Best of System Center Bloggers

Working with VMware VI4 (aka vSphere)

Wed, 15 Jul 2009 16:38:00 -0700

Even though VMM 2008 R2 (beta or RC) does not officially support VMware vSphere/VI4, we have a few customers that have gotten some of the functionality to work. However, one of the issues that can arise is a failure to find paths in ESX storage. Typically,...(read more)

OSD and SAN Disks

Wed, 15 Jul 2009 13:56:06 -0700

Working with a customer recently, they had an issue using SAN attached disks during Operating System Deployment. They could successfully create and format the SAN attached disk as the D drive during the...(read more)

Current List of Disallowed SMS / SCCM SITECODES

Wed, 15 Jul 2009 10:24:00 -0700

For those of you who used (or still use SMS 2003) there was a KB article published a long time ago that stated what codes you could not use.

These included: CON - PRN - AUX - NUL

For those on SCCM with R2, you cannot use the following: OSD - SRS and FCS as these will disable features in R2. Currently, there is not a KB on these new disallowed codes.

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Current List of Disallowed SMS / SCCM SITECODES

Wed, 15 Jul 2009 10:24:00 -0700

For those of you who used (or still use SMS 2003) there was a KB article published a long time ago that stated what codes you could not use.

These included: CON - PRN - AUX - NUL

For those on SCCM with R2, you cannot use the following: OSD - SRS and FCS as these will disable features in R2. Currently, there is not a KB on these new disallowed codes.

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Fix: Could not start the Automatic Updates service on Local Computer. Error 0×80004015: The class is configuired to run as a security id different from the caller

Wed, 15 Jul 2009 06:42:58 -0700

Issue: Automatic Updates (AU) service is disabled by group policy, attempting to start the service results in the following error on a Windows XP SP2 machine:

Could not start the Automatic Updates service on Local Computer. Error 0×80004015: The class is configuired to run as a security id different from the caller

Solution

From a command prompt, re-register the Automatic Updates dll by running:

regsvr32 /u wuaueng.dll

regsvr32 wuaueng.dll

Change the Automatic Updates service startup from disabled to manual. The AU service should now start.

They want to have it both ways: Microsoft and Google

Tue, 14 Jul 2009 21:44:55 -0700

So you’ve most probably heard last week of Google’s announcement for an operating system: Google Chrome. Of course, Microsoft has also “declared war” on Google Search, per its evolution of Windows Live to Bing. Read more

Windows Server 2008 Hyper-V Import and Export

Tue, 14 Jul 2009 13:27:00 -0700

Doug Holland: In the coming few days I'm going to be looking at some of the continuous integration capabilities in the current version of Team Foundation Server. I have been using Windows Server 2008 Hyper-V virtualization for some time to explorer capabilities in existing software along with beta software and so I began by creating a new virtual machine for the Team Foundation Server.

Want to deliver Citrix apps via System Center? Its coming in 2010!

Tue, 14 Jul 2009 13:11:00 -0700

Brian Madden: Youll soon be able to manage XenApp environments via Microsoft System Center Configuration Manager.

Remember that Systems Center is the name for a whole family of products. Citrix XenApp has always had support for System Center Operations Manager, which meant that you could view the health of your Citrix servers and get inventories and metrics and stuff. Yesterdays announcement was about Systems Center Configuration Manager,the product that used to be called SMSwhich is used for remotely installing and deploying software to servers and desktops.(continue at source)

Vista x86 patch to address 4GB+ of RAM

Tue, 14 Jul 2009 05:15:13 -0700

Remko Weijnen has released a kernel patch that allows x86 versions of Windows Vista to address more that 4GB of RAM. I’m going to try it on my home Vista PC tonight. The patch has been tested with SP1 and SP2.

Remko explains how his patch works, and states that the reason why Vista x86 can’t address more than 4GB of RAM isn’t a hardware limitation… it’s a Microsoft licensing limitation.

Blog: System Center OpsMgr X-Plat Providers source code available

Mon, 13 Jul 2009 19:39:41 -0700

Cellfish: So today we published some of the code for the cross platform implementation as open source. It's the code that implements the providers getting all the things needed for monitoring Solaris, Linux, AIX, HPUX etc.

The fact that we were going to release this code as open source has been communicated for a long time but I think it kind of got lost in the whole cross platform message since it is kind of rare that Microsoft releases code as open source. Especially code for products and not just examples and frameworks.

Visit: System Center OpsMgr X-Plat Providers on Codeplex

Blog: Handy URLs for System Center Central

Mon, 13 Jul 2009 18:46:40 -0700

Just as we had on System Center Forum, there are shortcut links to the Community Toolbox, Community MP Catalog for SCOM 2007, as well as Kevin’s hotfix page”

Community Management Pack Catalog – http://www.systemcentercentral.com/mps

OpsMgr Community Toolbox – http://www.systemcentercentral.com/tools

SCOM 2007 Hotfixes – http://www.systemcentercentral.com/scomqfe (redirects to the SCOM hotfix page on Kevin Holman’s blog).

SCVMM 2008 R2 Release Date

Mon, 13 Jul 2009 13:12:00 -0700

hey guys, If you are wondering when VMM 2008 R2 will release, this latest blog post by Rakesh will give you the inside track. http://blogs.technet.com/rakeshm/archive/2009/07/13/scvmm-2008-r2-release-date-information.aspx cheers....(read more)

Microsoft Management Pack University

Sun, 12 Jul 2009 04:08:00 -0700

Management Pack University is a training course aimed at developers working on building management packs for System Center Operations Manager 2007. These training videos walk you through the full process of development of a management pack.

Visit the Management Pack University

OSD/MDT SCCM Custom Boot Wizard

Sun, 12 Jul 2009 03:59:00 -0700

Chris Stauffer: Ive spent the last 3 weeks working on a boot wizard for my OSD deployments. Special thanks goes to Maik Koster for putting up with my stupid questions and to Todd Hemsell for adding his 2 cents whenever needed.

This was the Goal:

Create a wizard that would allow the following:

* Enter computer name
* Select OU for machine to be added to
* Select what image to apply to the system
(continue at source)

Citrix releases a free version of Essentials for Hyper-V

Sun, 12 Jul 2009 03:56:00 -0700

Citrix didn’t quite finish to give away its technology for free.
They started with XenServer in February, deciding to pack it with the multi-host management console (XenCenter), the virtual machines live migration (XenMotion), the dynamic resource management (Resource Pools) and a basic storage management capabilities.

