Techytips

ERROR: Failed to verify authenticode signature - ConfigMgr (2012, 1511, 1602) Pre-requisite downloads

2016-05-06T14:01:00.001+05:30

Hey Guys.. Hope you are all good.. This time I am bringing you all a simple fix to an annoying issue that most of us have faced while trying to upgrade / Install ConfigMgr. Yes, this is about the fix to annoying "Failed to verify authenticode signature" error while downloading setup pre-req's. lets get into that quickly

Error Description

While you are downloading setup pre-requisites for ConfigMgr installation either via setup wizard or via by running setupdl.exe, the download will fail with the below error message

The corresponding error message in ConfigMgrsetup.log would read like this

INFO: Verifying signature for file 'C:\TEMP\Download\sqlncli.msi'    Configuration Manager Setup    06.05.2016 10:11:57    11032 (0x2B18)
ERROR: Failed to verify 'C:\TEMP\Download\sqlncli.msi' authenticode signature.    Configuration Manager Setup    06.05.2016 10:11:57    11032 (0x2B18)
ERROR: File signature check failed for C:\TEMP\Download\sqlncli.msi    Configuration Manager Setup    06.05.2016 10:11:57    11032 (0x2B18)
INFO: Downloaded file 'C:\TEMP\Download\sqlncli.msi' is not valid    Configuration Manager Setup    06.05.2016 10:11:57    11032 (0x2B18)
ERROR: Failed to download required file    Configuration Manager Setup    06.05.2016 10:11:57    11032 (0x2B18)

Solution

Many of us would think that there is something wrong with file which is downloaded or blame the hardware or software firewall for ruining the downloaded file. But in reality this is nothing to do with your firewall and stuff.

You receive this error message because of an IE setting "Check for publisher's certificate revocation" under Advanced settings.

We need to disable temporarily to get this download working. If you are allowed you could directly remove the check mark. If if you are same as me and not allowed to change this settings here, you would have to do it through registry.

Open Regedit.exe and navigate to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\WinTrust\Trust Providers\Software Publishing and Change Value “State” to 146944 Decimal or 0x00023e00 Hexadecimal.. As shown below.

Now, the "Check for publisher's certificate revocation" would be disabled and your download should succeed.

Hope this helps, Happy upgrading ConfigMgr :-)

S A Delphin

Migrating to ConfigMgr Current Branch - Moving SUP (WSUS) to server 2012 R2

2016-04-29T15:23:00.002+05:30

Hey guys. This is the second post in the series "Migrating to ConfigMgr Current Branch". In my first post we talked about moving MP to a server 2012 R2 and in this post we will talk about moving SUP to server 2012 R2. I wanted to index all the posts in this series to make the navigation easy for you guys.. Here it is

Migrating to ConfigMgr Current Branch

1.Migrating to ConfigMgr Current Branch - Migrating MP to server 2012 R2

2.Migrating to ConfigMgr Current Branch - Moving SUP (WSUS) to server 2012 R2

Lets get into this, The ConfigMgr 2012 instance I support has 2 SUP role instance on 2 different servers. Both the WSUS instances on the SUP's shares same SQL DB which resides under ConfigMgr DB instance and WSUS shared Content share which is hosted in a file share. Since both of WSUS uses same DB & Content share, and I really cant touch the DB as it is prod instance, I had to take the below approach to complete this task.

(new server 2012 R2 servers will be called sup2012_1 and sup2012_2 from now on in this post)

Install WSUS with WID (Windows internal Database) in sup2012_1
Detach the WID DB from sup2012_1 and attach it with ConfigMgr SQL instance with name different than default SUSDB(In my case, I had that named as SUSDB_<SiteCode>)
Configure sup2012_1 to use attached sql database
Install WSUS in sup2012_2 and configure to use the same DB and Content share used by sup2012_1
Configure SUP role in both sup2012 servers and initiate WSUS sync.
Perform functionality and availability tests
remove SUP role from server 2008 R2

Lets see each phase in detail.

Install WSUS with WID (Windows Internal database) in sup2012_1

Login to the server sup2012_1 and make sure firewall is turned off or necessary firewall rules are created allowing siteserver and sup2012_1 to communicate
Add the computer account of site server as a local admin in sup2012_1
If you have additional drive to install ConfigMgr component and don't want SCCM to get installed in C drive, create NO_SMS_ON_DRIVE.SMS in the root of C drive, so that the drive will be untouched.
Create a Share folder in a file share for WSUS content and add provide full control for everyone. (\\FileServer\ShareFolder)
Open an elevated PowerShell Console and execute the below command to install WSUS and required IIS features

Install-WindowsFeature -Name UpdateServices -IncludeManagementTools

Once the command completed successfully (Ignore the warning message about post installation configuration) execute the below command to perform post installation configurations

"C:\Program Files\Update Services\Tools\wsusutil.exe" postinstall CONTENT_DIR="\\FileServer\ShareFolder"

After the post installation configurations are completed, Launch IIS management console and navigate to Sites->WSUS Administration, right click on Content, select Manage Virtual directory and select Advance settings.
In the advance setting properties, Make sure Physical path starts with "\\", If not add as seen in the below screenshot

Restart W3SVC and WSUS services
Launch WSUS administration console to make sure that the console launches without any error.(DO NOT CHANGE ANY CONFIGURATIONS THROUGH CONSOLE)

Migrate from WID to Remote SQL (Server 2012 WSUS)

Download Microsoft ODBC Driver 11 for SQL Server and SQLCMD from the below links respectively.

https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=36434
https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=36433

Install ODBC driver followed by SQLCMD in sup2012_1 server by following installation wizards
stop W3SVC and WSUS services
open elevated command prompt and execute following commands to provision and detach WSUS DB from WID

sqlcmd -S \\.\pipe\MICROSOFT##WID\tsql\query
use master
alter database SUSDB set single_user with rollback immediate
go
sp_detach_db SUSDB
go

Once the above step completed successfully, Navigate to C:\Windows\WID\Data and copy the susdb.mdf to a shared location.
Login to SQL server where your existing SUSDB is hosted, Launch SSMS (SQL server management studio), connect to DB instance and attach the copied susdb.mdf file with name SUSDB_<SiteCode> by going through attach DB wizard

Once the DB is successfully attached, Login to SUP server(sup2012_1) with admin privileges, Navigate to HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\UpdateServices\Server\Setup in registry editor and change the values as shown below

SQLServerName: <SQL server Name>\<Instance Name>
SqlDatabaseName: SUSDB_<SiteCode>
ContentDir: \\FileServer\ShareFolder

Start W3SVC and WSUS service
Laucn WSUS admin console to make sure it is able to connect to DB

Install and Configure WSUS in sup2012_2(Replication Partner)

Login to the server sup2012_2 and make sure firewall is turned off or necessary firewall rules are created allowing siteserver and sup2012_2 to communicate
Add the computer account of site server as a local admin in sup2012_2
If you have additional drive to install ConfigMgr component and don't want SCCM to get installed in C drive, create NO_SMS_ON_DRIVE.SMS in the root of C drive, so that the drive will be untouched.
Open an elevated Powershell Console and execute the below command to install WSUS and required IIS features (Without DB)

install-windowsfeature -name updateservices-services -includemanagementtools

Open registry editor, navigate to HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\UpdateServices\Server\Setup and change the values as shown below
SQLServerName: <SQL server Name>\<Instance Name>
SqlDatabaseName: SUSDB_<SiteCode>
ContentDir: \\FileServer\ShareFolder

( Exact same values as in sup2012_1 server)

In elevated PowerShell console execute below command to perform post installation configurations

"C:\Program Files\Update Services\Tools\wsusutil.exe" postinstall CONTENT_DIR="\\FileServer\ShareFolder"

Once the post installation configurations are completed, Launch IIS management console and navigate to Sites->WSUS Administration, right click on Content, select Manage Virtual directory and select Advance settings.
In the advance setting properties, Make sure Physical path starts with "\\", If not add as seen in the below screenshot

Restart W3SVC and WSUS services.
Launch WSUS administration console to make sure that the console launches without any error.(DO NOT CHANGE ANY CONFIGURATIONS THROUGH CONSOLE)

Install SUP role in both servers (sup2012_1 & sup2012_2)

Connect to ConfigMgr site through PowerShell, by selecting "Connect via Windows PowerShell" from Console file menu

Execute the below power shell command to add server2012 as a sitesystem in your ConfigMgr site (If they are not already)

New-CMSiteSystemServer -ServerName "sup2012_1.<DomainName>.<Com>" -SiteCode "<SiteCode>"

On successful completion of the above, execute the below power shell command to add sup2012_1 as a SUP

Add-CMSoftwareUpdatePoint -SiteSystemServerName "sup2012_1.<DomainName>.<Com>" -SiteCode "<SiteCode>" -ClientConnectionType Intranet -WsusiisPort "8530" -WsusiissslPort "8531" -Verbose

Go through supsetup.log in the installation directory and make sure the SUP installation succeeded.
Once the installation succeeded, Navigate to \Administration\Overview\Site Configuration\Servers and Site System Roles in ConfigMgr console, select sup2012_1, right click on SUP role to see the properties. Make sure all the options you need are selected and configured.
Go through wcm.log in site server and make sure the configuration completed without any errors. But if you happen to receive the below error in WCM, it can safely be ignored as this is known behaviour in ConfigMgr 2012 R2 SP2

Failed to create assembly name object for Microsoft.UpdateServices.Administration. Error = 0x80131701. SMS_WSUS_CONFIGURATION_MANAGER 29.04.2016 09:09:07 11840 (0x2E40)

Once all are green, initiate an update sync in ConfigMgr console and observe the outcome.
Follow the above procedure to install SUP role in sup2012_2 and initiate a sync to make sure everything is Ok.

