Adding PXE support in ConfigMgr 2012 failed

Last week I setup a new ConfigMgr 2012 infrastructure. Everything works just fine, until I added PXE support to my distribution point. After I checked the “Enable PXE support for clients” box, the SMS_DISTRIBUTION_MANAGER process started the installation of all the components needed for PXE support.

  • The vcredist are being installed
  • The WDS Server rol gets installed
  • PXE Provider is initialized
  • The WDS Service gets started and configured

A couple of minutes later, some errors are in the logfile DISTMGR.log. After I rebooted the ConfigMgr server, the following error message displayed:
“There is a file of folder on your computer called “C:\progam” which could cause certain applications to not function correctly. Renaming it to “C:\program2″ would solve this problem. Would you like to rename it now?”

Let’s navigate to the C:\ drive, and there is the file. Renaming the file to C:\program_old and rebooted the server again, everything works fine and the WDS service is starting correctly now. Also the logfile DISTMGR.log is fine now. It looks like a bug within ConfigMgr 2012, but I didn’t figured it out yet…

PXE_DP_01    PXE_DP_02    PXE_DP_03

PXE_DP_04    PXE_CP_05    PXE_DP_07

PXE_DP_06    PXE_DP_08

How to: SCCM 2012 and installing drivers by computer model using WMI query

When you have multiple computer models in your organization, you have different driver packages available. Each model has his own driver package. You don’t want to use a task sequence per model, but only one task sequence with multiple models in it with different driver packages. This can be accomplished by using a WMI query within your task sequence.

One mayor thing you have to know are the exact computer models in your organization

1.) Create a new task sequence. (in my example Windows 7)
2.) Add a task Apply Driver Package
3.) Select the right Driver Package
4.) Navigate to the Options tab
5.) On the target PC open the command prompt
6.) The next thing you want to know is the hardware model of the target PC.
WMIC ComputerSystem GET model
In my example it is an Dell OptiPlex 9010 as you can see
7.) Navigate back to your task sequence in the Options tab
8.) The WMI namespace will be root\cimv2
9.) The WQL Query will be SELECT * FROM Win32_ComputerSystem WHERE Model LIKE “%OptiPlex 9010”
10.) Now the right driver package will be installed during your task sequence.

SCCM_DRV_01    SCCM_DRV_02    SCCM_DRV_03

SCCM_DRV_04 (2)    SCCM_DRV_05    SCCM_DRV_06

System Center 2012 SP1 RTM is ready for download on TechNet

Microsoft has released Service Pack 1 for alle the System Center 2012 products! So this means you are now able to manage your Windows Server 2012 Hyper-V cluster 🙂 No more beta products in your environment, but only the RTM!!

So what are you going to do in your vacation?? 😉 YES, building a new System Center 2012 SP1 lab environment!!

microsoft-system-center-2012-logo1

Windows Management Framework 3.0 Compatibility Update

Windows Management Framework (WMF) 3.0, (currently distributed as KB2506146 for Windows Server 2008 SP2 and KB2506143, for Windows 7 SP1 and Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1) has been temporarily removed from Windows Update to protect from accidental installations on unsupported systems. Those who want to install WMF 3.0 to take advantage of all the great features this update provides can do so by installing the update from the Microsoft Download Center, after reading the known compatibility issues detailed below.

Background:

Windows Management Framework (WMF 3.0) was released to the Download Center on September 17, 2012. On December 11, 2012,this package was released through Windows Update. Although it was released as an optional update, many customers chose to deploy the package automatically.  Because there are compatibility issues between some released server applications and WMF 3.0, we have temporarily removed WMF 3.0 from Windows Update. This should prevent customers from inadvertently installing the package on unsupported systems.

Known Compatibility Issues:

Windows Management Framework 3.0 (WMF 3.0) is not currently compatible with the following applications.

–         System Center 2012 Configuration Manager

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2796086  (Configuration Manager Management Points collocated with clients fail after installing Windows Management Framework 3.0 and running Client Health Evaluation)

–         System Center Virtual Machine Manager

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2795043 (Managing Hyper-V hosts using Virtual Machine Manager fails with Error: 0x8033803b after installing WMF 3.0)

–         Microsoft Exchange Server 2007 and Microsoft Exchange Server 2010

http://blogs.technet.com/b/exchange/archive/2012/12/14/windows-management-framework-3-0-on-exchange-2007-and-exchange-2010.aspx (Windows Management Framework 3.0 on Exchange 2007 and Exchange 2010)

–         Microsoft SharePoint 2010

http://connect.microsoft.com/PowerShell/feedback/details/746908/powershell-3-0-and-sharepoint-2010  (Windows PowerShell 3.0 and SharePoint 2010)

–         Windows Small Business Server 2008 and Windows Small Business Server 2011

http://blogs.technet.com/b/sbs/archive/2012/12/15/windows-management-framework-3-0-applicability-on-windows-small-business-server-2008-2011-standard.aspx  (Windows Management Framework 3.0 applicability on Windows Small Business Server 2008/2011 Standard)

Systems that are running the above server applications should not run Windows Management Framework 3.0 at this time. WMF 3.0 is otherwise supported on Windows 7 SP1, Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1, and Windows Server 2008 SP2.

Let’s play with System Center 2012 Service Pack 1 products!

With the upcoming release of Microsoft System Center 2012, Microsoft has published some pre-configured VHD files of the Microsoft System Center 2012 products, including Service Pack 1! The only thing you’ve to do is downloading the VHD’s and import them into you Hyper-V environment! This will save you a lot of time to configure it by your own. So check the Microsoft blog to download all the VHD files.

http://blogs.technet.com/b/servicemanager/archive/2012/10/10/system-center-2012-sp1-beta-downloadable-evaluation-vhds-now-available.aspx?Loc=zbtfz_zYFCz&type=zDLz&prog=zEvalz&prod=zSCz

System Center 2012 Service Pack 1 Beta – Installable Bits (if you want to do that instead of VMs)
http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=34607

App Controller – Service Pack 1 Beta
http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=34781

Operations Manager – Service Pack 1 Beta
http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=34780

Orchestrator – Service Pack 1 Beta
http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=34778

Service Manager – Service Pack 1 Beta
http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=34777

Virtual Machine Manager – Service Pack 1 Beta
http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=34803

Data Protection Manager – Service Pack 1 Beta
http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=34779

Downloadable Virtual Machines for System Center 2012 SP1 CTP2 Evaluation Now Available!

Microsoft has published the new downloadable Virtual Machines for System Center 2012 SP1 CTP2 online! You can download the different VHD’s below.

App Controller – Evaluation VHD
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=4da3d1d9-91d4-472e-acb7-10885df9d1c2

Operations Manager – Evaluation VHD
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=00b78007-638f-471f-a2df-c0e3d5646b1f

Orchestrator – Evaluation VHD
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=ff6755e4-fcb2-4816-8b7a-8ad7f7fbaee1

Service Manager – Evaluation VHD
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=416ea928-78e8-4aab-aec5-7932ac1945c3

Virtual Machine Manager – Evaluation VHD
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=9c700414-ac2c-4c33-bb35-ad92afd97680