System Center OpsMgr X-Plat Providers source code available

Sun, 12 Jul 2009 03:50:00 -0700

Cellfish: So today we published some of the code for the cross platform implementation as open source. It's the code that implements the providers getting all the things needed for monitoring Solaris, Linux, AIX, HPUX etc. The fact that we were going to release this code as open source has been communicated for a long time but I think it kind of got lost in the whole cross platform message since it is kind of rare that Microsoft releases code as open source. Especially code for products and not just examples and frameworks.

Visit: System Center OpsMgr X-Plat Providers on Codeplex

Windows Server 2008 Hyper-V Virtual Machine Configuration

Sun, 12 Jul 2009 03:02:00 -0700

The virtual machine configuration parameters that you must define prior to creating a new virtual machine, and the process to create and configure a new virtual machine using the New Virtual Machine Wizard in Hyper-V Manager.

Blog: Internet Tethering for iPhone 3G

Sat, 11 Jul 2009 13:05:48 -0700

If you upgrade your iPhone to the v3.0 software, you will find a
number of new. Features, including" Internet Tethering", which allows
you to connect your laptop to the Internet via USB or Bluetooth.

To configure, browse to the following page on your iPhone http://help.benm.at, then select
your country and mobile provider.

Blog: SCOM: Query SQL Database for Value Script(for 2-state monitor)

Fri, 10 Jul 2009 15:07:34 -0700

In yesterday’s sample, we were querying the Pending Actions count and logging an event if the count was greater than zero. In this sample, the script has been adapted for use in a 2-state monitor.

In this sample, we actually run a query to retrieve the 'Pending Actions' count from the SCOM 2007 Operational database. Since the name and server location are up to the administrator, this script actually retrieves the server and database name from the registry (when run on Mgmt Server or RMS), and runs the query.

Where to get it

Download link and description available here: Script: Query Value from SQL Database (for 2-state monitor)

If the count of Pending Actions in your OperationsManager is greater than your user defined threshold, the Property Bag value for State = BAD. This could be easily used in a 2-state monitor. Detailed steps for doing this can be found in How to create a Script-based 2-State Monitor.

Sample MP

To see how to target a script like this to run once at a defined interval on your Ops DB, see the sample OpsMgr 2007 Extensions MP, which will raise an alert when you have pending actions waiting for your attention in the Operations Console.

Fix: McAfee ePo Error “Server Policy Invalid”

Fri, 10 Jul 2009 09:07:49 -0700

The following entries were found in the C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\McAfee\Common Framework\Db\Agent_servername.log file on my Windows 2003 server:

20090709133245 I #1972 InetMgr Adding site ePO_mysite to failover list.
20090709133245 I #1972 InetMgr After calling UploadFileResponse()
20090709133245 i #1972 Agent Package uploaded to ePO Server successfully
20090709133245 i #1972 Agent Agent communication session closed
20090709133245 i #1972 Agent Agent received POLICY package from ePO server
20090709133245 I #1972 Agent Started processing a package..
20090709133245 I #1972 Agent Processing PropsResponse package
20090709133245 I #1972 Agent Looking for new sitelist from server
20090709133245 i #1972 Agent New Site List file was received
20090709133245 I #1972 Agent Looking for new event filter from server
20090709133245 I #1972 Agent Looking for new policy from server
20090709133245 I #1972 IPLock writeLock – providing write lock
20090709133245 E #1972 Xml Error trace:
20090709133245 E #1972 MgRcSvX [Merge server.xml]->
20090709133245 E #1972 Xml [useExistingFile,C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\McAfee\Common Framework\Server.xml]->
20090709133245 E #1972 Xml [ReadBufferFromFileNoExp,C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\McAfee\Common Framework\Server.xml]->
20090709133245 E #1972 Xml Couldn’t convert to Unicode
20090709133245 I #1972 IPLock writeUnLock – unlocking the write lock successful
20090709133245 e #1972 Agent New server policy was NOT successfully merged
20090709133245 i #1972 Agent Enforcing newly downloaded policies
20090709133245 I #1972 Agent Agent Enforce Policy Interface called
20090709133245 i #1988 Agent Agent Started Enforcing policies
20090709133245 I #1988 Agent Thread signal occurred
20090709133245 I #1988 Manage Enforcing policies
20090709133245 i #1972 Agent Agent will connect to the ePO Server in 60 minutes and 0 seconds.
20090709133245 I #1988 IPLock writeLock – providing write lock
20090709133245 i #1988 Manage Compiling policies
20090709133245 I #1988 Manage CPolicyFile::InitializePolicyFiles() – Server policy invalid
20090709133245 I #1988 Manage Compiling Policies FAILED, result=-3
20090709133245 I #1988 IPLock writeUnLock – unlocking the write lock successful
20090709133245 I #1988 Agent Agent policy enforcement failed, result=-3
20090709133245 i #1988 Agent Agent finished Enforcing policies
20090709133245 i #1988 Agent Next policy enforcement in 5 minutes
20090709133300 i #1988 Agent Agent Started Enforcing policies
20090709133300 I #1988 Agent Thread signal occurred
20090709133300 I #1988 Manage Enforcing policies
20090709133300 I #1988 IPLock writeLock – providing write lock
20090709133300 i #1988 Manage Compiling policies
20090709133300 I #1988 Manage CPolicyFile::InitializePolicyFiles() – Server policy invalid
20090709133300 I #1988 Manage Compiling Policies FAILED, result=-3

The Solution

1. Stop the McAfee Framework Service

2. In the C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\McAfee\Common Framework directory delete the following two files:

server.xml
compiled.xml

3. Restart the McAfee Framework Service

4. Perform Agent wakeup per KB52707 by executing

C:\Program Files\Common Framework\cmdagent.exe /C

This command checks for new policies/tasks

See McAfee KB60422 for additional details

Blog: Management Pack University is live!

Fri, 10 Jul 2009 00:01:28 -0700

Microsoft have released a set of webcasts focused on the MP authoring. This is the best info yet from what I’ve seen so far. I’ve only been through the first couple of webcasts.

