With the recent Beta 2 release of Configuration Manager 2007, we can now share with you our work on how we've been restructuring and redesigning our documentation so that it works better for you when you need it most (our "right content at the right time...

We had a lot of customers ask what happens when a branch distribution point that’s running on a workstation-class computer exceeds the maximum number of 10 concurrent sessions. The 10 concurrent sessions is a limitation of the operating system, and not...

My last post explained that I was updating the documentation for the unsupported scenario of combining Internet-based client management and branch distribution points. I don’t usually write on software distribution, but while I had cracked open...

The Configuration Manager Documentation Library online contains a ton of information, but finding that information can sometimes be a challenge. If you use the search bar on the actual TechNet page, your search results will contain many links to information...

A number of customers have been having problems deploying the native mode certificates with Active Directory Certificate Services in Windows Server 2008, not least because the Web enrollment pages no longer allow you to request a certificate for the local...

While you’ve been getting to grips with the new features and options in Configuration Manager, I’ve been busy learning about yet another great feature coming out in SP1 – out of band management. "Out of band" here means management below the operating...

This is the final part of my round-up to date of FAQs and gotchas for native mode and Internet-based client management that I hope will help you be successful with these features. Tips, tricks and hints covered: Part 1 of 3 You can’t...

I’ve been seeing quite a few customer questions about not being able to select the branch distribution point option for a Configuration Manager site system – the option is disabled in the distribution point properties, but without any explanation. Most...

Recently, I’ve been working on the documentation set for a great new feature in the upcoming Configuration Manager 2007 R2, client status reporting. What’s client status reporting, you might ask? Those of you who’ve been around since SMS 2003 days...

It’s pretty well known now that in order to use the exciting Internet-based client management feature in Configuration Manager 2007, the site needs to be operating in native mode. This requires PKI certificates, which is a new juncture for many administrators...

We've had an interesting conundrum lately when our “localizers” were translating System Center Configuration Manager 2007 (aka “ConfigMgr”). It turns out that "state" translates to exactly the same word as "status" in most languages. For example, when...

We’ve recently unearthed a few terms you might come across that are related to desired configuration management and don't have any explanation in the documentation. If you’ve never seen these terms (and they are fairly well hidden), then this post is...

Before beginning the upgrade process to Configuration Manager 2007 SP1, the Windows AIK 1.0 should be uninstalled from the SMS Provider computer for the site to allow SP1 Setup to install Windows AIK 1.1 to support SP1 OSD WIM images. If the Windows...

Since the November release, my writing time has been devoted to the new “out of band management” feature in SP1, but I’ve also spent a lot of time helping customers install and test native mode and Internet-based client management in both test and production...

My previous post warned you that our documented Step-By-Step Example Deployment of the PKI Certificates Required for Configuration Manager Native Mode would not be sufficient for when you come to creating certificates for Internet-based site systems....

We’ve had a couple of folks from the field ask this question, worried that the port number displayed in DNS as a result of automatically publishing the default management point was symptomatic of a configuration problem. Worse, was it a security issue...

It’s recently come to our notice from the forums that we need to clarify the WSUSUtil.exe configuressl command that’s run when configuring the WSUS Web site to use SSL. Although this topic was updated for the August 2008 documentation update to include...

If this title means nothing to you, then this blog entry is not for you. However, if you were a beta customer for Configuration Manager 2007 and delved into native mode configuration, then the title might strike a chord. If this is the case, read on....

In response to customers on the forums, we've been looking into ISA configuration for the Internet-based software update point. The following steps detail how Adam got this working on ISA 2006, and we will request that the ISA documentation How to Configure...

It’s recently come to our attention that if you are using certificate selection criteria with certificate attributes that include spaces, the spaces can be stripped out and so certificate selection for a valid certificate will fail. Certificate selection...

This is a question I was asked recently on our TechNet forums, from a customer who had successfully migrated 8 sites to native mode. He found that if he uninstalled the management point, migrated the site, then reinstalled the management point –...

This is the second part of my round-up to date of FAQs and gotchas for native mode and Internet-based client management that I hope will help you be successful with these features. Tips, tricks and hints covered: Part 1 of 3 You can’t...

As many of you know, the current network diagrams for the Internet-based client management scenarios do not include port information required to install the site systems or install packages. Thank you to everybody who contacted us about this and your...

The Release 2 add-on for Configuration Manager 2007 SP1 is released today. Keep an eye on it being announced on the System Center Configuration Manager 2007 Web site with details of how to download it. R2 is available free of charge to customers...

I am very excited to announce the release of the Software Updates Synchronization SuperFlow! This is the first publically released SuperFlow and the first one in a set of Configuration Manager SuperFlows that we will be releasing. You can download the...