Application Request WorkFlow

We have had a Close look at how SCCM can be used to request Softwares by Users here :

http://sccmconfighelp.wordpress.com/2013/07/29/sccm-applications-demystified-part-4-application-request/

 

In this Post we will have a look at the workflow which is being used While a user request for a Software . The below diagram will be more clear to people who have Used MS Visio as the symbols / Images have specific meaning .

[caption id="attachment_1178" align="alignnone" width="300"] User request For Software SCCM 2012[/caption]

 

Clearly you can see that the SCCM Admin creates the Application in the SCCM Console . User Requests for the Software Using Software Center . User Submits the request . The request goes to SCCM Admin who then approves or rejects the request basis  which a decision is taken .

 

 

 

For any windows Server related training Email sccmtrainings@gmail.com

For any windows Server related training Email sccmtrainings@gmail.com

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]

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 .



 

 

 

 

 

 

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

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

SCCM Design Steps – Explained in Detail – Part # 2

This Post is in continuation to Post # 1 on SCCM Design and Architecture .

http://sccmconfighelp.wordpress.com/2013/10/15/sccm-design-steps-explained-in-detail-part-1/  - Part # 1

Now , As we have seen that in our SCCM Design we have :

• One Stand Alone Primary Site


• 4 Distribution Points + One at the Primary Site


• SCCM Integrated with Active Directory


• Active Directory Schema Has to be Extended ( For the Ease of Operations )  . You may follow my posts on why do we need to Extend the AD Schema ):


• http://sccmconfighelp.wordpress.com/2013/07/31/schema-extension-in-sccm-demystified-complete/


• http://sccmconfighelp.wordpress.com/2013/04/23/extending-ad-schema-in-sccm-is-it-mandatory/


• One SQL Server . A Standard Edition would serve our Purpose

With these Specifications let us Design our SCCM Environment :

Server Names : One SCCM Server ( sccm.abctelecom.com) , Domain Controller ( abctelecom.com ) , Role Server ( sccm1.abctelecom.com) , 4 Distribution point Servers)

Download the PDF and Visio Version of this SCCM Design Document as :

SCCM Design Document by Abheek PDF

SCCM Design Steps - Explained in Detail - Part # 1

Part 2 of this Series :  http://sccmconfighelp.wordpress.com/2013/10/16/sccm-design-steps-explained-in-detail-part-2/

 

Today,  in this post we will see how to design a SCCM Environment . Using this post you may design your  SCCM design document . To create a SCCM Environment , it is very important that we have some detailed information . For the sake of simplicity , we will use a simple example here .



Let us Assume that we are being asked to design , architect and implement  a sccm ( System Center Configuration Manager 2012) environment with following specifications :

1. The Client has presence in 5 states of India .

2. Total user base is : 5000

3. Head office is in Mumbai : with a user base of : 4000

4. at the head office the number of servers to be maintained using sccm is : 100

4. Four Other offices are in : Bangalore , Kolkata , Delhi and Himachal .

5. User base at all these four locations is : 250 each .

6. There is a 4 Mbps connectivity between branches ( all of them ) .

7. The link utilization is below 50 % on an average during office hours and is 30 % off hours

8. Client wants to use all the features of SCCM ( OSD , Patch management , Software deployment etc ).

9. There is just one forest and one domain Ex : abctelecom.com

10 . Internet clients are not a part of this project

11. There are no cloud DP's .

The above information is handy enough to kick start our designing :



Now , To start with , we have to make a decision as to how many sites we require : or you may ask the following questions to yourself :

1. How Many SCCM Primary Sites do I need :  In this case since the total Client base is just 5000 .  Since with SCCM 2012 we can clearly divide work between engineers who manage Servers and clients .

2. Do we need a CAS :  NO . CAS in SCCM 2012 is only used for Centralized repository and reporting .

3. How Many Secondary sites do I need : This is a very Tricky Question and this is where a lot has changed between SCCM 2007 and SCCM 2012 . SCCM 2012 DP can be used for PXE i.e OSD , Throttling and Scheduling . So , We would only need DP's in our case as the bandwidth available is also good .

See the below blog posts for more clarity :

http://sccmconfighelp.wordpress.com/2013/04/25/primary-site-vs-secondary-site-vs-distribution-point-sccm-2012-which-one-to-choose-and-when-to-choose

http://sccmconfighelp.wordpress.com/2013/10/08/sccm-distribution-point-design-a-designers-delight/

Now , that we are sure that we need just One Primary and Distribution Points only , Am done with my first part .

