System Center Guide

There are many occassions where we want to install software on only particular platforms such as desktops, laptops or servers. By using a combination of System Center Configuration Manager 2007 and the Microsoft Deployment Toolkit, we can make this happen. Sadly, however, this hasn’t been very well documented and put into a step-by-step guide, so I’ve done that here.

The following 20 steps are what it takes to get Configuration Manager to use the MDT variables isDesktop, isLaptop, and isServer during an operating system deployment task sequence. If I’ve missed anything, please let me know.

1.  Download Microsoft Deployment Toolkit (MDT) 2008, Update 1.
2.  Install MDT to site server.
3.  From the Start menu, select Microsoft Deployment Toolkit | Configure ConfigMgr Integration.
4.  Create a package for the toolkit using the “C:\Program Files\Microsoft Deployment Toolkit \Templates\Distribution” folder as the package source. No program needed - just create the package.
5.  Configure your packages distribution points, as normal.
6.  In the Task Sequence Editor, click Add | MDT | Use Toolkit Package. Select the package that you created in step 4.
7.  Move this task between Install Operating System and Setup Operating System.
8.  Again, click Add | MDT | Gather.
9.  Choose the radio button for “Gather only local data (do not process rules). 
10.  Move this new task beneath the Use Toolkit Package task.
11.  From the Task Sequence Editor Install Software section, select the software package you like to have installed only on laptops (VPN software for example).
12.  Click the Options tab.
13.  Click Add Condition.
14.  Select If Statement.
15.  In the If Statement Properties page, select All Conditions.
16.  Highlight the line you just added beneath the “This group/step will run if the following conditions are met:”.
17.  Click “Add Condition” again.
18.  Choose Task Sequence Variable.
19.  In the Task Sequence Variable properties page, type isLaptop for the Variable, leaving the Condition set to equals and type TRUE for the Value.Remember, you also have isDesktop and isServer options to use as well.
20.  Save your Task Sequence.

I hope you’ll find this useful. Enjoy!

David Williams, Analyst with Gartner, has published an in-depth examination of System Center Operations Manager 2007. In his report, Williams states that “Operations Manager 2007 has moved to rival many of the capabilities provided by more-established and more-expensive [tools].”

To read the full report (no Gartner account needed), visit the Gartner site at:

http://mediaproducts.gartner.com/reprints/microsoft/vol10/article2and3/article2and3.html

While recently testing Desired Configuration Management features of System Center Configuration Manager with a client, we ran into an issue with the DCM baselines coming down but not actually running or creating the client-side reports. After reviewing the DCMAgent.log file, it was determined that we were missing the  appropriate .NET framework version on the client.

The following article specifies that .NET framework version 2.0 or later is required for this feature to work.

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb680801.aspx

The System Center Professional User Group of Jacksonville will hold their 4th quarter meeting on November 19, 2008 at 6:30 P.M.  It will take place at New Horizons Learning Center, 7020 A.C Skinner Parkway Suite #180, Jacksonville, FL, 32256.
 
A meet and greet period is scheduled for 6:30 to 7:30 with food and drinks provided.  This will be followed by a presentation from sponsor SecureVantage Technologies entitled “Security Auditing with System Center Operations Manager and the Audit Collection Service.”  All System Center Professionals in North Florida are invited.
 
SPUGJax was created to connect I.T. professionals working in the Microsoft System Center ecosystem with products such as SMS, SCCM, MOM, SCOM, Microsoft virtualization technologies, SoftGrid and the many third-party tools that support System Center.
 
Please forward this post along to anyone you know working with Microsoft server applications.  Thank you.
 
A special thanks to all of those that attended the first meeting.  It was a great success.  1E, Inc. presented their suite of applications and provided sandwiches, drinks, sides and cookies by Jason’s Deli.
 
 
Respectfully yours,
 
Dan Taylor and Ivan Lindenfeld
http://spugjax.tech.officelive.com

Last Month was quite busy around here with the holidays and such, but Microsoft kept themselves busy as well. The following management packs were released or updated in the month of December 2007:

Microsoft SQL Server 2000/2005 Management Pack (v6.0.6247.5)

12/21/2007 - The SQL Server 2000/2005 Management Pack monitors Microsoft SQL Server 2000 and SQL Server 2005.

System Center Data Protection Manager 2007 MP for SC Operations Manager 2007 (v1.0)

12/14/2007 - With the DPM Management Pack, an administrator can centrally monitor the state of data protection and recovery for multiple DPM servers and protected computers. The Management Pack also monitors key health and performance indicators on DPM servers.

SharePoint Monitoring Toolkit (v.2.0)

12/7/2007 - The SharePoint Monitoring Toolkit helps you manage Microsoft® SharePoint® environments of all sizes with two new management packs for System Center Operations Manager 2007: Windows® SharePoint Services 3.0 Management Pack and Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007 Management Pack.

Microsoft Windows SharePoint Services 3.0 Management Pack for Operations Manager 2007 (v2.0)

12/7/2007 - This management pack is part of the Sharepoint Monitoring Toolkit. The SharePoint Monitoring Toolkit helps you manage Microsoft® SharePoint® environments of all sizes with two new management packs for System Center Operations Manager 2007.

Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007 Management Pack for Operations Manager 2007 (v2.0)

12/7/2007 - This management pack is part of the Sharepoint Monitoring Toolkit. The SharePoint Monitoring Toolkit helps you manage Microsoft® SharePoint® environments of all sizes with two new management packs for System Center Operations Manager 2007.

While catching up on some of the myITForum discussion list threads, I saw a post by Jeff Gilbert (part of the SCCM writing team) regarding a unique approach to updating product documentation. They have, in effect, patched the existing offline help file (.CHM) to include updated content.

This method reminds me of the scene in Minority Report where Chief John Anterton (played by Tom Cruise) is on the lamb. Riding in an ultra-modern version of a subway, he looks towards a fellow passenger that is nose-deep into the “paper”. However, the “paper” is actually a high-gloss device that updates itself in real time. With only a moment’s notice, the front page changes - much to Anterton’s dismay. He looks on to see himself cited as the city’s most wanted man and sure enough he’s recognised within seconds.

Now, I’m not saying that the Microsoft documentation team is stealing ideas from Hollywood (although the reading might be more entertaining if they did), but the concept of truly living documents is an interesting one. Imagine having the confidence that every time you pressed F1 or clicked “HELP”, that you knew you were receiving the most timely and accurate information possible – with or without the use of an active Internet connection at the time.

I think this is a great idea and certainly one that I would welcome even further investments among the rest of the Microsoft product stack.

Read the teams blog entry regarding this

I was just looking for some contextual illustrations for Capacity Planner and noticed that there are SharePoint beta models available now. Actually, they’ve been out there for a while now, but this is one of the System Center products that I use less often. So, forgive my oversight in that regard. Anyhow, the SharePoint models, currently in beta and available from the Connect site (Live ID required), will allow you to access what the minimum hardware needed to deploy SharePoint in your environment, along with guidance on where and how such hardware should be deployed. Additionally, the models will help optimise your deployment for high availability and peak performance, as well as the “what if” scenarios to see how the SharePoint architecture will stand up to growing demands.

Installing the tool adds application models for WSS 3.0 and MOSS 2007. Check it out.

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb961988.aspx

Clive Eastwood discusses the first Solution Accelerator to be released for System Center Operations Manager. The SharePoint Monitoring Toolkit includes more rules, new and improved reports and comprehensive coverage of the two management packs utilised by this toolkit.

Clive goes into more detail on his blog. More after the jump.

Read Clive Eastwood’s Blog Entry

There are some confusing elements to the new System Center licensing structure – particularly for Operations Manager. The most common question is when does a customer require the Enterprise Operations Management License (OML) instead of the Standard OML? This is a valid question since the Enterprise OML price is equal to approximately three times the cost of the Standard OML.

The “How to Buy” webpage doesn’t help to explain the matter much:

Standard OML

Monitoring, troubleshooting, audit collection, and reporting for servers, including Storage/File/Print and Networking workloads, the base operating system, system hardware, and other management agents on the system

Enterprise OML

Monitoring, troubleshooting, audit collection and reporting for any server workload or application, including the base operating system, system hardware, and other management agents on the system

However, upon reviewing the System Center Operations Manager 2007 Licensing Brief, I was able to determine from the Managed Workloads section that the Enterprise version is required for anything beyond monitoring of the following:

• System Resource Manager
• Password Change Notification
• Baseline Security Analyzer
• Reliability and Availability Services
• Print Server
• Distributed File System (DFS)
• File Replication Service (FRS)
• Network File System (NFS)
• File Transfer Protocol (FTP)
• Windows SharePoint® Services
• Distributed Naming Service (DNS)
• Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP)
• Windows Internet Naming Service (WINS)

Whereas the Enterprise OML also permits the following usage scenarios:

• Business Applications
• Database
• Identity Management
• Messaging
• Collaboration
• Web
• Security
• Management
• Remote Access
• Terminal Emulation
• Other

So, clearly if you want to take full advantage of Operations Manager 2007 and its ability to manage distributed applications or core infrastructure products an Enterprise OML is required.

TechNet Webcast: Deploying Operating Systems with System Center Configuration Manager (Part 1 of 2) (Level 300)
Monday, December 10, 2007 - 11:30 AM - 1:00 PM Pacific Time
Keith Combs, IT Pro Evangelist, Microsoft Corporation
http://msevents.microsoft.com/CUI/EventDetail.aspx?EventID=1032360204&Culture=en-US

TechNet Webcast: Optimizing Desktop Management with System Center Configuration Manager and Microsoft SoftGrid Application Virtualization (Level 300)
Tuesday, December 11, 2007 - 1:00 PM - 2:00 PM Pacific Time
Jeff Wettlaufer, Senior Technical Product Manager, Microsoft Corporation 
Chad Jones, Group Product Manager, Microsoft Corporation
http://msevents.microsoft.com/CUI/EventDetail.aspx?EventID=1032358169&Culture=en-US

TechNet Webcast: Software Distribution with System Center Configuration Manager (Level 300)
Thursday, December 13, 2007 - 11:30 AM - 12:30 PM Pacific Time
Cheng Wei, Senior Program Manager, Microsoft Corporation
http://msevents.microsoft.com/CUI/EventDetail.aspx?EventID=1032355812&Culture=en-US

TechNet Webcast: Deploying Operating Systems with System Center Configuration Manager (Part 2 of 2) (Level 300)
Friday, December 14, 2007 - 11:30 AM - 1:00 PM Pacific Time
Michael Murphy, IT Pro Evangelist, Microsoft Corporation
http://msevents.microsoft.com/CUI/EventDetail.aspx?EventID=1032360206&Culture=en-US