USMT Use in SCCM Demystified

Lets take this tool today for Dissection . Many of you who have worked on SCCM and Specially Operating System Deployment Feature of SCCM must be aware of this tool .  To make it very simple from SCCM Perspective " USMT is used to Capture User State  " .

Let us have a look at the below diagram :

[caption id="attachment_1168" align="alignnone" width="300"] User State Migration Tool - USMT SCCM 2012[/caption]

Note :  USMT is used when we want to Migrate from one Operating System to Other ( Just like Many of you might be set to do or Doing SCCM XP to Windows 7 Migration ) .

Now Before we may use USMT in SCCM , we need to create the USMT Package in SCCM.

There is One more important thing which is important in USMT and that is Hard Linking  . 

Many of you wonder what exactly is Hardlinking .  Well !! Hardlinking is a used when we want to Migrate a Machine from One OS ( Say XP ) to Windows 7 , but the Underlying Hardware remains the same . Otherwise we may use SMP ( State Migration Point ) . Lets explain this in more detail , When we use USMT to Capture user settings we get an Option to Store the settings either locally or on SMP . If , we choose Locally it is called as Hard Linking . SMP is used in those cases where we want to replace a machine i.e We want to Migrate OS from machine a ( Lets say XP ) to Windows 7 on Machine B .

Below Figures will make this more clear :

[caption id="attachment_1169" align="alignnone" width="300"] User State Migration Tool[/caption]

In the Above Figure we have choosen  to save the user settings Locally , This is called Hard Linking .

[caption id="attachment_1170" align="alignnone" width="300"] Hardlinking[/caption]

SQL and File Based Replication SCCM

Guys , Today we will talk about the Replication that happens in SCCM . In this Post we will consider a scenario where we have one parent site and one child site .  Have a look at the diagram below and things will be much more clear to you .A detail on how SQl and File Based replication work , Merits will be in follow up posts .

[caption id="attachment_1163" align="alignnone" width="300"] SQL based Replication and File Based Replication[/caption]

Planning to Migrate to Cloud - USe this Tool

Are you planning to Migrate from your Existing Data Center to Cloud or are you setting up a new DC . I would strongly recommend if can use this tool and let MS come up with a plan for you ., It is called as the Cloud Security Readiness Tool :

https://roianalyst.alinean.com/msft/AutoLogin.do?d=563612287085088525

 

 

Are you Designing SCCM - Have a lot at this

[caption id="attachment_1156" align="alignnone" width="300"] SCCM Design[/caption]

 

Those who are designing SCCM can follow this .

Microsoft SCCM Quiz - Free !! Appear Now

Hey Guys !! Want to check your knowledge  of SCCM , Appear for this Microsoft SCCM quiz : It';s awesome and its free .

 

http://quizapp.cloudapp.net/default.aspx?quiz=Configmgr2012

Have SCCM 2007 ? Worried About Windows 8.1 and Windows 2012 R2 management ? Don't Be :-)

Have SCCM 2007 ? Worried About Windows 8.1 and Windows 2012 R2 management ? Don't Be :-)

Yepp !! Those who are still running SCCM 2007 R2 + subsequent versions can still Manage Windows 8.1 and Windows 2012 R2 with their Versions of SCCM . However there are some restrictions  Like you cannot do OSD .

 

Features that are supported are :

• Software distribution


• Software update management


• Desired configuration management

Well !! To achieve this all you have do to is :  Download and apply this hotfix :

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2861663#!\

Prerequisites

To apply this hotfix, you must have System Center Configuration Manager 2007 Service Pack 2 installed.

Restart information

You do not have to restart the computer after you apply this update.

Note We recommend that you close Configuration Manager Administration Console before you apply this update package.

Update replacement information

This update does not replace any previously released update.

SCCM Facts - Did you know ?

A few facts which you may not know :

 

Patch Tuesday is the second Tuesday of each month, on which Microsoft regularly releases security patches.

Microsoft has an apparent pattern of releasing a larger number of updates in even-numbered months, and fewer in odd-numbered months.

In Nov 1994 , SMS 1.0 was released.

in Aug 2007 SCCM 2007 was released

SCCM can be integrated with other tools of System Center Suite

 

Adding Central Site to a Stand Alone Primary Site in SCCM - Part # 1

Hey All !!

