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Migrate reports from SCCM 2007 to SCCM 2012 SP1

The built-in migration wizard in ConfigMgr 2012 can migrate most objects but not reports. In ConfigMgr 2012 classical ASP reports (as we know them from earlier versions) are no longer supported. Migrate the classical reports to SQL Reporting Services in SCCM 2007 Below is a walk thru of how you migrate your existing classical reports to SQL reporting Services in SCCM 2007. Notice that you will still be able to run all classical reports after the migration. On you SCCM 2007 site server install either SCCM 2007 R2 or SCCM 2007 R3, both will add SQL Reporting Services support for [...]

By |2013-02-09T09:42:03+01:00februar 9th, 2013|Configuration Manager (SCCM), General info|13 Comments
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Slides and notes from my Advanced Infrastructure session @NIC 2013

A huge thanks to all NIC 2013 attendes, once again you proved that Norway is a perfect place to host the Nordic Infrastructure Conference. Two great days where I also had the pleasure of attending sessions hosted by some A-Class speakers. As promised here is my slide deck from my Friday afternoon session on dvanced infrastucture. Key take-away from the session is “ways to max the performance in your ConfigMgr infrastructure and plan for redundancy”. Step-by-step guide on Creating Management Point database replicas Great blog post from Brian Mason on Management Points and database replicas Must see SCCM Guru video [...]

By |2013-02-04T14:23:18+01:00februar 4th, 2013|Configuration Manager (SCCM), General info|3 Comments
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Slides and notes from my 3rd. party Patch Management session @NIC 2013

A huge thanks to all NIC 2013 attendees, once again you proved that Norway is a perfect place to host the Nordic Infrastructure Conference. Two great days with some A-Class speakers. As promised here is my slide deck from my 3rd. party software update session. During my session, I discussed how to prepare your environment for 3rd. party patch management and demonstrated two different solutions. Download Slide deck System Center Updates Publisher Download the complete SCUP 2021 guide here Checkout the SCUP videos  Checkout the PatchMyPc catalog here: Check out the “scupdates” catalog here: Secunia Download Secunia PSI, a freeware [...]

By |2013-01-26T15:17:49+01:00januar 26th, 2013|Configuration Manager (SCCM), Events, General info, Security|3 Comments
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Slides and demo files from NIC 2013– Software Update Management

A huge thanks to all NIC 2013 attendes, once again you proved that Norway is a perfect place to host the Nordic Infrastructure Conference. Two great days with A Class speakers.  Slides from my first session SC 2012 Configuration Manager - Software Update Management 5 minutes is all it takes During the session I demonstrated how you could use PowerShell to create a Software Update Packages and modify the update package in an existing Automatic Deployment Rule. Both scripts can be downloaded here – all credit goes to my colleague and undefeated powerShell champ Kaido I also demonstrated a nice [...]

By |2013-01-26T14:44:25+01:00januar 26th, 2013|Configuration Manager (SCCM), Events, General info|7 Comments
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Correct – SCCM 2012 does not support SQL Mirroring and can breake a SCCM SP1 upgrade

As stated here SQL mirroring is not supported for the ConfigMgr database. However a technet article do not stop all database administrors’s from enabling the setting anyway believing that it will not cause any issues – but boy it does. SQL mirroring will break the SCCM SP1 upgrade process and leave the primary site server in a non-functional mode where a site restore is the only way back. The issue can be found in the ConfigMgrSetup.log file. USE [cm_ps1]; ALTER DATABASE [cm_ps1] SET SINGLE_USER WITH ROLLBACK IMMEDIATE;  $$<Configuration Manager Setup><01-11-2013 10:38:29.887+00><thread=4136 (0x1028)> *** [42000][1468][Microsoft][SQL Server Native Client 11.0][SQL Server]The operation [...]

By |2013-01-13T10:29:19+01:00januar 13th, 2013|Configuration Manager (SCCM), General info|5 Comments
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Role Based Administration change in ConfigMgr SP1

RBA or Role Based Administration is one of the many new features in ConfigMgr 2012. It’s a very powerful feature and has already helped lots of customers minimizing the need for having multiple primary sites. One annoying fact in RTM is that all collections (users and devices) shows up when running a report. This has changed in Service Pack 1 which makes the RBA feature even more powerful. In this example I have a user (DskAdmin) who is member of the Desktop Admins group in Active Directory. Desktop admins must all be granted Application Administrator permissions and allowed to work [...]

