after you’ve installed en configured your SCCM 2007 environment, you want to backup this environment to ensure your data is safety. Let’s have a look on this task.

1.) Open your SCCM Management Console
2.) Go to Site Management, your site name, Site Settings, Site Maintenance, Tasks
3.) Here you see “Backup ConfigMgr Site Server”
4.) Open the properties of “Backup ConfigMgr Site Server”
5.) Enable this task, set the backup paths and select the schedule interval
     – Note: when your SCCM Database is on a different server, there’s a folder created on the E:\ drive of that server!
     – For exameple: one folder on server SRV-SCCM01 and one folder on server SRV-SCCM02.
6.) When you want to start the backup manual, you can start the following service on your SCCM Site Server
     – SMS_SITE_BACKUP
7.) Your SCCM environment is now succesfully backuped with exactly the same time stamps.

Before we can manage our clients with System Center Configuration Manager, we’ve to install the SCCM agent. Installation Methods are:

- Client push
- Software Update point
- Group Policy
- Manual
- Loginscript
- Software Distribution
- Imaging

In this example we are going to push the client to our servers and workstations.

1.) First you need to configure your boundaries. I’ve added a IP range of my workstation DHCP scope. This can also be:
     – IP subnet
     – Active Directory site
     – IPv6 prefix
     – IP address range
2.) Now we can enable the client push installation. Go to Site Management, your site name, Site Settings, Client Installation Methods, Client Push Installation.
     – Enable: “Enable Client Push Installation to assigned resources”
     – System types: Choose the system types where you want to install the SCCM clients
     – Accounts: Type in a account with administrator rights
     – Client: Type in the installation properties. In this example I’m using only the option SMSSITECODE=S01. For an overview of all the options, check the following link: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb680980.aspx
3.) Make sure you’ve run an discovery, so the system where you want to install the client is succesfully discovered
4.) In order to successfully use client push to install the Configuration Manager 2007 client, you must add the following as exceptions to the Windows Firewall:
     – File and Printer Sharing
     – Windows Management Instrumentation (WMI)
5.) Right click on the system where you want to install the SCCM client and select Install Client
6.) After starting the installation, you’ll see the following proccess on your client
     – CCMSETUP.EXE, this is a sign that the installation is running
7.) When the installation is finished, there’s a new proccess CCMEXEC.EXE
8.) Verify that the agent is succesfully installed. Go to your control panel on your client and check the following new icons:
     – Configuration Manager
     – Remote Control
     – Run Advertised Programs

When you want to install Microsoft System Center Configuration Manager 2007 on a Windows 2008 Server, you have to install some prerequisites before you can begin to install.

1.) Install the following Role: Webserver IIS
2.) Install the following Role Services of Webserver IIS
     – Web Server
          – Common HTTP Features
          – Static Content
          – Default Document
          – Directory Browsing
          - HTTP Errors
          – HTTP Redirection
     – Application Development
          – ASP.NET
          – .NET Extensibility
          – ASP
          – ISAPI Extensions
          – ISAPI Filters
     – Health and Diagnostics
          – HTTP logging
          – Logging tools
          – Request Monitor
          – Tracing
     – Security
          – Basic Authentication
          – Windows Authentication
          – URL Authorization
          – Request Filtering
          – IP and Domain Restrictions
     – Performance
          – Static Content Compression
     – Management Tools
          – IIS Management Console
          – IIS Management Scripts and Tools
          – Management Service
          – IIS 6 Management Compatibilty
          – IIS 6 Metabase Compatibility
          – IIS 6 WMI Compatibility
          – IIS 6 Scripting Tools
          – IIS 6 Management Console
3.) Enable the following feature, BITS Server Extensions
4.) Enable the following feature, Remote Differential Compression
5.) Open the IIS Manager
6.) Open the WebDAV Authoring Rules
7.) Make a new Authoring Rule with:
     – Allow access to: All content
     - Allow access to this content to: All users
     - Permissions: Read
8.) Open the WebDAV Settings and edit the following options:
     – Allow Anonymous Property Queries: True
     – Allow Custom Properties: False
     – Allow Property Queries with Infinite Depth: True
     – Allow Hidden Files to be Listed: True
9.) Apply theses settings
10.) If you need to extend the Active Directory Schema, you’ve to use the LDIFDE tool. You need to install the Remote Server Administration Tools (RSAT):
     – ServerManagerCmd -i RSAT-ADDS
11.) After the prerequisites check you can report the following logfile:
     – C:\ConfigMgrPrereq.log
     – C:\ConfigMgrSetup.log

Discovery is a Microsoft System Center Configuration Manager 2007 process that allows Configuration Manager 2007 to search various places on your network for computers that can be managed as Configuration Manager 2007 clients. Discovery can also locate resources that cannot be clients, such as printers and routers. By default, all the discovery methods are disabled, exept one, the Heartbeat Discovery. We come back on this item later on.

