February 2009 - Posts

• SCCM 2007 : Best Practice importing drivers (Part 1) , creating a driver Package.

  Did you ever wonder what would be the required best practice steps on how to import new drivers in System Center Configuration Manager (SCCM), when building a new hardware model. Well I try to explain the steps to accomplish this in a few sections . First a word about integrating drivers in SCCM These instructions describes the process of integrating the drivers in to the OS deployment functionality. The approach for driver integration into OS deployment functionality: - All drivers are integrated...(read more) Posted Feb 27 2009, 11:26 AM by SCUG.be Filed under: configmgr, sccm, smsv4, SCCM 2007, sms v4, configmgr2007, AdminUi, sccm2007, Configmgr 2007, OSD, Drivers

• Free E-Learning Collection on Virtualization

  This newly-released collection offers a comprehensive introduction to the Microsoft suite of Virtualization products. Collection 6333 includes four two-hour clinics, covering Hyper-V and Terminal Services in Windows Server 2008, System Center Virtual Machine Manager 2008, and Microsoft Application Virtualization. http://www.microsoft.com/learning/elearning/course/6333.mspx   Technorati Tags: Virtualization , App-V , SCVMM 2008 , Hyper-V , Terminal Services...(read more) Posted Feb 20 2009, 05:53 AM by SCUG.be Filed under: SCVMM, Virtualization, App-V, Hyper-V, SCVMM 2008, Terminal Services

• New Management Pack: Windows Client 2000/XP/Vista Operating System Management Pack for Operations Manager 2007

  Hey All, Microsoft has released a new management pack: Windows Client 2000/XP/Vista Operating System Management Pack for Operations Manager 2007 Brief Description The Microsoft Windows Client 2000/XP/Vista Operating System Management Pack provides fundamental monitoring basics for computers running Windows Client 2000, XP, or Vista operating systems. Overview The Windows Client Monitoring Management Pack is built to detects, diagnose, and resolve hardware and software problems pertaining to Client 2000, XP, and Vista operating systems. Information and analysis on the issues that the system detected are collected by the MPs through an agent on the client machine, and sent to OpsMgr where this data is converted into health state, alerts (if need be) and processed for business critical and aggregate reports. The MP gives a clear picture of catastrophic failures in your mission critical machines, trend-based alerts of significant changes to computer groups, in-depth views of health of individual machines, and reports that provide a landscape view of the health of all monitored clients. Feature Summary Key Processor Performance Indicators Logical and Physical disk performance and free space Memory utilization Network health Health monitoring of key Windows Operating System services Comprehensive performance collections Availability and event reports Release History 3/23/2007 - Original release of the English version of Client 2000/XP management packs, version 6.0.5000.0 5/11/2007 - Original release of the English version of Vista management pack, version 1.0 1/15/2008 - Guide update of Client 2000/XP management packs, version 6.0.5000.0 2/22/2008 - Updated release of Client 2000/XP management packs, version 6.0.6278.0 5/27/2008 - Release onto Microsoft Download Center of Client 2000/XP management packs, version 6.0.6278.0 2/16/2009 - Update release that includes business Critical monitoring for Vista and bug fixes for performance and aggregate monitoring, version 6.0.6520.0 Cheers, Mike Posted Feb 18 2009, 03:21 PM by SCUG.be

• Windows Server 2008 Core: Command Reference

  Hey All, A cool download for all your windows server 2008 command freaks… http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?familyid=5FB255FF-72DA-4B08-A504-1B10266CF72A&displaylang=en It will download a zipped .chm file that contains the command-line tools for various tasks related to Windows Vista, Windows Server 2003 and Windows Server 2008. Cheers, Mike...(read more) Posted Feb 16 2009, 12:10 PM by SCUG.be Filed under: None

• SCCM 2007: Task Sequence Variables cont’d

  As said in my earlier post, I was going to give some more information about Task Sequence Variables. First, the theory: A Variable is text based, both the name and the value The name value limit is 256, the value limit is 4000 (Anybody ever had an issue with this ‘limitation’????) They are set through the console on collections or computers (see later on screenshots) They are used to initialize task sequence variables at the start of an task sequence run (For setting configurations, for checking...(read more) Posted Feb 15 2009, 08:41 AM by SCUG.be Filed under: sccm2007

• SCCM 2007: Task Sequence Variables

  Lately, I’ve been receiving a lot of requests about “advanced” Task Sequencing in System Center Configuration Manager 2007. Although the standard tasks you can enter are already powerful, and many companies start with this for their OS deployments, it seems that they all want a little bit more after a while. (If you have tasted the meal….) One of the ways to get more control is by using task sequence variables. By default, there are already quite a few variables you can use that are predefined in...(read more) Posted Feb 15 2009, 06:40 AM by SCUG.be Filed under: sccm2007

• Windows Server Cluster Management Pack for Operations Manager 2007

  Overview The Windows Server Failover Cluster Management Pack provides both proactive and reactive monitoring of your Windows Server 2003 and Windows Server 2008 cluster deployments. It monitors Cluster services components—such as nodes, networks, resources, and resource groups—to report issues that can cause downtime or poor performance. Feature Summary Some of the conditions monitored by this management pack are as follows: Configuration or hardware issues that interfere with starting...(read more) Posted Feb 13 2009, 09:04 AM by SCUG.be Filed under: Operations Manager 2007, scom, opsmgr, Management Pack

