Techlog

SCCM: Forcing a Task Sequence to Rerun

Mon, 09 Nov 2009 06:39:00 +0100

Steve Rachui: There are well known methods to force an advertisement to rerun � including several add-on tools available for the SMS or SCCM console. To date, however, there are not equivalent methods to force a task sequence to rerun. Part of this may be because task sequences are typically thought of as focused on Operating System Deployment (OSD) and rerunning these types of distributions are not as common as rerunning advertisements.(continue at source)

System Center Operations Manager: Version Control

Mon, 09 Nov 2009 06:28:00 +0100

The current version of System Center Operations Manager 2007 doesn�t use version control for management packs. If you manage complex environments and use lot of custom monitoring, it would be nice to see when there is something changed and even better: easily fall back to your previous version in case an error slipped in. Another benefit of version control is you have exported management packs ready to import in other environments: i.e. between acceptance and production or between customers in case you are managing multiple customers like we do.(continue at source)

Importing data into SCSM (part 1) � the SCSM AD & SCCM connectors

Mon, 09 Nov 2009 06:21:00 +0100

The Service Manager database contains information about the environment. After a fresh installation, we have an empty database. This SCSM database can be easily populated with different entries (configuration items for SCSM) with the use of connectors. In the SCSM console, you have four different connectors that can be configured.(continue at source)

Overview of Problem Management in Service Manager

Tue, 03 Nov 2009 19:04:00 +0100

The objective of Problem Management is to resolve the underlying root cause of incidents and consequently prevent incidents from recurring [ITIL]. Proactive Problem Management aims to identifying and solving Problems and Known Errors before the incidents occur.

The Problem Management Process Management Pack provides basic capabilities to document problems, link incidents and research the problems through basic search capability. Though it does not provide any workflows but the partners could extend it to include automated workflows to automate aspects of problem management process.(continue at source)

OpsMgr R2 by Example: the SharePoint MP

Tue, 03 Nov 2009 19:01:00 +0100

The Office SharePoint Server 2007 management pack and SharePoint Portal Server 2003 management pack are separate management packs. This discussion focuses on the Office SharePoint Server 2007 management pack, as this is the more current version of the two. (continue at source)

Management Pack for Forefront Threat Management Gateway 2010 Release Candidate Now Available

Tue, 03 Nov 2009 18:56:00 +0100

We are happy to announce the availability of the Management Pack (MP) for the Forefront Threat Management Gateway (TMG) 2010 Release Candidate. As a response to your feedback, we enhanced the management pack, to increase its coverage and usability.

While the previous release monitored and managed some of Forefront TMG�s features, we are now monitoring and managing all Forefront TMG features. We added discoveries (automatic detection mechanisms) of the new features, their state and events in Forefront TMG 2010 and made significant improvements to increase the usability and productivity of the MP.(continue at source)

New version of the Deployment CD

Sat, 31 Oct 2009 21:11:00 +0100

Johan Arwidmark has released a second version of the Deployment CD. This version provides step-by-step guides and video tutorials on how to build a Windows Deployment Solution using Microsoft Deployment Toolkit (MDT) 2010, with or without, System Center Configuration Manager 2007 R2 SP2

You can download the CD, by singing up at the Deployment CD webpage

Service Manager Authoring Tool: The ABCDs of Workflows....

Sat, 31 Oct 2009 20:39:00 +0100

What the heck are WFs in Service Manager Authoring Tool?

A workflow (WF) is comprised of a set of one or more activities (also referred to as a WF activity). Each workflow activity performs a function, such as joining a user or a computer to a group in Active Directory or running a script. The Workflow is primarily triggered by one of two mechanisms: schedule or event based. If it is schedule based, the WF can fire periodically based on a predetermined schedule. If it is event based, it is based on some event or state change that took place in SM DB. For example, a new incident was recently created. This may trigger a WF to publish the incident to a SharePoint site.(continue at source)

Windows Client 2000/XP/Vista/Windows 7 Operating System Management Pack for Operations Manager 2007

Sat, 31 Oct 2009 18:25:00 +0100

The Windows Client Monitoring Management Pack is built to detects, diagnose, and resolve hardware and software problems pertaining to Client 2000, XP, and Vista operating systems. Information and analysis on the issues that the system detected are collected by the MPs through an agent on the client machine, and sent to OpsMgr where this data is converted into health state, alerts (if need be) and processed for business critical and aggregate reports. The MP gives a clear picture of catastrophic failures in your mission critical machines, trend-based alerts of significant changes to computer groups, in-depth views of health of individual machines, and reports that provide a landscape view of the health of all monitored clients.

