(Post courtesy Anil Malekani)
Recently I tried configuring Software Update Management in Configuration Manager 2012. After installing WSUS on the Configuration Manager 2012 box, I tried to install Software Update Point as a site role.
The Software Update Point role successfully installed, as per the SUPSetup.log file (under C:\Program Files\Microsoft Configuration Manager\Logs)
However, my updates still did not appear on the console. After checking the Site Component status for SMS_WSUS_SYNC_MANAGER and SMS_WSUS_CONFIGURATION_MANAGER I noticed errors as below
SMS_WSUS_SYNC_MANAGER: Message ID 6600
SMS_WSUS_CONFIGURATION_MANAGER: Message ID 6600
I checked under WCM.log (under C:\Program Files\Microsoft Configuration Manager\Logs), and found the following proxy error
=============================
SCF change notification triggered. SMS_WSUS_CONFIGURATION_MANAGER 1/1/1601 12:00:00 AM 5408 (0x1520)
This SCCM2012.CORP80.COM system is the Top Site where WSUS Server is configured to Sync from Microsoft Update (WU/MU) OR do not Sync. SMS_WSUS_CONFIGURATION_MANAGER 1/1/1601 12:00:00 AM 5408 (0x1520)
Found WSUS Admin dll of assembly version Microsoft.UpdateServices.Administration, Version=3.0.6000.273, Major Version = 0x30000, Minor Version = 0x17700111 SMS_WSUS_CONFIGURATION_MANAGER 1/1/1601 12:00:00 AM 5408 (0x1520)
Found WSUS Admin dll of assembly version Microsoft.UpdateServices.Administration, Version=3.1.6001.1, Major Version = 0x30001, Minor Version = 0x17710001 SMS_WSUS_CONFIGURATION_MANAGER 1/1/1601 12:00:00 AM 5408 (0x1520)
The installed WSUS build has the valid and supported WSUS Administration DLL assembly version (3.1.7600.226) SMS_WSUS_CONFIGURATION_MANAGER 1/1/1601 12:00:00 AM 5408 (0x1520)
System.Net.WebException: The request failed with HTTP status 502: Proxy Error ( The host was not found. ).~~ at Microsoft.UpdateServices.Administration.AdminProxy.CreateUpdateServer(Object[] args)~~ at Microsoft.UpdateServices.Administration.AdminProxy.GetUpdateServer(String serverName, Boolean useSecureConnection, Int32 portNumber)~~ at Microsoft.SystemsManagementServer.WSUS.WSUSServer.ConnectToWSUSServer(String ServerName, Boolean UseSSL, Int32 PortNumber) SMS_WSUS_CONFIGURATION_MANAGER 1/1/1601 12:00:00 AM 5408 (0x1520)
Remote configuration failed on WSUS Server. SMS_WSUS_CONFIGURATION_MANAGER 1/1/1601 12:00:00 AM 5408 (0x1520)
STATMSG: ID=6600 SEV=E LEV=M SOURCE="SMS Server" COMP="SMS_WSUS_CONFIGURATION_MANAGER" SYS=SCCM2012.corp80.com SITE=CM1 PID=2424 TID=5408 GMTDATE=Fri Oct 14 00:20:03.092 2011 ISTR0="SCCM2012.corp80.com" ISTR1="" ISTR2="" ISTR3="" ISTR4="" ISTR5="" ISTR6="" ISTR7="" ISTR8="" ISTR9="" NUMATTRS=0 SMS_WSUS_CONFIGURATION_MANAGER 1/1/1601 12:00:00 AM 5408 (0x1520)
Waiting for changes for 46 minutes SMS_WSUS_CONFIGURATION_MANAGER 1/1/1601 12:00:00 AM 5408 (0x1520)
I validated that the proxy had been configured correctly and my browser settings also contained the same settings.
Resolution: After spending some time I found that Configuration Manager 2012 uses the system account proxy settings, which were set to Automatically detect settings.
(Post courtesy Bonoshri Sarkar)
Hi everyone, this is Bonoshri Sarkar here. I have worked for Microsoft as Partner Technical Consultant specializing in Directory Services for the past two years; providing end to end consulting to enable partners to design, position, sell and deploy Microsoft Platforms for their customers. In my earlier role, I worked for more than 4 years on the Microsoft Support team focusing on Microsoft Directory Services.
Since I have a great affinity for Directory Services, I thought it would be a great idea to pen down my thoughts and experience on ensuring a smooth Active Directory Upgrade.
For any kind of Upgrade/ Migration / Transition to go smooth, and later on to have an healthy environment, it is required to spend a fair amount of time in planning and making sure that the source or the present environment is in a healthy state. Two driving factors for any upgrade or transition include the need to utilize the new features that the new version of the product has to offer, and the other being to ease the complexities and the issues of the current environment. However, most IT Pros do not take adequate steps to check the health of their existing Active Directory environment. In this post, I would like to address some of the key steps that an AD Administrator must perform prior to an upgrade or transition.