Check it out at http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/opsmgr/cc671407.aspx

management pack university is live!

marcus — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 08:18:00 -0700

Image via Wikipedia

i’m not sure if you’ve seen or heard about mp university. after sharing a link, some folks were surprised about where i found the content. mp university is live! if you’re interested in checking it out, here’s a link: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/opsmgr/cc671407.aspx.

there are two tracks so far, one for beginner content and the other for advanced topics. once you get to the site, use the link “management pack university videos”. great stuff!

Blog: SCOM: Query SQL Database for Value in Monitoring Script

Thu, 09 Jul 2009 10:31:04 -0700

This sample monitoring script illustrates how run a T-SQL query on a database and log an event based on value returned. This is a good example of how to dynamically create the connection string when database server & database name must be discovered at runtime.

Where to get it

Download link and description available here: Script: Query Value from SQL Database and Log Event

If the count of Pending Actions is greater than your user defined threshold, an event is logged. This could be used with an alert-generating rule to create an alert.

Sample MP

To see this script in action, try the sample OpsMgr 2007 Extensions MP, which will raise an alert when you have pending actions waiting for your attention in the Operations Console.

Free Disk Space Report – Additional Information

Thu, 09 Jul 2009 08:00:00 -0700

I have blogged about Ziemek’s free disk space report before. I have run this at a customer site and they were very impressed with the report. The MP, XML and SQL query are all available at Ziemek’s blog.

There are a number of things though that you need to be aware of.

As I mentioned previously if you use System Center Data Protection Manager it creates very long names for the disk drives and that skews the report so that it does not print out well or export to PDF without creating multiple pages. I have found exporting it to Excel first works well.

I tried it on a system with 395 servers and it would time out. Rerunning would often do the trick and get the report. There is a timeout value of 9999 in the XML. I am not sure if that can be increased. The obvious solution would be to use groups to then do the reports in smaller chunks.

And that leads to the third issue. When you use the drop down list it does not show all groups but just a selection. I asked Ziemek about that and he has actually coded it in as he did not want all the computer groups to drop down in his environment. What it does is look for computer groups that do not contain : but do contain Computers. So if you create custom groups that has the word computers in it but without : they will be picked up.

If you look at the XML file you can see the query.

DataWarehouseMain

SELECT FullName, DisplayName FROM OperationsManagerDW.dbo.vManagedEntity with (nolock) where Path is null and FullName not like ‘%:%’ and DisplayName like ‘%Computers%’

true

So you could always change that line in the XML if you want more groups of if you create custom groups with your organisations name it then you can swap that for computers so that only those groups show up in the drop down list. Note that this query shows up twice so I presume you need to change both.

Even with these caveats it is still a great report. And one that should have been in 2007 from the start.

Ian

50216 Operations Manager 2007: Advanced Configuration and Administration

Thu, 09 Jul 2009 04:55:49 -0700

This week Microsoft Learning released a new Operations Manager 2007 R2 instructor-led (classroom) course for IT Professionals. It is a 3-days course that will cover the following topics in deep, level 400.

This course was written by myself and Maarten Goet. Maarten is also a Microsoft MVP within Operations Manager. We have tried to add as much “real world scenarios” and field experience as possible into this course and hope you will learn a lot!

Module 1: Architecture and Troubleshooting
This module will explain how the ‘internals’ of Operations Manager work and how to troubleshoot

Module 2: Management Packs
This module will explain management pack architecture and how to author a management pack.

Module 3: Reporting
This module will explain how to develop custom reports.

Module 4: Connectors
This module will explain how to connect Operations Manager to remote systems, like a ticketing system.

Module 5: Advanced Scripting and PowerShell
This module will explain how to build and work with Operations Manager scripting and PowerShell.

For more info about the course, please take a look here. If you want to attend this course in the the Nordic countries, please take a look here.

Blog: Some Configuration Manager SP1 hotfixes have been re-released for Windows Server 2008 SP2 and Windows Vista SP2

Wed, 08 Jul 2009 18:01:43 -0700

The Configuration Manager Sustained Engineering team has re-released a number of Configuration Manager SP1 hotfixes due to a problem with the hotfix installer's ability to detect Windows Server 2008 SP2 and Windows Vista SP2. This will cause Configuration Manager 2007 SP1 hotfixes to fail to install on those operating systems even though they are applicable.a(continue at source)

OpsMgr R2 Prerequisites

Wed, 08 Jul 2009 13:15:22 -0700

One of the nice things about Operations Manager even from the early versions is the ability to run the prerequisite checker so you know what is required before you start the install. I recommend using this before starting to do any installs. It saves time later.

From the Quick Start Guide

When all components are selected, the Prerequisite Viewer checks for the presence of Windows Server 2003 SP1, SQL Server 2005 SP1 or higher, SQL Server Reporting Services SP1, MDAC version 2.80.1022.0 or higher, .NET Framework version 2.0, .NET Framework 3.0 components, WS-MAN v1.1, and Windows Power Shell. It then checks to ensure that the WWW service is running and set to automatic startup mode.

The checker does not mention the SQL version required but as the notes above say, it needs to be at least SQL 2005 SP1 which is the same as OpsMgr 2007 SP1.

This checker can check for all components or you can just check the components that will be installed on the server that you are checking.

All components

Database

Server

New requirement for Cross Platform Extentions – WS-management 1.1. This is only a warning (so it will not stop the install) as it is only required if you are pushing out agents to UNIX or Linux servers.

Console

Console with PowerShell

Web Console

This is a new requirement for the web console – ASP.NET AJAX 1.0. As this is a failure the install will not be allowed.

Note that after it is installed the requirement is no longer shown.

Reporting

Data Warehouse

To get the missing bits

· WS-MAN v1.1, available at: http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkID=133219

· .NET Framework 2.0, available at: http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkID=64221

· .NET Framework 3.0 components, available at: http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkID=71270

· Windows PowerShell, available at: http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkID=71311

Links to Optional Prerequisites

The Operations Manager 2007 R2 Prerequisite checker does not confirm the presence of the following items and you must install them manually if you want that functionality

· For creating and editing product or company knowledge in management packs you must install Microsoft Office Word 2003 (or 2007) with the .NET Programmability feature and Microsoft Visual Studio 2005 Tools for the Microsoft Office System, available at: http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkID=53267

· If you will install agents manually, you must install MSXML 6.0, available at http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkID=76343. MSXML 6.0 requires Windows Installer 3.1, available at: http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkID=77051. MSXML 6.0 is automatically installed with the agent when the agents are pushed out.