As we all know that With SCCM 2012 SP1 , we can add a Central Site on top of a Stand Alone Primary Site . Well !! Well !! This was not there in SCCM 2012 Without SP1 :-)

 

In this Lab We have used the following scenario:

1. We have a SCCM Stand Alone Primary Site .

2. We will be Adding a Central Site ( Installing it First ) to this Stand Alone Primary Site .

Let us First have a look at the Primary Site and See if it actually is a Stand Alone Primary Site :

[caption id="attachment_1112" align="alignnone" width="300"] Adding A Central Site to a Stand Alone Primary Site[/caption]

 

The Above Snap shot is of Data Base Replication in the Administrative Console which shows that  there is No other Site Available Instead of Primary Site .

 

Now , Before we start with the set up of the Central Site , we need to give Full Control to the Central Site Computer and all its Defendants :

 

The below screen shots do this for us :

[caption id="attachment_1113" align="alignnone" width="300"] Adding A Central Site to a Stand Alone Primary Site[/caption]

 

[caption id="attachment_1114" align="alignnone" width="268"] Adding A Central Site to a Stand Alone Primary Site[/caption]

 

[caption id="attachment_1115" align="alignnone" width="235"] Adding A Central Site to a Stand Alone Primary Site[/caption]

 

Now , Start the SCCM Central Site Installation . Click the  executable file :



 

[caption id="attachment_1118" align="alignnone" width="300"] SCCM Central Site Installation[/caption]

Check , Install a SCCM Central Administration Site :

[caption id="attachment_1119" align="alignnone" width="300"] SCCM Central Site Installation[/caption]

 

[caption id="attachment_1120" align="alignnone" width="300"] SCCM Central Site Installation[/caption]

Add , the Key if you have one , Else USe Evaluation Version :

[caption id="attachment_1121" align="alignnone" width="300"] SCCM Central Site Installation[/caption]

Accept  the Agreement

[caption id="attachment_1124" align="alignnone" width="300"] SCCM Central Site Installation[/caption]

 

If you have downloaded the Files then you may give the path else you may download them :

 

[caption id="attachment_1123" align="alignnone" width="300"] SCCM Central Site Installation[/caption]

SCCM Will start to check the files :

 

This is a time consuming process and may take a lot of time

[caption id="attachment_1125" align="alignnone" width="300"] SCCM Central Site Installation[/caption]

Select Language

[caption id="attachment_1127" align="alignnone" width="300"] SCCM Central Site Installation[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_1128" align="alignnone" width="300"] SCCM Central Site Installation[/caption]

Give Appropriate Names here :

[caption id="attachment_1129" align="alignnone" width="300"] SCCM Central Site Installation[/caption]

This is an Important step , as you need to mention that this installation should be a part of Earlier installation and not the first installation

[caption id="attachment_1130" align="alignnone" width="300"] SCCM Central Site Installation[/caption]

Give SQL Server Name and other details :

 

[caption id="attachment_1131" align="alignnone" width="300"] SCCM Central Site Installation[/caption]

Give Appropriate Name :

[caption id="attachment_1132" align="alignnone" width="300"] SCCM Central Site Installation[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_1134" align="alignnone" width="300"]\ SCCM Central Site Installation[/caption]

 

[caption id="attachment_1135" align="alignnone" width="300"] SCCM Central Site Installation[/caption]

Click Install

[caption id="attachment_1136" align="alignnone" width="300"] SCCM Central Site Installation[/caption]

Installation will start and it will take quite an amount of time :

[caption id="attachment_1138" align="alignnone" width="300"] SCCM Central Site Installation[/caption]

 

[caption id="attachment_1139" align="alignnone" width="300"] SCCM Central Site Installation[/caption]

Check the Log File: configmgr.setup and the last line will show the status

[caption id="attachment_1140" align="alignnone" width="300"] SCCM Central Site Installation[/caption]

 

Now , Login into the SCCM Central Site and Go to Hierarchy and you will see some thing like this :

[caption id="attachment_1142" align="alignnone" width="300"] SCCM Central Site Installation[/caption]

 

Subsequent posts will show how to migrate objects :

One Important thing : If you go to temp file while installing SCCM , you will see configmgrautosave file there . This file Actually has the tasks that are to be done and the way you want to do it . If you want your Installation to be scheduled with some of parameters , then you may give them in the INi file and have your installation as zero touch .



 

 

 

 

 

 

How to Raise and Resolve Incident in SCSM - System Center Service manager

Recommended Readings :  http://sccmconfighelp.wordpress.com/2013/10/18/incident-in-scsm-system-center-service-manager-incident-templates/

http://sccmconfighelp.wordpress.com/2013/10/10/adding-new-incident-category-in-scsm-in-depth/

 

In this Post we will learn the art of Raising and Closing an Incident in SCSM - System Center Service Manager. 

