Configuration Manager (SCCM) – CTGlobal

Om Kent Agerlund

Microsoft Regional Director, Enterprise Mobility MVP. Microsoft Certified Trainer and Principal consultant. I have been working with Enterprise client management since 1992. Co-founder of System Center User Group Denmark in 2009. Certified MCITP: Enterprise Administrator, MCSA+Messaing, and much more. Member of: Microsoft Denmark System Center Partner Expert Team The Danish Technet Influencers program System Center Influencers Program.

Q&A from the We Speak Geek webinar

First a huge thanks to the many that tuned in to our 3 webinars on ConfigMgr Challenges in 2017. As promised here are answers to the many questions we had. For more questions, please reach out to Jason Sandys @JasonSandys or Kent Agerlund @Agerlund. For those who didn’t have a chance to attend, recordings are available here: https://info.flexerasoftware.com/SVM-WBNR-We-Speak-Geek-SCCM-Admin-PrioritiesQ &A From the North America webinarWith Windows 10 Servicing - how have you found keeping these up to date? I have 10k workstations, and with resources i can't keep up with 6 monthly releases. With the products i have to get updated/tested/confirmed [...]

By Kent Agerlund|2017-12-21T18:57:27+01:00december 21st, 2017|Configuration Manager (SCCM)|Kommentarer lukket

The Big Bang and how it changed my life as an IT Pro

Maybe a misleading headline for my blog post, as it’s really the opposite message I’m trying to deliver. The Big Bang I’m referring to in the title is the change to a Cloud world from our “good old” on-premises infrastructure. For many organizations the Big Bang still hasn’t happened, not that organizations are not embracing new Cloud opportunities, most just can’t change everything overnight. Starting 5-6 years ago, I heard and read many stories that the “Cloud era” would be the end of life as we know it for IT Pros. Personally, I claim this statement to be false.For this [...]

By Kent Agerlund|2017-11-14T16:10:52+01:00november 14th, 2017|Configuration Manager (SCCM), Security, Windows Client|1 Kommentar

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It’s here, Android O aka Android Oreo

Configuration Manager (SCCM), Enterprise Mobility Suite (EMS)

It’s here, Android O aka Android Oreo

Google just announced the release of Android 8.0 aka Android Oreo - https://www.android.com/versions/oreo-8-0/ and https://youtu.be/twZggnNbFqo lot’s of new cool features to look forward to, and also important architecture changes. My believe is that especially the architecture change, will have an impact on those administrators managing Android devices as future OS upgrades can come faster. The vendor specific implementation will now be separated from the OS framework as illustrated below. This change, and many of other security features will all be supported from Microsoft Intune and Microsoft System Center Configuration Manager with Zero day support. Before moving into testing, a couple [...]

By Kent Agerlund|2017-08-22T14:55:11+01:00august 22nd, 2017|Configuration Manager (SCCM), Enterprise Mobility Suite (EMS)|1 Kommentar

Configuration Manager Current Branch upgrade stuck in downloading

Managing Configuration Manager is like operating a high-speed train with new monthly updates to the Technical Preview build and 3 yearly updates to the production build. No matter how smooth and easy the upgrade process has become, an upgrade is still an upgrade and things can go wrong (read: backup/snapshot first). With the release of Technical Preview 1705 (and now also found in production build 1706), the Configuration Manager Update Reset Tool - CMUpdateReset.exe were released. The tool will assist if you experience issues with new upgrades/hotfixes stuck in download. You’ll find the tool in .\microsoft configuration manager\cd.latest\smssetup\tools. I recently [...]

By Kent Agerlund|2017-07-30T15:18:06+01:00juli 30th, 2017|Configuration Manager (SCCM), General info|12 Comments

Primary Site Fault Tolerance makes it in TP1706

Not sure if the ConfigMgr team ever sleeps, month after month new features are released in ConfigMgr Technical Preview. June is no exception, and I must confess this is truly the month I have been waiting for. Among many of the new features we now have support for active/passive site servers. A passive primary site server adds fault tolerance to your site by creating a copy of your primary site server and keeping it in sync. If a disaster occurs, you can manually make the passive site server active. There are a couple of things you need to consider before [...]