Known Errors

In this section we will talk about known errors while configuring a server 2012 R2 as SUP in ConfigMgr environment

Error1 - WSUS app pool crash

When you configure a server 2012 R2 WSUS as ConfigMgr SUP, WSUS app will crash while the clients starts using that SUP and The console will not connect WSUS with the below messages in event viewer.

Event ID:      12052
Task Category: 9
Level:         Error
Description:
The DSS Authentication Web Service is not working.

Event ID:      12042
Task Category: 9
Level:         Error
Description:
The SimpleAuth Web Service is not working.

Event ID:      12022
Task Category: 9
Level:         Error
Description:
The Client Web Service is not working.

Event ID:      12032
Task Category: 9
Level:         Error
Description:
The Server Synchronization Web Service is not working.

Event ID:      12012
Task Category: 9
Level:         Error
Description:
The API Remoting Web Service is not working.

Event ID:      12002
Task Category: 9
Level:         Error
The Reporting Web Service is not working.

Event ID:      13042
Task Category: 6
Level:         Error
Description:
Self-update is not working.

Fix

To fix we need to change certain values at the IIS level for WSUS website. To do that,

Launch IIS management console, Navigate to Application Pools, Right click on WSUS Pool and go to advance properties.
In the advance settings properties change the Queue length to 50000 as shown in the below screenshot

After doing this change, restart W3SVC and WSUS services.

Functionality & Availability tests

Launch ConfigMgr Admin console Navigate to Monitoring\Overview\Software Update Point Synchronization Status to verify that the newly Installed SUP synchronize without any issues
Additionally go through wsusctrl.log, wcm.log, wsyncmgr.log to make sure that there are no errors in SUP operations
Identify a group of test clients and make them report to newly installed SUP by changing local group polcy configuration. Launch gpedit.msc, navigate to Computer Configuration -> Administrative templates -> Windows Components -> Windows Update. Edit the policy "Specify intranet Microsoft Update service location" to type in your server name as in the below image.

Create a test Update group, Deployment package and deployment to make sure the test clients successfully complete the scan against newly installed SUP, download the content, Install the updates and perform post validation scans.

Remove server 2012 R2 SUP

This is pretty much straight forward. The upstream SUP must be removed at last after all of it's downstream SUPs are removed.

Login to siteserver, In Admin console navigate to Administration\Overview\Site Configuration\Servers and Site System Roles, select the server 2008 R2 SUP in the right pane
Right click on the Software Update point role, and click on Remove Role

(While removing the upstream SUP it will ask you select new upstream server. From the drop down menu, select one of newly installed SUPs )

Supsetup.log to verify successful De-installation SUP role
Navigate to Administration\Overview\Site Configuration\Servers and Site System Roles, right client on the server 2008 r2 site system and select Delete.

Hope this post would help you when you plan to move your SUP role from server 2008 R2 to server 2012 R2. I know this is a lengthy post and I tried my level best to explain without including too much screenshots.If you have any questions or suggestion, Please leave a comment. i will try to answer them. :-)

S A Delphin

Migrating to ConfigMgr Current Branch - Migrating MP to server 2012 R2

2016-04-21T12:44:00.003+05:30

Hey guys.. Glad to meet all of you with another series (Migrating to ConfigMgr CB). In my client's environment we fixed ConfigMgr 1602 as the version to be migrated to and currently we are preparing our infrastructure by replacing server 2008 R2 site systems with server 2012 R2 and performing compatibility & stability tests in ConfigMgr 1602 test environment in parallel. As explained in one of my previous posts, ConfigMgr CB will not support server 2008 R2 servers as site systems / site servers after this December. More details here
Did you know that you should breakup with server 2008 R2

Meanwhile some of my friends approached me asking my suggestion on the migration to ConfigMgr CB in the infrastructure they support. So, I thought it would be really cool if I can write a blog series on that. here I am, this series will have detailed procedure to migrate all the site systems (MP, DP, SUP, RP etc) to server 2012 R2 as preparing to ConfigMgr CB upgrade and I will share all the issues and experience I came across in my infrastructure. Without further adu, lets get started.

Migrating MP to server 2012 R2

I wouldn't call this a migration but introducing new server 2012 MP and removing old one. The Plan is as follows

Prepare server 2012 R2 server
Install MP on server 2012 R2
Make sure it works and Remove the traces of Server 2008 R2 MP in deployment objects
Remove MP role from Server 2008 R2 servers

lets see those steps in detail

Prepare server 2012 R2 server (server2012)

Make sure firewall is turned off or necessary firewall rules are created allowing siteserver and server2012 to communicate
Add the computer account of site server as a local admin in Server2012
If you have additional drive to install ConfigMgr component and don't want SCCM to get installed in C drive, create NO_SMS_ON_DRIVE.SMS in the root of C drive, so that the drive will be untouched.
Install below server components which are mandatory for ConfigMgr MP

- .NET Framework 4
- BITS Server Extensions (and auto selected options)
- IIS
   Application Development >> ISAPI Extensions
   Security >> Windows Authentication
   IIS 6 Management Compatibility >> IIS 6 Metabase Compatibility
   IIS 6 Management Compatibility >> IIS 6 WMI Compatibility

5. Restart the server2012 as needed
6. Navigate to DotNet install location (By default it's C:\Windows\Microsoft.NET\Framework64\v4.0.XXXXX), edit the files regsvcs.exe.config ando InstallUtil.exe.cnfig to add the below lines right after </startup>

<runtime>
<loadFromRemoteSources enabled="true"/>
</runtime>

and the file should look like the following screenshot

If you do not do this, the BGB component installation in server2012 will keep failing with a DotNet Error

Install MP role in Server2012

Connect to ConfigMgr site through PowerShell, by selecting "Connect via Windows PowerShell" from Console file menu

Execute the below power shell command to add server2012 as a sitesystem in your ConfigMgr site

New-CMSiteSystemServer -ServerName "Server2012.<DomainName>.<Com>" -SiteCode "<SiteCode>"

On successful completion of the above, execute the below power shell command to add server2012 as a MP

Add-CMManagementPoint –SiteSystemServerName "Server2012.<DomainName>.<Com>" –SiteCode "<SiteCode>"

Go through MPcontrol.log in the installation directory and make sure the MP installation succeeded.
Once the installation succeeded, Navigate to \Administration\Overview\Site Configuration\Servers and Site System Roles in ConfigMgr console, select the new site system, right click on MP role to see the properties. Make sure all the options you need are selected and configured.

Post Configuration

Go through mpcontrol.log to confirm that the newly installed MP is responding to client communications
Use MPcert and MPlist URL from a test client to verify that the MP is reachable to clients

http://<Site_system_name>/sms_mp/.sms_aut?mplist.
http://<Site_system_name>/sms_mp/.sms_aut?mpcert

If you have published all your MP's in DNS, remove the old entries and add the entries for server2012 MP
Identify Task Sequences which uses old MP's in their ConfigMgr client installation switches and edit them to reflect the new server2012 MP
Make sure to remove the traces of OLD MP's from all other deployment object so that removing them will not stop anything from working.

Remove OLD MP

Navigate to \Administration\Overview\Site Configuration\Servers and Site System Roles in ConfigMgr console, select server 2008 site system which hosts MP role, right click on MP role and select remove.
Monitor mpsetup.log to ensure successful removal of MP.

That's all you need to do, If you have MP's with replicated DB for special requirements, build server2012 MP in the same way with different SQL DB and remove the old one.

Hope this article helps and this is the first post in the series. I will come up with a post which explains Upgrading your SUP while you have 2008 R2 replicated WSUS which uses same DB instance as SUP's.

Complete index of this series,

1.Migrating to ConfigMgr Current Branch - Migrating MP to server 2012 R2

2.Migrating to ConfigMgr Current Branch - Moving SUP (WSUS) to server 2012 R2

S A Delphin

How does Client Online status in ConfigMgr 1602 work

2016-03-14T16:27:00.002+05:30

Hey guys, you all excited to get your hands dirty with COnfigMgr 1602 ? Well, I was able to get the upgrade package by running the powershell script(EnableupdateRing Powershell Script) available here

Right after running the powershell script I launched Configuration Manager Service Manager and restarted SMS_DMP_Downloader under components. Then the upgrade package was available under Administration\Overview\Cloud Services\Updates and Servicing . Right clicked on it to run the pre-requisite check and started upgrade through right click menu. I am not going to talk about the upgrade process in detail, since there are many article explaining that in detail.

One cool feature that I noticed is, we could see if a computer is online or offline in console. There is this green check mark on the device icon if the client is online. The Icon for offline computers remains the same.

I was really surprised to see this change for real and It also made me to think that if the client are going to send it status to MP frequently and ConfigMgr is to process all these request and store is in DB, It would actually increase the load on both the network and site server / systems. So I decided to check if there are places where this communication activity is recorded. I found quite interesting stuff there..

