Install System Center Configuration Manager version 1702/1704 #SCCM #Sysctr

In the past 6 months I haven’t done much with SCCM only sideways jobs but with all the new features in the Preview Branch SCCM will survive the Cloud. as it moves more and more to the cloud and integrates with it. As I build a fresh lab environment with all the latest updates and previews. As I broke my previous lab environment ( FUBAR – Fucked up beyond all repair) So Becarefull when you upgrade your machine make backup/ snapshots. Or just start over. this could be a learn full process also you may want to get things faster easier and before you know it you spend weeks on everything except on the SCCM blog post.

https://robertsmit.wordpress.com/

Well as I did take my time to write this blog post there is already a new version the 1704 for the Technical Preview Branch of System Center Configuration Manager. The installation process is the same. For more info about the 1704 build checkout the two links below,

https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/sccm/core/get-started/capabilities-in-technical-preview-1704

https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/sccm/core/get-started/technical-preview

New features in the 1704 version are:

  • Improvements to operating system deployment
  • Reload boot images with current Windows PE version
  • Configure Android apps with app configuration policies
  • Add child task sequences to a task sequence
  • Hardware inventory collects Secure Boot information

New features in the 1702 version are:

  • Azure Active Directory Domain Services support – You can install a ConfigMgr site on an Azure virtual machine that is connected to Azure Active Directory Domain Services, and use the site to manage other Azure virtual machines connected to the same domain.
  • Improvements for in-console search – Based on User Voice feedback, we have added several improvements to in-console search, including searching by Object Path, preservation of search text and preservation of your decision to search sub-nodes.
  • Windows Update for Business integration – You can now implement Windows Update for Business assessment results as part of Conditional Access compliance policy conditional rules.
  • Customize high-risk deployment warning – You can now customize the Software Center warning when running a high-risk deployment, such as a task sequence to install a new operating system. The default string regarding data may not apply in scenarios like in-place upgrade.
  • Close executable files at the deadline when they would block application installation – If executable files are listed on the Install Behavior tab for a deployment type and the application is deployed to a collection as required, then a more intrusive notification experience is provided to inform the user, and the specified executable files will be closed automatically at the deadline.

This release also includes the following improvements for customers using System Center Configuration Manager connected with Microsoft Intune to manage mobile devices:

  • Non-Compliant Apps Compliance Settings – Add iOS and Android applications to a non-compliant apps rule in a compliance policy to trigger conditional access if the devices have those applications installed.
  • PFX Certificate Creation and Distribution and S/MIME Support – Admins can create and deploy PFX certificates to users.  These certificates can then be used for S/MIME encryption and decryption by devices that the user has enrolled.
  • Android for Work Support – You can now manage Android for Work devices. This enables you to enroll devices, approve and deploy apps, and configure policies for Android for Work devices.

Update 1702 for Technical Preview Branch is available in the Configuration Manager console. For new installations please use the 1610 baseline version of Configuration Manager Technical and upgrade from this.

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To get the Updates go to the cloud services  and check for updates. this could take a whale.

 

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But when the Update is arrived you can update the SCCM version. I choose for the test first and do later the Update. Just to make sure I don’t wreck the SCCM server directly. and as always in SCCM there are plenty of log files. 

 

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As showing the Progress in the GUI you can check every step. So installing this is just easy and I did first the prereqs check and then when installing there is no point off doing the check again therefor there is a little checkbox.

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As you can see I can select the options but If you can’t no problem you can do this later. just go to the Hierarchy Setting Properties, under General, check the box “Consent to use Pre-Release features“. Furthermore once you decide to use these features and enable it, you cannot undo the changes. So if you have decided to use these features, check the box, click Apply and OK. And every preview is only valid for 90 days so once updated you need to go with the updates every time.

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I don’t have a preview collection everything is already test so start the installation.

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The installation is taking some time so don’t worry it things are going that fast.

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When opening the console again the console does his upgrade to the new version.

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After this the new Version is installed and ready for testing. But for this testing you may need to install some other updates than SCCM what about the ADK version for the new Windows 10 deployments ?

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While upgrading do the Update from the ADK also Download Windows ADK for Windows 10 Version 1703

What’s new in ADK kits and tools

Windows Configuration Designer

Previously known as Windows Imaging and Configuration Designer (ICD), the tool for creating provisioning packages is renamed Windows Configuration Designer. Windows Configuration Designer in Windows 10, version 1703, includes several new wizards to make it easier to create provisioning packages.

And even this simple installation It has some prereq’s to to.
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To see the newest unattended settings, go to Changed answer file settings for Windows 10 for desktop editions.

 

 

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Better together System Center 2016 with Windows Server 2016 And SQL Server 2016 #SQL #SCVMM #Winserv

For installing System Center 2016 with Windows Server 2016 And SQL Server 2016 We need several Steps. As this will be a first step in deploying VMM this blog will cover the basic install of VMM. In case you need more just let me know and I’ll post the unattended files.

First install a Windows Server 2016 Server and as I use a single Server as VMM Server I install Also SQL Server 2016 on this server. This is not real best practice but in my demo this is no issue.  For installation I used the 5 minute install option https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SrHfPZcPsko

All based on a unattended file.

