledge on what is correct and best practice on memory capacity planning and allocation of SQL Server 2008 for SCCM 2007. ANSWER: The best answer is “It...(read more)

SCCM Guru Webcast Q&A #3 - Troubleshooting…ConfigMgr vs SQL

2011-09-17T18:42:11Z

This is part of the blog series where I finish answering all the questions that came up during my SCCM Guru Webcast session. QUESTION: Troubleshooting if something is a ConfigMgr problem vs a SQL problem is sometimes difficult to pinpoint. Where and what logs are the first places you check when troubleshooting? ANSWER: While I don't claim to be the best ConfigMgr client troubleshooter anymore since it's not my primary job, I have done so much of it since 1996 and have...(read more)

SCCM Guru Webcast Q&A #2-Multiple Rows in Reports

2011-09-17T01:32:57Z

This is part of the series where I finish answering all the questions that came up during my SCCM Guru Webcast session. QUESTION: IPAddress or Subnet produce multiple rows in reports; how can I write a report to fix that? Same for OU. BACKGROUND: For things like IP Addresses, Subnets and OUs, there are typically more than one of them per machine. A computer generally has a primary IP address, but because of things like VPN adapters or the AOL adapter or laptops that have a wireless...(read more)

SCCM Guru Webcast Q&A

2011-09-16T03:46:00Z

On 9/14/2011, BDNA graciously asked me to speak at their SCCM Guru webcast on anything I wanted. I thought it would be a great time to give back to the community that built me by trying to relay some of the knowledge that I’ve learned. I wanted to spend a little more time thoroughly answering the questions instead of rushing through 30 questions, so I only actually answered 6 questions during that time. But there were dozens of questions that people put to me. I always intended...(read more)

SCCM Guru Webcast Q&A #1–MAXDOP

2011-09-16T03:40:00Z

This is the first in the series where I finish answering all the questions that came up during my SCCM Guru Webcast session. QUESTION: Can you explain what "Max Degree of Parallelism" is, and how I should configure that? ANSWER: "Max degree of parallelism", also known as the "MAXDOP" option in SQL, is the number of processors employed to run a single SQL statement. DETAILS: SQL may choose to split up the work of a query into multiple parallel operations to make it go...(read more)

OT - Keeping Lync from blinking so darned much

2011-09-13T20:33:00Z

THE PROBLEM We just started piloting Lync on our team, and up to this point I love it. But we noticed pretty quickly that when Lync (chat) is the inactive window, it will pester you all friggin day with blinking. "HEY, BLINK, I'M HERE, BLINK, SOMEONE UPDATED THIS CHAT, BLINK, LOOK AT ME, BLINK, HEY, HEY HEY!!!!" It's pretty flippin' maddening. I started calling it BLync. THE SOLUTION Well, I couldn't find any way to disable those visual notifications unless you put it in...(read more)

OT - Giving away 2 copies of SQL code formatter at the SCCM Guru webcast

2011-09-13T14:17:00Z

Hot diggity! The fine people at Gudu Software have kindly granted me 2 free licenses of their SQL formatter (SQL Pretty Printer, a $50 value) to give away at the SCCM Guru webcast I'm speaking at tomorrow!! (Tomorrow meaning 9/14/2011) So, for those of you that have missed it, sign up for the SCCM Guru webcast HERE for a chance to win this free SQL formatter software. I find the tool indispensible for anyone writing or viewing SQL or WQL code (which should be all SCCM/ConfigMgr folks or any SQL...(read more)

SQL 2008 R2 - Uninstall of SQL fails with error about RsFx Driver or Common Files still being installed

2011-08-31T04:07:00Z

THE PROBLEM The other day I was trying to uninstall SQL on a lab server so I could start over with a relatively clean machine. The problem is, I got this error: Warning 26003. Microsoft SQL Server 2008 R2 Setup Support Files cannot be uninstalled because the following products are installed: SQL Server 2008 R2 Common Files Microsoft SQL Server 2008 R2 RsFx Driver The problem was, when I open up Add/Remove Programs to see what’s installed, There was no SQL common files nor RsFx driver that I could...(read more)

SSRS–Reordering parameters in Report Builder

2011-08-18T07:41:00Z

I’ve been using Report Builder now for like 3 years and I only just learned this today… SCENARIO You have a SQL Reporting Services (SSRS) report with a bunch of parameters already created and you want to rearrange/reorder the parameters so they’re in a different order. SOLUTION The answer is so easy it’s painful and a little embarrassing…but to me, the icons are so subtle that even after two SSRS courses and 3 years of use, I still didn’t know it existed. So I’ll post something here just in case...(read more)

SCCM 2007 - SMS Agent Host unexpectedly stops/restarts/repairs after running Resource Monitor

2011-08-17T19:02:00Z

OK, this one makes no sense, but we've confirmed it to be a problem for multiple people/machines in our environment. THE PROBLEM Sometime after running Resource Monitor on a Server 2008 R2 server, the SMS Agent Host service (SCCM agent) stops and restarts regularly. It also repeatedly repairs itself every 45-90 minutes (give or take). THE DETAILS We have Server 2008 R2 (both standard and enterprise, with and without SP1) on machines that have the ConfigMgr 2007 client installed and the CM 2007...(read more)

SCCM Guru Webcast

2011-08-16T05:07:00Z

UPDATED: This event has passed. For a while, the link below will still work to allow people to register for the replay, and after that, people should use this link from BDNA's website: http://www.bdna.com/page/index/sccm-guru-webcast-series --------------------------------------------------------------------- In case you missed it, BDNA has asked me to speak at their SCCM GURU Webcast series next month http://info.bdna.com/20110914-Webcast-SCCM-GURU-John-Nelson-reg1.html I'll be answering...(read more)

SCCM - Flags (Updated: AdvertFlags, BoundaryFlags, DeviceFlags, ImageFlags, OfferFlags, PkgFlags, ProgramFlags, ReferenceImageFlags, RemoteClientFlags, TimeFlags, TS_Flags)

2011-06-21T18:01:00Z

THE PROBLEM So, you're looking at an advertisement, package, program or any number of things using the corresponding view in the database but you don't see a column for things like "Override Maintenance Windows". Instead you see a column like "AdvertFlags" with some goofy number in it. So, how do we take the advertflags or any of the other flags identified in the title of this article and extract out what's been set and their meanings? THE SOLUTION Well, to do this...(read more)

SQL - Fix the "There is no row at position 0. (System.Data)" error when clicking properties of a DB.

2011-06-06T23:52:00Z

THE PROBLEM Open SQL Management Studio, right click on any of the DBs and click PROPERTIES. An error message will pop up saying "There is no row at position 0. (System.Data)". And you get nothing. Well, you can't do a lot with the DB if you can't see the properties. It turns out, something can get a little goofy in the built-in tables that facilitate viewing properties. THE SOLUTION As it turns out, there's a file called "u_tables.SQL" that is a part of the install...(read more)

MS to release fix to 'The server principal "testuser" is not able to access the database "msdb" under the current security context' problem

2011-01-19T01:13:00Z

I can't really tell you what's in our security hardening baselines, but I can tell you that it's a good security idea to completely remove GUEST from every database that you're allowed to, and disable it/kill all rights on those DBs that absolutely cannot have GUEST removed (like MSDB). On paper this is a fantastic security idea. In a SQL 2008 R2 world, this can create problems. As soon as we do this, some of our users who normally had access to our replica database are suddenly getting...(read more)