Quoted from Microsoft post

A new status for clients is available for monitoring if a computer is online or not. A computer is considered online if it is connected to it's assigned management point. To indicate that the computer is online, the client sends ping-like messages to the management point. If the management point doesn't receive a message after 5 minutes, the client is considered offline.

It looks like the client's BGB agent's keep alive messages are used in order to define if a client is online or not.

The keep alive messages are then processed by BGB server to create a Delta report on the client Online status to be processed further.

The Delta file is processed and Online status of each client is stored in table BGB_ResStatus . If you want to see that yourself, try this query in your SQL management studio

SELECT TOP 1000 [ResourceID]
      ,[OnlineStatus]
      ,[ServerID]
      ,[LastOnlineTime]
      ,[ChannelType]
      ,[LastOfflineTime]
FROM [CM_<SiteCode>].[dbo].[BGB_ResStatus]

The above query gave me the following result. The column Online status defines whether a computer is online or not.

I investigated everything I wanted to know about the new client online status feature and the only thing I want to investigate now is, What if I want to disable this and reduce the load on the Network as well as site servers/ systems ?

I still dont have answer for that question and I will try to find that out soon. So, If you are planning to move to ConfigMgr 1602, knowing how this works comes in handy at times.

Hope this helps

S A Delphin

You cant get away! | Win7, 8.1 to go extinct | New processors will only work with Win10 - Microsoft

2016-03-08T19:54:00.002+05:30

Yes, It is true. In 18 months Windows 10 will replace all of his sisters. Microsoft anounced that only Windows 10 will support the next generation procesors. Next generation processors, including Intel's "Kaby Lake", Qualcomm's 8996 (branded as Snapdragon 820), and AMD's "Bristol Ridge" APUs (which will use the company's Excavator architecture, not its brand new Zen arch) will only be supported on Windows 10.

Also, Organization that runs Windows 7 / 8.1 on Intel 6th generation Core processor (SkyLake) are given time until17 July 2017 to upgrade to Windows 10. After July 2017, the most critical Windows 7 and Windows 8.1 security updates will be addressed for these configurations, and will be released if the update does not risk the reliability or compatibility of the Windows 7 and Windows 8.1 platform on other devices.

Read more here
http://windows.microsoft.com/en-gb/windows/skylake-support

If your organization runs win 7 or 8.1 on Skylake processors, you only have time until July 2017. You sure wanna book mark the above link to frequently check the Skylake systems supported on Win 7 / 8.1, as this page will be frequently upgraded as and when hardware vendors releases new model.

MIcrosoft is trying to justify this move by providing certain data points and they have re-defined their support policy. Below is a snippet from Microsof's blog post

We are particularly excited about the work we’ve done with Intel on their new 6^th generation Intel Core processors (code named “Skylake”). Compared to Windows 7 PC’s, Skylake when combined with Windows 10, enables up to 30x better graphics and 3x the battery life – with the unmatched security of Credential Guard utilizing silicon supported virtualization. We and our partners are continuing to invest, innovate, and update to drive continued performance improvements across Windows 10 and Skylake devices.

With Windows 7 now in extended support, we are focused on our commitment to deliver security, reliability, and compatibility to our installed base on their current systems. Redesigning Windows 7 subsystems to embrace new generations of silicon would introduce churn into the Windows 7 code base, and would break this commitment.

Going forward, as new silicon generations are introduced, they will require the latest Windows platform at that time for support. This enables us to focus on deep integration between Windows and the silicon, while maintaining maximum reliability and compatibility with previous generations of platform and silicon. For example, Windows 10 will be the only supported Windows platform on Intel’s upcoming “Kaby Lake” silicon, Qualcomm’s upcoming “8996” silicon, and AMD’s upcoming “Bristol Ridge” silicon.

Read the entire post here
https://blogs.windows.com/windowsexperience/2016/01/15/windows-10-embracing-silicon-innovation/

All that being said, It's time for you to take this up with your organization and start planning the migration of Windows 10.

The redefined policy makes Microsoft's hardware partners happy since they no longer have to develop as many costly software updates for past versions of Windows. It also helps Microsoft push migrating to Windows 10. Microsoft already anounced that WIndows 10 is their final version of Windows. it's now a service, not a product, and this change better reflects that. There's only one current version of Windows, and while Microsoft will fulfill its legacy hardware obligations, it won't be expending resources to help users steer clear of its latest and greatest.

S A Delphin

Boot Image Properties are missing after R2 SP1 CU2 Upgrade

2016-02-29T20:50:00.001+05:30

Hey guys. Happy to meet you with one of my recent experience again. I am really blessed to work for my client as I get to work on the latest version of the product. So the story goes like this, As soon as CU2 for ConfigMgr 2012 R2 SP1 is released, we started evaluating it and prepared our ConfigMgr infrastructures for the upgrade. The entire upgrade went successfully and started performing tests to ensure the functionality of ConfigMgr only to realize that the customization properties of all boot images are missing.

As this is kind of common in infrastructure upgrade where the boot images are not updated yet, we updated all our boot images. But still no tabs!!

We started looking out for other options, but none of them worked. We only had the option of reinstalling the ADK in site server left with us. But I wanna make sure that I took care of everything before doing that. So I created a thread to ask for other technet member's opinion on this.

Drivers tab is missing on Boot Image Properties

I am glad that I opened that thread and Jason directed me to work around the SMS provider.

(get-wmiobject -class sms_providerLocation -namespace root\sms).machine

Running above power shell command returned me 2 SMS providers, Where as we only have one SMS provider that sits on the site server itself. Probably the leftovers of previous SMS provider testing.

Now that I realized what needs to be done, I remove the left overs of the second SMS provider and voila!! the tabs are back again.

Hope this helps

S A Delphin

Did you know that you should breakup with server 2008 R2

2016-02-23T13:57:00.002+05:30

Hey Guys.. I am here with yet another exciting post about ConfigMgr current branch (1511). A month before we decided to install ConfigMgr 1511 in a test environment and evaluate the product to ensure that it suits our PROD infrastructure with all the other services connecting in.

I was really stumbled when I found out about the depreciating features of ConfigMgr vNext (1511) while I was reading through the features and pre-requisites of it. Looks like we can not use Server 2008 / 2008 R2 as a site server / site system anymore. The support for these OS versions will be removed right after year from the release date of ConfigMgr 1511. This is the same for SQL 2008 R2 as DB as well.

Read more here https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/mt210917.aspx

But we have all our servers running server 2008 R2 and the only option available to to have ConfigMgr 1511 PROD is to perform a side by side migration from 2012 R2 Sp1 to ConfigMgr 1511 with server 2012 as site systems/site servers. But this is clearly not an option for us since we had a lot of objects to migrate and we really don't wanna mess with how things works now. 1511Since upgrading our PROD environment to ConfigMgr 1511 is one of the milestone for this year, We decided to look at other options to upgrade to 1511 without having to perform a side by side migration.

Luckily we came up with a plan which does not involve a side by side migration.

This is how we are planning to perform the upgrade from ConfigMgr 2012 R2 SP1 to ConfigMgr 1511.

First, we will build a ConfigMgr 1511 infrastructure on windows server 2012 R2
Upgrade the existing ConfigMgr 2012 R2 SP1 to ConfigMgr 1511
Perform "Migrating to new hardware" steps to migrate the infrastructure.

The above is just the outline of we are thinking and we are developing the plan into action. I will keep you guys posted on how it goes.

Update : Since ConfigMgr Current Branch now supports in-place upgrade of site servers from 2008 R2 to 2012 R2, you could choose that approach as a simple and safe approach

S A Delphin

What's New in ConfigMgr VNEXT - TP3 - SUP Model

2015-09-18T19:23:00.000+05:30

Hey guys. Its time for the second part of the series What's New in ConfigMgr VNEXT - TP3. read the first part here

http://delphintipz.blogspot.in/2015/09/whats-new-in-configmgr-vnext-tp3.html

This time its about the SUP model in ConfigMgr vNext TP3. I was able to spend some time to work with SUP model and there are some interesting stuff. Those will eventually off load the engineers who do patching. The below are the changes / Enhancements I have noticed in vNext

WSUS cleanup can be done from within ConfigMgr console
Templates for ADR
ADR supports multiple deployments

1. WSUS cleanup
In vNext,We have the option to schedule WSUS cleanup with a configured interval. This is actually kind of a good approach to deal with the Expired or orphaned content within WSUS and we all should be happy that Microsoft is at least trying to help us, But changing the way ConfigMgr client scans against the SUP would be the solution.