Now that the SQL server 2016 and the windows server 2016 are in place we start the Setup of VMM 2016

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To start with the 2016 products this is the place to be https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/evalcenter/evaluate-system-center-technical-preview

System Center Evaluations

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These first few steps are easy just press next. but for the ADK kit you need the latest version!

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So where can I find this version? just go to the System Center Evaluations site and download the kit there

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here are the links for downloading the kit

https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/hardware/dn913721.aspx

https://insider.windows.com/

in case you are a insider you can download the kit there.

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You only need to install the Deployment tools and the Windows PE items.

After the installation of the Windows Assessment deployment toolkit recheck the installation of the VMM server.

Again a new missing software component  the SQL Command line utility

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Get the utility’s here download and install them

https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=36433

Microsoft® Command Line Utilities 11 for Microsoft SQL Server®

    The SQLCMD utility allows users to connect to, send Transact-SQL batches from, and output rowset information from SQL Server instances. The bcp utility bulk copies data between an instance of Microsoft SQL Server and a data file in a user-specified format. The bcp utility can be used to import large numbers of new rows into SQL Server tables or to export data out of tables into data files.


Microsoft® ODBC Driver 11 for Microsoft SQL Server® – Windows

    The Microsoft ODBC Driver for SQL Server provides native connectivity from Windows to Microsoft SQL Server and Windows Azure SQL Database.


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in the utility’s there is another download that you will need for the installation. In the setup I noticed that you can better abort the setup and start again now with all the prereqs in place

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Use the SQL Server 2016 with a new Database Use a service account to handle the user rights or use the system account. But better and more secure is using a Service account. Ad this point I also want my SQL management studio As it is not best practice to install the studio  on the SQL server 2016 I need to download this for my later blog items. As it is not default installed in SQL server2016

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After restarting the System Center Virtual Machine Manager setup every thing is fine follow the wizard and fill in the blanks. Store the distributed key in the Active directory and use a different service account to run the VMM services.

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Now that the Setup is complete You can run the VMM console.

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But running all items on one server you may need a service adjustment. When rebooting the server and starting the SQL services the VMM services may fail to start. So in this case I use a delay starting of the vmm services just in case.

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So now that the VMM console is in place you can build the other components and  configure the SCVMM server for optimal usage.

 

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How to use VMM Network Builder #scvmm #azure #cloud #winserv #NBT

 

Anjay Ajodha and Matt McGlynn are Program Manager Interns on the System Center VMM team.

They spent their summer analyzing customer pain points regarding networking in VMM and have developed a small tool that should help ease the frustration with setting up VLAN-isolated networks in VMM. To help you get started quickly with networking in VMM and to simplify the process of creating new networks, we have created a UI add-in.

An entire basic networking setup can be created with this tool that can either be applied to hosts directly or used as a generic networking object base to be modified for customization to your configuration. VMM Network Builder compresses the steps required to build a logical switch. This tool will create networks that utilize VLAN isolation and is not purposed for creating NVGRE networking configurations.

and this is to bad the creation of a NVGRE network is often not easy.

Download the VMM Network Builder tool here : http://www.microsoft.com/en-my/download/details.aspx?id=43975

An quick installer Takes you to the next step. You need to import the Console or just run this from the installation folder.

 

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import add in console in the settings you can pick the import console add in.

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Normally you would go to the installer folder but now the .Zip is on your desktop odd place ( I was looking in the installed folder )

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After the import there is an extra Icon in the title bar “ build a network “

 

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Starting the VMM Network Builder

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I already have a management Network and the VMM Network Builder won’t create a second one.

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I’ll pick my creative name VMMBAD VMM Builder Address Device

 

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Create a IP pool and a if you want a static pool.

 

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then make a choice, I’ll pick to a host.

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I pick a host for this network.

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And in VMM you can see this network as created, with the vlan and the IP subnets

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A lot more options are in the tool. Play with the tools and maybe it is the right thing for you.

Download the VMM Network Builder tool here : http://www.microsoft.com/en-my/download/details.aspx?id=43975

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System Center All Up: http://blogs.technet.com/b/systemcenter/

System Center – Configuration Manager Support Team blog: http://blogs.technet.com/configurationmgr/
System Center – Data Protection Manager Team blog: http://blogs.technet.com/dpm/
System Center – Orchestrator Support Team blog: http://blogs.technet.com/b/orchestrator/
System Center – Operations Manager Team blog: http://blogs.technet.com/momteam/
System Center – Service Manager Team blog: http://blogs.technet.com/b/servicemanager

System Center – Virtual Machine Manager Team blog: http://blogs.technet.com/scvmm

Windows Intune: http://blogs.technet.com/b/windowsintune/

WSUS Support Team blog: http://blogs.technet.com/sus/

The AD RMS blog: http://blogs.technet.com/b/rmssupp/

App-V Team blog: http://blogs.technet.com/appv/

MED-V Team blog: http://blogs.technet.com/medv/
Server App-V Team blog: http://blogs.technet.com/b/serverappv