In my experience of assisting customers and partners in different transitions, most of the issues pertain to the source domain or the source domain controllers, so I will discuss few important things which should be considered as mandatory before going for any kind of Upgrade / Migration / Transition.
The health check should be done in 2 phases.
1. Planning Phase
2. Deploy Phase (just before implementing the upgrade, transition or migration)
In the first phase we should identify what all services and roles are running on the machine that we are planning to upgrade, and rule out things that we do not want to move to our new box.
Putting emphasis on diagnosing AD issues, we can use dcdiag to ensure a healthier Active Directory, I know we have been using dcdiag for many years, and we look for failure messages in the output, but apart from the failure messages, we can also consider issues such as those highlighted in yellow below:
If you notice the first part of dcdiag says “failed test replication”, which implies that there are issues with Active Directory replication with this Domain Controller.
The second message tells us that there are issues with netlogon and sysvol which are default logon shares, both the errors can be interdependent or could be because of completely different reasons.
In this scenario we need to fix AD replication first or dig into it more to find what is causing these errors. Now you can use few more commands to check the AD replication like repadmin /syncall /eAP. In case of a huge enterprise, you can also use Replmon (2003).
The third message tells us that the important services are running. We need to be sure that the above services are started to ensure a smooth transition.
If we don’t get enough details from the dcdiag results, check the event viewer, and if you do not see anything restart the FRS service and then check the event viewer for Event ID 13516.
Apart from dcdiag you can also use Netdiag to check the network status and get detailed information.
In addition to this, make sure the NIC card drivers are updated on the old server.
Instead of disabling the hardware or software based firewall between on the servers (old &new), ensure that you make the appropriate exceptions and port configurations to ensure proper communication between the directory servers (see Active Directory and Active Directory Domain Services Port Requirements).
Any third party legacy application(s) should be tested in lab environment to make sure that they are compatible with new version of server OS and Active Directory.
We also have different versions of Exchange BPA (Best Practice Analyzer) tools depending on the version of Exchange to check Exchange integrity and Exchange specific permission (You can select Permission check to gather that information).
Last but not the least read the migration or transition documents (http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc731188(WS.10).aspx) to make sure server has all the minimum requirements.
Once we are sure that the servers are in healthy state do not forget to take a full and a system state backup using a supported backup system as documented in the TechNet article below
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc731188(WS.10).aspx
All these stitches in time would definitely save you nine hours’ worth of troubleshooting. It’s up to you to decide, would you like to troubleshoot or enjoy your Fries with Coke?
A few days back, I configured OS deployment in System Center 2012 Configuration Manager Beta 2 to deploy a Windows 7 Image, which I had captured using Configuration Manager 2007. It was all in a Hyper-V environment so no drivers were to be included in this scenario. I wanted to share an illustrated walkthrough of the process.
A high level overview of the steps taken in Configuration Manager 2012
Step 1 : Add a WDS Role
The Windows Deployment Services role is required on the server where we'll have a distribution point with PXE service enabled.
Step 2: Add a DHCP scope in the network segment where you plan to deploy OS images using network boot.
Step 3: Enable PXE service point on the distribution point
a. Under Administration workspace, go to properties of Distribution Point Role
b. Go to PXE tab and enable PXE service point (circled in picture below)
Step 4: Enable Unknown Computer support
Step 5: Distribute Boot images to the Distribution Point
a. Under Software Library workspace, go to Operating Systems and click on Boot Images
b. Right click on a boot image and select Distribute Content option
c. Click Next on the first page of the wizard
d. On the Content Destination page, click on Add button and select either Distribution Point or Distribution Point Group
e. Select the Distribution Point group or Distribution Point and follow the rest of the wizard
f. Follow the same process for the other boot image as well.
Step 6: Set boot image properties
a. Right click on the boot image and select Properties.
b. Go to Data Source tab and select "Deploy this boot image from the PXE service point"
c. Click OK and follow the same process for the other boot image as well.
Step 7: Added an OS Image and distributed it to the distribution point
a. Under Software Library workspace, go to Operating Systems and right click on Operating System Images
b. Select "Add Operating System Image
c. Locate the OS image file ( .wim extension) on the network and follow the rest of the Wizard providing name and other information
Step 8: Create a Task Sequence
a. Under Software Library > Operating System, right click on Task Sequences and select 'Create Task Sequence' option
b. Select the option to include existing image package and follow the wizard which is similar as in Configuration Manager 2007.
Step 9: Assigned the task sequence to a Collection, under device collections
a. Right click on the desired Task Sequence and select Deploy
b. Select the collection where you need to target the image deployment. For fresh machines you can either choose Unknown computers, OR if you have imported computer information in a separate collection, you can target that.
