Alex Marin Gasga : Operations

SCOM 2007 & HMC 4.0 just released!!!

alexmga — Wed, 17 Oct 2007 19:46:00 GMT

One of the most expected guides has been released, the guide to deploy SCOM 2007 in HMC 4.0. Be one of the first ones to update your MOM 2005 infrastructure in HMC 4.0 by following the details mentioned in this guide:

http://www.microsoft.com/serviceproviders/solutions/hostedmessagingscomupdate.mspx

There you'll find:

A white paper that provides a feature overview and guidelines on deploying the Operations Manager 2007 update in an HMC 4.0 environment
An updated Microsoft Provisioning System (MPS) management pack

In case you are new to HMC 4.0, you can get more information on the solution from the following site:

http://www.microsoft.com/serviceproviders/solutions/hostedmessaging.mspx

I encourage you to share with me your comments and suggestions.

How to troubleshoot SMS 2003

alexmga — Mon, 28 Mar 2005 15:13:00 GMT

Recently I was involved in troubleshooting a client discovery issue, sometimes becomes a nightmare troubleshoot the SMS logs if you don't have a clear understanding of the components and SMS flow. To help us with that, MS has released the troubleshooting flowcharts package which includes the complete flow of the most common scenarios based on the following categories:

Discovery Methods
Clients
Inventory
Setup and Configuration
Software Distribution
Software Metering
Server Components
Software Update Services

I found this information very useful to understand how SMS works and reduce the time invested in researching the Components involved in a particular situation. You can download this material from the following location:

Systems Management Server 2003 Troubleshooting Flowcharts

Is Exchange 2003 a bandwidth consumer? :)

alexmga — Fri, 04 Mar 2005 09:59:00 GMT

For those of you who are looking for an answer to this question, I recommend you to review Network Traffic Statistics on Exchange 2003 results, you'll find this document very useful. Year to year this document is reviewed and updated by Christophe Leroux (MCS Consultant). It contains the description of the tested scenarios (you can apply those in your current organization and get your own results), comparison between different versions of Outlook, OWA traffic is also included, RPC over HTTP, traffic generated against public folders and MORE.

It's a good reference if your main concern is: how my network bandwidth is going to be affected once migrated to Exchange 2003?? hope you find it useful as I did.

Client Network Traffic with Exchange Server 2003

If you want to improve your bandwidth utilization... deploy Exchange 2003 and Outlook 2003 in your organization (cache-mode enabled), that combination will optimize your network usage, improve the user experience, and provide a more robust solution helping the administrators to reduce the numbers of incidents due network connectivity issues.

SMS Operating System Deployment Feature Pack

alexmga — Wed, 24 Nov 2004 08:18:00 GMT

Recientemente se liberó un Feature Pack de SMS, para llevar a cabo despliegue del Sistema Operativo, actualmente lo estoy ocupando a nivel de laboratorio y se ve bastante interesante y útil, se tiene más control comparado con RIS. Si quieren saber un poco más al respecto, los invito a que revisen la siguiente información (en inglés por ahora):

A continuación agrego algunas de las preguntas que podrán encontrar en el Webcast, espero que les sean útiles:

Question: Can the Operating System Deployment FP manage the local administrator name and password?

Answer: Yes. You can configure the account name and password as part of the imaging process. With the password you have the option of using a static password or one that is randomly generated for you each time.

Question: Generally how large are the image capture CDs?

Answer: This will depend on the master computer and which operating system and applications it has installed. Typically, you will find a 3:1 compression ratio. For example, a standard Windows XP SP1 system with Office 2003 (with full install) is about 600MB.

Question: Does the Sysprep process cause a new product key activation request?

Answer: Yes, running Sysprep on a machine does trigger the product activation once the image is deployed to a new system. However, you can specify a static Select product key or EA customers may provide an encrypted volume product key instead. This eliminates the issue with having to interact with the installation during deployment.

Question: What are the requirements for the reference computer that I’m capturing an image from?

Answer: The following are required for the reference computer, prior to the capture process:

Operating System (Windows 2000 or higher)
Service Packs (may be required for Advanced Client)
Applicable Patches (optional, but recommended)
Core Applications (e.g. Office, WinZip, )
SMS 2003 Advanced Client (dormant state – no assigned site code)
Must have a C: Drive
Must boot from the C: Drive
C: Drive must be formatted with NTFS

Question: What is Windows PE?

Answer: Windows PE is a customized version of Windows that is use to boot the computer for the imaging process. It is used both in the image capture and installation phases. For more information on Windows PE, visit: http://www.microsoft.com/licensing/programs/sa/support/winpe.mspx

Question: Which Operating Systems does the Operating System Deployment Feature Pack support?

Answer: It will support creating an image from Windows 2000 and later. However, you can deploy those images to any system running Windows NT 4.0 SP6 and later in an in-place upgrade scenario or to any bare metal machine by mounting the image to a RIS server.

Question: Can the Operating System Deployment Feature Pack add the computers to the domain as they are imaged?

