[Today's post is from the Configuration Manager Writing Team]
The Configuration Manager 2007 documentation library and the Configuration Manager 2012 documentation library have been updated on the web and the latest content has Updated: June 1, 2011 at the top of the topic.
This month’s updates incorporate customer feedback for Configuration Manager 2007, and some new information (and updates) for Configuration Manager 2012.
We will continue to add more information for Configuration Manager 2012 as we get that information from the product group and in response to customer feedback. At the moment, some topics are published without any content to let you know that it’s planned. We also monitor page hits and search results to help us plan when to publish the information. To help you find the right information, use the Configuration Manager 2012 search portal.
Note that we are writing for the released product, rather than for any pre-release version, such as Beta 2. As such, there might be some discrepancies with the pre-release version that you are testing and the documentation.
We value customer feedback and try to incorporate it when possible. Although we can’t promise to make the docs perfect for everybody, we are committed to continual improvement. So, keep that feedback coming, and feel free to contact us about anything related to the documentation by using our usual address of SMSDocs@Microsoft.com.
What's New in the Configuration Manager 2007 Documentation Library for June 2011
The following information lists the topics that contain significant changes since the May 2011 update.
- New topic that lists the significant changes in the documentation since September 2010.
Configuration Manager Client Assignment Issues
- Updated for the new entry “The Discover Button in the Configuration Manager Client Properties: Advanced Tab Does Not Work or Is Unavailable“.
About Standard and Branch Distribution Points
- Updated to clarify that the number of concurrent connections that a branch distribution point can support on a client operating system is dependent upon the operating system version. For Windows XP and Windows Vista, this number is 10; for Window 7 this number is 20. This clarification is also added to Choose Between a Standard and Branch Distribution Point.
Out of Band Management Console Issues
- Updated for the new entry “Out of Band Management No Longer Works After a Client is Reassigned to a New Site“, which provides instructions to remove the provisioning information in the original site before you reassign an AMT-based computer to another Configuration Manager site, and then provision the computer again in the new site. This information is also added to About AMT Provisioning for Out of Band Management and How to Assign Configuration Manager Clients to a Site.
What's New in the Configuration Manager 2012 Documentation Library for June 2011
Planning for the Migration of Configuration Manager 2007 Objects to Configuration Manager 2012
- Updated for the new section "Planning to Migrate AMT-Based Computers that are Provisioned for Out of Band Management"
About Client Settings in Configuration Manager 2012
- Updated for settings that relate to Network Access Protection and the PowerShell execution policy.
Install and Configure Site System Roles for Configuration Manager 2012
- New topic for how to install site system roles and information about settings in these site system roles:
Operating System Deployment in Configuration Management 2012
- This section is updated for the following topics:
Hardware Inventory in Configuration Manager 2012
Remote Control in Configuration Manager 2012
Introduction to Out of Band Management in Configuration Manager 2012
- Updated the “What’s New in Configuration Manager 2012” section with information about the new account, the AMT Provisioning Removal Account, which in Beta 2 is referred to as just a Windows account.
How to Manage AMT Provisioning Information in Configuration Manager 2012
- Updated for the new section “Reassigning AMT-Based Computers to Another Configuration Manager Site”
Frequently Asked Questions for Configuration Manager 2012
- Updated to include the following questions:
-- The Configuration Manager Writing Team
This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties and confers no rights.
[Today's post comes from Min Yang]
In System Center Configuration Manager 2012, the Configuration Manager console has been greatly improved to enhance its usability. In addition to improvements in performance and layout, there are also a couple of new features to address the “how to find objects quickly” problem. This blog posts introduces the following useful features:
If you are familiar with Configuration Manager 2007, you know that organizational folders are not a new concept. They provide a similar experience to folders in the Windows file system, where they can be used to organize objects.
Typically, you can create a folder structure before you generate content, and then create or import content to be stored inside these folders. This makes it easier to organize content. There are many approaches you can use to set up a hierarchy of folders. For example, you can create folders that align with functional organizations, or folders by work flow, or whatever you like.
To create a folder, right-click the node or existing folder under which you want to place that folder, click Folder, and then click Create Folder - as shown in the following picture.
You can select multiple objects and move these to a folder at the same time. Select all the objects that you want to move, right-click an object, and then click Move - as shown in the following picture.
Note that any folder hierarchy that you have created is also shown when you use the Browse option to select objects in Wizards and dialog boxes, as shown in the next picture.
Benefits of using organizational folders:
Limitations of using organizational folders include the following:
Object types that support organizational folders:
Administrative categories provide an alternative solution to organizational folders. Instead of using a hierarchical structure, administrative categories allow you to classify an object with tags of your choosing. Unlike organizational folders, you can keep all objects in one list view and sort them by category to make them easier to find.
You might also use administrative categories when an administrative user does not have security permissions to move objects into a particular organizational folder. In this scenario, the administrative user could add objects to an administrative category, which a higher-level administrative user can then use later to locate the objects.
You can assign an object to an administrative category by using a number of different methods:
You can assign the object when you create an object:
Or you can add and remove administrative categories to objects with a single click:
Benefits of using administrative categories:
Limitations of using administrative categories:
Objects that support administrative categories:
In Configuration Manager 2012, search is completely redesigned to be more powerful: Similarly to how search works in Outlook 2012, you can now use free-text searches or criteria search, and set the search scope to the current node or folder, subfolders, or all objects.