The Forefront Endpoint Protection blog : http://blogs.technet.com/b/clientsecurity/
The Forefront Identity Manager blog : http://blogs.msdn.com/b/ms-identity-support/
The Forefront TMG blog: http://blogs.technet.com/b/isablog/
The Forefront UAG blog: http://blogs.technet.com/b/edgeaccessblog/

Advisor Limited Public Preview #Advisor #cloud #Scom #ch9

At Teched 2014 NA a new preview was launched the Advisor Limited Public Preview’ service. If you don’t have an account you can create one here

https://preview.systemcenteradvisor.com/

More info is below on the Channel 9 site :

 

clip_image001VIDEOS

Advisor Preview 2min Overview Video: http://aka.ms/unrpst

Advisor Preview Onboarding Steps Video: http://aka.ms/Lgt2zu

Advisor Preview TechEd announcement Video: http://aka.ms/Aulpqc

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There are some great new features to test these are not default there you need to add them

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Below is a nice overview of the rules that you can switch on or off.

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Go for the preview

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Update Rollup 2 for System Center 2012 R2 Virtual Machine Manager #scvmm #winserv #azure #cloud

There is a UR 2 Released for The System Center 2012 Stack. And as in UR1 read the Installation instructions not only install the update but also apply the SQL script to the Database.  There is a huge list of fixed in SCVMM but also for the other System center product a lots of fixes and even if you use the Azure Pack you will get a nice list with updates.

The Script can be found here : http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2932926 

 

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Important After you install the update package, you must apply the following SQL script on your Virtual Machine Manager Microsoft SQL Server database for Update Rollup 2 to function correctly.

Update Rollup 2 for System Center 2012 R2 Virtual Machine Manager resolves the following issues:

  • Files cannot be found on a network-attached storage device that uses NetApp storage and Server Message Block version 3 (SMBv3) protocol.
  • After an account’s password is changed, the Scale-Out File Server provider goes into a "not responding" state.
  • VMM wipes the System Access Control List (SACL) configurations on ports.
  • When an uplink profile’s name contains the "or" string, VMM console cannot show its details when it adds the uplink profile to a logical switch.
  • Dynamic disks cannot be used as pass-through disks.
  • When you create a standard virtual switch on a host without selecting the Allow management operating system to share this network adapter check box, the virtual switch is created. However, the virtual switch still binds to the host unexpectedly.
  • Network address translation (NAT) uses port number 49152 or a larger number, which Windows prohibits from being used by NAT.
  • When a virtual machine IP address type is static Out-of-Band and there is no IP address pool that is associated with the virtual machine network or the logical network, migration is complete with multiple errors.
  • If a highly available virtual machine is migrated from one node to another node by using Failover Cluster Manager, you receive an error message that indicates the absence of VHD files.
  • Some performance issues in VMM.
  • Connection with Operations Manager fails in a non-English environment.
  • After you upgrade VMM from System Center 2012 Service Pack 1 (SP1) to System Center 2012 R2, VLAN settings disappear and cannot be saved in the virtual machine.
  • Virtualization gateway could not be discovered by management packs.
  • The New-SCPhysicalComputerProfile Windows PowerShell cmdlet fails with a NullReferenceException exception.
  • Assume that you put a host into maintenance mode. When any highly available virtual machines cannot evacuate successfully, they are put into a saved state instead of into task failures.
  • Assume that you have a computer that is running VMware ESX Server to host virtual machines. Additionally, assume that cumulative progress for many applications, scripts or actions (that is reported by guest agent) becomes large. In this situation, all deployments time out, as the guest agent cannot communicate to the server successfully.
  • You cannot deploy a service template to VMware ESX 5.1 hosts. Additionally, you receive an error 22042 and a TimeoutWhileWaitingForVmToBootException (609) exception.
  • When you migrate a virtual machine together with Out-of-Band checkpoints, database corruption occurs.
  • Pass-through disks are not updated correctly in the database after they are refreshed from an Out-of-Band migration.
  • Assume that hosts establish a Common Information Model (CIM) session that can send policies to the host after the Hyper-V Network Virtualization initialization. Additionally, assume that a policy-sending activity is initiated before the CIM session creation is completed. In this situation, policies are stuck in the sending queue, and the host does not receive any Hyper-V Network Virtualization policies.
  • Communication is broken in Hyper-V Network Virtualization.
  • When you use a same user name for Run As Accounts in guest customization, a conflict occurs.
  • You cannot use a parameter together with .sql scripts for a Run As Account during a service installation.
  • You deploy a template that uses empty classification to a cloud. However, the template does not respect storage classifications that are set on the cloud.
  • When Windows Server fast file copy cannot deploy files successfully, the Background Intelligent Transfer Service (BITS) fallback task continues using the fast file copy credentials.

 

To manually download the update packages from Microsoft Update Catalog, go to one of the following download websites, as appropriate:

Data Protection Manager (KB2958100)

DownloadDownload the Orchestrator package now.

DownloadDownload the Service Manager package now.

Service Provider Foundation (KB 2932939)
DownloadDownload the Service Provider Foundation package now.