As seen in the screenshot, the option can be selected while installing the SUP and by default the interval at which the cleanup runs is 30 days.
The same can be seen in the wsyncmgr.log

Setting sync alert to active state on site DLP    SMS_WSUS_SYNC_MANAGER    9/15/2015 11:11:38 AM    3824 (0x0EF0)
Sync time: 0d00h00m19s    SMS_WSUS_SYNC_MANAGER    9/15/2015 11:11:38 AM    3824 (0x0EF0)
Skipping Delete Expired Update relations since this is not a scheduled sync.    SMS_WSUS_SYNC_MANAGER    9/15/2015 11:11:38 AM    3824 (0x0EF0)
WSUS Cleanup wizard interval is : 30 days and time since last WSUS Clean wizard run is 16693 days. Calling WSUS Cleanup wizard.    SMS_WSUS_SYNC_MANAGER    9/15/2015 11:11:38 AM    3824 (0x0EF0)
Successfully completed WSUS Cleanup wizard.    SMS_WSUS_SYNC_MANAGER    9/15/2015 11:11:41 AM    3824 (0x0EF0)
Next scheduled sync is a retry sync at 9/15/2015 12:11:38 PM    SMS_WSUS_SYNC_MANAGER    9/15/2015 11:11:41 AM    3824 (0x0EF0)

As this just is equivalent to launching the WSUS cleanup wizard from WSUS console, we need to take care of the superseded updates as we do in ConfigMgr 2012.

2. ADR Templates

Another interesting thing in vNext SUP model is that there are Pre-configured templates for ADR. This is not a quite a big improvement but we could see that Microsoft is trying to off load the engineers. We have 3 templates available by default, each one with different search criteria and custom schedule as the ADR rule.

Definition Updates
Patch Tuesday
CAMP Updates

Patch Tuesday

Search Criteria : Update classification - Critical and Date revised
Schedule : Once in 30 days

Definition Updates

Search Criteria : Definition updates for FEP / WIN Defeneder

Schedule : Run the rule after any SUP synchronization

CAMP updates

Search Criteria : Critical updates for FEP

Schedule : Once in a day

3. Multiple deployment in ADR

In ConfigMgr 2012 we can have only one deployment for an ADR. If you want to differ in the deployment time or user notification etc.. for some clients, you actually need to create a new ADR.

But in vNext you don't have to create a new ADR. You can just keep on adding new deployments with different schedule, collection, user notification etc.. to an existing ADR. Cool isn't it ?.

The below screenshots illustrate how we can add multiple deployments for an ADR

With all these, there isn't a huge change in SUP model of Configmgr vNext yet, but there are things which can actually reduce some of the loads on the engineer..

Hope you enjoyed this ! S A Delphin

What's New in ConfigMgr VNEXT - TP3 - Introduction

2015-09-15T16:38:00.002+05:30

Hey Guys. I am happy to meet you all with another post, only this time it is gonna be a series of posts about "What's new in ConfigMgr Vnext - TP3"

As you all know that ConfigMgr vNext TP3 is made available by Microsoft on 19-Aug-2015 and I got a chance to evaluate the functionality in my LAB. This series of blog post will talk about the features and functionality introduced or changed in vNext. Hope you guys will enjoy this series.

New Features / Enhancements in ConfigMgr vNext

The listed below are the improvements in vNext technical preview 3, collected from Technet.

Windows 10 in-place upgrade
Mobile Application Management
Data protection for mobile devices
Preferred management points
On-premises mobile device management (MDM)
Support for Microsoft Azure virtual machines
Client deployment status in console monitoring
Sideloading apps in Windows 10
Windows PE Peer Cache
On-premises MDM: Adds support for Windows 10 desktop
Bulk enrollment of Windows 10 devices
Support for multiple Automatic Deployment Rules
Diagnostics and Usage Data
Service a server cluster
Support for SQL Server AlwaysOn for highly available databases
Deploy Windows Business Store applications
App deployment to Windows 10 devices with on-premises MDM
Compliance settings for Windows 10
Improved workflow for creating mobile device configuration items
Updates for Windows 10 in-place upgrade
Updates for bulk enrollment of Windows 10 devices with on-premises MDM

I will be testing every possible scenario in my LAB and share my experience with you guys in upcoming articles.

The complete detail and limitations are available in this artcile
https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dn965439.aspx

ConfigMgr vNext TP3 can be downloaded from Microsoft evaluation center
http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/evalcenter/evaluate-system-center-configuration-manager-and-endpoint-protection-technical-preview

Outlook - ConfigMgr vNext TP3

As I just completed setting up my vNext LAB, i though it would be really cool to share the outlook of the tool with you guys.

Asset and compliance

The Asset and compliance looks the same as ConfigMgr 2012 R2 SP1 other than the "Windows" folder under All Corporate-Owned devices.

Software Library

Windows sideloading keys is new which helps "Sideloading apps in Windows 10" We will be seeing that later in detail.

Monitoring

Production and Pre-production client deployment. Not sure how this works yet, But we will get know very shortly.

Administration

I see a new node "Update and servicing" under cloud servicing. This is most probably related to the new windows service "Configuration_Manager_Update" which is available along with the other tradition ConfigMgr windows services.

Windows Services

Along with the traditional ConfigMgr windows services, there is a new Windows service with the name "Configuration_Manager_Update" is listed under services.msc. There is a log file associated with component as well, But i am not really sure about the functionality of this at the moment.

Client settings

There is this new client setting node "Windows PE peer cache" is added to support Windows PE Peer Cache feature. This is gonna be one of the coolest feature in ConfigMgr vNext since you don't need to install a Server DP in a remote location just for the sake of OSD. Excited to test this functionality.

Hope u enjoyed this :-) TechyTipz

Failed to create AppDomain "CM_SMS.dbo - ConfigMgr 2012 R2 console error

2015-08-12T18:26:00.000+05:30

Hey Guys. wanted to share a issue that i have encountered today with my ConfigMgr LAB environment. When i tried launching the ConfigMgr console in the LAB today I was gifted with the below error.

As soon i got this message i checked the SmsAdminUI.log and i could see the below log snippet

[6, PID:3960][08/12/2015 13:09:20] :Transport error; failed to connect, message: 'The SMS Provider reported an error.'\r\nMicrosoft.ConfigurationManagement.ManagementProvider.WqlQueryEngine.WqlQueryException\r\nThe SMS Provider reported an error.\r\n   at Microsoft.ConfigurationManagement.ManagementProvider.WqlQueryEngine.WqlQueryResultsObject.<GetEnumerator>d__0.MoveNext()
   at Microsoft.ConfigurationManagement.ManagementProvider.WqlQueryEngine.WqlConnectionManager.Connect(String configMgrServerPath)
   at Microsoft.ConfigurationManagement.AdminConsole.SmsSiteConnectionNode.GetConnectionManagerInstance(String connectionManagerInstance)\r\nConfigMgr Error Object:
    Description = "Can't create instance of CSecuredSource for SMS_Site";
    ErrorCode = 3250653696;

As this suggests that the SMS provider is failing to execute a WMI query i quickly connected Root\SMS\Site_LAB and tried running SELECT * FROM SMS_Site WHERE SiteCode = 'LAB'

I have got the below error message

As this was misleading i went and checked smsprov.log to see if there is any error. and in the smsprov.log i could see the below snippet

CSspQueryForObject :: Execute...            SMS Provider     12.08.2015 10:36:24         5516 (0x158C)

*** select so.ObjectTypeID, so.ObjectTypeName, CASE dbo.fnIsSiteInMaintMode() WHEN 0 THEN so.AvailableOperations ELSE dbo.fnOR(oo.BitFlag) & so.AvailableOperations END from dbo.RBAC_SecuredObjectTypes AS so inner join dbo.RBAC_ObjectOperations AS oo ON oo.ObjectTypeID = so.ObjectTypeID where oo.isReadOnly = 1 AND so.ObjectTypeName = 'SMS_Site' group by so.ObjectTypeID, so.ObjectTypeName, so.AvailableOperations     SMS Provider     12.08.2015 10:36:24         5516 (0x158C)

*** [42000][6517][Microsoft][SQL Server Native Client 11.0][SQL Server]Failed to create AppDomain "CM_LAB.dbo[runtime].822". ~~Exception has been thrown by the target of an invocation.        SMS Provider                12.08.2015 10:36:24         5516 (0x158C)

*~*~[42000][6517][Microsoft][SQL Server Native Client 11.0][SQL Server]Failed to create AppDomain "CM_LAB.dbo[runtime].822". ~~Exception has been thrown by the target of an invocation.     ThreadID : 5516 , DbError: 6517 , Sev: 16~*~*        SMS Provider     12.08.2015 10:36:24         5516 (0x158C)

CSecuritySource::GetSecurityObjectEx - SQL cmd failed SMS Provider     12.08.2015 10:36:24         5516 (0x158C)

*~*~e:\nts_sccm_release\sms\siteserver\sdk_provider\smsprov\sspobjectquery.cpp(2057) : Can't create instance of CSecuredSource for SMS_Site~           SQL Error: [42000][6517][Microsoft][SQL Server Native Client 11.0][SQL Server]Failed to create AppDomain "CM_LAB.dbo[runtime].822". ~~Exception has been thrown by the target of an invocation.~*~*               SMS Provider     12.08.2015 10:36:24         5516 (0x158C)

*~*~Can't create instance of CSecuredSource for SMS_Site [42000][6517][Microsoft][SQL Server Native Client 11.0][SQL Server]Failed to create AppDomain "CM_LAB.dbo[runtime].822". ~~Exception has been thrown by the target of an invocation.~*~*      SMS Provider     12.08.2015 10:36:24         5516 (0x158C)

Execute WQL =SELECT * FROM SMS_Site WHERE SiteCode = 'LAB'           SMS Provider     12.08.2015 10:36:24         5516 (0x158C)

This finally gave me some convincing evidence that there is some problem with the SQL instance.

