Random helpful stuff that I have found along the way

SQL edition for CAS - make the right choice at install!

2013-05-08T15:15:45Z

If you have a central administration site (CAS) in your Configuration Manager 2012 hierarchy, consider using SQL Enterprise for the CAS. If you use SQL standard, the support limit is 50,000 users and there is no supported method to change the SQL edition after the fact (other than a complete reinstall of the hierarchy!)

how to prevent cm2012 computers from auto resolving client issues?

2013-01-21T01:19:00Z

The ConfigMgr client has traditionally been a fairly passive component on computers. It gets policy on a schedule, it submits inventory, evaluates baselines etc but typically doesn't make any changes to the computer unless you tell it to. The ConfigMgr 2012 client has a client health process that runs every night (midnight plus an offset is the default time) and is set to automatically remediate any of the issues it is configured to check for (WMI, CM client service stopped, etc). For some environments making unplanned changes to a production computer may be worrisome and you may want to disable this auto remediation feature. If so, consider changing the following registry key on these clients:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\CCM\CcmEval\NotifyOnly

The default value is FALSE, meaning the client will auto remediate problems when found and you can monitor this in the Monitoring workspace in the console. Change the value to TRUE if you want to adjust this behavior. When the registry entry is set to TRUE the client will not auto remediate problems that are found and administrator will see alerts in the Monitoring workspace. The administrators can then manually (or use some other process) to resolve the identified computer issue.

Pros and Cons of a cloud-based DP

2013-01-14T16:21:13Z

A customer asked about the benefits of using a Windows Azure-based distribution point. Great question!

Pros:

Content is encrypted by CM site before being sent
Azure can be scaled up/down to meet increasing/decreasing demand
supports BranchCache clients

Cons:

Azure DP does not support PXE, multicast, OSD, app-v streaming, task sequences, packages that run from DP. Also no ability to prestage content

CU1 for ConfigMgr 2012 is out!

2012-08-21T12:24:47Z

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2717295

Issues that are fixed

Administrator Console

When a new distribution point is added to a package that contains more than 100 existing distribution points, the new distribution point cannot be added, and you receive the following error message in the Administrator Console:

The SMS Provider reported an error.

When you click Details in the error message, a "Quota Violation" message is displayed that is followed by the details of the stack trace.
The link to the online privacy statement for the Customer Experience Improvement Program in the Administrator Console is fixed.

Application Management

If a Deployment Type is added or changed before Distribution Manager processes an earlier change, the content may not be sent to a child site.
The prestaged content file for a Deployment Type (DT) is not created for remote Distribution Points when there are multiple DTs for the same application. For more information about prestaged content, go to the following Microsoft TechNet website:
Operations and Maintenance for Content Management in Configuration Manager
(http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/988b456a-efa8-45d1-89a6-894585dfca38#BKMK_PrestageContent)

Asset Intelligence

Volume license editions of Microsoft SQL Server 2012 may be duplicated in the Asset Intelligence Installed_Software_data hardware inventory class.
Microsoft SQL Server 2008 R2 Service Pack (SP1) is not listed in the Asset Intelligence License 01D - Microsoft License Ledger Products on a Specific Computer report.
The pre-provisioned Asset Intelligence Synchronization Point certificate is updated with a new expiration date.

Client

When a dynamic list is used for the Install Application task sequence, not all deployment types will be installed. This issue occurs when one of the deployment types restarts the computer. In this case, any deployment type after the restart is not installed. The state messages that are associated with each application indicate Success. This issue can be seen most clearly in the smsts.log file on the client when the log file is filtered in the CMTrace for entries that contain the text "Installing application."

The following is an example sequence:
Installing application 'App 1'
Installing application 'ContentID for App 1' has started. Please refer to DCMAgent.log for the details on this job. JobID='{JobID1}'

Installing application 'App 2'
Installing application 'ContentID for App 2' has started. Please refer to DCMAgent.log for the details on this job. JobID='{JobID2}'

Installing application 'App 3 - Exit Code 3010'
Installing application 'ContentID for App 3' has started. Please refer to DCMAgent.log for the details on this job. JobID='{JobID3}'

Installing application 'App 4'
Installing application 'ContentID for App 2' has started. Please refer to DCMAgent.log for the details on this job. JobID='{JobID4}'
Note Both 'App 2' and 'App 4' share the same content ID. In this example sequence, 'App 4' was not installed following the restart that 'App 3' triggered.

Out of Band Management

Power Control and Clear Audit Log collection-based actions fail for externally provisioned AMT clients. The amptopmgr.log file contains entries that resemble the following entry:
Error: CSMSAMTDiscoveryTask::Execute, discovery to client_computer failed. General Worker Thread Pool: Error, Can not execute the task successfully. Remove it from task list.