System Center Hashtags like #cloud

System Center: #sysctr
System Center App Controller: #appctrl
System Center Virtual Machine Manager: #vmm
System Center Service Manager: #scsm
System Center Operations Manager: #scom
System Center Data Protection Manager: #dpm
System Center Orchestrator: #sco
System Center Advisor: #scadvisor
System Center Configuration Manager: #configmgr
System Center Azure: #azure
System Center Windows Azure Pack: #wap

System Center Updates and Blog post #sysctr #cloud #wapack #azure

Below is a great fresh list of Blog post and two new KB articles and a couple of great blog post from the  @Building_Clouds Series. See all the blog post below. Enjoy !

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KB Articles

 

Product

Title

Forefront Identity Manager

Hotfix rollup (build 4.3.1082.0) is available for the Generic LDAP connector for Forefront Identity Manager (2936070)

Virtual Machine Manager

Hotfix vEthernet network adapter properties cannot be managed in SCVMM 2012 R2 (2922827)

 

 

Blog Posts

 

Product

Title

Building Clouds

Contoso Labs-Storage Purchasing (File Servers)

Building Clouds

Introducing Virtual Desktop Infrastructure Starter Kit (VDI SK) v1.0 Preview – Part 1

Building Clouds

Introducing Virtual Desktop Infrastructure Starter Kit (VDI SK) v1.0 Preview – Part 2

Building Clouds

Contoso Labs-Storage Purchasing (SAS config)

Building Clouds

Automation–The New World of Tenant Provisioning with Windows Azure Pack (Part 4): Automated Deployment of Tenant Workloads

Building Clouds

Contoso Labs-Network Purchasing (Vendor)

Building Clouds

Automation–The New World of Tenant Provisioning with Windows Azure Pack (Part 5): Working with the SQL Server resource provider, and the ITIL dilemma

Configuration Manager

Support Tip: SMSExec crashes after modifying the Maximum Number of Retries setting in ConfigMgr 2012 R2

Configuration Manager

Announcement: Update for Configuration Manager Clients for Mac Computers

Configuration Manager

Support Announcements for March 2014

Forefront Identity Manager

Hotfix rollup (build 4.3.1082.0) is available for the Generic LDAP connector for Forefront Identity Manager

In the Cloud

Recap: 2014 Hosting Summit

In the Cloud

Success with Hybrid Cloud: Getting Deep – Hyper-V Recovery Manager

Operations Manager

Support Tip: Operations Manager agents on Windows Server 2012 R2 show as grayed out

Service Manager

Monitoring and troubleshooting in Service Management Automation

Service Manager

Improving AD Connector Performance

System Center

Using Azure backup with DPM

Virtual Machine Manager

HOTFIX: The vEthernet network adapter properties cannot be managed in SCVMM 2012 R2

WSUS/Security

March 2014 Security Bulletin Webcast and Q&A

WSUS/Security

Configuring WSUS 6.x for Network Load Balancing (NLB)

WSUS/Security

Considerations for multiple WSUS instances sharing a content database when using System Center Configuration Manager, but without Network Load Balancing (NLB)

 

 

Want to join the twitter list or don’t know what the hastags are from the system center Products.

System Center Hashtags like #cloud

System Center: #sysctr
System Center App Controller:
#appctrl
System Center Virtual Machine Manager:
#vmm
System Center Service Manager:
#scsm
System Center Operations Manager:
#scom
System Center Data Protection Manager:
#dpm
System Center Orchestrator:
#sco
System Center Advisor:
#scadvisor
System Center Configuration Manager:
#configmgr
System Center Azure:
#azure
System Center Windows Azure Pack:
#wap

System Center All Up: http://blogs.technet.com/b/systemcenter/

System Center – Configuration Manager Support Team blog: http://blogs.technet.com/configurationmgr/
System Center – Data Protection Manager Team blog:
http://blogs.technet.com/dpm/
System Center – Orchestrator Support Team blog:
http://blogs.technet.com/b/orchestrator/
System Center – Operations Manager Team blog:
http://blogs.technet.com/momteam/
System Center – Service Manager Team blog:
http://blogs.technet.com/b/servicemanager

System Center – Virtual Machine Manager Team blog: http://blogs.technet.com/scvmm

Windows Intune: http://blogs.technet.com/b/windowsintune/

WSUS Support Team blog: http://blogs.technet.com/sus/

The AD RMS blog: http://blogs.technet.com/b/rmssupp/

App-V Team blog: http://blogs.technet.com/appv/

MED-V Team blog: http://blogs.technet.com/medv/
Server App-V Team blog:
http://blogs.technet.com/b/serverappv

The Forefront Endpoint Protection blog : http://blogs.technet.com/b/clientsecurity/
The Forefront Identity Manager blog :
http://blogs.msdn.com/b/ms-identity-support/
The Forefront TMG blog:
http://blogs.technet.com/b/isablog/
The Forefront UAG blog:
http://blogs.technet.com/b/edgeaccessblog/

Update Rollup 1 for System Center 2012 R2 #scvmm #winserv #syctr

There are some updates for SCVMM,SCOM,SCDMP the easy method is by windows update But did you read the KB ?

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If you do read the KB from the SCVMM you need to do some extra steps. Do not forget those steps !

 

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There are 13 Virtual Machine Manager issues fixed in Update Rollup 1 for System Center 2012 R2. There is a download package for the VMM console and a separate download package for VMM Server. KB article 2904712

(http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2904712)

In this KB there is a T-SQL script that must be run. Keep in mind it should be run on the VMM DB

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The Second step is give rights or you could see this errors :

  • An error occurred while trying to create an add-in folder for your account:
    Access to the path: "C:\Program Files\Microsoft System Center 2012 R2\Virtual Machine Manager\bin\AddInPipeline\AddIns" is denied.

  • When you open the VMM console, you receive the following error message:

    Could not update managed code add-in pipeline due to the following error:
    The required folder "C:\Program Files\Microsoft System Center 2012 R2\Virtual Machine Manager\bin\AddInPipeline\HostSideAdapters" does not exist.

So go to this location C:\Program Files\Microsoft System Center 2012 R2\Virtual Machine Manager\bin

Click the Select a principal link, type Authenticated Users, and then click OK

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My System Center Cloud is done patching.

Keep in mind there are also updates for SCOM and DPM see below and read the KB for the extra steps !uu

There are seven Operations Manager – UNIX and Linux Monitoring Management Pack issues fixed in Update Rollup 1 for System Center 2012 R2. See KB 2904678

There are 10 Operations Manager issues fixed in Update Rollup 1 for System Center 2012 R2. See KB article 2904678

(http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2904678)

 

There are three Data Protection Manager (DPM) issues fixed in Update Rollup 1 for System Center 2012 R2. See KB article 2904687

(http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2904687)

 

Want to join the twitter list or don’t know what the hastags are from the system center Products.

System Center Hashtags like #cloud

System Center: #sysctr
System Center App Controller: #appctrl
System Center Virtual Machine Manager: #vmm
System Center Service Manager: #scsm
System Center Operations Manager: #scom
System Center Data Protection Manager: #dpm
System Center Orchestrator: #sco
System Center Advisor: #scadvisor
System Center Configuration Manager: #configmgr
System Center Azure: #azure
System Center Windows Azure Pack: #wap

Review System Center 2012 Orchestrator 2012 CookBook #scorch #sysctr

Recently I had the opportunity to play with Orchestrator and saw that I need some more practice on how to create a runbook Most of the time creating the runbook cost me more time than doing this by hand ;-(

Then I saw this cookbook  Microsoft System Center Orchestrator 2012.

The book is written by : Andreas Baumgarten (MVP), Steve Beaumont and Sam Erskine.

Microsoft System Center Orchestrator 2012 simplifies the process of automating systems administration tasks. Originally a third-party product named Opalis, which Microsoft acquired in 2009, Orchestrator provides a simplified way of building complex automation. System Center Orchestrator is a complete solution that goes beyond basic automation.

“Microsoft System Center 2012 Orchestrator Cookbook” will teach you how to plan, create and manage powerful runbooks to help you automate mission-critical and routine administration tasks. The book is a very practical book guidance on installation and configuring the Security settings and securing the SQL server.

 

System Center 2012 Orchestrator 2012 CookBook #scorch #sysctr

The Table of content. there are nine chapters described as below. and yes system center products are more and more needed so Highly available Scorch is an option. ( well Not described as an FCI ) On the Packt website you can find all the chapter details. I just highlight two chapters.

Chapter 1: Unpacking System Center 2012 Orchestrator

  • Chapter 2: Initial Configuration and Making SCORCH Highly Available
    • Introduction
    • Loading Integration Packs (IPs)
    • Configuring Integration Pack connections
    • Deploying Runbook Servers and Designers with Deployment Manager
    • Making your Runbooks highly available
    • Creating and maintaining a security model for Orchestrator

Chapter 3: Planning and Creating Runbook Designs
Chapter 4: Creating Runbooks for Active Directory Tasks
Chapter 5: Creating Runbooks for System Center 2012 Configuration Manager Tasks
Chapter 6: Creating Runbooks for System Center 2012 Operations Manager Tasks
Chapter 7: Creating Runbooks for System Center 2012 Virtual Machine Manager Tasks
Chapter 8: Creating Runbooks for System Center 2012 Service Manager Tasks

  • Chapter 9: Using Advanced Techniques in Runbooks
    • Introduction
    • Creating child Runbooks
    • Implementing error handling in your Runbooks
    • Implementing logging in your Runbooks
    • Creating looping Runbooks

Appendix: Useful Websites and Community Resources

After reading this book you will see this example as not so complicated anymore. This book is very helpful If you are beginners or pro’s on Orchestrators

This is a great guide and really helpful if you are using Orchestrator

 

The book is available at Pack Publishing, Amazon.com, and Amazon.de :

“Microsoft System Center 2012 Orchestrator Cookbook” at Packt Publishing

“Microsoft System Center 2012 Orchestrator Cookbook” at Amazon.de

“Microsoft System Center 2012 Orchestrator Cookbook” at Amazon.com

 

 

Here is a great list with the latest System Center and Management related content.

Want to join the twitter list or don’t know what the hastags are from the system center Products.

System Center Hashtags like #cloud

System Center: #sysctr
System Center App Controller: #appctrl
System Center Virtual Machine Manager: #vmm
System Center Service Manager: #scsm
System Center Operations Manager: #scom
System Center Data Protection Manager: #dpm
System Center Orchestrator: #sco
System Center Advisor: #scadvisor
System Center Configuration Manager: #configmgr
System Center Azure: #azure
System Center Windows Azure Pack: #wap

Free ebook: Microsoft System Center: Troubleshooting Configuration Manager #MVPBuzz #MVPSummit

There is a Free ebook available for download offering from Microsoft Press. These unique (and free) ebooks bring System Center experts together to discuss designing, deploying, and troubleshooting some of the most complex and mission critical aspects of key System Center capabilities.

The third title in this series, Microsoft System Center: Troubleshooting Configuration Manager (ISBN 9780735683020) by Rushi Faldu, Manoj Kumar Pal, Andre Della Monica, Kaushal Pandey, and the System Center series editor Mitch Tulloch, is now available.

Introduction

As the authors of this book, we have tried provide you with insights and tips on troubleshooting System Center 2012 Configuration Manager drawn from our insider knowledge and real-world field experience.  While most of you who are Configuration Manager administrators are fairly comfortable with the product and can perform common management tasks, many of you still have pain points when it comes to certain aspects of how the product works. Based on our observations and interactions with customers, the biggest knowledge gaps tend to be in the following areas:

  • Troubleshooting common Configuration Manager tasks such as software distribution, software updates, and deployment.
  • Understanding how the various components of Configuration Manager on both the server and client side work together when such tasks are performed.
  • Dealing with the enormous number of log files that are generated on both the server and client side of Configuration Manager.

This book is our attempt to address some of these gaps and pain points. Chapter 1 provides insights into the Configuration Manager architecture and deployment principles. Chapter 2 familiarizes you with some of the key components of Configuration Manager and how they interact with each other when performing common tasks by using verbose logging for tracing the actions of various components. And Chapter 3 examines how to troubleshoot various Configuration Manager functionality including software and application deployment, site-to-site replication, software update and patching, operating system deployment, and Mac client issues.

 

Get the Book

System Center User Group NL bijeenkomst met Travis Wright en Chris Ross #scug_nl

System Center User Group NL bijeenkomst met Travis Wright en Chris Ross

Op dinsdag 3 december organiseert de System Center User Group NL een bijeenkomst welke volledig in het teken staat van System Center 2012 Service Manager en System Management Automation. Met Travis Wright en Chris Ross hebben we twee internationale community sprekers te gast waarbij zij hun diepgaande kennis in een 2-tal sessies met ons zullen delen.

In de eerste sessie zullen Travis en Chris de best practises met betrekking tot schaalbaarheid en performance van Service Manager behandelen. De tweede sessie zal verder ingaan op proces automatisering op basis van Service Management Automation (SMA), Windows Azure Pack (WAP) en hoe deze oplossingen te integreren met Service Manager.

Agenda
13:30 – 14:00     Ontvangst
14:00 – 14:05     Welkom/organisatie/sponsors/agenda (Ronny)
14:05 – 14:35     HP (Martin van Seventer)
14:35 – 15:40     Performance and Scale Best Practices for Service Manager (Travis/Chris)
15:40 – 16:55     Pauze
15:55 – 17:00     Process integration with Windows Azure Pack (Travis/Chris)

Locatie
De bijeenkomst zal worden gehosted bij HP in Amstelveen (Startbaan 16). Klik hier voor een routebeschrijving.

Hewlett-Packard Nederland B.V.
Startbaan 16, 1187 XR Amstelveen
+31 (0)20 547 6911

Aanmelden
Aanmelden voor dit event? Dit kan via EventBrite. Dankzij onze sponsor HP zijn aan dit event zijn geen kosten verbonden. U ontvangt een week voor aanvang een definitieve bevestiging en alle logistieke details. Voor meer info: www.scug.nl.  
Over Travis Wright
Former Microsoft Principal Program Manager on System Center. Now I am the Director of Product Management at a System Center partner company called Cireson. We provide services and software to make System Center better. Check out our app store at http://www.cireson.com.
Over Chris Ross
As a two-time MVP, Chris Ross brings more than 17 years of expertise to the Information Technology Industry. As Principal Consultant at Cireson, he directs the Professional Services and Training Division for the Microsoft System Center practice. Cireson is a leading Microsoft System Center partner widely recognized as the de facto System Center expert. His primary focus is on designing, architecting, and supporting solutions for mid-sized to enterprise class, multi-national, and global customers.

Kijk voor meer informatie op http://scug.nl

Free ebook: Microsoft System Center: Configuration Manager Field Experience #MVPBuzz #Winserv #sysctr

Microsoft Press: These unique (and free) ebooks bring System Center experts together to discuss designing, deploying, and troubleshooting some of the most complex and mission critical aspects of key System Center capabilities.

The second title in this series, Microsoft System Center: Configuration Manager Field Experience (ISBN 9780735683044) by Rushi Faldu, Manish Raval, Brandon Linton, Kaushal Pandey and the System Center series editor Mitch Tulloch, is now available here. This title’s companion content is here. The Mobi and ePub files are also available. If you’d like to order a print version of this free ebook, you can do so here.

Taken from the book’s Introduction, here’s how the authors describe the content of this particular title:

 

___________________

Introduction

The purpose of this book is to provide System Center 2012 Configuration Manager administrators with helpful and tested real-world guidance from consultants and product experts at Microsoft. We want you to get the most out of using Configuration Manager in your environment regardless of whether the task at hand is querying the Configuration Manager database for system information, creating and customizing reports, or deploying operating system images to client machines.

The book is divided into the following three parts:

  • Part 1: WMI for System Center 2012 Configuration Manager administrators is designed to familiarize you with basic WMI concepts and tools, show you how to use WMI classes to create Configuration Manager queries, and help you understand the underlying database design of Configuration Manager so you can create custom reports for querying the information you need.
  • Part 2: System Center 2012 Configuration Manager reporting is designed to familiarize you with SSRS and show you how to integrate SSRS with Configuration Manager 2012 and to customize and create new reports using SSRS.
  • Part 3: Configuration Manager deployment tips provides tips that cover a wide variety of different scenarios to help you ensure the success of your deployments.

The target audience for this book is administrators who have at least three years experienced working with previous versions of Configuration Manager and who have begun deploying and using Configuration Manager 2012 in their environment.

 

Title: Microsoft System Center: Designing Orchestrator Runbooks
ISBN: 9780735682986
Download the PDF version of this title (186 pgs, 8.77MB) here and the companion content here (296 KB). The EPUB version is here and the MOBI version here.
If you prefer a hard copy of the book, you can order it here from our official distributor, O’Reilly Media, for $9.99.

Free ebook: Microsoft System Center: Troubleshooting Configuration Manager

There is a Free ebook available for download offering from Microsoft Press. These unique (and free) ebooks bring System Center experts together to discuss designing, deploying, and troubleshooting some of the most complex and mission critical aspects of key System Center capabilities.

The third title in this series, Microsoft System Center: Troubleshooting Configuration Manager (ISBN 9780735683020) by Rushi Faldu, Manoj Kumar Pal, Andre Della Monica, Kaushal Pandey, and the System Center series editor Mitch Tulloch, is now available.

Introduction

As the authors of this book, we have tried provide you with insights and tips on troubleshooting System Center 2012 Configuration Manager drawn from our insider knowledge and real-world field experience.  While most of you who are Configuration Manager administrators are fairly comfortable with the product and can perform common management tasks, many of you still have pain points when it comes to certain aspects of how the product works. Based on our observations and interactions with customers, the biggest knowledge gaps tend to be in the following areas:

  • Troubleshooting common Configuration Manager tasks such as software distribution, software updates, and deployment.
  • Understanding how the various components of Configuration Manager on both the server and client side work together when such tasks are performed.
  • Dealing with the enormous number of log files that are generated on both the server and client side of Configuration Manager.

This book is our attempt to address some of these gaps and pain points. Chapter 1 provides insights into the Configuration Manager architecture and deployment principles. Chapter 2 familiarizes you with some of the key components of Configuration Manager and how they interact with each other when performing common tasks by using verbose logging for tracing the actions of various components. And Chapter 3 examines how to troubleshoot various Configuration Manager functionality including software and application deployment, site-to-site replication, software update and patching, operating system deployment, and Mac client issues.

 

Get the Book

Update Rollup 4 for System Center 2012 Service Pack 1 #sysctr #vmm #configmgr

There is another update for the System center products.

Source site : http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2879276

The updates are available on the update catalog / wsus.

image

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

install Update Rollup 4 for System Center 2012 Service Pack 1
Download information

The update packages are available from Microsoft.

 

Want to join the twitter list or don’t know what the hastags are from the system center Products.

System Center Hashtags like #cloud

System Center: #sysctr
System Center App Controller: #appctrl
System Center Virtual Machine Manager: #vmm
System Center Service Manager: #scsm
System Center Operations Manager: #scom
System Center Data Protection Manager: #dpm
System Center Orchestrator: #sco
System Center Advisor: #scadvisor
System Center Configuration Manager: #configmgr

System Center Azure: #azure

System Center Windows Azure Pack: #wap

Update System Center and Management related content #sysctr #vmm #configmgr #sco #wap #azure

Here is a great list with the latest System Center and Management related content.

Want to join the twitter list or don’t know what the hastags are from the system center Products.

System Center Hashtags like #cloud

System Center: #sysctr
System Center App Controller:
#appctrl
System Center Virtual Machine Manager:
#vmm
System Center Service Manager:
#scsm
System Center Operations Manager:
#scom
System Center Data Protection Manager:
#dpm
System Center Orchestrator:
#sco
System Center Advisor:
#scadvisor
System Center Configuration Manager:
#configmgr

System Center Azure: #azure

System Center Windows Azure Pack: #wap

 

 
KB Articles    
Product Title  
Application Virtualization Applications that are sequenced through the App-V 5.0 SP1 sequencer may not be installed correctly (2876368)  
Configuration Manager HOTFIX: An Alternate Content Provider does not work in a task sequence for a System Center 2012 Configuration Manager SP1 site (2870742)  
Configuration Manager The Service Manager connector to Configuration Manager does not transfer uninstalled software information (2874780)  
     