(Post courtesy Anne Schwarz-Nielsen)
Note: Anne has put together a list of resources on Dynamics AX 2010 that were released over the last month, separated into Selling, Technical, and Training resources. Let us know if this is a useful compilation in the comments!
Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 is the latest release of Microsoft Dynamics AX. The Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 download is a full install and required for new installations or upgrades from previous versions. Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 supports upgrades from Microsoft Dynamics AX 4.0 Service Pack 1 (or higher) or Microsoft Dynamics AX 2009. You can find CU1 here as well.
Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 Landing Page
https://mbs.microsoft.com/partnersource/deployment/resources/productreleases/microsoftdynamicsax2012.htm?printpage=false&sid=5wqhpchn3ypolll5pmb0vbnv&stext=AX 2012
This document provides a summary of new and changed features that are planned to be implemented in Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012.
It also provides deprecated feature notices for features that are planned to be removed in Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 or future versions. Familiarity with Microsoft Dynamics AX or other business management software is assumed.
https://mbs.microsoft.com/partnersource/pricing/announcements/msdyn_newchangeddeprefeaturesax12_en.htm?printpage=false&sid=5wqhpchn3ypolll5pmb0vbnv&stext=AX 2012
The Connector for Microsoft Dynamics Feature Pack 6 provides an integration between Microsoft Dynamics CRM 4.0 (minimum Update Rollup #5) or Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011 and Microsoft Dynamics AX 2009 SP1 or Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012. The downloadable Connector on this web page is specifically designed to integrate Microsoft Dynamics CRM 4.0 or Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011 to Microsoft Dynamics AX 2009 SP1 or Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012.
https://mbs.microsoft.com/partnersource/deployment/resources/productreleases/mdax2009_crmconnector.htm?printpage=false&sid=5wqhpchn3ypolll5pmb0vbnv&stext=AX 2012
The Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 Technical Library is a resource on Microsoft TechNet for IT administrators and application users. It contains information about deploying, configuring, administering, and using Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012.
The Technical Library for Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 includes the following types of information:
https://mbs.microsoft.com/partnersource/deployment/documentation/userguides/ax2012_technicallibraryontechnet.htm?printpage=false&sid=5wqhpchn3ypolll5pmb0vbnv&stext=AX 2012
At this page you can find important information about the new ISV licensing framework, and you can find a link to best practices for application layers.
https://mbs.microsoft.com/partnersource/isvsolutions/news/ax2012_isvlayer.htm?printpage=false&sid=5wqhpchn3ypolll5pmb0vbnv&stext=AX 2012
This series of white papers is related to Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 code upgrade. The following white papers are included in the series:
https://mbs.microsoft.com/partnersource/deployment/documentation/whitepapers/ax2012_codeupgradewhitepapers.htm?printpage=false&sid=ahslhang5tptviezpwuerls5&stext=2012
Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 introduces many new developer features and technologies that were not available in previous releases. Additionally, changes introduced in Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 update a number of existing developer features and technologies. This document describes new and changed developer features for Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012.
https://mbs.microsoft.com/partnersource/deployment/documentation/installationandsetup/ax2012_whatsnewdevelopers.htm?printpage=false&sid=ahslhang5tptviezpwuerls5&stext=2012
This white paper describes best practices for shared Application Object Server (AOS) development environments. Many partners create solutions in an environment in which multiple development clients connect to a single shared AOS. A shared AOS development environment can produce unpredictable results unless the guidelines in this document are followed.
https://mbs.microsoft.com/partnersource/deployment/documentation/whitepapers/ax2012_developingsolutionsinsharedaoswhitepaper.htm?printpage=false&sid=ahslhang5tptviezpwuerls5&stext=2012
This paper describes how to create and apply XDS policies to filter financial data by dimension value. Dimension value fields provide a common method of filtering a wide range of financial data. This paper describes how to create and apply XDS policies to filter financial data by dimension value.
https://mbs.microsoft.com/partnersource/deployment/documentation/whitepapers/ax2012_securingdatabydimensionvaluewithxdswhitepaper.htm?printpage=false&sid=ahslhang5tptviezpwuerls5&stext=2012
This paper describes how to use the Microsoft Dynamics AX Data Upgrade Framework and how to write data upgrade scripts for customer upgrade data models (Microsoft Dynamics AX tables). The Data Upgrade Framework can be used to perform data correction or data transformation.
https://mbs.microsoft.com/partnersource/deployment/documentation/whitepapers/ax2012_howtowritedataupgradescripts.htm?printpage=false&sid=ahslhang5tptviezpwuerls5&stext=2012
This document provides prescriptive guidance to system architects, consultants, and IT professionals who are involved with planning a Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 implementation. Topics include Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 architecture, implementation methodology, and hardware and software requirements and planning.