Site Database

Replication Link Analyzer incorrectly detects a syscommittab system table issue and suggests reinitialization if the SQL Errorlog contains the following string:
3999
A primary device cannot be selected for user-based pre-deployment if the device does not have the Configuration Manager client installed.

Site Systems

A Reporting Services Point may not be installed or start if the SQL Reporting Service does not start within one minute. The srssp.log file may contain entries that resemble the following entry:
Starting service 'ReportServer'
Time out has expired and the operation has not been completed.
The SMS Executive service may stop unexpectedly if the Exchange Connector PowerShell cmdlet fails. The EasDisc.log file may contain entries that resemble the following entry:
ERROR: [MANAGED] Cmdlet failed: Starting a command on remote server failed with the following error message: The WinRM client cannot complete the operation within the time specified. Check if the machine name is valid and is reachable over the network and firewall exception for Windows Remote Management service is enabled. For more information, see the about_Remote_Troubleshooting Help topic.
The Site System Status Summarizer component may cause the SMS Executive service to stop unexpectedly if the site server fully qualified domain name (FQDN) is more than 50 characters, and the default installation path is used. The relevant entries from the Exception Information section of the crash.log files contain the following entry:
Thread name = SMS_SITE_SYSTEM_STATUS_SUMMARIZER
Executable = C:\Program Files\Microsoft Configuration Manager\bin\x64\smsexec.exe
Exception = eeeeffff (EXCEPTION_SMS_FATAL_ERROR)

Known issues

Update of the Administrator Console

When the Administrator Console is first installed, a copy of the Adminconsole.msi file is cached in the %Temp% folder of the user who initiated the installation. If that MSI file is missing, the Configmgr2012adminui-rtm-kb2717295-i386.msp update file may not be applied. When this update is distributed by using Software Distribution, the installation may fail, and an exit code of 1603 is logged in the excecmgr.log file.

To resolve this issue, reinstall the original release of the Administrator Console by using Consolesetup.exe, then apply this update.

Inventory data for offline clients

2012-07-19T01:35:00Z

ConfigMgr client computers that are powered on but are not connected to the corporate network will continue to execute hardware and software inventory processes as scheduled and will store the data locally. Once the client is able to connect to the ConfigMgr site server and retrieve policy the client will upload the saved inventory records and the site server will assign them sequenced version numbers and typically process them in the order they were created. This behavior can be verified in the dataldr.log on the site server.

include vs exclude collection - who wins?

2012-07-18T19:16:07Z

In ConfigMgr 2012 you can have include collections to include members and you can have exclude collections to exclude members. Makes sense, right? But what happens if a collection member (could be a computer or a user) exists in both collections, the include and the exclude? Which one takes priority? The exclude would win, so the collection member would not be returned in the collection results.

Mastering ConfigMgr 2012 book

2012-05-24T20:36:02Z

Finally got my copies of the book (Mastering System Center 2012 Configuration Manager) from the publisher, which reminded me I needed to put something on my blog about the book. I was the technical editor for the book and I wrote the chapter on role-based administration and the chapter on endpoint protection. We started working on this book in late 2011 and it was released a week after the release of ConfigMgr 2012. It is pretty remarkable, in my opinion, that we were able to get this book done and ready for purchase so close to the product launch. I don't make any money from the sales, but if you are looking for some good info on ConfigMgr 2012, check it out and let me know your thoughts.

Here is the amazon link. http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=mastering+configuration+2012

hello live writer!

2012-04-03T22:08:00Z

ok, enough with doing blog posts in IE. Now setup to use Live Writer, making my random helpful stuff entries easier to post!

ConfigMgr 2012 console in read-only mode?

2012-04-03T19:37:29Z

After installing a primary under a central admin site you may get the following message when attempting to open the console at the primary site level: "Your Configuration Manager console is in read-only mode while this site completes tasks related to maintenance mode". This usually indicates that the initial replication between the CAS and the primary isn't complete yet. Monitor rcmctrl.log on the CAS and also the Database Replication view in the Monitoring workspace on the CAS. Once the link state says 'Link is active' for the child sites then the replication should be complete and you should be able to open the console at the primary without getting the read-only message. Also note that this replication may take some time. My environment took at least an hour to complete.

What happened to appdeploy.com?

2012-04-03T14:00:41Z

I have recommended the appdeploy.com web site to countless customers over the year as THE software packaging reference site. Now, that url takes you to itninja.com and it looks like Dell has done their best to turn a great site into something not nearly as intuitive and useful.