• New Management Pack: Windows Server Cluster Management Pack For Operations Manager 2007

  Can be found here Information about this management pack according to the MS website: Overview The Windows Server Failover Cluster Management Pack provides both proactive and reactive monitoring of your Windows Server 2003 and Windows Server 2008 cluster deployments. It monitors Cluster services components—such as nodes, networks, resources, and resource groups—to report issues that can cause downtime or poor performance. Feature Summary Some of the conditions monitored by this management pack are...(read more) Posted Feb 13 2009, 08:46 AM by SCUG.be Filed under: Management Packs

• SCCM 2007 : Changing your name/description of your secondary sites

  Today I ran into a weird customer question.They wanted to change the description on their secondary sites. After some investigation I found a way of doing this without having to reinstall the entire secondary sites. To do this , you must : Stop the SMS executive service. Open the C:\Program Files\SCCM\Inboxes\SiteCtrl.Box\sitectrl.cto file. At the top of the file , you find your sitecode and below that you'll find the site desciption. Change the name and save the file. Restart the SMS Exec service...(read more) Posted Feb 13 2009, 05:27 AM by SCUG.be Filed under: configmgr, sccm, smsv4, SCCM 2007, sms v4, configmgr2007, AdminUi, sccm2007, Configmgr 2007

• SCCM 2007 : State Migration Point Bug , Does not clean up the old SMP- USMT Records in "Computer Association".

  A few weeks ago I ran into some serious trouble at a customer.The state migration point at a secondary site ran full. At first site this wasn't really an issue , as we expected to go over the default values that where configured in the state migration point properties as the site contained 800 users . The pic below confirmed the settings , so we altered it to the new settings . Problem solved we thought , nothing was thru ... As soon as we did one extra , the same problem reoccurred. Strange...(read more) Posted Feb 12 2009, 06:37 AM by SCUG.be Filed under: configmgr, sccm, smsv4, SCCM 2007, sms v4, configmgr2007, AdminUi, sccm2007, Configmgr 2007, migration, SMP

• RMS grayed out and server discovery failed

  After I installed my RMS and OpsmgrDB on two different servers my root management server went gray and every 10 minutes or so I receive an alert stating the RMS is unavailable. Usually these close within a minute but some times take up to 10 minutes. Below is the alert I receive. Alert: Root Management Server Unavailable. Source: (my server name) Path: (my server name) Last modified by: System Last modified time: 2/1/2008 4:19:53 PM Alert description: The root management server (Healthservice) has...(read more) Posted Feb 11 2009, 10:08 AM by SCUG.be Filed under: Operations Manager 2007, scom, opsmgr, Issue, General

• New Knowledgebase Articles

  Hey All, Microsoft has released a new KB’s for Operations Manager KB 967503 Antivirus software blocks script execution in System Center Operations Manager 2007 Cheers, Mike...(read more) Posted Feb 09 2009, 01:41 AM by SCUG.be Filed under: KB

• Windows server 2008: A quick reference guide

  I found some great information on some commands for Windows Server 2008 on the blog of Mark Empson’s . Set the computer name Netdom computername [origcomputername] /add FQDN Netdom computername [origcomputername] /makeprimary FQDN Configure IP address Netsh int ipv4 set address “Local Area Connection” static IPADDRESS SUBNETMASK GATEWAY Netsh int ipv4 set address “Local Area Connection” static 192.168.1.200 255.255.255.0 192.168.1.1 Netsh int ipv4 set address “Local Area Connection” source=dhcp Netsh...(read more) Posted Feb 06 2009, 05:36 AM by SCUG.be Filed under: Tips & Trics

• Extract files from a MSI

  This post has nothing to do with operations manager but you will find it useful if you ever need to install hotfixes on a windows server 2008 core installation. Here’s the situation. I needed to install some hotfixes (for SCOM but also for Hyper-V) on a windows server 2008 core environment. When you download the hotfix, and try to install it with the delivered .msi (through commandline) you will get the following notification: Unfortunately, .NET framework won’t work on a core installation so you...(read more) Posted Feb 06 2009, 05:05 AM by SCUG.be Filed under: Hotfixes

• Sccm presentation at Microsoft Techdays

  Hi All, For the third year in a row I will be delivering a presentation at the Microsoft Techdays in Belgium. This years presentation will resolve about ConfigMgr aka SCCM 2007 R2 tasksequences, and what you can do with them. I will cover as much of the in's and out's of Tasksequences as possible, explain what has changed since R2, and point out any pitfalls whenever appropriate. The techdays promises to be another top-conference, with confirmed speakers like Steve Riley (Security Expert...(read more) Posted Feb 04 2009, 08:32 AM by SCUG.be Filed under: configmgr, sccm, smsv4, SCCM 2007, sms v4, configmgr2007, sccm2007, Configmgr 2007, Events, personal, Training, techdays