https://mbs.microsoft.com/partnersource/deployment/documentation/installationandsetup/ax2012_implementationplanningguide.htm?printpage=false&sid=ahslhang5tptviezpwuerls5&stext=2012
This download contains the UpgradeScripts.chm file, which describes the functionality of the data upgrade scripts implemented by Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 within the Microsoft layer (sys, gls). Data upgrade scripts are executed as part of the data upgrade process to upgrade data from a source Microsoft Dynamics AX database to Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012. The documentation contains script information organized by class and method name. You might find the following cross-reference topics useful when upgrading your data:
https://mbs.microsoft.com/partnersource/deployment/documentation/whitepapers/ax2012_upgradescriptreference.htm?printpage=false&sid=ahslhang5tptviezpwuerls5&stext=2012
On this page you’ll find demo tools and materials which you can use to help familiarize yourself with the new application functionality and enhancements available in the Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 release.
https://mbs.microsoft.com/partnersource/marketing/marketingcollateral/demos/ax2012demotoolsmaterials.htm?printpage=false&sid=5wqhpchn3ypolll5pmb0vbnv&stext=AX 2012
Now it’s time to learn how to use this new model! One of the key strengths of Microsoft Dynamics AX2012 is its focus on individual roles and their needs. We are connecting our role-tailored design to our simple licensing model, ensuring that customers buy the exact licenses required to meet the needs of their individual users.
https://mbs.microsoft.com/partnersource/partneressentials/licensingpolicies/msdax2012newpricinglicensingmodel.htm?printpage=false&sid=ahslhang5tptviezpwuerls5&stext=licensing
Find the enclosed a complete list of Menu Items per User Client Access License (CAL) designed to facilitate your understanding and mapping of Role-tailored tasks to User CAL types in Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012.
https://mbs.microsoft.com/partnersource/partneressentials/guides/msdyax2012_menuitemmapping.htm?printpage=false&sid=ahslhang5tptviezpwuerls5&stext=2012
Find the latest information about operations and AX, for instance how to get an evaluation edition, and how to get your partner license.
https://mbs.microsoft.com/partnersource/ordering/orderingnews/msdax2012operationsupdate.htm?printpage=false&sid=5wqhpchn3ypolll5pmb0vbnv&stext=AX 2012
With Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 Pricing and Licensing, customers have the ability to “exchange” a User CAL for a higher level User CAL by paying the difference between those two User CALs at current pricing. This process is called “Step-up”.
This page explains how a Step-up is calculated and is intended to help partners to understand:
https://mbs.microsoft.com/partnersource/deployment/documentation/howtoarticles/msd_ax2012stepupcalculationinformation.htm?printpage=false&sid=ahslhang5tptviezpwuerls5&stext=2012
A very handy excel sheet that quickly lists availability for Ax 2009 and AX 2012
https://mbs.microsoft.com/partnersource/newsevents/news/msdyax_availabilitylocalizationtranslation.htm?printpage=false&sid=ahslhang5tptviezpwuerls5&stext=2012
Microsoft Dynamics ERP RapidStart Services allows organizations to easily configure business processes and modules thru an intuitive interview style questionnaire. Organizations can answer questions specific to their business processes and based on the responses to questions the necessary records for those business processes are created. Time of configure Microsoft Dynamics ERP can be greatly reduced, allowing organizations to spend time on value add services.
https://mbs.microsoft.com/partnersource/deployment/resources/productreleases/MSDY_Rapid_Start?r=5&l=2
This guide is intended to walk you through the installation components that need to be deployed on the Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 installation to connect RapidStart Services to the target Dynamics AX 2012 instance.
https://mbs.microsoft.com/partnersource/deployment/documentation/installationandsetup/msdy_rapidstartconfigureprojectsguide.htm?printpage=false&sid=ahslhang5tptviezpwuerls5&stext=2012
This guide is intended to walk you through the steps of activating RapidStart Services for your organization, defining users and user roles, and the installation components that need to be deployed on the Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 installation to connect RapidStart Services to the target Dynamics AX 2012 instance.
https://mbs.microsoft.com/partnersource/deployment/documentation/userguides/msdy_rapidstartservicesguide.htm?printpage=false&sid=ahslhang5tptviezpwuerls5&stext=2012
This document gives an overview of how to use the kanban framework in Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 to support lean manufacturing and pull-based manufacturing scenarios. It introduces the concepts of kanbans as a signal and kanban rules as supply policies, describes how to model pull scenarios, and provides application examples.
https://mbs.microsoft.com/partnersource/deployment/documentation/whitepapers/ax2012_leanmanufacturingkanbanandpullbasedwhitepaper.htm?printpage=false&sid=ahslhang5tptviezpwuerls5&stext=2012