By Kent Agerlund|2017-08-22T09:33:56+01:00juni 25th, 2017|Configuration Manager (SCCM)|2 Comments

Getting WSUS sync errors in ConfigMgr 1702

Got a lot of these today on my ConfigMgr 1702 site server. STATMSG: ID=6704 SEV=I LEV=M SOURCE="SMS Server" COMP="SMS_WSUS_SYNC_MANAGER" SYS=CTSCCM01.CORETECH.INTRA SITE=CT1 PID=10584 TID=18504 GMTDATE=ti apr 11 20:00:03.729 2017 ISTR0="" ISTR1="" ISTR2="" ISTR3="" ISTR4="" ISTR5="" ISTR6="" ISTR7="" ISTR8="" ISTR9="" NUMATTRS=0 SMS_WSUS_SYNC_MANAGER 11-04-2017 22:00:03 18504 (0x4848) Synchronizing WSUS server ctsccm01.coretech.intra ... SMS_WSUS_SYNC_MANAGER 11-04-2017 22:00:04 29196 (0x720C) sync: Starting WSUS synchronization SMS_WSUS_SYNC_MANAGER 11-04-2017 22:00:04 29196 (0x720C) sync: WSUS synchronizing categories SMS_WSUS_SYNC_MANAGER 11-04-2017 22:00:12 29196 (0x720C) sync: WSUS synchronizing categories, processed 2 out of 2 items (100%) SMS_WSUS_SYNC_MANAGER 11-04-2017 22:00:13 29196 (0x720C) Sync failed: UssInternalError: SoapException: Fault occurred~~at System.Web.Services.Protocols.SoapHttpClientProtocol.ReadResponse(SoapClientMessage message, WebResponse response, Stream responseStream, [...]

By Kent Agerlund|2017-04-11T22:23:14+01:00april 11th, 2017|Configuration Manager (SCCM)|4 Comments

A couple of nice little OSD tweaks in ConfigMgr 1702

ConfigMgr 1702 have a wealth of new features and client management improvements. This one might not be the reason you upgrade, but it’s still nice and worth a blog post. With 1702 you can customize your task sequence information and control what’s being displayed to the end-user. in this example you should notice a few changed in software center. Looking at my Upgrade task sequence, I now have information about download time/size and restart. when I start the task sequence, I have interesting information from my IT department telling me why the company is upgrading to Windows 10 All of [...]

By Kent Agerlund|2017-03-28T15:39:25+01:00marts 28th, 2017|Configuration Manager (SCCM), General info, OS Deployment|Kommentarer lukket

Android for Work in Configuration Manager 1702

Android for Work support was introduced in Intune standalone in late 2016. With the latest release of Configuration Manager current branch we also have AFW support in hybrid environments. In order to configure AFW a few things to you need to ensure first: Have a couple of Android devices with Android 5.0 or higher Create a Google account to be used as the Android for work admin account Configure Android for Work In the ConfigMgr console navigate to Administration workspace / Overview / Cloud Services / Microsoft Intune Subscriptions and click Configure Platforms / Android For Work. Notice the dialog [...]

By Kent Agerlund|2017-03-27T08:38:21+01:00marts 27th, 2017|Configuration Manager (SCCM)|2 Comments

Q&A from the Flexera & Coretech webinar

Could you please tell me how many days can I use the trial version of Dashboard? Looks very useful for my SCCM infra. Also please let me know how to opt for dashboard after the trial period.First a huge thanks for all attending the webinar, as promised he are a list of the questions that we didn’t have time to answer during the webinar. Q: We already use Flexera for compliance. Is "Patching" included in it OR is it a separate module? A: Patching is integrated in the standard CSI solution. You can either patch using WSUS or integrate with [...]

By Kent Agerlund|2017-01-26T12:17:24+01:00januar 26th, 2017|Configuration Manager (SCCM), General info|Kommentarer lukket

Default Site-Boundary-Group and boundaries

The purpose of the Default Site-Boundary-Group is to service clients that are not served by any other boundary group (that being local boundary group or neighbor boundary group). However in ConfigMgr 1610 there has been some confusement around the fact that you can add boundaries to the Default Site-Boundary-Group . I’ve been asked a couple of times if we should add all boundaries to the Default Site-Boundary-Group since the group is automatically configured for Site assignment. My take on that is NO, don’t use the Default Site-Boundary-Group as you don’t really control it. You will also notice that you can’t [...]