MP Authoring Console

Although this does not have a prerequisite checker it still does a check and if it fails you can check the log.

Note that the .Net requirements are higher than for the other components.

Hope this helps in your planning and installations.

Ian

www.cosiris.co.uk

PartnerPack Newsletter for 7/7 posted on OPSMANJAM

Wed, 08 Jul 2009 11:08:00 -0700

The current PartnerPack Newsletter for 7/7/2009 has been added to the PartnerPack archive on the OpsManJam site.

Chris

Hyper-V Management Tools update for Windows Vista Service Pack 2

Wed, 08 Jul 2009 07:58:00 -0700

If you have installed Windows Vista Service Pack 2 on the system that you are using to manage Hyper-V – you should grab this update:

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/970203

Note that this is an “update” which means that you need to have the original version of the Hyper-V Management Tools installed first (you can get them from here: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/952627/).

For those of you who are curious as to why you have to do this as a separate download than the whole Windows Vista Service Pack 2 process – the reason is that as Hyper-V RTM’d after Windows Server 2008, we had to release the Vista management tools as an optional separate component on Windows Vista. The result is that we also have to service it separately – as we cannot assume that all users have it installed prior to installing Windows Vista Service Pack 2.

Some Configuration Manager SP1 hotfixes have been re-released for Windows Server 2008 SP2 and Windows Vista SP2

Wed, 08 Jul 2009 07:43:00 -0700

Blog: ResearchThis! KB – The service could not bind the database.

Wed, 08 Jul 2009 04:33:50 -0700

Alert: The service could not bind the database.

Issue: The service could not bind instance 3. The data is the error code.

Resolution: SMTP was non-functional on the system due to an error as the TCP port was being used by another program (IIS was using port 443 in this case, and the SMTP server also wanted to use port 433). Moved the SMTP to run on a different port number (444 in this case).

Submitted By: Cameron Fuller (MVP)

Blog: ResearchThis! KB - Script Based Test Failed to Complete

Wed, 08 Jul 2009 04:24:12 -0700

Alert: Script Based Test Failed to Complete

Issue: AD Remote Topology Discovery is failing on the domain controller. Failed to CreateObject ‘OOMADs’. Validated that the domain controller did not have the Active Directory Management Pack Helper Object (OOMADs) installed via checking the add/remove programs content.

Additional script failures include:
-AD Database and Log failed to create object ‘McActiveDir.ActiveDirectory”.
-AD DNS Verification failed to CreateObject ‘OOMADs’
-AD Lost And Found Object Count failed to create object ‘McActiveDirectory’

Resolution: Installed OOMADs from the MOM cd in the SupportTools directory on the domain controller.

Submitted By: Cameron Fuller [MOM MVP]

Blog: ResearchThis! KB - Disk Read Latencies 25 msec

Wed, 08 Jul 2009 04:23:37 -0700

Alert: Disk Read Latencies 25 msec

Issue: Exchange 2003 server: C Drive, Disk Read Latencies greater than 25 msec. (PhysicalDisk: Avg Disk sec/Read: _Total). Part of the Exchange management pack. On the Z drive for this particular system.

Resolution: Last event occurred two months prior. Tracked the physical disk counter and validate that the values were less than 25 msec for the data available within the Operations manager console. Used the performance history report for the server, (ObjectName = PhysicalDisk), (Counter Name = Avg. Disk sec/Read), (Instance Name = _Total) to validate that these numbers are no longer in issue.

Submitted By: Cameron Fuller (MVP)

Blog: ResearchThis! KB - AD Client Side - Script Based Test Failed to Complete

Wed, 08 Jul 2009 04:23:05 -0700

Alert: AD Client Side - Script Based Test Failed to Complete

Issue: Domain controller failing on ‘AD Client GC Availability’

Resolution: The action account on the system (found by logging into the system, opening c:\program files\microsoft operations manager 2005 and running the setactionaccount -query) was running on an account where the password had been changed. Uninstalled the MOM agent and re-installed the MOM agent.

Submitted By: Cameron Fuller [MOM MVP]

Windows Agent Install MSI Use Cases and Commands

Wed, 08 Jul 2009 00:42:00 -0700

Recently, I have had a bunch for requests for more detail on installing a Windows Agent or upgrading a Agent from the command line. So here you go!!