Feature Summary

* Key Processor Performance Indicators
* Logical and Physical disk performance and free space
* Memory utilization
* Network health
* Health monitoring of key Windows Operating System services
* Comprehensive performance collections
* Availability and event reports

Download: Windows Client 2000/XP/Vista/Windows 7 Operating System Management Pack for Operations Manager 2007

Microsoft System Center Configuration Manager 2007 SP2 Management Pack for Microsoft System Center Operations Manager 2007 R2.

Sat, 31 Oct 2009 18:24:00 +0100

The Configuration Manager 2007 SP2 Management Pack adds support for monitoring Configuration Manager 2007 SP2 in a 64-bit environment with Operations Manager 2007 R2 or Operations Manager 2007 SP1 with hotfix (KB971541) installed. This enables the Configuration Manager 2007 SP2 Management Pack to work with either the 32-bit or the 64-bit Operations Manager 2007 agent. Except for the 64-bit support, the other features and guidance for Configuration Manager 2007 Management Packs remain intact.

This management pack includes:

* Detection and monitoring of all Configuration Manager servers and dependent services
* The alert driven state
* The site hierarchy diagram
* Performance and backlog monitoring and configuration
* Performance and availability reports

Download: Microsoft System Center Configuration Manager 2007 SP2 Management Pack for Microsoft System Center Operations Manager 2007 R2.

Renaming the Configuration Manager 2007 database

Tue, 27 Oct 2009 20:54:00 +0100

You may find that at some point you need to change the name of the SCCM 2007 database and the steps to do so are below. I worked on a case just like this a few days back and during that time I got the opportunity to confirm that this procedure works and is supported in the lab.(continue at source)

Live Maps V4.1 for SCOM R2 Released

Tue, 27 Oct 2009 20:42:00 +0100

Savision: We are proud to announce the release of Live Maps 4.1 for Operations Manager R2. This update contains, besides some fixes and performance improvements, a number of new features that have been added based on customer feedback. Some of the new features are highlighted in this article, a complete overview can be found in the release notes.(continue at source)

What's New in Configuration Manager 2007 SP2

Thu, 22 Oct 2009 22:57:00 +0100

While no new features have been added for the Microsoft System Center Configuration Manager 2007 SP2 release, some have changed very little since Configuration Manager 2007 SP1 and some have changed a lot.

On Technet you can find more information about what's new in Service Pack 2. (continue at source)

System Center Operations Manager 2007 R2 Authoring Resource Kit

Thu, 22 Oct 2009 18:17:00 +0100

The System Center Operations Manager 2007 R2 Resource Kit will install the Authoring console, which aids customers in creating and modifying operations management packs (MPs). Optionally, eight tools designed to help improve the MP authoring experience will also be included: the MP Best Practice Analyzer; MP Spell Checker; Visio MP Diagram Generator; Cookdown Analyzer; All References Addin; MP Diff; Workflow Analyzer; and Workflow Simulator.

Download: System Center Operations Manager 2007 R2 Authoring Resource Kit

Microsoft System Center Configuration Manager 2007 SP2 Evaluation

Thu, 22 Oct 2009 15:11:00 +0100

Configuration Manager 2007 SP2 Evaluation is a full version of the product that is valid for 180 days from the time of installation.

Service Pack 2 for Configuration Manager 2007 delivers new platform support for Windows 7 client, Windows Vista SP2, Windows Server 2008 R2 and Windows Server 2008 SP2. In addition, Service Pack 2 delivers continued innovation with Intel vPro technology, support for Branch Cache enabled environments, and continued development for 64 bit architectures.