This is the simplest form of search. Type in any keyword in the filter bar at the top of the list view. The result will be filtered to objects that have the keyword in any property. Note that the property column with the matched text might not be shown in the list view, but you can right-click any column header at the top of the list view to add this property column. Also note, that if the default scope for the operation is set to “Current Node”, then objects from other nodes, or subfolders will not be searched.
You can fine-tune searches by adding other known values as criteria for your search. When you click Add Criteria, new boxes are displayed for you to provide these values. Criteria for the same property are combined by “OR” logic, and criteria for different properties are combined by “AND” logic. For example, an application administrator can search for an application that is associated with the administrative categories “Productivity” or “Finance”, which have been deployed less than twice.
By default, a search is scoped to the current node. Because folders have their own nodes in the Configuration Manager console, you can also scope a search on the current folder and all its subfolders. Both free text search and criteria search can use these scopes.
Use the Folder and all subfolder scope to search for all objects in a selected tree.
If you are looking for specific content but are not sure in which node to look, use a global search. Select All Objects on the Search ribbon tab to set the search scope to be global, and then enter free text in the search text box. This returns matches across all applicable object types and all properties. The result list is interactive, and the workspace information is shown to help you find them in the console.
Benefits of using search:
Limitations of using search:
This blog post compared three new features of the Configuration Manager console – organizational folders, administrative categories and search. Use the following table as a summary comparison.
Organizational Folders
Administrative Categories
Searches
Supported objects
15 types
4 types
All types
Viewing experience
Individual nodes, tree-like view
An attribute of object
In list view result
Replication through Hierarchy
Yes
Yes except for saved global search
Relationship
Object can belong to one folder only
Objects can be associated with multiple categories
Any object that satisfies the criteria is shown in the results
Object organization
You can create objects in the folder and you can move multiple objects
You can create objects with associated categories and you can modify multiple categories
Saved search automatically applies
Security
Folders visible to all administrative users; objects and actions are secured by permissions
Objects and actions are secured by permissions
Saved criteria is visible to all administrative users; result objects are secured by permissions
When you use one or more of these features, you can more efficiently use the Configuration Manager console to manage your environment with Configuration Manager 2012.
--Min Yang
[Today’s post is provided by Lilian Xuan]
Every person who uses the Configuration Manager 2007 console has to work with a complicated tree that has more than fifty nodes and hundreds of actions, even if they have permission to operate on just one node. Instead of this experience, how cool would it be to have your own console based on your assigned role? Configuration Manager 2012 provides this capability with role-based administration and what we call “Show Me” in the Configuration Manager console.
What is “Show Me”?
“Show Me” is the Configuration Manager behavior that shows the administrative user only what is relevant to them. Instead of seeing all workspaces, nodes, and objects when you run the Configuration Manager console, you see only those that you need to see, based on your job role. Role-based administration in Configuration Manager hides any workspaces, nodes, and objects that you do not need to see.
Why “Show Me”?
Imagine that you have one key chain with 10 keys attached to it. One of them is to the door of your office and you don’t use the other nine keys. What would you do? Bring the whole key chain and find your office key from 10 keys, every day? I would pick out the key to my office and bring it with me, leaving the other nine at home (or throw them away).
“Show Me” in the Configuration Manager console lets you leave those keys at home that you don’t use, and bring only the one key that you need. As an example, let’s assume that you have been assigned the role-based administration security role of Asset Manager, because your job role is to collect and report on software licenses by using the Asset Intelligence feature. When you run the Configuration Manager console, would you prefer to see everything, or only objects that are relevant to this role?
Without the “Show Me” behavior, you see all the workspaces and nodes, as shown in the following picture:
Note: This is prerelease UI and is subject to change
With “Show Me”, only the relevant workspaces and nodes are shown, as in the next picture, where you can no longer see the Software Library workspace or the Configuration Items node.
Benefits of “Show Me”:
How “Show Me” works
“Show Me” behavior is the result of configuring role-based administration in Configuration Manager 2012. First, your Windows user account is granted access to the Configuration Manager console as an administrative user. Then, when your account opens the Configuration Manager console, only the nodes and objects that you have permission to manage are displayed. Objects you do not have permission to view or manage are hidden. This is controlled by the association of security roles, security scopes, and collections to your administrative user configuration:
Shown, Hidden, or Disabled
With the “Show Me” experience, administrative users might see different behaviors for objects in the Configuration Manager console. These behaviors include objects that are shown and accessible, shown but disabled, or hidden from view:
Shown
Hidden
Disabled
1) First, you might have permissions to an object and specific actions, but the action is displayed as disabled. The action is shown as disabled because the action is not currently available, but might become available if prerequisites are met or changed.
For example, in the following picture, the action Enable or Disable Asset Intelligence Synchronization Point is disabled because the Asset Intelligence synchronization point is not installed. However, when the Asset Intelligence synchronization point is installed, the administrative user’s assigned security roles grants them permissions to enable or disable this site system role.
2) Second, you might have permissions for some objects, but not the selected object. This can occur when you are associated with multiple security roles, and your role-based administration configuration associates your associated security roles with specific security scopes or collections.
Troubleshooting Tips
When you use the “Show Me” behavior, watch out for these commonly reported issues:
You can also use the following two logs files to troubleshoot Configuration Manager console problems:
For information about configuring role-based administration, see Configure Role-Based Administration in Configuration Manager 2012 in the Configuration Manager 2012 TechNet library
--Lilian Xuan