Use Case	Command
Fresh Install and set specific action account	msiexec.exe /i \\path\Directory\MOMAgent.msi /qn /lv %temp%\MOMAgentinstall.log USE_SETTINGS_FROM_AD=0 MANAGEMENT_GROUP=<MG_Name>* MANAGEMENT_SERVER_DNS=<MSDNSName> ACTIONS_USE_COMPUTER_ACCOUNT=0 ACTIONSUSER=<AccountUser> ACTIONSDOMAIN=<AccountDomain> ACTIONSPASSWORD=<AccountPassword> USE_MANUALLY_SPECIFIED_SETTINGS=1 SET_ACTIONS_ACCOUNT=1
Fresh Install and use local system as action account	msiexec.exe /i \\path\Directory\MOMAgent.msi /qn /lv %temp%\MOMAgentinstall.log USE_SETTINGS_FROM_AD=0 MANAGEMENT_GROUP=<MG_Name>* MANAGEMENT_SERVER_DNS=<MSDNSName> ACTIONS_USE_COMPUTER_ACCOUNT=1 USE_MANUALLY_SPECIFIED_SETTINGS=1 SET_ACTIONS_ACCOUNT=1
Fresh Install with AD Integration and set specific action account	msiexec /i \\path\Directory\MOMAgent.msi /qn /lv %temp%mominst.NoGroupSpecified.log USE_SETTINGS_FROM_AD=1* USE_MANUALLY_SPECIFIED_SETTINGS=0 ACTIONS_USE_COMPUTER_ACCOUNT=0 ACTIONSUSER=<AccountUser> ACTIONSDOMAIN=<AccountDomain> ACTIONSPASSWORD=<AccountPassword> SET_ACTIONS_ACCOUNT=1
Fresh Install with AD Integration and use local system as action account	msiexec /i \\path\Directory\MOMAgent.msi /qn /lv %temp%\ mominst.NoGroupSpecified.log USE_SETTINGS_FROM_AD=1* ACTIONS_USE_COMPUTER_ACCOUNT=1 USE_MANUALLY_SPECIFIED_SETTINGS=0 SET_ACTIONS_ACCOUNT=1
Upgrade from SP1	msiexec /i \\path\Directory\MOMAgent.msi SET_ACTIONS_ACCOUNT=0 /qn /l*v %temp%\MOMAgentUpgrade.log
Upgrade from R2 Beta	msiexec /i \\path\Directory\MOMAgent.msi SET_ACTIONS_ACCOUNT=0 /qn /l*v %temp%\MOMAgentUpgrade.log
Upgrade from R2 RC	msiexec /i \\path\Directory\MOMAgent.msi SET_ACTIONS_ACCOUNT=0 /qn /l*v %temp%\MOMAgentUpgrade.log
Change Management server name	MsiExec.exe /i \\path\Directory\MOMAgent.msi /norestart /qn /lv %temp%\MOMAgentReinstall.log MANAGEMENT_GROUP= <SameManagementGroup> MANAGEMENT_GROUP_OPERATION=ModifyConfigGroup MANAGEMENT_SERVER_DNS=<NewManagementServerName> REINSTALL*=ALL
Add new MG	MsiExec.exe /i \\path\Directory\MOMAgent.msi /norestart /qn /lv %temp%\MOMAgentAdd.log MANAGEMENT_GROUP=<NewManagementGroup> MANAGEMENT_GROUP_OPERATION=AddConfigGroup MANAGEMENT_SERVER_DNS=<NewManagementServerName> REINSTALL*=ALL Note: If fresh install is already AD enabled, then re-homing configuration is set by AD
Remove old MG	MsiExec.exe /i \\path\Directory\MOMAgent.msi /norestart /qn /lv %temp%\MOMRemove.log MANAGEMENT_GROUP=<OldManagementGroup> MANAGEMENT_GROUP_OPERATION=RemoveConfigGroup MANAGEMENT_SERVER_DNS=<OldManagementServerName> REINSTALL=ALL Note:* If this is the last MG assigned to this agent the agent will also be uninstalled. Note: If fresh install is already AD enabled, then re-homing configuration is set by AD
Re-Home (remove old MG\MS, redirect to new MG/MS)	Step 1: Add new management group \ Management server MsiExec.exe /i \\path\Directory\MOMAgent.msi /norestart /qn /lv %temp%\MOMAgentAdd.log MANAGEMENT_GROUP=<NewManagementGroup> MANAGEMENT_GROUP_OPERATION=AddConfigGroup MANAGEMENT_SERVER_DNS=<NewManagementServerName> REINSTALL=ALL Step 2: Remove old management group \ management server* MsiExec.exe /i \\path\Directory\MOMAgent.msi /norestart /qn /lv %temp%\MOMRemove.log MANAGEMENT_GROUP=<OldManagementGroup> MANAGEMENT_GROUP_OPERATION=RemoveConfigGroup MANAGEMENT_SERVER_DNS=<OldManagementServerName> REINSTALL=ALL Note:* Make sure to add the new management group first before removing the old one. If you remove the old management group first and it’s the last management group assigned to the agent the agent will be uninstalled. Note: If fresh install is already AD enabled, then re-homing configuration is set by AD

USE_SETTINGS_FROM_AD=0

Indicates that management group settings properties will be set on the command line.

MANAGEMENT_GROUP=MG1

Sets the management group the computer will be managed by to MG1.

MANAGEMENT_SERVER_DNS=MS1.Domain1.net

Sets the management server fully qualified domain name (FQDN) to MS1.Domain1.net (). To use a gateway server, enter the gateway server FQDN as MANAGEMENT_SERVER_DNS.

Important

If the computer's DNS and Active Directory names differ, the MANAGEMENT_SERVER_AD_NAME property also needs to be set to the fully qualified Active Directory Domain Services name.

USE_MANUALLY_SPECIFIED_SETTINGS=1

Indicates that management group settings properties will be set on the command line.

SET_ACTIONS_ACCOUNT=1

Indicates that the default action account will be set on the command line.

SECURE_PORT

Sets the health service port number.

ACTIONS_USE_COMPUTER_ACCOUNT=0

Sets the Agent Action account to a specified user account, instead of to Local System.

ACTIONSUSER=AgentAction

Sets the Agent Action account to AgentAction.

ACTIONSDOMAIN= Domain1

Sets the Agent Action account domain to Domain1.

ACTIONSPASSWORD= Password#2007

Sets the Agent Action account password to Password#2007.

Note: Order of parameters does not matter.

Rob Kuehfus | System Center Operations Manager | Setup and Deployment Program Manager

This is supplied "as -is" with no support. In addition, my thoughts and opinions often change, and as a weblog is intended to provide a semi-permanent point in time snapshot you should not consider out of date posts to reflect my current thoughts and opinions.

Blog: Operations Manager 2007 Web Console Part 4: Customizing the Web Console URL in alert notifications

Tue, 07 Jul 2009 15:50:03 -0700

Previous Installments:

Part 1 - Secure Publishing of the OpsMgr 2007 Web Console to the Internet
Part 2 - Branding the Web Console in Operations Manager 2007

Part 3 - Publishing the Web Console through ISA 2004

In our first 3 installments, in varying degrees of detail, we stepped through installation of an SSL certificate to our Web Console instance in IIS, configured forms authentication, branded our Web Console login screen and securely published the console to the Internet.

In part 4, we will answer the question "What can you do if the FQDN of your Web Console belongs to a DNS domain that cannot be resolved from the Internet?" For example, if the FQDN of the server hosting the Web Console is rms01.momresources.int, then the alert link in the notification presents a a URL that is unreachable from the Internet, like so:

https://rms01.systemcentercentral.int?DisplayMode=Pivot&AlertID={2c7cea36-fe84-4db1-b499-be53b9ccef8e}

This end result is that the Alert view link is worthless if you are not on or connected to your internal corporate network. Fortunately, we can work around this problem.