By |2012-12-10T16:16:53+01:00december 10th, 2012|Configuration Manager (SCCM), General info, Security, SQL Server Reporting Services (SSRS)|Kommentarer lukket til Role Based Administration change in ConfigMgr SP1
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First look at the Secunia CSI integration with Configuration Manager 2012

A few years ago I wrote a blog posts on Microsoft SCUP and Secunia CSI 5.0. Back then my conclusion was that Secunia had a superb security database but required a custom agent and didn’t have an easy Configuration Manager Console integration. With the latest release of Secunia CSI those “obstacles” are removed and the solution looks very promising. In this, my first test drive of the product, I will see how quickly I can install the solution and start patching my environment. The installation CSI requires that you first install the CSI administrator console and then the CSI SCCM [...]

By |2012-11-30T11:27:18+01:00november 30th, 2012|Configuration Manager (SCCM), General info, Security|2 Comments
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ConfigMgr Cloud Distribution Points

One of the new features in ConfigMgr SP1 is Cloud based distribution points. ConfigMgr SP1 clients can use the CDP as a fallback solution when the requested content is not available at an on-premise distribution point (the new term for the “old fashion DP”). It is not a replacement for Internet Based Client Management. The benefit of having cloud distribution points are: You can easily create them You can easily add more resources if the scenarios where extra bandwidth is needed e.g. when upgrading to Office 2013 worldwide Nice fallback solution Clients will fallback to the Cloud DP if the [...]

By |2012-10-16T13:59:45+01:00oktober 16th, 2012|Configuration Manager (SCCM), General info|11 Comments
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SMSPXE.Log in SCCM 2012

A commonly asked question the forums these days is – “anybody seen the SMSPXE.log?” With ConfigMgr SP1 the log is placed on the distribution point in <X>\SMS_DP$\SMS\Logs where X is the location of the contentlibrary. The log files contains a bit more useful information compared to Cm07 and CM2012 RTM. Below is a snippet of the log file where an unknown computer performs a PXE boot and runs an “advertisement” (what ever that is”) Client lookup reply: <ClientIDReply><Identification Unknown="0" ItemKey="0" ServerName="" ServerRemoteName=""><Machine><ClientID/><NetbiosName/></Machine></Identification></ClientIDReply>     SMSPXE    10/11/2012 5:35:33 AM    5640 (0x1608) 00:15:5D:01:75:20, B9291B40-5182-4CAB-BFFF-ADF05C1C4663: device is not in the database.    SMSPXE    10/11/2012 5:35:33 [...]

By |2012-10-11T17:10:10+01:00oktober 11th, 2012|Configuration Manager (SCCM), General info|3 Comments
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Updated version of the Package source Changer

As described in this blog post one of the many task involved in migrating from CM07 to CM12 is updating the package source in your packages. A new version of the tool has just been released with new cool features to make your migration experience easier and less painful. Installing and configuring the tool Download the latest version here and start the tool on the CM12 server. When the tool is launched click Configuration, specify the name of the Configuration Manager 2012 site server and click Save.  Click List, this will retrieve a list of all the source locations used [...]

By |2012-10-03T08:17:01+01:00oktober 3rd, 2012|Configuration Manager (SCCM), General info|8 Comments
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System Center 2012 Configuration Manager SQL recommendations

I have two SQL related question that comes up in all of my ConfigMgr 2012 projects. Those are:   · Where are we going to install the SQL server? · How are we going to configure SQL? Where are we going to install the SQL server Answering the first question often ends in a political discussion between the ConfigMgr. administrators on one side and the SQL DBA’s on the other side. Most of the ConfigMgr. administrators that I know, strongly believe in having a local SQL installation. I’m also a true believer of that for several reasons. Remote SQL installations [...]

By |2017-12-18T16:11:50+01:00august 18th, 2012|Configuration Manager (SCCM), General info|29 Comments
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New version of the Coretech Shutdown tool

The Coretech shutdown tool is available in a new version. [download id="11090"] The new version allows you to close one or more running process(es) prior to installing another program. The updated version is perfect for those scenarios where an application (like JAVA) requires that one or more programs are closed before starting the installation. To read more about the Shutdown tool please look at these blog posts https://blog.ctglobalservices.com/kea/configuration-manager-shutdown-utility/ and https://blog.ctglobalservices.com/kea/updated-version-of-the-coretech-shutdown-utility-v-0-8/ What is the shoutdown tool From the beginning the utility was designed to restart or shutdown computers that have been running without a restart for more than a specified number [...]

By |2017-09-12T10:37:16+01:00maj 30th, 2012|Configuration Manager (SCCM), General info, Tools|151 Comments
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Upcoming System Center 2012 Configuration Manager book

Today I just finished typing the last word in my upcoming book titled System Center 2012 Configuration Manager: Mastering the Fundamentals. The book is published by Deploymentartist.com and will be available on Amazon from Mid-June. The book will also be available for Kindle a few weeks later. Once the book is published we will also publish a Hydration kit that you can use to build thesame virtual ConfigMgr environment used in the book. You will also be granted access to download the scripts and sample files used in the book. On this journey of writing I got help from two [...]

