System Center 2012 R2 Configuration Manager Toolkit Now Available!

The Microsoft System Center 2012 R2 Configuration Manager Toolkit contains fifteen downloadable tools to help you manage and troubleshoot Microsoft System Center 2012 R2 Configuration Manager. The following list provides specific information about each tool in the toolkit.

Note: Items with an * are new in the R2 Toolkit and require Microsoft System Center 2012 R2 Configuration Manager for full functionality.

Server Based Tools:

DP Job Manager – A tool that helps troubleshoot and manage ongoing content distribution jobs to Configuration Manager distribution points.
Collection Evaluation Viewer – A tool that assists in troubleshooting collection evaluation related issues by viewing collection evaluation details.
Content Library Explorer – A tool that assists in troubleshooting issues with and viewing the contents of the content library.
Security Configuration Wizard Template for Microsoft System Center 2012 R2 Configuration Manager – The Security Configuration Wizard (SCW) is an attack-surface reduction tool for the Microsoft Windows Server 2008 R2 operating system. Security Configuration Wizard determines the minimum functionality required for a server’s role or roles, and disables functionality that is not required.
Content Library Transfer – A tool that transfers content from one disk drive to another.
Content Ownership Tool – A tool that changes ownership of orphaned packages (packages without an owner site server).
Role-based Administration Modeling and Auditing Tool – This tool helps administrators to model and audit RBA configurations.
Run Metering Summarization Tool – The purpose of this tool is to run the metering summarization task to analyze raw metering data

Client Based Tools:

Client Spy – A tool that helps you troubleshoot issues related to software distribution, inventory, and software metering on System Center 2012 Configuration Manager clients.
Configuration Manager Trace Log Viewer – A tool used to view log files created by Configuration Manager components and agents.
Deployment Monitoring Tool – The Deployment Monitoring Tool is a graphical user interface designed help troubleshoot Applications, Updates, and Baseline deployments on System Center 2012 Configuration Manager clients.
Policy Spy – A policy viewer that helps you review and troubleshoot the policy system on System Center 2012 Configuration Manager clients.
• Power Viewer Tool – A tool to view the status of power management feature on System Center 2012 Configuration Manager clients.
Send Schedule Tool – A tool used to trigger a schedule on a client or trigger the evaluation of a specified DCM Baseline. You can trigger a schedule either locally or remotely.
Wakeup Spy – A tool that provides a view of the power state of Configuration Manager client computers and which operate as managers or manages.

Toolkit

Error “Cannot edit the object, which is in use by Site P01” in SCCM 2012

Today I want to edit an task sequence within SCCM 2012 and I received the following error message: “Cannot edit the object, which is in use by site P01”. Mmmm….that’s strange!! I’m the only Sysadmin with an ConfigMgr 2012 Management Console. To unlock this object, I’ve used an query within SQL.

1.) Open the SQL Management Console and navigate to the ConfigMgr database
2.) Open a new query
3.) To view all the locked objects, type the following query:
select * from SEDO_LockState
Execute the query and watch te results
4.) We see one object that is locked
5.) Note the ID of this specific object
6.) To unlock this object, type the following query:
delete from SEDO_LockState where ID=’ID of the object’
Execute the query and watch the results
7.) Now the object is succesfully unlocked and you’re able to edit the task sequence

Locked_01    Locked_02    Locked_03

Locked_04    Locked_05    Locked_06

Locked_07

How to: Create multiple boundaries in ConfigMgr 2012 within a few seconds

When you’re installing and configuring a new ConfigMgr 2012 environment, one of the steps is to configure the right boundaries for your environment. Sometimes there’re only a few boundaries you have to create, but what if there’re several boundaries to configure. Are you gonna click that much….Let’s create some Powershell command to do the job for us.

1.) First of all we are going to import the ConfigMgr 2012 Powershell module. Use the x86 Windows PowerShell, bacause x64 is not supported!!
Import-Module “C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Configuration Manager\AdminConsole\bin\ConfigurationManager.psd1”
4.) Make a connection to your Primary Site server
Set-Connection P01
3.) Now we are going to create some new boundaries. In this example a whole IP subnet (172.16.10.0 and 172.16.11.0)
New-CMBoundary -Name “Client VLAN1” -Type IPsubnet -Value “172.16.10.0”
New-CMBoundary -Name “Client VLAN2” -Type IPsubnet -Value
“172.16.11.0”
5.) Create a new boundary group. In my example “Main Building”
New-CMBoundaryGroup -Name “Main Building”
6.) The next step is to add the boundaries to the right boundary group
Add-CMBoundaryToGroup -BoundaryName “Client VLAN1” -BoundaryGroupName “Main Building”
Add-CMBoundaryToGroup -BoundaryName “Client VLAN2” -BoundaryGroupName “Main
Building”

Now the job is done. How easy and fast was that…

CMB_01    CMB_02    CMB_03

CMB_04    CMB_05    CMB_06

CMB_07    CMB_08    CMB_09

CMB_10    CMB_11    CMB_12

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

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

Ictivity Training – In the spotlights…

This week Ictivity Training has started with the new Microsoft SCCM 2012 training!