By Kent Agerlund|2017-01-23T13:34:33+01:00januar 23rd, 2017|Configuration Manager (SCCM), General info|3 Comments

Error installing WSUS using a remote SQL and non-standard SQL port

Ran into this error earlier today while trying to install WSUS using a remote SQL 2014 SP2 server with non-standard SQL ports. 2016-11-22 20:30:13 Stopping service WSUSService 2016-11-22 20:30:13 Stopping service W3SVC 2016-11-22 20:30:13 Configuring database... 2016-11-22 20:30:13 Configuring the database... 2016-11-22 20:30:13 Establishing DB connection... 2016-11-22 20:31:14 System.Data.SqlClient.SqlException (0x80131904): A network-related or instance-specific error occurred while establishing a connection to SQL Server. The server was not found or was not accessible. Verify that the instance name is correct and that SQL Server is configured to allow remote connections. (provider: Named Pipes Provider, error: 40 - Could not open a [...]

By Kent Agerlund|2017-08-22T10:29:40+01:00november 22nd, 2016|Configuration Manager (SCCM), SQL|Kommentarer lukket

The Impact of introducing the Microsoft Enterprise Mobility + Security in the organization

The Impact of introducing the Microsoft Enterprise Mobility + Security in the organization In my work as an advisor and consultant I see organizations adapting to the emerging IT landscape, where user behavior is changing and security risks are increasing. In the midst of this change, I encounter frustrated IT professionals trying to keep up with everything and not having enough time to do so. I encourage my customers to be on top of changes and make sure they stay on top. That message goes beyond IT pros and extends to business owners and managers who can no longer afford [...]

By Kent Agerlund|2016-09-15T14:42:57+01:00september 15th, 2016|Configuration Manager (SCCM), Enterprise Mobility Suite (EMS)|2 Comments

Unknown error creating the Intune connector in Configuration Manager CB

Recently ran into an unknown error while trying to create the Intune connector in ConfigMgr 1602 (and 1606). The error occurred in the “Create Microsoft Intune Subscription Wizard” when trying to Sign in using a Global Admin Azure account. For those of you who do not understand Danish (yet), the error message is something like “An Unexpected error occurred”. The GA Azure account is a “service account” and not used to enroll mobile devices. For that reason the account wasn’t assigned an Enterprise Mobility Suite (EMS) license. The solution: Assign an EMS license in Azure Active Directory to the Global [...]

By Kent Agerlund|2016-08-10T20:39:35+01:00august 10th, 2016|Configuration Manager (SCCM), Enterprise Mobility Suite (EMS)|5 Comments

Error enrolling devices into Intune & Configuration Manager 1602

Enrolling devices into Intune and & ConfigMgr is normally straight forward until you run into issues. Below is an example where I received an enrollment error (picture 1), clicking Continue leads me to picture 2. As you can see in picture two the Enrollment Update turns from Warning to Checkmark, but only for about 5 seconds then it goes back to a warning. Troubleshooting mobile devices is slightly different than traditional desktop troubleshooting. The troubleshooting options depends on the device (Android, iOS or Windows). In this example my device was an Android. You can email the log files [...]

By Kent Agerlund|2016-06-09T13:13:50+01:00juni 9th, 2016|Configuration Manager (SCCM), Enterprise Mobility Suite (EMS)|5 Comments

Links from our MMS ConfigMgr precon session

Thanks for all the questions and tweets during the opening session yesterday. Jason, Anne and I really enjoyed the afternoon. As promised here are the links from the session. Update 1605 for Configuration Manager Technical Preview: https://blogs.technet.microsoft.com/configmgrteam/2016/05/16/update-1605-for-configuration-manager-technical-preview-available-now/ winpe peer caching: https://blog.ctglobalservices.com/kea/win-pe-peer-caching-in-configmgr-current-branch/ Client install failing on management point: https://blog.ctglobalservices.com/kea/configmgr-client-failing-to-install-on-management-point/ Startup script: http://blog.configmgrftw.com/configmgr-client-startup-script/ SQL XL sheet: https://t.co/XUXuUfxuaq Cache management example: https://blogs.msdn.microsoft.com/helaw/2014/01/07/configuration-manager-cache-management/ SQL best practice: https://stevethompsonmvp.wordpress.com/2016/02/05/proper-tempdb-creation-for-configuration-manager/ & https://stevethompsonmvp.wordpress.com/2014/05/19/powershell-sql-audit-script/

By Kent Agerlund|2017-08-22T10:28:42+01:00maj 17th, 2016|Configuration Manager (SCCM), Events, SQL|Kommentarer lukket

ConfigMgr Software Update scanning failed with OnScanComplete with error=0x80244017

Scanning, deploying and installing software updates should be a walk in the park, and most of the times it is. But (luckily) sometimes we run into issues that we haven’t seen before. Like in this case where clients stopped scanning for software updates in ConfigMgr 1602. What I have learned in my years working with ConfigMgr is that software update issues often are caused by older version of the Windows Update agent, configuration change on the WSUS server(s) or a change in the infrastructure. The challenge is to figure out is what category your issues falls into. Normally, it’s fairly [...]