As a first step I restarted the SQL instance (Would not be the first for most of us ) and voila the console started showing me the Asset and compliance workspace. And that saved my day.

Bottom line, to me restarted the SQL instance worked.

Hope this helps ..

S A Delphin

ConfigMgr 2012 Application Creator v1.0 - PowerShell tool

2015-06-01T16:52:00.003+05:30

Hello Guys

It feels good to write a post aster a quite a long time. Recently i have been learning PowerShell and created a new tool to create a ConfigMgr application on your command. I am gonna stop the useless talks right here and walk you through the tool.

ConfigMgr App Creator V 1.0

ConfigMgr App Creator is a wrapper tool for ConfigMgr 2012 which can be used to create ConfigMgr application, Dt and deployment on the go without even lanching the ConfigMgr console and going through a lenghthy object creation wizards.

This tool will be really helpful for the packaging team who tends to take control over the application packaging as well as application delivery to the deployment tool.

Pre-Requisites

The following applications must be present in the computer on which the tool is launched.

ConfigMgr 2012 R2 console
net framework
PowerShell 3.0 or higher

Look Of the Tool

Site Code: Module which connects the tool with the ConfigMgr WMI provider and import required PowerShell modules.

Expected Values / Action = the user is expected to enter the 3 dig ConfigMgr site code and client on connect

Installer File: Module with a browse button to browser and select the *.vbs or *.msi installer.

Expected Value / Action = the user is expected to click on the browse button to select the installer file, and the complete file path will be populated in the text field.

Application Name : name of the application that needs to be created within ConfigMgr

Expected Value / Action: the User is expected to give name of the application. If the installer is a MSI this filed will be automatically be populated from the MSI property.

Publisher: Publisher of the application that needs to be created within ConfigMgr

Expected Value / Action: the User is expected to give publisher of the application. If the installer is a MSI this filed will be automatically be populated from the MSI property.

Version: version of the application that needs to be created within ConfigMgr

Expected Value / Action: the User is expected to provide the version of the application. If the installer is a MSI this filed will be automatically be populated from the MSI property.

Installation Program: Installation command line of the DT to be created for the created Application within ConfigMgr

Expected Value / Action: This filed will be automatically populated based on the installer file that the user selects. This can be edited.

Uninstallation Program: Uninstallation command line of the DT to be created for the created Application within ConfigMgr

Expected Value / Action: This filed will be automatically populated based on the installer file that the user selects. This can be edited.

Content Source Path: Content source of the application to be created within ConfigMgr

Expected Value / Action: This filed will be automatically populated based on the installer file that the user selects. This can be edited.

Installation Collection Name: Name of the collection to be created within ConfigMgr

Expected Value / Action: This filed will be automatically populated based on the installer file that the user selects. This can be edited.

Deployment Name: Name of the Deployment to be created within ConfigMgr

Expected Value / Action: This filed will be automatically populated based on the installer file that the user selects. This can be edited.

Target: to specify whether the collection is going to be a user based or Device based.

Expected Value / Action: By default the “Device” radio button will be selected. This can be changed.

Purpose: Purpose of the deployment to be created.

Expected Value / Action: By default the “required” radio button will be selected. This can be changed.

Create Collection / Deployment: The check boxes can be used to select if collection or deployment should be created.

Expected Value / Action: On successful connection to the ConfigMgr site both this check boxes will be checked. This can be changed.

Read: This button validates if all the fields are correctly populated. If any of the field is not populated, this will populate it with default values. On successful validation this will enable the create button.

Expected Value / Action: The user is expected to click and validate the fields before clicking on create button.

Create: This button triggers the script execution of creating application in ConfigMgr. This will be enabled only after the successful validation.

Expected Value / Action: The user is expected to click this button after validating the fields.

Log Field: the status of each and every step that the script performs will be recorded here.

Expected Value / Action: The user is expected to observe this field to verify the successful creation of the application.

Author / Website: Information field

Version: Information filed

Link to Download the Tool

Download Link

TechyTipz

HotFix to ConfigMgr 2012 ads the ability to send client notifications to users and Speeds up remote wipe from Days to Minutes

2014-10-10T13:26:00.001+05:30

Hey guys I'm back with a new update on sccm 2012 R2. We now have an Hotfix which will add the ability to push notifications to clients and will also greately reduce the time taken to do a remote wipe on managed mobile devices.

Link to Hotfix : http://support2.microsoft.com/kb/2990658

This hotfix adds the client notification component to Microsoft System Center 2012 R2 Configuration Manager. This component provides fast channel communications that a Configuration Manager administrator can use to notify clients to start time-sensitive tasks as soon as possible.

The above is quated from microsoft website and from that i see that we can send notification messages to users. Wouldn't that be nice if you can send notifications to users advising to allow important ConfigMgr client activities to happen?. Surely this looks a greate add on to COnfigMgr 2012.

Additionally, this hotfix greatly reduces the time that's required to execute a successful retire or wipe of a Mobile Device Management (MDM) device. Without this hotfix, retire and wipe operations could require 24 hours to run successfully. After you apply this hotfix, retire and wipe operations are pushed to the following MDM device types:

iOS

Android

Windows 8.1

This, this is definately going to be a showstopper. And this is going to retire the Old saying "patience is a virtue while working with ConfigMgr" for sure.

Looking forwar to install this hotfix in my lab and see how this is working for myself. Will keep you guys posted on this when i get some time this week end.

Techytipz

How to solve "Cannot set the current Drizzle Role status for the DP" - ConfigMgr 2012 DP

2014-09-18T18:07:00.000+05:30

Hey guys, Here i come with another issue i ran into when i was trying to setup a Remote DP in a Configmgr 2012 Hierarchy. It starte like this, i had to place a remote DP in one of the branch location in the customer environment. I initiated the DP installation through DP configuration wizard in sccm 2012 console.
But as always, it did not go through. I was not able to distribute any packages to that DP. when i just gone through the distmgr.log i found the below snippet of error messages. and this is the first tiem i'm gettign this error message.

STATMSG: ID=2344 SEV=E LEV=M SOURCE="SMS Server" COMP="SMS_DISTRIBUTION_MANAGER" SYS=PRIprdsccmappdb.Rexelusa.com SITE=PRI PID=5756 TID=7752 GMTDATE=Tue Mar 11 05:47:54.280 2014 ISTR0="["Display=\\sccmdp.test.local\"]MSWNET:["SMS_SITE=PRI"]\\sccmdp.test.local\" ISTR1="" ISTR2="" ISTR3="" ISTR4="" ISTR5="" ISTR6="" ISTR7="" ISTR8="" ISTR9="" NUMATTRS=1 AID0=404 AVAL0="["Display=\\sccmdp.test.local\"]MSWNET:["SMS_SITE=PRI"]\\sccmdp.test.local\" SMS_DISTRIBUTION_MANAGER 3/11/2014 1:47:54 AM 7752 (0x1E48)
Cannot set the current Drizzle Role status for the DP. SMS_DISTRIBUTION_MANAGER 3/11/2014 1:47:54 AM 7752 (0x1E48)
Error occurred. Performing error cleanup prior to returning. SMS_DISTRIBUTION_MANAGER 3/11/2014 1:47:54 AM 7752 (0x1E48)
Cancelling network connection to \\sccmdp.test.local\ADMIN$. SMS_DISTRIBUTION_MANAGER 3/11/2014 1:47:54 AM 7752 (0x1E48)
DP thread with array index 0 ended. SMS_DISTRIBUTION_MANAGER 3/11/2014 1:47:54 AM 11504 (0x2CF0)
DP thread with thread handle 0000000000001B7C and thread ID 7752 ended. SMS_DISTRIBUTION_MANAGER 3/11/2014 1:47:54 AM 11504 (0x2CF0)
Only retrying local DP update for package PRI00003, no need to replicate package to child sites. SMS_DISTRIBUTION_MANAGER 3/11/2014 1:47:54 AM 11504 (0x2CF0)
StoredPkgVersion (1) of package PRI00003. StoredPkgVersion in database is 1. SMS_DISTRIBUTION_MANAGER 3/11/2014 1:47:54 AM 11504 (0x2CF0)
SourceVersion (1) of package PRI00003. SourceVersion in database is 1. SMS_DISTRIBUTION_MANAGER 3/11/2014 1:47:54 AM 11504 (0x2CF0)
STATMSG: ID=2302 SEV=E LEV=M SOURCE="SMS Server" COMP="SMS_DISTRIBUTION_MANAGER" SYS=PRIprdsccmappdb.Rexelusa.com SITE=PRI PID=5756 TID=11504 GMTDATE=Tue Mar 11 05:47:54.856 2014 ISTR0="Configuration Manager Client Upgrade Package" ISTR1="PRI00003" ISTR2="" ISTR3="" ISTR4="" ISTR5="" ISTR6="" ISTR7="" ISTR8="" ISTR9="" NUMATTRS=1 AID0=400 AVAL0="PRI00003" SMS_DISTRIBUTION_MANAGER 3/11/2014 1:47:54 AM 11504 (0x2CF0)
Failed to process package PRI00003 after 29 retries, will retry 71 more times SMS_DISTRIBUTION_MANAGER 3/11/2014 1:47:54 AM 11504 (0x2CF0)
Exiting package processing thread. SMS_DISTRIBUTION_MANAGER 3/11/2014 1:47:54 AM 11504 (0x2CF0)
Failed to configure IIS virtual directories on the distribution point RHUPRDSCCMHQDP.REXELUSA.COM SMS_DISTRIBUTION_MANAGER 3/11/2014 5:50:06 PM 11156 (0x2B94)

I ran into google with this message, all blogs and technet websites pointed me to troubleshoot IIS. But in that server IIS was working exceptionally well and i couldnt find any uissues with that. and it drived me crazy.