By |2012-05-09T20:35:18+01:00maj 9th, 2012|Configuration Manager (SCCM), Events, General info, Tools|7 Comments
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Coretech Shutdown utility 0.9 is ready for download

An updated version of our Coretech Shutdown utility is ready for Download For more information about the utility and how to use it with ConfigMgr refer to this post Change list Bug Fixes: Fixed problem, with program not ending in shutdown/restart/logoff, when using both the /f and /c switch. Additions: Added Localization, the program will now appear in the same language as Windows, provided it exists. (default: english) Added the posibility of RTF styled description, using the /dRTF argument Added the argument support for localization, to force language of the program. Added the argument support for Powered By "Wake on [...]

By |2012-04-24T13:16:04+01:00april 24th, 2012|Configuration Manager (SCCM), General info|20 Comments
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Mastering Configuration Mananager 2012 book released

Our book Mastering System Center 2012 Configuration Manager is avilable from Amazon . Mastering System Center 2012 Configuration Manager will help you design, plan and implement Configuration Manager 2012. You’ll find a lot of background information about CM12 and also best practices on how to implement the different features. Sample chapters Mastering System Center 2012 Configuration Manager Table of Contents Mastering ConfigMgr 2012 available General information about the book Check also www.masteringsccm.com or follow us via @masteringsccm or Facebook

By |2012-04-24T05:11:02+01:00april 24th, 2012|Configuration Manager (SCCM), General info|1 Kommentar
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Sample chapters from the Mastering Configuration Manager 2012 book

The book is almost ready to be shipped from Amazon. Until that happens you can get a sneak preview of the book by downloading two of the sample chapters. My fellow author Peter Daalmaans has uploaded two chapters ready for download. Chapter 3 Migrating from Configuration Manager 2007 Chapter 7 Application Deployment For those who have not ordered the book yet  - WAKE up and pre-order it @ Amazon.

By |2012-03-29T07:18:59+01:00marts 29th, 2012|Configuration Manager (SCCM), General info|1 Kommentar
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Eject CD script, quarantined by FEP! PowerShell to the rescue!

I guess everyone knows that you can’t enable BitLocker on a machine from a Task Sequence if there is a CD in the CD drive… The workaround is quit simple, just run a script to eject the cd drive before running the “enable BitLocker” step. Well the other day this script, a vbs, I use, was removed by Forefront.. I guess the heuristic scan evaluated the content of the script to be unsafe, and quarantined it.. This is obviously not good, as it’s needed by the task sequence… So I thought, maybe there is a way to eject the CD [...]

By |2012-03-22T12:25:53+01:00marts 22nd, 2012|General info, OS Deployment, Powershell, Security|3 Comments
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Enabling Email approvals for your requested applications in Configuration Manager 2012

By default application approvals must be done from within the ConfigMgr 2012 administrator console. If you have Service Manager 2012 you can use that to implement an approval process. For those of you who do not (yet) have Service Manager here is a tool that you can use. The solution consists of a Website and a Web Service. None of them have to be installed on the same server. Also there is no requirement to install any the components on the site server. Download our beta 0.9.8 version here How it works The Coretech Application Approval Server (CAAS) is installed [...]

By |2012-03-20T15:02:09+01:00marts 20th, 2012|Configuration Manager (SCCM), General info, Tools|60 Comments
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All Windows Keyboard layouts

I’m working for this customer who needs computers deployed I several different country's. Because they run XP (I know!) they need that LCID – “hex code” number for the keyboard layout instead of the more user friendly “culture name” used in Win7, like en-US or da-DK. Every time I need these LCID’s I find myself going trough the internet trying to find the correct match for the country I need to deploy to. So here is a link to a list with all the info you could ever need for this.. http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/goglobal/bb896001 As a small bonus, I found this need [...]

By |2012-03-06T12:34:00+01:00marts 6th, 2012|General info, OS Deployment, Windows Client|1 Kommentar
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Extending OSD progress UI Info in SCCM

While running a task sequence, info on what is happening is shown in the progress UI, well the name of the Task Sequence, and the step that is running anyway!! But what if we could extend that info to let us know other things as well! Turns out that is as easy as typing a little extra text in the Task Sequence editor. Example 1: Let say you are administrating a large environment, doing several OSD tests against a number of MPs, and DPs. Now wouldn’t it be nice if we could actually see where data is picked up, right [...]

By |2012-02-27T08:51:00+01:00februar 27th, 2012|Configuration Manager (SCCM), General info, OS Deployment, Windows Client|3 Comments
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