Marc Umeno's Blog : SCCM System Center

Service Manager Test Drive Available Now

mumeno — Mon, 04 May 2009 21:06:08 GMT

I have exciting news to share!

We have a Service Manager Test Drive preview of Beta 2 available to try out now. It’s on hosted VMs, so all you need to do is log in with your Windows Live ID and start playing with it.

The VMs have all of the same sample data we used in our demonstrations at the Microsoft Management Summit. You will be able to evaluate the core Incident, Change, and Configuration Management features, as well as integration with Active Directory, System Center Configuration Manager and System Center Operations Manager. There is also some sample data for a few reports available in the Test Drive.

Please check it out and let us know what you think – you can post feedback and questions in the Service Manager TechNet forum.

Desired Configuration Management Integration in Service Manager Beta 1

mumeno — Wed, 21 Jan 2009 10:34:09 GMT

System Center Configuration Manager 2007(SCCM) has introduced a valuable feature, Desired Configuration Management (DCM), that enables assessment of client configuration compliance with specified configuration baselines. With Service Manager Beta 1, we have introduced integration with DCM where incidents are created for out-of-compliance clients.

We do this by collecting DCM non-compliance data using the SCCM connector and then continuously running a Service Manager workflow that creates incidents for non-compliant SCCM clients. You decide which specific DCM Baselines and DCM CIs generate incidents.

To initiate DCM incidents, you must create an connector to an SCCM site that is using the DCM feature. Next, select the Incident Settings view and start configuring the Desired Configuration Management settings using the Configure Workflow task.

This launches a dialog where all DCM workflows are managed:

The Add button launches the Add Desired Configuration Management Workflow wizard.

You can select DCM baselines and DCM CIs to include in the workflow – for each client that has a non-compliant report, an incident will be created. You can apply a pre-configured template and notification rules for the workflow as well. Once you have configured your first DCM workflow, incidents will be created for any current non-compliant clients. After the first DCM workflows are run, incidents will only be created for new non-compliant issues.

Note: You should be careful about which DCM Baselines and CIs you choose to create incidents – for example, if you choose DCM CIs that describe software update non-compliance, you could potentially generate an incident for each unpatched computer in your SCCM site, which could result in thousands of excess incidents.

Newly-created DCM incidents can be viewed in the Work Items –> Incident Management –> All Open DCM Incidents view.

DCM incident forms have a special Compliance Errors tab that adds additional details about the affected SCCM computer, including computer owner, computer name, DCM baseline, DCM scan date, and details from the DCM report about why the computer was non-compliant.

Once DCM incidents are created, they can managed like any other incidents in Service Manager.

Servicing Offline VMs with SCVMM and SCCM

mumeno — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 11:51:25 GMT

We just released a whitepaper around servicing offline VMs using SCVMM and SCCM.

Download details are here:

https://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=c5abb19e-15b1-4692-b465-393584c592a0&displaylang=en

Direct Download file from here:

http://download.microsoft.com/download/d/1/0/d10ecad6-3de9-4bb2-bbc4-4f8d5c487b66/VMMLibraryPatching.zip

There will be more to come on this subject from us in the future, but this is a great start for realizing the combined value of System Center products.

Software Updates Management Whitepaper Published for Transition from SMS 2003 to System Center Configuration Manager 2007

mumeno — Wed, 31 Oct 2007 21:12:56 GMT

I am pleased to announce that we have just published a whitepaper that provides guidance for customers transitioning from SMS 2003 Patch Management to System Center Configuration Manager 2007 Software Updates Management.

You can download the paper from here:

http://download.microsoft.com/download/d/8/6/d861e149-76f7-4348-89aa-7f3d9777f5ae/Configuration Manager Software Updates Management Guidance - Migration from ITMU.doc

Here is a description:

While the release of System Center Configuration Manager 2007 has been accompanied by robust functional and procedural product documentation, the integration of WSUS introduced two additional challenges:

¾ Successful migration of SMS 2003 environments to Configuration Manager while maintaining the existing software update levels of service.

¾ Clarifying a dramatic shift in a fundamental process in the minds of experienced SMS 2003 administrators.

This whitepaper provides guidance on how to migrate software update management from SMS 2003 to Configuration Manager, how to operate in the transition period while maintaining ongoing software update deployments for both SMS 2003 and Configuration Manager clients, and best practices for managing software updates using Configuration Manager.

This document assumes that the reader has experience with both SMS 2003 and the Inventory Tool for Microsoft Updates (ITMU). Additionally, it is beneficial for the reader to be familiar with the operational processes associated with enterprise software update management.