I tried to reinstall the DP role on that server several time and all my efforts went in vain. While i was going through the virtual directories of default website i found that the physical path updated on the virtual directory SMS_DP_SMSPKG$ refered to a folder in a drive where the drive letter doesn't even exist. i change the physical path of that virtual directory and started the installation again. Voila the DP is up and running again.

to summarize, Make sure the virtual directories SMS_DP_SMSPKG$ and SMS_DP_SMSSIG$ exists and the physical path of those virtual directories are referring to a valid drive and path.

Hope this helps.!!

Techytipz

ConfigMgr 2012 Licensing - Calculations explained for Dummies

2013-11-28T20:02:00.000+05:30

Hi.. Recently i had to calculate the number of licenses required for a ConfigMgr 2012 R2 Hierarchy to project that to my management.

The design was like with single primary and multiple remote DP's to support Few K workstations and few servers.

I've gone through the Licensing documents provided by microsoft and i over read it as always. It confused me a lot. So i decided to raise a thread in technet and Gerry Hampson was able to clarify few things about the licensing.

From what i've taken from the thread i decide to make this post about ConfigMgr 2012 Licensing in a very simple manner.

The first that i missed from the document is

"License required only for endpoints being managed. No additional licenses are needed for management servers or SQL Server technology."

So that it, We dont require license for ConfigMgr CAS, Primary, Secondary, DP's and any other functional roles installed in a ConfigMgr Hierarchy

we require license only if you are going to manage those servers through ConfigMgr.

We have Two kind of Client management license to address specific needs.

1. ConfigMgr 2012 Workstation client licenses
2. ConfigMgr 2012 Managed server Licenses

ConfigMgr 2012 Workstation Client Licenses

This license is required for all non Server OS ConfigMgr clients that is Workstation clients. But it's not limitted to Windows clients. The number of license required is calculated based on "Per License Per Client". The product name of this license is "Configuration Manager Client ML" and it cost $62 per license

Suppose if you have 20K no server clients in your environment you would require 20K Configuration Manager Client ML to manage those client through ConfigMgr.

ConfigMgr 2012 Managed Server Licenses
SML's (Server management Licenses) cannot be purchased for ConfigMgr alone and it's for the whole system center.

SML's are needed to manage Server clients through ConfigMgr. And to address the virtualization complexities microsoft introduces another licensing method and it has two Editions.

1. Microsoft system center 2012 R2 Datacenter
2. Microsoft System center 2012 R2 Standard

components that are covered aunder two editions are shown above.

The differences in the supported numbers and cost of the editions are shown above.

From the above image, it's clear that the Standard edition is apt for physical servers and the datacenter edition is apt for virtualized servers.

Let's do the calculation now.

Environment :

1. 2 Physical servers with two physical processors each
2. 1 virtualized server with 10 OSE's running on it through Hyper-V (Google it to know about OSE)
3. 1000 Workstation clients.

License requirement

1. A standard edition license will support two physical processors and each server has two physical processors we require two Standard SML's ($2646)

2. As in the virtualized server there are 11 OSE's running on it, if we go for standard edition SML's, we would require (11/2 = 5.5 = 6) 6 standard edition of SML and that would cost us $7938. Instead if we go for Datacenter edition SML, a single datacenter edition SML is enoug to licence all the OSE's running on the server. So we would require 1 Datacenter SML and the cost is verymuch lesser when compared to Standard SML's (3607)

3. For 1000 clients we would require 1000 Client management licenses (1000*62=62000) $62000

The cost described above is based on the System center 2012 licensing anf if you have Service assurance or Enterprise agreement the cost will vary.

Hope this helps.
Techytipz

How to play MKV format videos in Sony Bravia LED TV or any other LED TV

2013-11-06T09:12:00.004+05:30

I recently bought Sony DAV TZ 215 DVD Home Theater System. But when i was running it for the first time i was really disappointed since it cant play MKV format videos. But all my HD movies are in MKV format.

Later i found a way to make the HTS system play MKV formats with a little workaround. This workaround can be used for Sony Bravia and any other LED tv's

Let's see the procedure,

Go to http://www.videohelp.com/tools/tsMuxeR and download txMuxer latest version and extract it on your computer.
Double click on tsMuxerGUI.exe to open the tsMuxer
In the Input tab click on add to add the mkv file you want to convert
Select the output format as M2TS Muxing and change the video level if required
Click on Start Muxing, the out file will be saved in the output directory and that can be changed.
This process will take around 30 secs for 1Gb MKV file.
Copy the output file to a USB and your sony device must play that video format.

The screenshot below will show the options available

MKV is a container and M2ts is also a container, hence there is no loss in quality while transforming.

Hope this helps...

Other Supported Models : Sony BRAVIA KDL-43W800C

S A Delphin

Cannot edit the Object, which is used by - Admin console - SEDO - Serialized editing of distributed objects" - ConfigMgr 2012

2013-10-26T11:23:00.005+05:30

Hello guys. yesterday one of colleague called me and wanted me to look into an issue while editing Task Sequence. The admin console did not let him edit the task sequence with a message "Cannot edit the object, which is used by Domain\admin at site 000". On seeing the message i was able to explain him that admin console is preventing this edit, since another admin is editing the same object from different site or computer. This feature of ConfigMgr 2012 is called SEDO - Serialized editing of distributed objects"

In earlier 2007 more than one admin user can edit the same object at a time and whoever writes last wins and others changes will be dishonored. This may cause unexpected results. But in 2012 we have SEDO and with this only one admin user can edit an object at a time. This prevents unexpected results.

So how does this work ?. Consider that i have two admin users named admin1 and admin2. Admin 1 opens ConfigMgr console and starts Task sequence edit to edit an task sequence named Task sequence1. Now the object Task sequence1 will be locked to edit. So if admin2 launches consolle and tries to edit task sequence1 the admin to will receive a message like this and he will have an option to open Task sequence1 in read only mode.

The lock will be released only when Admin one closes Task Sequence editor.

For whatever reason if the Admin1 is not able to close the task sequence editor in a regular way (Admin console crashed or Admin1 went for a break or Vm crashed) the lock will remain for 30 more minutes on the object.

If you dont want to wait for 30 mins you may have to release the lock manually through SQL management studio.The Lock state will be maintained on the table SEDO_LockState. By running

"SELECT *
FROM SEDO_LockState
WHERE AssignedUser = 'Domain\admin1' AND LockStateID = 1"

in sql management studio you will get the Lock_State information. If you want to remove the lock you will have to run this query in SQL management studio.

"DELETE FROM SEDO_LockState WHERE AssignedUser = 'Domain\admin1' AND LockStateID = 1"

Listed below are the SEDO enabled objects

SMS_Application
SMS_AuthorizationList
SMS_BootImagePackage
SMS_ConfigurationBaselineInfo
SMS_ConfigurationItem
SMS_DeploymentType
SMS_Driver
SMS_DriverPackage
SMS_GlobalCondition
SMS_ImagePackage
SMS_OperatingSystemInstallPackage
SMS_Package
SMS_SoftwareUpdatesPackage
SMS_TaskSequencePackage

Hope this helps..
S A Delphin

"mp.msi exited with return code: 1603" Mpsetup.log - ConfigMgr 2012

2013-10-25T10:48:00.000+05:30

Hi friends.. This post is exclusively for Newbies.

One of my friend was experiencing an error while trying to install MP in ConfigMgr 2012 Environment. The error message is snipped below.

MpSetup.log

<10/24/13 07:04:56> mp.msi exited with return code: 1603
<10/24/13 07:04:56> Backing up C:\Program Files\Microsoft Configuration Manager\logs\mpMSI.log to C:\Program Files\Microsoft Configuration Manager\logs\mpMSI.log.LastError
<10/24/13 07:04:56> Fatal MSI Error - mp.msi could not be installed.
<10/24/13 07:04:56> ~RoleSetup().

After seeing these message i wanted to look at Mpmsi.log since mpsetup.log did not show any specific error so i asked him the copy of mpmsi.log too.. While digging inside mpmsi.log i found these snippet

MpMSI.log

MSI (s) (7C!6C) [07:04:55:972]: Product: ConfigMgr Management Point -- Error 25051. Internet Information Services BITS support is not installed

Error 25051. Internet Information Services BITS support is not installed

CustomAction CcmValidateServerConfig returned actual error code 1603 (note this may not be 100% accurate if translation happened inside sandbox)

This shows clearly that IIS extension for BITS is not installed or removed. perhaps he would have installed IIS after installing BITS. So i asked him to install IIS extension for BITS through windows features and try re installing MP.

And voila it succeeded.

Hope this helps..

S A Delphin

SQL Query to List Collections with Maintenance Windows - ConfigMgr 2012

2013-10-24T10:52:00.002+05:30

Hi folks.. Have you ever worked with numerous collections with multiple maintenance windows? If it yes, probably you would know that to check the maintenance windows for each and every collection you have to visit property page of all collections.

I have a ConfigMgr 2012 Development environment, with considerable amount of clients and collections. One fine day i was testing Nomad deployment in some of my member servers. As it is a Development environment a single member server can be a member of multiple ConfigMgr collections. One of the member from patching team configured maintenance window of 5 mins on a test collection and the member server is a member of that collection too..

So when i deployed Nomad Branch agent deployment failed with a message "Service windows too short". Remember as i said before to check the maintenance window in all collection i had to visit the property page of all collection and there is not default report to show the maintenance window of all collections. So i thought i would build SQL query to list maintenance window of all collections.. here is the query,

SELECT v_Collection.Name, v_Collection.Comment,v_ServiceWindow.Description, v_ServiceWindow.StartTime, v_ServiceWindow.Duration

FROM v_ServiceWindow

JOIN v_Collection ON v_Collection.CollectionID = v_ServiceWindow.CollectionID

ORDER BY v_Collection.Name

Create a report with this query and that report will list maintenance window configured in all collections.

Hope this helps..

S A Delphin

A Comparison between all Client deployment methods in SCCM 2012

2013-10-08T14:02:00.002+05:30

Hi Folks.. I'm back after a long pause to blogging.. And this time this post is about SCCM Client deployment. I thought i would start with Client deployment methods since that is the first step in SCCM deployment.

We have almost 6 methods to deploy SCCM client to endpoints but all of them are not the same. With their pros and cons Each deployment method stand ideal for different scenarios. Let's talk about that in this post.

Client Push Method

The easiest method to deploy clients through out your hierarchy but requires some Homework. This client push can be enabled within ConfigMgr console and the status can be inspected in ccm.log in ConfigMgr installation directory and the log files found in C:\Windows\Cccmsetup folder in client.

Requirements:

The client must be a member of a domain in which the configmgr site server is installed. Or trust must be present
firewall ports tcp 80-Http, 443-Https, 445-SMB, Rpc endpoint mapper- 135 and Rpc dynamic ports must be opened between client and site systems (If we use default ports for client communication)
Client push account must be configured correctly
DNS name resolution should be working.
The clients must be discovered before initiating client push

Pro's and Cons

Reports are available to see the success and failure status
Trouble shooting is easy
No additional infrastructure change is required to deploy clients
Cannot target workgroup and internet based clients
With multiple physical locations it's a pain to open ports through firewall

Suitable for:

large number of clients within headquarters or single physical locations for domain computers.
IT environment which is well organized and structured

GPO Installation

This is another client deployment method which can be used in a Domain environment. the msi which is deployed through GPO is just a Bootstrap and the client will download the package from DP. The the installation status can be found in the log files found in C:\Windows\Cccmsetup folder in client

Requirements:

The client must be a member of a domain.
Ad publishing or GPO for client assignment is mandatory
The client installation package must be available on DP and must be reachable to client
DNS name resolution should be working.

Pro's and Cons

No additional infrastructure change is required to deploy clients
If combined with Client push the success rate will be close 100 for domain computers
Cannot target workgroup and internet based clients
Client will download client package from DP

Suitable for:

Best at deployment across domain wide computers with multiple physical locations
IT environment which is well organized and structured
Domain computers residing at remote locations

Logon script based Installation

In this type of client deployment the client installation switches can be specified in the logon script and GPO for site assignment is not mandatory. The the installation status can be found in the log files found in C:\Windows\Cccmsetup folder in client.

Requirements:

The client must be a member of a domain.
firewall ports tcp 80-Http, 443-Https, 445-SMB must be opened between client and site systems (If we use default ports for client communication)
DNS name resolution should be working.

Pro's and Cons

If combined with Client push the success rate will be close 100 for domain computers
Cannot target workgroup and internet based clients

Suitable for:

Best at deployment across domain wide computers with multiple physical locations
IT environment which is well organized and structured

SUP Based Installation

This is the most robust client deployment method that can be used to deploy clients. This method can be used to deploy clients to work group computers. No additional changes required if the WSUS system is already in place.The the installation status can be found in the log files found in C:\Windows\Cccmsetup folder in client.

Requirements:

This method can be used to deploy client to work group computers, domain computers and internet clients.
firewall ports tcp 80-Http, 443-Https, 445-SMB must be opened between client and site systems (If we use default ports for client communication)
Well configured WSUS environment is mandatory
Client targeting must be done through WSUS
DNS name resolution should be working

Pro's and Cons

If combined with Client push the success rate will be close 100 through out the Hierarchy
Workgroup clients can be targetted
Roubust design
Internet based clients can be targeted if the WSUS server is published on the internet

Suitable for:

Best at deployment across an environment which has domain and workgroup clients scatered across multiple physical locations
Robust IT environment

Manual or Script based Installation

This is the best suitable option available to install internet based clients. But this method is painfull method amongst other deployment methods.

Requirements:

DNS name resolution should be working.
The local copy should have all the files required to install Cm client and must be the same version as the management point that you specify
firewall ports tcp 80-Http, 443-Https, 445-SMB must be opened between client and site systems (If we use default ports for client communication)
Work group client must be approved manually with in sccm console

Pro's and Cons

Workgroup and internet based clients can be targetted
Roubust design

Suitable for:

Best method to deploy clients to internet based boxes
Where all the other deployment type fails because of network issue

The above comparison is truely based on my observation and perception. One can have different thoughts abou the deployment methods. Apreciate improvement in the above post..

Hope this helps..

S A Delphin

"Disable failed No devices disabled" devcon.exe | How to disable devices from command prompt

2012-07-24T10:40:00.001+05:30

This article will help you in Disable or Enable devices from command prompt. And also this will discuss about the error u may likely to encounter.

It will be really good rite, when you can disconnect your modem or internet connection in one click after you are finished with it. This article will help you to do that.

First you need to have devcon.exe. An alternate to device manager which can be run through command prompt.

Download the devcon.exe from the below link

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/311272

Once you downloaded the devcon exe file, extract the exe and paste it inside c:\windows\system32 folder. That's it you are ready to run it.

I've read the above procedure in a blog, and wanted to try it. But i was getting this message..

"
C:\Windows\system32>devcon disable *mouse*
HID\VID_04CA&PID_0030\7&3A7DF96F&0&0000 : Disable failed
No devices disabled.
"

After some digging i found the the 64 bit version of devcon available to download form Microsoft website is not compatible for windows 7 64 bit. You will need to extract it from server 2003 64 bit dvd.

Once it's done it will work like a charm. I've extracted the 32 and 64 bit version devcon.exe from server 2003 dvd and uploaded it. You can download it from below links..

Devcon.exe 32 bit

Devcon.exe 64 bit

Hope this helps..

Techytipz

Amazing Alex Solutions - The Classroom

2012-07-18T13:07:00.000+05:30

In my last post i made a review of an iOS game called Amazing Alex. The game is really good and brain-storming. There are totally 4 rooms and 112 puzzles. First room has 16 puzzles which is available in free and paid app. Other rooms have 32 puzzles each which is only available in paid app.

Every puzzle in Amazing Alex may have different solutions to achieve the objective. But there are only few solutions to complete the objective and collect all stars. So I decided to publish my Solutions which comes with 3 Stars. This post I will display the first room and the Room is called :

The Classroom

The Classroom is the basic room where you learn all things you need to know about the game. Mostly everyone would have completed all 16 puzzles in this room with 3 Stars. That makes 48 Stars. So below screenshots are the solutions of the first room - The Classroom.

1 - PLAYTIME

2 - CATCH THAT BALL

3 - MIND THE GAP

4 - ROLLERCOASTER

5 - CHAIN REACTION

6 - THE ROBOT OVERLORD

7 - BEHIND BOXES

8 - REVENGE OF THE ROBOT

9 - BOOKS AWAY

10 - BALL COLLECTOR

11 - PUSH AND POP

12 - FLYING WITH SCISSORS

13 - POP, DON'T FLY

14 - BALLOONED AWAY

15 - BALLOON PUSHER

16 - FREE THAT BALLOON

App Review - Amazing Alex

2012-07-17T18:50:00.000+05:30

Most of the people who uses mobiles know about Angry Birds. Angry Birds was created by Rovio Entertainment in 2009. Until Angry Birds Rovio was called Relude which released games for N-Cage and other J2ME mobile environment. Now the company does billion dollar revenue. Angry Bird now is not just a game but a merchandise. There are angry bird toys and also Feature films and Television series have been planned. Few months ago Rovio bought rights to Casey's Contraptions from developers Noel Llopis and Miguel A. Friginal. They revamped and branded it as Amazing Alex.

Publisher : Rovio Entertainment Ltd.

Developer : Noel Llopis & Miguel A. Friginal.

Genre : Physics Puzzle

Release Date : 12-07-2012

Universal App : No

Price   - Lite        : Free
             iPhone : $0.99
             iPad        : $2.99

Size : 19.8 MB/35.1 MB

App Store Link : Amazing Alex

Gameplay - Even though the game was bought from independent developers, Rovio has made some changes and given it their addictive Rovio touch. The gameplay is to use household items to set off a chain reaction and achieve the objective of the game. The goal is to collect all stars while completing the objective.