Blog Posts    
Product Title  
Application Virtualization KB: Applications that are sequenced through the App-V 5.0 SP1 sequencer may not be installed correctly  
Azure What’s New in 2012 R2: Identity Management for Hybrid IT  
Configuration Manager Announcement: Configuration Manager Documentation Library Update for July 2013  
Configuration Manager Support Tip: The data in statusreportingctrl.ct0 may be reset if recovering only the site database in ConfigMgr 2012  
Configuration Manager Known Issue: Update to MCS.msi fails to upgrade the Multicast Configuration on Distribution Points  
Configuration Manager HOTFIX: An Alternate Content Provider does not work in a task sequence for a System Center 2012 Configuration Manager SP1 site  
Forefront Identity Manager [Troubleshooting] extension-unexpected-attribute-value: mv-deletion: msExchDynamicDistributionL  
Operations Manager Now Available: The System Center 2012 Management Pack for Java Application Performance Monitoring Preview  
Operations Manager How to configure AEM to use SSL in Operations Manager 2007 and 2012  
Operations Manager Enabling web applications synthetic transactions as a service  
Orchestrator Automation–An Introduction to Service Management Automation  
Service Manager KB: The Service Manager connector to Configuration Manager does not transfer uninstalled software information  
System Center Deployment–PDT 2.5 is now available on the TechNet Gallery  
Virtual Machine Manager Support Tip: Deploying large templates in AppController fails with "Server operation did not finish within user specified timeout ’90’ seconds"  
Virtual Machine Manager Support Tip: The VMM service crashes or fails to start with Event ID 19999 – P5(methodName):M.V.E.W.COMPort..ctor  
Windows Intune Windows Intune Walkthrough: Windows Phone 8 Management  
WSUS Advance Notification Service for August 2013 Security Bulletin Release  
     
TechNet Wiki Articles    
Product Title  
Forefront Identity Manager Troubleshooting FIM: extension-unexpected-attribute-value: mv-deletion: msExchDynamicDistributionL  
     

System Center All Up:
http://blogs.technet.com/b/systemcenter/

System Center – Configuration Manager Support Team blog:
http://blogs.technet.com/configurationmgr/

System Center – Data Protection Manager Team blog:
http://blogs.technet.com/dpm/

System Center – Orchestrator Support Team blog:
http://blogs.technet.com/b/orchestrator/

System Center – Operations Manager Team blog:
http://blogs.technet.com/momteam/

System Center – Service Manager Team blog:
http://blogs.technet.com/b/servicemanager

System Center – Virtual Machine Manager Team blog:
http://blogs.technet.com/scvmm

Windows Intune:
http://blogs.technet.com/b/windowsintune/

WSUS Support Team blog:
http://blogs.technet.com/sus/

The AD RMS blog:
http://blogs.technet.com/b/rmssupp/

App-V Team blog:
http://blogs.technet.com/appv/

MED-V Team blog:
http://blogs.technet.com/medv/

Server App-V Team blog:
http://blogs.technet.com/b/serverappv

The Forefront Endpoint Protection blog :
http://blogs.technet.com/b/clientsecurity/

The Forefront Identity Manager blog :
http://blogs.msdn.com/b/ms-identity-support/

The Forefront TMG blog:
http://blogs.technet.com/b/isablog/

The Forefront UAG blog:
http://blogs.technet.com/b/edgeaccessblog/

#Microsoft Monitoring Agent 2013 Preview #tee13

 

Microsoft Monitoring Agent is a service that monitors computer infrastructure and application health. It collects various diagnostic data, such as performance metrics, event logs, and traces. System Center Operations Manager relies on data the agent collects and Visual Studio Ultimate lets you analyze the collected application traces (IntelliTrace logs) and troubleshoot issues with application code.
When connected to System Center Operations Manager, the agent calculates the health state of the monitored computers and objects, and then reports back to the management server. The management servers centrally distribute the configuration to agents and store data received from the monitored computers.
Microsoft Monitoring Agent can be used as a standalone tool for collecting application traces locally. You can use PowerShell commands to start and stop monitoring and collect IntelliTrace logs from web applications that are running on Internet Information Services (IIS) 7.0, 7.5, or 8.0.
Microsoft Monitoring Agent includes the full functionality of System Center Operations Manager Agent, .NET Application Performance Monitoring, and IntelliTrace Standalone Collector and can be used for monitoring applications that are running in production environments.
Compatibility

  • Visual Studio Ultimate 2013 Preview
  • Visual Studio Ultimate 2012 Update 2
  • System Center 2012 R2 Operations Manager Preview
  • System Center 2012 SP1 – Operations Manager (only when multi-homing with System Center 2012 R2 Operations Manager or during upgrades to System Center 2012 R2 Operations Manager Preview)
  • System Center 2012 – Operations Manager (only when multi-homing with System Center Operations Manager 2012 R2 or during upgrades to System Center Operations Manager 2012 R2 Preview)
  • System Center Operations Manager 2007 R2 (only when multi-homing with System Center Operations Manager 2012 R2 or during upgrades to System Center Operations Manager 2012 R2 Preview)

 

 

get the tool : http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=39300