 

Step # 1 : Login into the SCSM Console :

The user must have Access to Raise an Incident :

Go to the Work Items Pane :

 

[caption id="attachment_1102" align="alignnone" width="300"] Raise an Incident in SCSM[/caption]

 

 

Click Create Incident :

[caption id="attachment_1103" align="alignnone" width="300"] Create Incident in SCSM
System Center Service Manager[/caption]

If you have already added a Template ( Then you can use that template and some of the Information will be auto populated ) .

[caption id="attachment_1104" align="alignnone" width="287"] Create Incident in SCSM[/caption]

 

I had already created an Incident Template so I can apply it in this example as shown Above :

[caption id="attachment_1105" align="alignnone" width="300"] Create Incident in SCSM[/caption]

 

As you can see that after I have applied the template , some of the information has been auto Populated in the Incident :

Click Ok and the Incident is created . If you want to check the Incident , Click Incident Management and Click all open Incidents :

[caption id="attachment_1106" align="alignnone" width="300"] Create Incident SCSM[/caption]

 

Now , If you want to close the Incident , Log On to the Service manager with a user account which has Incident Resolver's Rights and close it as shown below :

 

[caption id="attachment_1107" align="alignnone" width="300"] Incident Closure SCSM[/caption]

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Windows 8.1 now available!

Microsoft has released Windows 8.1 . you are a consumer with a Windows 8 device, you can now download the free update to Windows 8.1 online through the Windows Store*. Please visit Windows.com for everything you need to know including how to get the update for your Windows 8 device. If you are a consumer on a device running Windows 7, Windows Vista, Windows XP, or the Windows 8.1 Preview – this page on Windows.com will detect your OS and provide you with all the information you need in order to get Windows 8.1 on your device.

Microsoft has officially Informed that :

 

To celebrate the new Windows, starting today for the next 8 days – we will pick 810 (see what we did there?) random winners per day who tweet and share their new Start screen after updating their Windows 8 device to Windows 8.1 with the #MyStarthashtag.



 



 

Start the way you want. The Start screen in Windows 8.1 is more customizable than ever with new tile sizes, new background designs and colors – allowing you to make the Start screen on your device unique and personal to you (you should see some of the color combinations I’ve come up with for my Start screen!). You can also choose how you start your Windows experience – at the Start screen or the desktop. The Start button is back. And there is an improved Apps view that allows you to see all your apps the way you want.



Multi-tasking is even better in Windows 8.1 – you can now have up to four apps side by side with flexible windows sizing for each app on the screen. At a minimum, I usually have 3 apps snapped side by side on my devices doing various things like email, listening to music and browsing the web. We have also improved multi-monitor support in Windows 8.1 allowing users to view their desktop or apps from the Windows Store on any or all their monitors.



Bing Smart Search is the easiest way to find what you are looking for and to get things done. Built for touch, swipe or type from the Start screen and Smart Search will find what you need – whether it’s a document on your PC, a photo album in the cloud, your favorite app, or a website.

 

Incident in SCSM ( System Center Service Manager) - Incident Templates

Before we start with the Incident in SCSM or ITIL or MOF ( Microsoft Operational Framework ) . Let us first clear the concept of Incident :

What is an Incident : 

Incident (ITILv2):    An event which is not part of the standard operation of a service and which causes or may cause disruption to or a reduction in the quality of services and Customer productivity.

What is an Incident Template in System Center Service Manager ( SCSM ) :

You can create an incident template to populate certain fields for a specified incident type, such as email-related problems. Help desk personnel use templates when creating incidents. The template prepopulates some of the fields in the incident, such as the name of the support analyst who handles email-related problems.

Incident priority calculation is rated on a scale from 1 to 9. A priority of 1 is the highest priority. It is based on a combination of impact and urgency. Impact and urgency settings are defined as High, Medium, or Low, and they are configured when the incident is created. The following table shows how to define the incident priority for each possible combination of impact and urgency.

The resolution time defines how much time it should take to resolve an incident. Resolution time is based on priority. Typically, you should set resolution times for higher-priority incidents. The procedures in this section describe how to set the values for file attachments, incident priority, and resolution time.

[caption id="attachment_1095" align="alignnone" width="300"] Incident priority Matirx[/caption]

 Creating an Incident Template

You can use the procedures in this section to create incident templates in System Center 2012 – Service Manager for problems that are, for example, related to email and printers.