By Kent Agerlund|2016-04-24T12:19:29+01:00april 24th, 2016|Configuration Manager (SCCM), General info|2 Comments

Android OS version not on the requirement list

Managing mobile devices can be different compared to managing traditional computers for many reasons. One of them being the lack of control with operating system versions on the devices. We simply don’t control when Android and iOS devices are being upgraded and as such we don’t control what version users are using. That can be a challenge when you are using requirement rules on your web applications (and other deployment types). In the illustrations below it’s easy to see that we have a bunch of Android 6+ versions and looking at the requirement rules for the web apps you’ll see [...]

By Kent Agerlund|2016-04-19T09:23:35+01:00april 19th, 2016|Configuration Manager (SCCM), Enterprise Mobility Suite (EMS), General info|10 Comments

Win PE Peer caching in ConfigMgr Current Branch

There are so many reasons for migrating your environment to ConfigMgr CB (current branch), one of them being the new content management feature – Win PE Peer caching. To me it’s important to understand what the feature is bringing to the table, and what it is not. Win PE Peer caching is introduced to save bandwidth by sharing content already present on your local network. Those who are familiar with the ConfigMgr ecosystem, know that solutions to support that has been around for years. Solutions like OneSite from Adaptiva, Nomad from 1E and custom BrancheCache from 2Pintsoftware. This blog post [...]

By Kent Agerlund|2016-03-30T21:29:42+01:00marts 30th, 2016|Configuration Manager (SCCM), General info, OS Deployment|10 Comments

ConfigMgr Client failing to install on Management Point

In ConfigMgr Current Branch, version 1511/1602 you have a new pre-production client upgrade feature that allows you to test the new client install on a pre-preproduction collection. The feature works like a charm and allows you to gain control over the upgrade process by testing first. However, while testing the new client, you might run into client installation issues if you are installing a new client on a Management Point. In ccmsetup.log on the management point you will see errors stating that “The client version 5.00.8325.1000 does not match the MP version 5.00.8355.1000. The client will not be installed.” The [...]

By Kent Agerlund|2016-03-22T11:30:53+01:00marts 22nd, 2016|Configuration Manager (SCCM)|4 Comments

Configuring backup in ConfigMgr Current Branch

With the introduction of Configuration Manager Current Branch (CB), the game of backup has changed slightly. A SQL backup is still valid for restoring the database, but re-installing ConfigMgr CB must be started by running setup.exe from the cd.latest folder. I know most of you are backing up the virtual machine (which is good), but that should not prevent you from not stop you from backing up SQL and Configmgr. You have two options: Create a SQL maintenance plan and include a custom step to backup cd.latest SQL backup Pros Support for compression Better scheduling job E-mail notifications No ConfigMgr [...]

By Kent Agerlund|2016-01-29T14:09:51+01:00januar 29th, 2016|Configuration Manager (SCCM), General info|18 Comments

Why cmtrace is a man’s best friend when deploying Win 10 1511 upgrades using Configuration Manager

ConfigMgr 1511 is a great Win10 management tool, and so far the only real enterprise management tool I have seen when it comes to deploying Win 10 1511. There is a minor UI issue that might make you freak out. When downloading the upgrade our Download Software Updates Wizard is not really moving although everything runs smoothly in the background. The trick is to open Patchdownloader.log - if you can find it – it’s located in %temp% if you started the download directly from the server. Notice that the log file is updating like a charm. Happy upgrading

By Kent Agerlund|2016-01-13T10:02:33+01:00januar 13th, 2016|Configuration Manager (SCCM), General info|Kommentarer lukket

Windows 10 Servicing in ConfigMgr 1511

Playing around with Windows 10 Servicing in ConfigMgr 1511 is kind of cool. But having said that; you might want to know the consequences of creating custom servicing plans. A servicing plan is basically an automatic deployment rule with a twist. The twist being (right now), you are unable to filter on the updates being downloaded. Regardless of the Windows 10 versions and languages the servicing plan will always download all 256 Windows 10 versions. Each version is about 2 GB….do the math. Contentlibrary will explode in size, if you selected all remote distribution points; the Network team will not [...]

By Kent Agerlund|2016-01-12T01:37:56+01:00januar 12th, 2016|Configuration Manager (SCCM), General info|25 Comments