How do I know if I have all the required hotfixes on Windows Server 2008 to be supported for a OpsMgr agent?
Given the recent support of Server 2008 with an OpsMgr 2007 agent.... (see Announcing OpsMgr support for Windows Server 2008)
We need a good way to determine if all of our Server 2008 machines have the required hot-fixes.
We can do this by creating a Extended Class, and adding attributes to it from WMI queries. Sounds more complicated than it is. Let's get started:
In the authoring pane, create a new attribute. The name of each attribute will be the KB article number we are looking for.... and this will show up as a column in a new state view. I'll use KB951116 as the first example:
The discovery type will be "WMI Query". For the Target - we will pick "Windows Server 2008 Computer". Since this is a Class from a sealed MP - it will replace the target with the same name and add "_Extended". Lets go ahead and Name this extension with a little more detail.... so I am going to add "_QFE" to it.
Lastly - pick a Management Pack to place this extended attribute in... and name it according to your Company management pack naming standard. (you DO have a management pack naming standard - don't you???)
Namespace: root\cimv2
Query: select * from win32_quickfixengineering where HotFixID = 'KB951116'
Property Name (case sensitive): HotFixID
Frequency: 86400 seconds (1 once per day)
Click Finish.
Now - repeat the process.... for Each KB you want to see -
Give the next attribute a new name of the next KB number.
Target the new extended class this time (don't build a new extended class each time or you wont be able to see all KB's in a single view)
Modify the query for the new KB number.
When you are done - you can create a new State View - and scope it to your new Extended class
Now click the display tab - and only add the columns that make sense for this view - like the "Name" and then the KB columns:
It makes a simple view:
Now we can create a group... to show us ANY servers missing ANY required hotfixes.... and which hotfixes they need.... by targeting our new Extended class - and inserting an OR clause for all the KB's. Any missing KB's will be blank for the attribute property - so we use a "Does Not Equal" clause in this example:
Then right click the group - and show group members......
Now - we can add a new State view - and scope it to this new group:
Voila! We have a view that will only show us Server 2008 machines - and which hotfix they are missing... because it will be blank in the list.
The following pic - is missing a fake KB111111 I made up to test this:
If you desire more re-active methods.... you could write a script to alert you when a server was missing a hotfix... or even cooler - use a WMI performance Monitor to compare the queried value to what it should be... then you can have a state view and alerting based on these monitors.