The Workaround:

To update the URL to reflect the publicly available FQDN (that we added to DNS, added to the SSL certificate and published via ISA), we'll need to update the string under the Alert view link: text in the default notification format.

Where you update this value determines how the fix is applied. You can update this string on the formats screen of an individual notification subscription, or you can update this string in the default notification format in Global Settings to update this in all subscriptions using the default notification format.

Customizing URL in SCOM Alerts

By default, the Web Console link value is represented by the following XPath string:

$Target/Property[Type="Notification!Microsoft.SystemCenter.AlertNotificationSubscriptionServer"]/WebConsoleUrl$?DisplayMode=Pivot&AlertID=$UrlEncodeData/Context/DataItem/AlertId$

The “$Target/Property[Type="Notification!Microsoft.SystemCenter.AlertNotificationSubscriptionServer"]/WebConsoleUrl$” portion of this string represents the server name of the machine hosting the Web Console. So by hard-coding this portion of the string with the URL representing the published name we entered in DNS, we'll be able click this link and access alert information from anywhere we have Internet connectivity.

So our new Web Console link value would be updated to look like this:

https://webconsole.systemcentercentral.com?DisplayMode=Pivot&AlertID=$Data/Context/DataItem/AlertId$

Now, your Web Console alert links are available anywhere you have Internet connectivity!

Blog: What’s new in the OpsMgr 2007 Service Level Dashboard 2.0?

Tue, 07 Jul 2009 10:47:24 -0700

A good question came up in the forums this morning about service level reporting in OpsMgr 2007 R2. If you are using the original SLD in SCOM 2007 SP1, you were doing basic reporting from the DW. You would have to embed the 'AD Topology Root' distributed application model in the SLD template (see the guide that came with SLD 1.x). It basically looks and performed like a static report, even though the graphics and gauges were pretty nice.

Meet SLD 2.0

On SCOM 2007 R2, it's quite a bit nicer. While the SLD still reads from the OpsMgr data warehouse (see the diagram in the Solution Accelerator Guide), it returns availability data only a couple of minutes old (near real-time data). This version looks and feels much more like a dashboard…not just a static report. This solution leverages the new Service Level Tracking feature you’ll see in the R2 console, which allows administrators to configure service level goals for applications and groups. Note that the new version requires WSS 3.0 or MOSS 2007

The new dashboard report several aspects of application availability, including:

Current status and health of all defined Service Level Objectives (SLOs)
Service Level Metrics
Mean Time To Repair (MTTR)
Mean Time Between Failures (MTBF)
Service Level Trends

It's much different in the new version to say the least, and a step in the right direction.

Resources, Examples and More Information

Rather than describe from scratch, let me point you to existing resources that will give you all you need to get started with the SLD 2.0 application.

Marnix Wolf has a review of the new SLD feature you should look at, which includes a quick how-to

http://thoughtsonopsmgr.blogspot.com/2009/05/scom-r2-service-level-dashboard-mp.html

Here you will find the new SLD Solution Accelerator

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dd630553.aspx

OPSMANJAM site up and running just fine

Tue, 07 Jul 2009 08:43:00 -0700

Sorry for the brief outage yesterday, dns registration didn't get renewed as requested. This has been fixed and the site is up and running just fine now. please send feedback to omjfeed@microsoft.com on what you would like to see more of on OMJ and what you would like to see less of. I am really interested in knowing how and when you use the site.

thanks

Chris

understanding the “ad op master is inconsistent” alert

marcus — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 01:35:00 -0700

i use the term “understanding” loosely. this is by far no definitive guide on this particular alert, just a few things i have picked up in my attempt to understand it.

let’s look at the context of the alert:

The Domain Controller's Op Master is inconsitent. See additional alerts for details.

first of all, it gives very little information. the only particularly useful detail is that it indicates which server is having the issue. other than that, just a spelling error as there are no additional critical alerts to look at for details.

this rule, as you know, comes from a sealed mp. therefore, we can’t modify anything in it except the overrides. the couple i’ve tinkered with are:

interval (sec)
log success event

to begin with, interval (sec) is just set way too high. the default is 60 seconds. why on earth would anyone want to know that your op master consistency may be off, every minute? actually, i could think of a few reasons, but really, it’s overkill. the way the script works (which has a copyright of 2001, by the way, and apparently briefly modified for opsmgr by stripping out the createevent calls and replacing them with property bag calls) is to check all replication partners for op master consistency. on a bridgehead server, that’s quite a big number. i ended up dropping the value to 3600.

i mentioned earlier that the alert has no useful context. here’s why. if you look inside the script, the functions for createevent route to this subroutine:

Sub CreateEvent(lngEventID, lngEventType, strMessage)

 oAPI.LogScriptEvent "AD Replication Partner Op Master Consistency", lngEventID, lngEventType, strMessage
 
 if lngEventID=EVENTID_CANT_DETERMINE_OP_MASTER or lngEventID=EVENTID_OP_MASTERS_INCONSISTENT then
 bState=1
 End if 
End Sub

depending on the condition, bState either goes 0 or 1. this next snippet indicates what to do with the bState condition:

if bState=0 then
 set oBag = oAPI.CreateTypedPropertyBag(StateDataType)
 oBag.AddValue "State", "GOOD" 
 oBag.AddValue "EventID", EVENTID_GOOD
 oAPI.AddItem oBag
END IF 
if bState=1 then
 set oBag = oAPI.CreateTypedPropertyBag(StateDataType)
 oBag.AddValue "State", "BAD" 
 oBag.AddValue "EventID", EVENTID_BAD
 oAPI.AddItem oBag
END If

and as you can see, the state is captured as well as the event id. no other detail. for this reason, you can’t figure out whether bad is really bad or just maybe bad. i mean, is it really inconsistent, or can the agent simply not retrieve the required data?

this is where the other override i mentioned earlier, comes into play – log success event. if you choose to turn this on, you can view the associated events of the health service to see the details it stores. it will show you every consistent partner – which could potentially be useful. this is what a “good” event would look like:

AD Replication Partner Op Master Consistency : Op Master PDC 'myDC1.MYDOMAIN.COM' consistent with replication partner 'myDC2.MYDOMAIN.COM'.

and the inverse (logs regardless of log success event override):

AD Replication Partner Op Master Consistency : The script 'AD Replication Partner Op Master Consistency' failed to executethe following LDAP query: '<LDAP://myDC1.myDomain.com/CN=Schema,CN=Configuration,DC=myDomain,DC=com>;(&(objectClass=dMD)(fSMORoleOwner=*));fSMORoleOwner;Subtree'. 
The error returned was 'Table does not exist.' (0x80040E37)


AD Replication Partner Op Master Consistency : Unable to determine schema Op Master on domain controller 'myDC1.myDomain.com'.

that’s actually two events that i pulled out of the operations manager event log on the dc in question. those events are not captured by opsmgr by default.

when you view the data, it tells you everything you need to know. first of all, don’t panic. there’s no inconsistency! the error is because the partner dc can’t be reached. (yes, that is a problem obviously but not a data integrity type problem).

i mentioned that there are no additional critical alerts to look at for details. if you switch to the warning alerts, you will find detail on why the particular alert fired. for example, here are two that relate to the event messages above:

AD Replication Partner Op Master Consistency : The script 'AD Replication Partner Op Master Consistency' failed to executethe following LDAP query: '<LDAP://myDC1.myDomain.com/CN=Configuration,DC=myDomain,DC=com>;(&(objectClass=crossRefContainer)(fSMORoleOwner=*));fSMORoleOwner;Subtree'. 
The error returned was 'Table does not exist.' (0x80040E37)


AD Replication Partner Op Master Consistency : Unable to determine domain naming Op Master on domain controller 'myDC1'.

looks remarkably alike, right?

if you want to see it all in one view, i suggest using the dc active alerts view which will show you all the alerts stacked up for easier correlation.

optionally, search for the computer name in question. don’t expect to find it under dc events. as stated earlier, these events are not picked up by default.

hope that helps!

MPguide_template_external updated

Mon, 06 Jul 2009 14:54:00 -0700

We have updated the mp guide tempate that you can use for writing your own mp guides for your custom mps. The content has been updated for several topics and new content was added for disabled monitors. This is available on the opsmanjam site in the doc library, or link directly to the doc here.

Virtualization Videos

Mon, 06 Jul 2009 13:04:58 -0700

If you haven't checked these out yet, there are some virtualization "How to" videos on technet:

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/virtualization/dd353206.aspx

There are also "how to" videos on other technologies as well that are really good.

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/cc138021.aspx

Courtesy of Dottie Shaw, Sr. Program Manager | Core IO

Blog: SCOM 2007 Notification Tips: How do I stop noisy rules and monitors during nightly maintenance & backups?

Mon, 06 Jul 2009 11:35:22 -0700

Here’s a good question that -has shown up in a couple of the forums and a mailing list:

Question:

How do I stop the alerts from noisy rules and monitors that are triggered when backups and other nightly maintenance are running?

Answer:

There are several ways to deal with this, but it is important to understand the negative repercussions of each.

Option 1: Maintenance Mode

Remember you can put any object class in maintenance mode, so find the target class of the offending rule or monitoring and schedule it for maintenance mode every night. The negative here is that tracking down target classes and configuring maintenance mode could be time consuming.

Option 2: Configure Alert to NOT Auto-Resolve

If the alert does not auto-resolve, you’ll only get one alert. The negative here is that after doing this, you now have a monitor-generated alert you have to resolve manually (or through a scheduled Powershell script) to clean this up so it can generate another alert during the remaining hours of the day.

Option 3: Set the Sample Period to a Longer Interval

If a runs at a one minute interval, configure it to run at a 3 minute interval. The negative here is, that as in option 2, you now have a monitor that will behave differently 24 hours a day. You want to be sure this will not affect your ability to identify a problem before your users do.

If you know the impact of each option, it should help you make an educated choice.

Sources: Self, The Great and Powerful OZ Kevin Holman, et al.

Upcoming Webcast, System Center and Intel vPro

Mon, 06 Jul 2009 11:23:27 -0700

Hey everyone, I wanted to make sure you are aware of an upcoming webcast I have been invited to join hosted by our Intel friends. See details below. Should be a great presentation, I will join a collection of Intel experts to talk about the benefits of System Center and Intel vPro technology. There is a registration link in the below bit.

Activate Today! Realize ROI with Intel® vPro Technology and Microsoft System Configuration Manager
Wednesday, July 15, 2009
2:00 PM ET / 11:00 AM PT / 6:00 PM GMT

Join the team from the Intel vPro Expert Center for an informative Webcast on the ROI savings and activation process for PCs with Intel® vPro™ technology and Microsoft System Configuration Manager.
This live TechRepublic Webcast, featuring Q&A, will be hosted by James Hilliard and feature special guest speakers from Intel Corporation, Jeff Marek, Director of End User Platform Engineering, Digital Office, and Jeff Torello, Staff Architect, Digital Office and Jeff Wettlaufer, Sr. Technical Product Manager for System Center, Microsoft Corporation. They will discuss the ROI possible with Intel vPro technology usage models activated, a review of the primary usage models supported by SCCM, and an overview of the activation process using SCCM. Q&A will follow. Register here.

Jeff Wettlaufer
Sr. Technical Product Manager
System Center
e – jeff.wettlaufer@microsoft.com
- jeffwettlaufer

New Exchange 2007 Management Pack and Keeping Old Management Pack Data

Mon, 06 Jul 2009 11:01:00 -0700

One of the scenarios supported by the new Exchange 2007 MP (6.0.6623.0) is to keep the Exchange 2007 Converted MP (6.0.6461.0) installed. This allows you to keep your historical data from the old Exchange MP, while gaining the advantages of monitoring your Exchange 2007 servers with the new Management Pack. In order to do this you need to disable the monitoring from the old MP to avoid duplication of monitoring. This can be done with the attached unsealed management pack..

The management pack, Microsoft.Exchange.2007.Disable.xml, will disable all the rules and monitors in the converted Exchange 2007 MP. It uses enforced overrides to attempt to disable the monitoring even over any existing overrides you may have in your management group. Using this MP should avoid duplication of alerts, one raised by the old converted MP and one raised by the new MP and also avoid running the synthetic transactions from the old converted MP.