So , so far our design looks like : 1 Primary stand Alone site and 4 Distribution Points at 4 different locations .

I close this post here and will take things in more details in the Part 2 of this series .

 

Part 2 of this Series :  http://sccmconfighelp.wordpress.com/2013/10/16/sccm-design-steps-explained-in-detail-part-2/

 

Linux Client Management Using SCCM - Detailed ( Part # 1)

It's time to Move towards Linux and Unix Clients . 

With SCCM 2012 SP1 we can Support Clients With Different Operating Systems . Linux and Unix Client Machines can be Managed Using SCCM and the best part is " IT is DAMN SIMPLE " .  To Install Client on Linux and Unix Machines , there is No Client Push Facility ( That was there for Windows Based Clients ) Available. So , it has to be done either Manually , through a Script Remotely or through SCORCH run books .

The Install Files can be download from Microsoft's Download Library

Path is : http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=36212

Now , Once you have the Linux Client Downloaded , you may start to Install it . Let us in this example look at the Manual Method of Installing SCCM Client on Linux and Unix machines .

The Command is : ./install -mp <computer> -sitecode <sitecode> <property #1> <property #2> <client installation package>

Now , as Linux guys would know .Install is used for Installation . We need to mention the Management Point ( as in Mp) so that the Linux client can get in touch with the Management point . Site Code again needs to be given . Rest you may add diffrent criterions basis your requirement .

./install –mp p1.abc.com –sitecode ABC ccm-Linuxclient.tar   ( In this Example , my MP  is p1.abc.com , Site code is ABC )

Once you run the Above command on the Linux Machine , it will take some time and at the end of the Installation it will show you as " INSTALLATION Completed successfully "

In the Below Figure , you will see that a Linux Client is displayed in the Console :

If you double click this Item it will show you some thing like this :

It Shows UNIX and LINUX in the Agent Edition , For Windows Based Computers it is Windows Desktop or Server Normally : See fig

It May be Noted that Client Log files for UNix and Linux clients are :

scxcm.log –> This log provides info aboutInfo about CCMEXEC.

Log file location =/var/opt/microsoft/configmgr/scxcm.log

scxcmprovider.log—> This log file provides details aboutCIM service.

Log File Location =/var/opt/microsoft/configmgr/scxcmprovider.log

 

Now , if you want More details on how to Install Linux and Unix Clients ( SCCM ) you may refer this Virtual lab file image  which has Handy Information .

 

 

GFI Languard and SCCM

Today in this post we will have a look at the software product Named GFI Languard . GFI Languard is a product of GFI and can be used for Patch Management , Vulnerability Assessment , Patch Management of Third party Applications Like Adobe , Tracking of Server Vulnerability and Network Vulnerability . Although GFI claims that the tool can be used for Patch Management ( Which it surely can do ) , but there are better products in the market for Patch Management ( Like SCCM ) .

[caption id="attachment_1011" align="alignnone" width="300"] GFI Languard[/caption]

One Area where I think GFI Languard can be used is to track Vulnerabilities and close them using Better Patch Management tools like SCCM . GFI provides you a very handsome console where you can check for Vulnerabilities basis Server , Networks . It lets you scan your Network basis a number of criterion like Ip Range , Sinlge Ip Address , Domain wise . GFI has a handsome reporting feature which can be used to make sure that your network is secure .



The Above figure shows a typical GFI Languard Dashboard where it shows you the Missing Patches and Vulnerability Classification .

 

SCCM APP : Interview Questions : Download

Great News : Now , Download the SCCM Interview Questions on your Iphone and Android Phone at :

http://www.appsgeyser.com/getwidget/Abheek's%20SCCM%20Interview%20Questions%20App/

[caption id="attachment_1002" align="alignnone" width="189"] SCCM Interview Questions APP[/caption]

Windows Servers Books - Free Books by Microsoft

Who Says " There are no free Lunches in life " . Well , Well , Well !! There are a few . Below links has loads of free Ebooks by Microsoft .

http://blogs.msdn.com/b/microsoft_press/archive/2012/05/04/free-ebooks-great-content-from-microsoft-press-that-won-t-cost-you-a-penny.aspx