Download: Microsoft System Center Configuration Manager 2007 SP2 Evaluation

System Center Configuration Manager Service Pack 2

Thu, 22 Oct 2009 15:07:00 +0100

Service Pack 2 for Configuration Manager 2007 delivers new platform support for Windows 7 client, Windows Vista SP2, Windows Server 2008 R2 and Windows Server 2008 SP2. In addition, Service Pack 2 delivers continued innovation with Intel vPro technology, support for Branch Cache enabled environments, and continued development for 64 bit architectures.

Download: Service Pack 2 for Configuration Manager 2007Feature Summary

* New Operating System Support
o Windows 7
o Windows Vista Sp2
o Windows Server 2008 R2
o Windows Server 2008 SP2
* New Features in Out of Band Management
In addition to providing feature parity with SP1 and AMT firmware versions 3.2.1, 4.0 and 5.0, the following new features are supported:
o Wireless management with up to 8 wireless profiles
o End point access control: 802.1x support
o Audit logging
o Support for different power states
o Power control options at the collection level
o Data storage
o Scheduling configuration for in-band provisioning
* Asset Intelligence Certificate Requirement Removal
Configuration Manager Service Pack 1 introduced Asset Intelligence v1.5. This version allowed customers to configure an online synchronization to ensure that their catalog was up to date with the latest Microsoft inventory for both hardware and applications. This initial release required a certificate. With Service Pack 2, the requirement to have the certificate has been removed, so any customer can configure their Asset Intelligence capabilities to connect online and update their catalog. Software Assurance is not required for this functionality.
* 64-bit Architecture Development
Service Pack 2 will also continue to deliver new support for x64 architectures, including the following:
o X64 support for Operations Manager 2007 Client Agent
o Update to Management Packs for 64-bit operating systems - SP2 will ship 64-bit performance counters (the management pack is a separate release)
o Remote control support added for x64 XP and x64 Server 2003
* Improved Client Policy Evaluation
o Faster policy processing
o More efficient software distribution configured to run at user logon
* Branch Cache Support
Support for scenarios where Windows Server 2008 R2 and Windows 7 Client are present and Branch Cache is enabled

Dutch event: System Center User Group Nederland op 16 november

Sun, 18 Oct 2009 16:51:00 +0100

Op 16 november organiseert de nederlandse System Center User Group (SCUG) in samenwerking met INOVATIV en HP, een speciale bijeenkomst. We hebben drie sprekers uit de System Center product teams van Microsoft USA bereid gevonden om naar Nederland te komen om diepgaande sessies over respectievelijk SCCM, SvcMgr en SCOM te geven.

Wally Mead geeft inzage in SCCM 2007 R2 en kijkt tevens vooruit naar R3. Nigel Cain presenteert over beta-2 van Service Manager en blikt vooruit naar de RTM in de 1e helft van 2010. Daniel Savage sluit het evenement af met een level-300/400 sessie over System Center Operations Manager en reporting. HP opent de middag met de HP visie op systeembeheer System Center in combinatie met de bekende HP serverlijnen.

Hier kunt u zich inschrijvenVoorlopig programma:

12.00 - 12.30 uur Ontvangts met broodje en koffie
12.30 - 13.00 uur HP servers en beheer: Marc Janssen
13.00 - 13.15 uur SCUG, welkom
13.15 - 14.45 uur System Center Configuration Manager: Wally Mead
14.45 - 15.00 uur Break
15.00 - 16.15 uur System Center Service Manager: Nigel Cain
16.15 - 16.30 uur Break
16.30 - 17.45 uur System Center Operations Manager: Daniel Savage
17.45 - 18.00 uur Q&A met de sprekers en MVPs
18.00 uur Borrel en afsluiting

Tijdens deze bijeenkomst kunt u luisteren naar experts en vragen stellen die voor u belangrijk zijn. Mocht u nu al vragen willen stellen, dan kunt u mailen naar info@scug.nl . Aan deze bijeenkomst zijn voor u geen kosten verbonden.

Registreer nu alvast via onderstaande button en kom op maandagmiddag 16 november a.s. naar de SCUG gebruikersgroepbijeenkomst. Het aantal plaatsen is beperkt dus schrijf snel in!

U bent van harte welkom!