Answer: Yes, with a named account with appropriate permissions for adding the computer account to the domain. It is recommended, however, that this be a limited access account with only enough privileges to add computer accounts to the domain.

Question: Can I specify which Active Directory container to create the computer account in?

Answer: Yes. When creating the program for the image package in the SMS Admin console you have the option under to specify which Active Directory container to add the system to.

Question: If I have Office 2003 in my image and later need to update Office, say with SP3, can the image be updated without having to recreate an image on the reference machine, and repeating the entire process again?

Answer: Not in the initial release of the Operating System Deployment Feature Pack. Microsoft is considering delta-based updates for a future version.

Question: Will the Operating System Deployment Feature Pack retain the same static IP address for a re-imaged system?

Answer: Yes. If the system was previously configured with a static IP address this information can be retained or the system can then be converted to a DHCP-provided address.

Question: Can the Operating System Deployment Feature Pack preserve the SMS site code?

Answer: Yes. The Operating System Deployment Feature Pack runs an SMS State backup and restore that can retain this information. However, you also have the option to assign a new static site code or configure it to select one from the Management Point.

Question: What custom actions are already included in the Operating System Deployment Feature Pack?

Answer: The following custom actions are already included with the Operating System Deployment Feature Pack. Others can be easily added through the user interface.

User State Capture
Connect to UNC Path
Reboot System

Question: Is there a timeout available for custom actions that may fail?

Answer: Yes, there is a time out available when configuring your custom actions.

Question: What format are the images stored in?

Answer: The images captured with the Operating System Deployment Feature Pack are stored in the Windows Imaging Format (WIM).

Question: Where are the images stored for distribution to Systems Management Server clients?

Answer: Using the existing Systems Management Server infrastructure, the images are stored on distribution points throughout the enterprise.

Question: How do I target systems to deploy an image to?

Answer: Using the existing Systems Management Server features, you can deploy images to collections of systems just as with any other Systems Management Server package.

Question: Do you need Systems Management Server SP1 to use the Operating System Deployment Feature Pack?

Answer: Yes, the Operating System Deployment Feature Pack feature pack requires Systems Management Server 2003 SP1 to be installed.

Question: What happens during the Installation Phase?

Answer: During the Installation Phase the following actions are performed:

Old operating system is erased
Management Point is contact to select appropriate Distribution Point
The WIM file is copied locally
Rebooted back into the operating system
Mini-setup is executed
Installation is completed

Question: What technologies are incorporated into the OSD?

Answer: The following technologies are incorporated into the feature pack:

WIM – Windows Imaging Format
WinPE – The Operating System Deployment Feature Pack Capture/Installs using the WinPE environment
SysPrep – Reference computer preparation & Target computer configuration
DiskPart – Partitioning option for installation
USMT – Integration for user state capture and restore. Version 2.6 Unattended install – multi-user profiles

Question: Can PXE boot be used to deploy the image?

Answer: Yes, you can mount the Operating System Deployment Feature Pack installation CD on a RIS server.

Question: Is imaging supported in an NT 4.0 Domain or is Active Directory required?

Answer: SMS 2003 does not require AD, and does support NT 4 domains (but only supports Windows 2000 SP3 or later as a site server).

Question: Is the image distribution process interruptible by a local user?

Answer: The only way a user can interrupt the Operating System Deployment Feature Pack process once it's started is by powering off the machine.

Question: What is Microsoft’s support policy regarding imaged systems?

Answer: Microsoft will fully support both server and workstation imaging. However, they will not support server imaging beyond normal file/print services. For example, Exchange and SQL Servers would not be supported.

Question: Can we totally wipe/repartition the hard disk drive with the Operating System Deployment Feature Pack?

Answer: No. WinPE is installed onto the drive so full wipe and loads are not supported in this release. The next release of WinPE will support boot in RAM which will remove this limitation.

IT Forum 2004

alexmga — Mon, 25 Oct 2004 05:32:00 GMT

Si tu responsabilidad es la planeación, implantación, aseguramiento y administración de una infraestructura Microsoft, esto te puede interesar.

Está próximo el IT Forum 2004, para ser precisos el siguiente mes (Noviembre 16-19). Habrá conferencias, sesiones prácticas, reuniones con expertos, y tendrás la oportunidad de escuchar a Bill Gates sobre "La Magia del Software" (The Magic of Software), así también tendrás acceso a otros líderes de la industria como: Scott Charney, Jean-Philippe Courtois, John Craddock, Jesper M. Johansson, Rafal Lukawiecki, Steve Riley, Mark Russinovich, David Solomon, Kimberly L. Tripp, entre otros.

Para aquellos que vivamos en América y tengamos las ganas de asistir a este evento, tendremos que cruzar el charco (popularmente conocido como el Atlántico... jejeje), ya que tendrá lugar en Copenague, Dinamarca. Información más detallada la podrás encontrar en ITforum04, te invito a revisarla y a encontrar una razón más para ir a esas lejanas tierras.