The first few levels may seem very easy but actually its kind of tutorial for you to learn the gameplay. The Classroom(First room) may look very easy but the game gets tougher by each level in The Backyard room. In free lite version you can play only The Classroom. There are totally 112 puzzles and 336 stars to be collected.

Game Physics - The game physics is the topic lot to be talked about. This game uses Box2D engine for physics engine. By the way Box2D is open source, so if you want to make a game using it, just go visit this site - http://box2d.org/

The game uses the best of the game physics. Till now I haven't seen a flaw in the game. The game music goes in hand with game and gives a good feel.

Game Graphics - Game has beautiful vector graphics. The game allows to pinch zoom like angry birds.

Solution Sharing Feature - These puzzles may contain more than one solution. After you find a solution you can share it with your Gamecenter friends. None of my friends still started sharing but i have. To view my solution you have to add me in Gamecenter, my id is Harish Arulkumar. I have completed 2 stages with all 3 Stars. You can also share in twitter and facebook.

My Level Feature - This is an awesome feature which makes the game purely unlimited. With My Level you can create your own puzzle, finish it with 3 Stars and share it with the world. Others can download through the same menu.

Rating - 8.8/10

Screenshots -

Harish Arulkumar

Independence Day Offer on iPad and iPhone Games!!!

2012-07-05T09:37:00.004+05:30

On independence day App developers are celebrating the alien's fall by slashing down prices for some of their excellent games. Their sales are running up to July 9th. App store downloads are shooting to roof. I'm a big App store Shopaholic, i bought nearly 10 apps. Are you ready? Here is the list of discounted apps by each app developers...

First is EA :

BATTLESHIP for iPad - ~~$4.99~~ $0.99
Burnout CRASH! - ~~$4.99~~ $0.99
Mirror’s Edge for iPad - ~~$9.99~~ $0.99
Monopoly Here & Now: The World Edition for iPad - ~~$9.99~~ $0.99
Monopoly for iPad - ~~$9.99~~ $0.99
Need for Speed Hot Pursuit for iPad - ~~$4.99~~ $0.99
NBA Jam for iPad - ~~$4.99~~ $0.99
RISK for iPad - ~~$6.99~~ $0.99
Scrabble for iPad - ~~$9.99~~ $0.99
Sim City Deluxe for iPad - ~~$6.99~~ $0.99
The Game of Life for iPad - ~~$6.99~~ $0.99
The Sims Medieval for iPad - ~~$4.99~~ $0.99
The Sims 3 - ~~$6.99~~ $0.99
The Sims 3: Ambitions - ~~$4.99~~ $0.99
The Sims 3: World Adventures - ~~$2.99~~ $0.99
FIFA SOCCER 12 - ~~$4.99~~ $0.99
FIFA SOCCER 12 for iPad - ~~$9.99~~ $0.99
Tetris for iPad - ~~$2.99~~ $0.99
Dead Space for iPad - ~~$4.99~~ $0.99
Mass Effect Infiltrator - ~~$4.99~~ $0.99
Battlefield: Bad Company 2 - ~~$9.99~~ $0.99
Battlefield: Bad Company 2 for iPad - ~~$9.99~~ $0.99
Tiger Woods PGA TOUR 12 for iPad - ~~$4.99~~ $0.99
Madden NFL 12 - ~~$6.99~~ $0.99
Yahtzee HD - ~~$4.99~~ $0.99
Command & Conquer: Red Alert for iPad - ~~$4.99~~ $0.99
Real Racing 2 - ~~$4.99~~ $0.99
Real Racing 2 HD - ~~$6.99~~ $0.99
Mortal Kombat 3 for iPad - ~~$4.99~~ $0.99
Trivial Pursuit: Master Edition - ~~$4.99~~ $0.99
Flight Control HD - ~~$4.99~~ $0.99
Snood for iPad - ~~$4.99~~ $0.99
Fight Night Champion - ~~$4.99~~ $0.99

Warner Bros.:

Batman Arkham City Lockdown - ~~$5.99~~ $0.99
Green Lantern: Rise of the Manhunters - ~~$1.99~~ $0.99
LEGO Harry Potter: Years 1-4 - ~~$4.99~~ $0.99
LEGO Harry Potter: Years 5-7 - ~~$4.99~~ $0.99

Chillingo :

The Act - ~~$2.99~~ $0.99
Air Mail - ~~$4.99~~ $0.99

PopCap :

Zuma's Revenge - ~~$1.99~~ $0.99
Chuzzle - ~~$1.99~~ $0.99

Madfinger :

Samurai II: Vengeance - ~~$2.99~~ $0.99
Shadowgun - ~~$4.99~~ $0.99

Kairosoft :

Game Dev Story - ~~$3.99~~ $1.99
Oh! Edo Towns - ~~$3.99~~ $1.99
Epic Astro Story - ~~$3.99~~ $1.99

Others :

Kingdom Rush HD - ~~$2.99~~ $0.99
Street Figher IV: Volt - ~~$6.99~~ $0.99
Fibble HD - ~~$4.99~~ $0.99
Super Monkey Ball 2 - ~~$2.99~~ $0.99
Super Monkey Ball 2: Sakura Edition - ~~$2.99~~ $0.99
DancePad - ~~$2.99~~ $0.99

These are some awesome games. I have purchased a lot, which i will be writing reviews of soon. Battlefield was awesome on my iPad. We will be updating the list. Happy Shopping....

Harish Arulkumar

App Review - The Amazing Spider-Man

2012-06-30T00:35:00.000+05:30

Gameloft has come up with yet another amazing game called The Amazing Spider-Man. This game's story is spin-off from spider-man reboot movie of the same name. Gameloft, who is the leading game publisher on mobile device has given out great games in the past like Asphalt, Infinity Blade, N.O.V.A, Brothers in Arms etc. Lets see what they have given us this time.

Publisher : Gameloft

Developer : Gameloft

Genre : Action

Release Date : 28-06-2012

Universal App : Yes

Price : $6.99

Size : 694 MB

App Store Link : The Amazing Spider-Man

Gameplay & Controls – The Amazing Spider-Man gameplay is nearly same as that previous Spider-Man 2 PC game. You Swing around city, shoot webs at enemies and save Damsel in Distress. I played the game in iPad and iPhone; found more comfortable because of its large screen. On iPhone it is little uncomfortable to play but not that bad. The best thing is that they have retained the free-roam. You can roam the streets, collect Oscorp Spiders, do small side missions and fight roadside thugs. The city is big enough to roam for many hours. The Combat and Boss fights are too easy which is a downside. But some boss fight are near excellent. The combat system which was used in Batman was used here.

Graphics – The game’s graphics is really good. Not surprised because it’s from Gameloft who gave kind of games which has the best graphics on iOS platform. The game is designed to use The New iPad’s Retina Display. The city is beautifully built and colorful. Spider-Man in blue and red costume is rendered wonderful on iOS devices.

Music – Music is not epic but its good for a mobile game.The music was composed by Maxime Goulet and Pascal Dion

Game Inventory – This game has good Skills and Power Upgradation system. You can also buy few items from store using Oscorp Spiders which you can find on the streets and collect it. The skill points which earned from completing missions, fighting villains and other stuffs can be used to Upgrade Powers like web shoot, uppercut etc for this masked superhero.

Plot – The plot is not surprising. Usual things like save the day using your super powers. This games follow the story of the film of same name. Just came back from the movie, it was good.

Conclusion - The game rocks on iOS device (i prefer playing on iPad). It keeps you engaged for hours but the downside is that the game is too easy in combats.

Rating - 7.2/10

Screenshots -

Harish Arulkumar

(Gmail Scams) How to hack your friend's Gmail account for FUN | Make your friends send their Gmail password to you

2012-06-26T16:50:00.002+05:30

It's obvious, That each and everybody would have searched for it. You would have come across many procedures but none of them is gonna help you in an easy way.

But among all these one will look easier to you but will cause you disaster. I wanted to share that disaster here. That one will say that you need to make the Google confused, to get the password.

A quick Google search gave me this,

"

how to hack Gmail passwords

Step 1: Log into your Gmail account.
Step 2: Compose a new mail.
Step 3: In subject box type " PASSWORD RECOVERY "
Step 4: Send this to - pwdrobot@gmail.com.
Step 5: Write this in message box.
(first line)- Email address you want to hack.

(second line)- Your Gmail address

(third line)- Your Gmail account password
(fourth line) - <pwdcursive><
v703&login="passmachine&f=(p0assword)&f=27586&___javascript=ACTIVE&rsa#"
start?></script>=""></cursive><>
{simply copy and paste above.}

How it works: you mail to a system administrators automatic responder.
Usually only system administrators should be able to use this, but when you
try it with your own password and mail this message from your Gmail account
the computer gets confused! Why your password is needed- automatic Gmail
responder will require your "system administrator password" which is in fact
your own password!!! But the : computer doesn't know.

If you find this procedure somewhere don't dare to try that, Let me say why?!

This will not get you the other person's password but this will send your password to someone.
The script in the body!, It's a bull shit... It does nothing..
The mail Id in the procedure!!, I can create a one like that..
If you use the same gmail account for Facebook too, You are lost!!>.

If you find this somewhere, Give it a shit...

Hope that helps..

Techytipz