Edit: Updated the Attached MP, the version here was incorrect as it disabled the discoveries as well.

A chat with our friends in the Windows Team……

Mon, 06 Jul 2009 09:36:09 -0700

Good morning, I wanted to get you guys some visibility about a recent interview I did with my good friend in the Windows Division Jeremy Chapman. Jeremy and I recently spoke about the release of the ConfigMgr Service Pack 2 Beta and the integration we have achieved to support Windows 7 deployments. You can find the interview posted over on the Springboard blog.

Kind regards

Jeff Wettlaufer
Sr. Technical Product Manager
System Center
e – jeff.wettlaufer@microsoft.com
- jeffwettlaufer

Blog: System Center WIKI feature at SystemCenterCentral.com now online

Mon, 06 Jul 2009 02:00:36 -0700

The System Center WIKI feature is now online at systemcentercentral.com. The Operations Manager section already has quite a good start, as we added a good deal of updated content (and consolidated some existing info from Maarten’s old WIKI). Other areas will grow as time goes on (I have quite a bit of SCE, Hyper-V and SCVMM material to upload).

All registered users are welcome to update the WIKI as well. Visit the System Center WIKI at System Center Central at the URL Below:

http://www.systemcentercentral.com/WIKIs/WIKIsDetails/tabid/146/IndexID/43/Default.aspx

Hyper-V: How to remove disabled virtual network adapters from the parent partition

Sun, 05 Jul 2009 16:37:00 -0700

John Howard:In May, I mentioned that we introduced a checkbox in the Hyper-V UI for Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 which determines whether a virtual NIC is created in the parent partition for External Virtual Networks. (To get a better understanding of Hyper-V networking and what this means, take a look at this article.)

MOM 2005 Unleashed – a nice review

Sun, 05 Jul 2009 15:42:04 -0700

If you haven’t migrated to OpsMgr 2007 yet, you may want to consider purchasing Microsoft Operations Manager 2005 Unleashed – there’s a very nice review at http://www.left-brain.com/tabId/65/itemId/1588/Microsoft-Operations-Manager-2005-Unleashed.aspx.

(The book can be ordered at www.tinyurl.com/yxtrqd.)

System Center Operations Manager 2007 R2 Documentation

Sun, 05 Jul 2009 10:45:00 -0700

The Operations Manager 2007 R2 technical documentation helps you plan, deploy, operate, and maintain Operations Manager 2007 R2. For information about the specific guides available in the library, see http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/opsmgr/bb498235.aspx.

Microsoft Server Virtualization Validation Program Wizard

Sun, 05 Jul 2009 10:38:00 -0700

Microsoft has published an online form on it's Windows Marketplace website which can help you determine if your Virtualization configuration is supported.

Visit the: Server Virtualization Validation Program

Best of System Center Bloggers

Working with VMware VI4 (aka vSphere)

OSD and SAN Disks

Current List of Disallowed SMS / SCCM SITECODES

Current List of Disallowed SMS / SCCM SITECODES

Fix: Could not start the Automatic Updates service on Local Computer. Error 0×80004015: The class is configuired to run as a security id different from the caller

They want to have it both ways: Microsoft and Google

Windows Server 2008 Hyper-V Import and Export

Want to deliver Citrix apps via System Center? Its coming in 2010!

Vista x86 patch to address 4GB+ of RAM

Blog: System Center OpsMgr X-Plat Providers source code available

Visit: System Center OpsMgr X-Plat Providers on Codeplex

Blog: Handy URLs for System Center Central

SCVMM 2008 R2 Release Date

Microsoft Management Pack University

OSD/MDT SCCM Custom Boot Wizard

Citrix releases a free version of Essentials for Hyper-V

System Center OpsMgr X-Plat Providers source code available

Windows Server 2008 Hyper-V Virtual Machine Configuration

Blog: Internet Tethering for iPhone 3G

Blog: SCOM: Query SQL Database for Value Script(for 2-state monitor)

Where to get it

Sample MP

Fix: McAfee ePo Error “Server Policy Invalid”

Blog: Management Pack University is live!

management pack university is live!

Blog: SCOM: Query SQL Database for Value in Monitoring Script

Where to get it

Sample MP

Free Disk Space Report – Additional Information

50216 Operations Manager 2007: Advanced Configuration and Administration

Blog: Some Configuration Manager SP1 hotfixes have been re-released for Windows Server 2008 SP2 and Windows Vista SP2

OpsMgr R2 Prerequisites

PartnerPack Newsletter for 7/7 posted on OPSMANJAM

Hyper-V Management Tools update for Windows Vista Service Pack 2

Some Configuration Manager SP1 hotfixes have been re-released for Windows Server 2008 SP2 and Windows Vista SP2

Blog: ResearchThis! KB – The service could not bind the database.

Blog: ResearchThis! KB - Script Based Test Failed to Complete

Blog: ResearchThis! KB - Disk Read Latencies 25 msec

Blog: ResearchThis! KB - AD Client Side - Script Based Test Failed to Complete

Windows Agent Install MSI Use Cases and Commands

Blog: Operations Manager 2007 Web Console Part 4: Customizing the Web Console URL in alert notifications

Previous Installments:

The Workaround:

Customizing URL in SCOM Alerts

Blog: What’s new in the OpsMgr 2007 Service Level Dashboard 2.0?

Meet SLD 2.0

Resources, Examples and More Information

OPSMANJAM site up and running just fine

understanding the “ad op master is inconsistent” alert

MPguide_template_external updated

Virtualization Videos

Blog: SCOM 2007 Notification Tips: How do I stop noisy rules and monitors during nightly maintenance & backups?

Upcoming Webcast, System Center and Intel vPro

New Exchange 2007 Management Pack and Keeping Old Management Pack Data

A chat with our friends in the Windows Team……

Blog: System Center WIKI feature at SystemCenterCentral.com now online

Hyper-V: How to remove disabled virtual network adapters from the parent partition

MOM 2005 Unleashed – a nice review

System Center Operations Manager 2007 R2 Documentation

Microsoft Server Virtualization Validation Program Wizard

Want to deliver Citrix apps via System Center? Its coming in 2010!