In this example i’m going to enable the Active Directory System Discovery. In the following articles I’ll show you also the other discovery methods.

1.) Go to Site Settings and choose Discovery Methods
2.) Open the properties of Active Directory System Discovery
3.) Click on Enable Active Directory System Discovery
4.) Specify the location in your Active Directory you want to discover (root domain, OU level ect…)
5.) Specify the Polling schedule (when should the discovery proccess run)
6.) Enable Run discovery as soon as possible if the proccess must started directly!
7.) Specify the Active Directory attributes you want to discover
8.) After a copple of minutes go to you Computer Management, Collections, All Systems
9.) You’ll see your computer object from the Active Directory environment

After preparing the Active Directory environment, we can start the installation of Microsoft System Center Cconfiguration Manager 2007. First of all, you’ve to enable some Windows Components:

1.) Internet Information Services (IIS)
2.) Enable network COM+ access
3.) Background Intelligent Transfer Services (BITS) Server Extensions
4.) Allow WebDAV Web Service Extensions

Now the environment is ready to start the installation. You can run the prerequisite checker to see if you’ve installed all the nessesary prequisites.

1.) The first site server is always the Primary SCCM server (Central Server)
2.) Choose the Custom settings, to specify your installation path, SQL server etc…
3.) The first server is always a Primary site
4.) Give the site a unique site code. This must be a unique 3 character code with a combination of letters, numbers or a combination of this two. For example S01, S02.
5.) Choose the mode for your SCCM environment. Note: for native mode requires a Public Key Infrastructure (PKI)
6.) Choose the agents you want to enable
7.) Specify the computername, instance and database name to store the SCCM database Note: Express Editions of SQL are not supported!!
8.) Enter the SMS Provider, used by the Configuration Manager Console to communicate with the site database
9.) Enter the FQDN of you Management Point. SCCM agents communite with the Management Point
10.) Specify the HTTP settings, default port 80 HTTP
11.) Download the latest updates to ensure the highest level of functionality and compatibility
12.) Check the settings summary
13.) Start the installation
14.) After the installation, check the following logfiles on your C:\ drive
     – ComponentSetup.log
     – ConfigMgrPrereq.log
     – ConfigMgrSetup.log

Before you can start the installation of Microsoft System Center Configuration Manager 2007 (SCCM 2007), you have the abbility to prepare the Active Directory environment. Note: If you’re not extend the Active Directory Schema, you’ve to use the Server Locator Point Role.

There are two ways to prepare your Active Directory environment.

1.) Running the EXTADSCH.exe from the installation media. This is a next, next, finish action.
2.) Import the schema extensions with LDIFDE. More actions, but a great logging option.

In my example I’ll use the LDIFDE tool, so the error reporting is much better.

1.) Copy the file CONFIGMGR_AD_SCHEMA.LDF to the local hard drive of your server. (you need to add the server name in this file!!)
2.) Open the file CONFIGMGR_AD_SCHEMA.LDF in Notepad
3.) Edit DC= in DC=DomainName. For example DC=SCCM,DC=LOCAL
4.) Open the command prompt
5.) Enter the following command ldifde -i -f .\CONFIGMGR_AD_SCHEMA.LDF -v -j .\log.txt
     * -i = Turn on Import Mode (The default is Export)
     * -f filename = Input or Output filename
     * -v = Turn on Verbose Mode
     * -j path = Log File Location
6.) Check the logfiles for any errors
7.) Give the SCCM Server full control permissions for performing the installation
8.) Open Active Directory Users & Computers
9.) Open the properties of the organizational unit System
10.) Go to the Security tab
11.) Add the new SCCM Server and give it Full Control to This object and all child objects
12.) Your Active Directory environment is now prepared for deploying SCCM 2007