When an analyst at the help desk receives a call, there are many pieces of information that the analyst must gather to create an incident, such as a summary of the problem; the name of the user to whom the incident will be assigned; the impact; the urgency; and whether this is a Tier 1, 2, or 3 incident. For some systems in the enterprise, this information might already be known.

For example, if a problem occurs with the e-mail system, the incident is classified as high-impact and high-urgency, handled at a Tier 2 level, and assigned to a specific analyst. You can create an incident template that, when it is applied to a new incident form, populates many fields in the new incident. This reduces the required time to create an incident, and it ensures accuracy and consistency.

Incident templates are also used as part of the Incident Change workflow. For example, your company might have determined that if the urgency of a printer-related problem changes from Low to High, that incident should automatically be elevated to the Tier 2 level.

 

SCCM 2012 is more Cost Efficient and Cheaper - SCCM 2007 Vs SCCM 2012

Recommendation : If you are Reading this , then do read this as well :

http://sccmconfighelp.wordpress.com/2013/10/18/sccm-forest-discovery-method/

The Biggest thing that comes to my mInd when I try to compare two versions of this wonderful Tool called SCCM ( System Center Configuration Manager ) is " Cost Optimization ( Cost Efficient ) " .

[caption id="attachment_1088" align="alignnone" width="300"] SCCM 2007 Vs SCCm 2012[/caption]

True !! As the Above Figure Shows : SCCM 2012 is without any doubts " Cheaper , Faster and Good " :-)

SCCM 2012 is a more Cost Efficient Solution as compared to SCCm 2007 . Why ? Well !! this question must have hit your Mind by now !!

The Answer is here :

Multiple Forests Support with One SCCM Primary , Role Based Access Control ( In SCCM 2007 there were certain scenarios where you might have  Different Sites for Managing Server and Clients Machines ) , Not Anymore with SCCM 2012 RBAC( Role Based Access Control ) feature .

Multiple Language Support is yet another reason where you might not need Extra SCCM Sites .

[caption id="attachment_1089" align="alignnone" width="300"] SCCM 2007 vs SCCM 2012[/caption]

SCCM Forest Discovery Method

In this Post we will talk about a new Feature that was not there in SCCM 2007 . It is " SCCM Forest Discovery Method" . Let us assume that you are being asked to Implement SCCM 2007 in an environment where you have two forests , then since there is no in place method , you might need to do some extra work . However , with Active directory forest discovery method being introduced in SCCM 2012 , all you have to do is to Enable the SCCM Forest Discovery method and you are done . The System Center Configuration Manager Forest Discovery method can help you identify as many forests as you can . So , now you can have just one SCCM Server and Manage Multiple Forests ( Subject to other conditions being true) . Let us have a look at the below figure :

[caption id="attachment_1082" align="alignnone" width="300"] SCCM Forest Discovery method[/caption]

 

PDF Version of this file can be downloaded from here : SCCM Forest Discovery Method

PRINCE 2 and PMP Project Chart

Download PRINCE 2 and PMP chart . THis is a very useful document

Prince 2 Chart

SCCM ( System Center Configuration Manager) 2012 R2 Is released ;-)

There you go : Microsoft has finally released  SCCM ( system Center Configuration Manager ) .2012 R2

System Center 2012 R2 Configuration Manager helps IT empower people to use the devices and applications they need to be productive while maintaining corporate compliance and control. When combined with Windows Intune, it provides a unified management infrastructure across physical, virtual, and mobile client environments.

System Center 2012 R2 Endpoint Protection protects client and server operating systems against the latest threats using industry-leading malware detection technologies. It is built on System Center 2012 Configuration Manager, giving customers a unified infrastructure for client security and compliance management.

The product can be downloaded from ;

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-US/evalcenter/dn205297.aspx?CR_CC=200142594

[caption id="attachment_1076" align="alignnone" width="287"] system Center configuration manager 2012 R2[/caption]

 

SCCM App - An App that has SCCM Interview Questions

Download SCCM Interview Questions on your Android or Iphone . All you need to do is to click the Link below and download :

 

http://www.appsgeyser.com/629309

SCCM Project Plan

Download SCCM Project Plan :

ProjectPlan_V3.0

Second Generation Virtual Machines in Windows Server 2012

In this Post we will learn about the Second Generation Virtual Machines Concept ( From SCSI Drive's perspective ) in Windows Server 2012 . This is a new Feature in Windows Server 2012 . As we all know that SCSI Drives offer better performance than the IDE's . In Windows Server 2012 , if you create the VM's you will se SCSI Drives only and no IDE's .



 

As you can see in the Image below when we see the settings of Second Generation VM's in Windows server 2012 we see only SCSI drive option