In the Spotlight: Administering System Center 2012 Configuration Manager (70-243)

Description:

This five-day instructor-led course provides students with the knowledge and skills to configure and manage a System Center 2012 Configuration Manager site and its associated site systems in the role of Configuration Manager administrators.

Target Audience:

This course is intended for Configuration Manager Administrators who are responsible for configuring and managing one or more System Center 2012 Configuration Manager sites and all supporting systems. They have one to three years of experience supporting multiple desktop and server computers running the Windows Server operating system in medium to large enterprise organizations. Administrators may have previous Configuration Manager experience, or be new to the product. Individuals who are interested in taking exam 70-243 TS: Microsoft System Center 2012 Configuration Manager, Configuring can also attend this course. Both Configuration Manager courses will be necessary to prepare for the exam.

Duration:

5 days

Pre-Requisites:

Before attending this course, students must have system administrator–level working knowledge of:

  • Networking fundamentals, including TCP/IP and Domain Name System (DNS)
  • Active Directory principles and management
  • Windows Server management including Windows Server 2008 and Windows Server 2008 R2
  • Microsoft Windows client fundamentals
  • Deployment, configuration, and troubleshooting for Windows-based personal computers
  • Microsoft SQL Server 2008 including Reporting Services
  • Basic Public Key Infrastructure (PKI) concepts
  • Desired: Have a base-level understanding of System Center Configuration Manager 2007

Objectives:

  • Overview of System Center 2012 Configuration Manager
    • Introduction to System Center 2012 Configuration Manager
    • Overview of the System Center 2012 Configuration Manager Architecture
    • Overview of the Configuration Manager Console
    • Tools for Monitoring a Configuration Manager Site
  • Discovering and Organizing Resources
    • Configuring Resource Discovery
    • Configuring Boundaries and Boundary Groups
    • Configuring User and Device Collections
    • Configuring Role-Based Administration
  • Managing the Configuration Manager Client
    • Overview of the Configuration Manager Client
    • Deploying the Configuration Manager Client
    • Managing Client Agent Settings
    • Configuring and Monitoring Client Status
  • Managing Inventory and Software Metering
    • Overview of Inventory Collection
    • Configuring Hardware Inventory
    • Configuring Software Inventory
    • Managing Inventory Collection
    • Configuring Asset Intelligence
    • Configuring Software Metering
  • Querying and Reporting Data
    • Introduction to Queries
    • Managing Queries
    • Configuring SQL Server Reporting Services
  • Managing Software Deployments by Using Packages and Programs
    • Configuring Software Distribution
    • Distributing Content to Distribution Points
    • Configuring Packages and Programs
    • Deploying Programs to Configuration Manager Clients
  • Creating and Deploying Applications
    • Application Management in System Center 2012 Configuration Manager
      Creating Applications
    • Deploying Applications
    • Configuring the Application Catalog
  • Managing Application Deployment
    • Configuring Application Deployment Requirements and Dependencies
    • Configuring Application Supersedence and Un-installations
    • Configuring Multiple Deployment Types and User Device Affinity
  • Deploying and Managing Software Updates
    • Overview of Software Updates
    • Preparing the Configuration Manager Site for Software Updates
    • Managing Software Updates
    • Configuring Automatic Deployment Rules
    • Monitoring and Troubleshooting Software Updates
  • Implementing System Center 2012 Endpoint Protection
    • Overview of System Center 2012 Endpoint Protection
    • Deploying System Center 2012 Endpoint Protection
  • Managing Operating System Deployment
    • Overview of Operating System Deployment
    • Preparing the Site for Operating System Deployment
    • Capturing an Operating System Image
    • Deploying an Operating System
  • Managing Compliance Settings
    • Introduction to Compliance Settings
    • Configuring Compliance Settings
    • Viewing Compliance Results
  • Managing Mobile Devices
    • Configuring Mobile Device Management
    • Depth Management of Mobile Devices
    • Deploying Applications to Mobile Devices
  • Configuring Wake On LAN, Power Management, and Remote Control
    • Configuring Wake On LAN
    • Configuring Out of Band Management
    • Configuring Power Management Settings
    • Configuring Remote Control

Continuation: