System Center Configuration Manager Team Blog

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05/03/11--14:27: Client Health in Configuration Manager 2012 Beta 2 (chan 2091226)

[Today’s post is provided by Abraham Wang]

It’s often the case that many customer-reported issues with a Configuration Manager feature are because the Configuration Manager client itself is not working, rather than a problem with the specific feature. However, it’s not always easy for administrators to know that this is the root cause and be able to answer the following questions:

• How many clients are healthy in my hierarchy?
• How many clients are inactive in my hierarchy because they have been powered off for a long time or because the Configuration Manager client is uninstalled?
• What is the main cause of unhealthy clients in my hierarchy?

These questions are very important for Configuration Manager administrators. However, in Configuration Manager 2007 and previous versions, it’s not easy to find the answers to these questions. Configuration Manager 2012 addresses this problem with the improved Client Health feature.

Client Health Overview

The Configuration Manager 2012 client runs a scheduled task to evaluate its client health status (by default at mid night) and sends evaluation result to the site server by using state message if there is any change in the evaluation result. If state messages fail to send, FSP (Fallback status point) will be used to deliver the evaluation results. So it is a good idea to deploy FSP in the hierarchy. Otherwise some evaluation results may not be received by site server. The site server summarizes the client health evaluation results and the client activities, and displays these in the Configuration Manager console.


Client Health Data in the Configuration Manager Console

You’ll see the client status data (client health and client activity) in the Monitoring workspace when you click the Client Status node, as shown in the following picture.

  

Note: This is prerelease UI and is subject to change.

When you click the Client Status node, the results pane displays some statistics and the Recent Alerts section. The statistics have a graphical display of how many clients are healthy, unhealthy or unknown; active or inactive. The Recent Alerts show the alerts that have been generated as a result of meeting defined thresholds for client health and client activity.

If you click different areas of the pie charts, this creates temporary collections for selected areas and the console automatically changes to the Assets and Compliance workspace. For example, if you click the red area in the Client Health pie chart (clients that failed the Client Health checks), this creates a temporary collection for these unhealthy clients that is automatically selected, as shown in the following picture.

 

In the results pane, when you select a computer, you will see three tabs available in the details pane: Summary, Client Activity Detail and Client Health Detail. The next picture shows example data for the Client Health Detail tab where the computer failed the client health evaluation rule “Verify/Remediate client and client prerequisites installation.” You can use this information as a starting point for more detailed trouble-shooting on the client. In our example, this might involve checking the ccmsetup.log file for errors to help identify the root cause of the problem.



In addition to this information in the Configuration Manager Console, you can also use the Client Health reports. After you have installed and configured a reporting services point role, the Client Health reports are located in the “Client Health” path, as shown in the following picture.

 

 

How to Configure Client Health: Client Status Settings

In the Configuration Manager console, in the Monitoring workspace, click the Client Status node. On the ribbon, in the Home tab, you’ll see three buttons for Client Health, as shown in the following picture.

  

When you click Client Status Settings, you see the Client Status Settings Properties dialog box, as shown in the next picture.

The General tab contains the thresholds settings, such as “Client policy requests” and “Heartbeat discovery”. These thresholds determine if the client is active. For example, when the hardware inventory threshold is set to 7 days and the site server has not received hardware inventory data from a client for more than 7 days, the threshold is reached and the client is considered inactive for hardware inventory. When a client is inactive for all the listed activities, it is considered an inactive client.

The Inactive Clients tab allows you to enable the option for the site server to retrieve the LastLogonTimeStamp data from Active Directory Domain Services. This information indicates whether the computer is still active in Active Directory Domain Services.

 

 

 

How to Configure Client Health: Refresh Client Status and Schedule Client Status Update

Each primary site server runs a SQL stored procedure (CH_UpdateAll) to summarize the client health and client activity information.  By default, this runs once a day. The charts in the Client Status node use this summarized information, which means that the charts are not real-time and by default, they have up to a day’s delay.

To see the latest information, click the Refresh Client Status button, which runs the stored procedure. When this finishes, the charts are refreshed with the latest summarized data. You can also configure how often the stored procedure runs by clicking the Schedule Client Status Update button. However, we recommend that you use the default setting for the schedule because the site server performance decreases when the procedure runs too frequently.

How to Configure Client Health: Create Alerts

The Client Health feature is integrated with the alerts that you see in the Configuration Manager console. To configure alerts for Client Health, follow these steps:

1. In the Assets and Compliance workspace, click Device Collections. Right-click the collection for which you want to create alerts, and then click Properties.

2. Click the Alerts tab. Select and configure the options for the client health and activity alerts, and then click OK. An example configuration is shown in the following picture.

 

After you have configured the alerts for a collection, the alerts that are generated display in the Alerts node in the Monitoring workspace. You will also see the alerts in the Client Status node if the alerts are triggered, as shown in the following picture.

 

Note that the alerts are based on data from the hierarchy and not just the site. So when an alert is active, it means that the threshold is reached for hierarchy. It’s possible that the threshold is not reached for the primary site that you are currently connected to.

Client Health: Client Component

The Client Health evaluation engine is an executable file named ccmeval.exe, which is installed with the Configuration Manager client and runs on computers. It does not run on mobile devices. When the Configuration Manager client is installed, the install process creates a scheduled task named “Configuration Manager Health Evaluation”. This task runs ccmeval.exe at a time between 12:00 AM and 1:00 AM.

 

When ccmeval.exe runs, it loads a configuration file named ccmeval.xml. This file contains the Client Health evaluation rules. You can open the file to read the rules but it’s not supported to change this file. If you do so, the evaluation might fail or the site server might reject the evaluation results.

If the computer is powered off or in sleep mode when the scheduled Configuration manager Health Evaluator task is due to run, it automatically runs as soon as it can – for example, when the operating system is loaded or brought out of sleep mode.

Conclusion

The Client Health feature in Configuration Manager 2012 offers some exciting improvements over previous versions, which can help to keep your Configuration Manager hierarchy running smoothly. You can quickly see the Client Health data in the Configuration Manager console by using the pie charts, temporary collections, and alerts. You can also use the reports for more detailed information.

To configure Client Health, configure the Client Status Settings to define the thresholds for client health and client activity. Then configure alerts for the collections. There is nothing to configure on the client; this is done automatically by Configuration Manager when the client is installed.

--Abraham Wang

This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights.

 




05/17/11--13:02: Announcement: Update your System Center Online Authentication Certificate for Asset Intelligence (chan 2091226)

[Yvette O’Meally has provided today’s post]

When the Configuration Manager 2007 Asset Intelligence synchronization point first connects to System Center Online, it presents the System Center online authentication certificate to enroll in the service.  This is a public certificate that is used by all Configuration Manager 2007 installations.  As part of the enrollment process, the service returns a certificate that is specific to that Asset Intelligence synchronization point. This specific certificate is then used for subsequent activity when Asset Intelligence synchronizes with System Center online, for example, when it uploads and downloads software titles.

The public certificate for System Center online authentication was distributed by Microsoft for Configuration Manager 2007 Service Pack 1 and it was automatically installed and configured with Configuration Manager 2007 Service Pack 2. In both cases, this certificate has a validity period of 3 years and an expiration date of 4/25/2011.  The expiry date of the specific certificate is based on when it was issued. It has a validity period of 1 year. The validity dates can be viewed in the certificate properties using Certificates MMC Snap-in.

Because the public certificate for System Center online authentication has now expired, it will be rejected by System Center online.  The specific per-installation certificates for customers will expire based on when the Asset Intelligence synchronization point first connected to System Center online.  Because you cannot automatically renew the specific per-installation certificate when the public certificate for System Center online authentication has expired, you must take manual steps to renew your certificate before it expires. If you do not renew your certificate and it expires, you will no longer be able to synchronize with System Center online.

If both the public certificate and specific certificate have expired you will see the following entries in the AIUpdateSvc.log when the Asset Intelligence synchronization point attempts to renew the specific per-installation certificate.

Asset Intelligence Catalog Sync Service Warning: 0 : Tue, 26 Apr 2011 04:51:58 GMT:WebException trying to enroll: Status = ProtocolError
Asset Intelligence Catalog Sync Service Error: 0 : Tue, 26 Apr 2011 04:51:58 GMT:Exception attempting sync - The request failed with HTTP status 403: Forbidden.

 You may also see a 'Connection Failed - bad certificate' error on the Asset Intelligence home page in the Configuration Manager console as shown below.



To renew your certificates for Asset Intelligence, you must first obtain an updated public certificate for System Center online authentication. When this updated certificate is installed, your specific certificate will automatically renew.

How to Update the Certificates for Asset Intelligence

• Configuration Manager 2007 Service Pack 2: Install hotfix KB2483225. This hotfix installs the updated public certificate for System Center online authentication and no further action is required. As part of the hotfix installation, the updated certificate is configured for the Asset Intelligence synchronization point and your specific certificate will be automatically renewed.  For more information about this hotfix, see http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2483225/en-us.
• Configuration Manager Service Pack 1: Obtain a certificate file and manually configure the Asset Intelligence synchronization point to use the updated public certificate for System Center online authentication. Use the following steps:
  1. Email ai-cert@microsoft.com to request a certificate file that contains the updated public certificate for System Center online authentication.  Please note that this alias is for certificate distribution only and not for support questions.
  2. Store the certificate file in a location that is accessible to the site server.
  3. In the Configuration Manager console, navigate to System Center Configuration Manager / Site Database (<site code> - <site name>) / Site Settings / Site Systems.
  4. Click the Asset Intelligence Synchronization point site system computer name.
  5. Select the Asset Intelligence synchronization point, and click Properties.
  6. On the General tab of the Asset Intelligence Synchronization Point Properties, specify the path to the new System Center Online authentication certificate (.pfx) file, and click OK.

 For additional information about the Asset Intelligence synchronization point, see the following topic in the Configuration Manager 2007 Documentation Library: About the Asset Intelligence Synchronization Point.

 -- Yvette O'Meally

This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties and confers no rights.




05/19/11--13:53: Announcement: Configuration Manager Documentation Library Update for May 2011 (chan 2091226)

[Today's post is from the Configuration Manager Writing Team]

The Configuration Manager 2007 documentation library and the Configuration Manager 2012 documentation library have been updated on the web and the latest content has Updated: May 1, 2011 at the top of the topic.

This month’s updates incorporate customer feedback for Configuration Manager 2007, and some new information (and updates) for the prerelease version of Configuration Manager 2012. 

We will continue to add more information for Configuration Manager 2012 as we get that information from the product group and in response to customer feedback.  At the moment, some topics are published without any content to let you know that they are planned.  We also monitor page hits and search results to help us plan when to publish the information.  To help you find the right information, use the Configuration Manager 2012 search portal.

Note that we are writing for the released product, rather than for any pre-release version, such as Beta 2.  As such, there might be some discrepancies with the pre-release version that you are testing and the documentation.

We value customer feedback and try to incorporate it when possible.  Although we can’t promise to make the docs perfect for everybody, we are committed to continual improvement.  So, keep that feedback coming, and feel free to contact us about anything related to the documentation by using our usual address of SMSDocs@Microsoft.com. 

  

What's New in the Configuration Manager 2007 Documentation Library for May 2011

 The following information lists the topics that contain significant changes since the April 2011 update.

How to Configure the WSUS Web Site to Use SSL

- Updated to clarify that the site must be configured to ignore client certificates.

How to Set Address Schedules

- Updated to clarify that the schedule applies to the site that is sending data and not the destination site. This information is also added to the Sender Address Properties: Schedule Tab.

Computer Client Agent: BITS Tab

- Updated to clarify that when you configure the throttling window start and end time to be the same, BITS throttling is always on.

How to Create a Fallback Status Point in Configuration Manager

- Updated to correct the log file locations. 

 

What's New in the Configuration Manager 2012 Documentation Library for May 2011

The following information lists the topics that contain significant changes since the initial March 2011 publication.

Configuring Software Updates in Configuration Manager 2012

- Updated with more information and restructured to accommodate different hierarchy scenarios.

Configure Sites and the Hierarchy for Configuration Manager 2012

- Now contains procedures for configuring role-based administration. Before you use these procedures, read the corresponding planning topic: Planning for Security in Configuration Manager 2012

How to Create Windows Configuration Items for Compliance Settings in Configuration Manager 2012

- New topic with procedures to create configuration items for Windows clients.

How to Create Configuration Baselines for Compliance Settings in Configuration Manager 2012

- Now contains information about how to create a configuration baseline and configure the new purpose option and use the new change revision option.

How to Enroll Mobile Device Clients in Configuration Manager 2012

- Now contains the steps to enroll mobile devices by using the two new site system roles and PKI certificates.

How to Configure Client Settings in Configuration Manager 2012

- Updated with clarifications for configuring custom client settings for when you want different settings for some computers or users.

About Client Settings in Configuration Manager 2012

- Updated for several settings, such as the Computer Agent settings Application Catalog, Install permissions, Suspend Bitlocker PIN, and Agent extensions manage the deployment of applications and software updates.

Frequently Asked Questions for Configuration Manager 2012

- Updated to include the following questions:

• Are there new Active Directory schema extensions for Configuration Manager 2012?
• Where do I configure the Network Access Account?
• Does Configuration Manager 2012 support the same client installation methods as Configuration Manager 2007?
• I want to move my Intel AMT-based computers that I provisioned with Configuration Manager 2007 to Configuration Manager 2012. Can I use the same Active Directory security group, OU, and web server certificate template?
• How do I re-enroll mobile devices in Configuration Manager?
• What action must I take if I no longer want a mobile device enrolled in Configuration Manager?

How to Provision and Configure AMT-Based Computers in Configuration Manager 2012

- Now contains the steps to provision and configure AMT-based computers, including preparing Active Directory Domain Services, the PKI certificates, the two site system roles, and the out of band management component.

Example Scenario for Implementing Out of Band Management in Configuration Manager 2012

- Now contains suggested step-by-step instructions for how you might deploy Out of Band Management for AMT-based computers, by using a three-phased approach.

How to Manage AMT-based Computers Out of Band in Configuration Manager 2012

- Now contains procedures for managing AMT-based computers out of band by running the Out of Band Management console, powering off computers, powering on and restarting computers, configuring BIOS settings, and running commands, repair utilities, and diagnostic applications to troubleshoot computers.

How to Monitor Out of Band Management in Configuration Manager 2012

- Now contains procedures for monitoring Out of Band Management activities.

About the AMT Status and Out of Band Management in Configuration Manager 2012

- Now contains information about the AMT status values that you can monitor in the console and in reports, including information about the new value, “Externally Provisioned”.

 

-- The Configuration Manager Writing Team

This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties and confers no rights.

 




05/25/11--13:41: Configuration Manager Support Announcements for May 2011 (chan 2091226)

[Today's post comes from Harini Muralidharan] 

We are announcing support changes for the following releases. Please look for these changes to be reflected in the Supported Configuration pages within a few months.

Microsoft Application Virtualization 4.6 SP1 is now supported on Configuration Manager 2007 R3 with Configuration Manager 2007 SP2

System Center Configuration Manager 2007 R3 with System Center Configuration Manager SP2 now supports Microsoft Application Virtualization (App-V) 4.6 SP1 Desktop Client and Application Virtualization Client for Remote Desktop Services. This client release enables support for Windows 7 SP1 and Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1.

The following are the limitations and workaround to import App-V packages using Configuration Manager.

Configuration Manager fails to import App-V packages when there is more than one XML in the package folder. App-V Sequencer 4.6 SP1 creates the file Report.xml when creating an App-V package. Configuration Manager expects to find only one xml file in the package folder and will fail when it identifies more than one XML file in the folder. To work around this problem delete the file report.xml manually from the package folder before you import the App-V package.

No software updates are required.

--Harini Muralidharan

This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights.




05/27/11--15:45: Test your knowledge of Configuration Manager 2007 (yet again) (chan 2091226)

[Today's post is provided by Rob Stack]

 The Configuration Manager Information Experience (iX) team has just published an update to the Configuration Manager 2007 Quiz Application. The quizzes are a fun way to learn about some of the features in the product. Each quiz contains 10 questions that can be answered Yes or No. Regardless of your answer, the quiz will display the correct solution and provide links to the Configuration Manager online documentation.

This new version of the application includes three new quizzes:

• Configuration Manager 2007 Active Directory Quiz
• Configuration Manager 2007 R3 Quiz
• Configuration Manager 2007 Documentation Quiz

The quizzes are compatible with any computer running Windows XP, Windows Vista or Windows 7 and will download the correct version of Silverlight if it is not installed.

You can now install the quiz application locally or run the new web-based quizzes.

To install a local version of the quiz application, see http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=b9fb478a-ec98-47f2-b31e-57443a8ae88f&DisplayLang=en

To run the quizzes directly from the web, visit http://quizapp.cloudapp.net/configmgr2007.aspx

We hope you enjoy these new quizzes and would love to hear your feedback about them and any of our other content. Contact us by emailing smsdocs@microsoft.com.

 -- Rob Stack

This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties and confers no rights.




06/08/11--14:10: Role-Based Administration Provides “Show Me” Behavior in Configuration Manager 2012 Beta 2 (chan 2091226)

[Today’s post is provided by Lilian Xuan]

Every person who uses the Configuration Manager 2007 console has to work with a complicated tree that has more than fifty nodes and hundreds of actions, even if they have permission to operate on just one node. Instead of this experience, how cool would it be to have your own console based on your assigned role? Configuration Manager 2012 provides this capability with role-based administration and what we call “Show Me” in the Configuration Manager console.

What is “Show Me”?

“Show Me” is the Configuration Manager behavior that shows the administrative user only what is relevant to them. Instead of seeing all workspaces, nodes, and objects when you run the Configuration Manager console, you see only those that you need to see, based on your job role. Role-based administration in Configuration Manager hides any workspaces, nodes, and objects that you do not need to see.

Why “Show Me”?

Imagine that you have one key chain with 10 keys attached to it. One of them is to the door of your office and you don’t use the other nine keys. What would you do? Bring the whole key chain and find your office key from 10 keys, every day? I would pick out the key to my office and bring it with me, leaving the other nine at home (or throw them away).

“Show Me” in the Configuration Manager console lets you leave those keys at home that you don’t use, and bring only the one key that you need. As an example, let’s assume that you have been assigned the role-based administration security role of Asset Manager, because your job role is to collect and report on software licenses by using the Asset Intelligence feature. When you run the Configuration Manager console, would you prefer to see everything, or only objects that are relevant to this role?  

Without the “Show Me” behavior, you see all the workspaces and nodes, as shown in the following picture:

 

Note: This is prerelease UI and is subject to change

With “Show Me”, only the relevant workspaces and nodes are shown, as in the next picture, where you can no longer see the Software Library workspace or the Configuration Items node.

 

Note: This is prerelease UI and is subject to change

Benefits of “Show Me”:

• Automatic custom Configuration Manager console.
• Shows the administrative user only the objects and actions that they need to perform their job.  
• The reduced display makes it easier and more efficient for administrative users to manage Configuration Manager.

How “Show Me” works

“Show Me” behavior is the result of configuring role-based administration in Configuration Manager 2012.  First, your Windows user account is granted access to the Configuration Manager console as an administrative user.  Then, when your account opens the Configuration Manager console, only the nodes and objects that you have permission to manage are displayed.  Objects you do not have permission to view or manage are hidden.  This is controlled by the association of security roles, security scopes, and collections to your administrative user configuration:

• Security roles define the actions, or permissions, you have for different object types. For example, a security scope can grant an associated user the right to create, deploy, and delete an application.  Access and visibility to the following are controlled by security role configurations:
  • Workspaces
  • Console nodes and folders
  • The type of objects that you can access
  • Available actions for accessible objects (such as which actions are displayed on the ribbon)
• Security scopes are sets of objects. Each securable object in Configuration Manager 2012 must be assigned to at least one security scope. When you are associated with a security scope, you gain access to manage the specific objects that are assigned to that security scope.
• Collection associations determine which collections are displayed when you take actions such as deploying content or viewing a list of collections.

Shown, Hidden, or Disabled

With the “Show Me” experience, administrative users might see different behaviors for objects in the Configuration Manager console. These behaviors include objects that are shown and accessible, shown but disabled, or hidden from view:

Shown

• All objects:  All objects are shown when an administrative user has permission to manage them. If this is a node or folder, parent objects in that workspace are also displayed.

Hidden

• Workspace: A workspace is hidden if the administrative user doesn’t have any permissions to view or operate any node in that workspace.
• Node: A node is hidden if the administrative user doesn’t have permissions to create, modify, delete, view, or configure anything in that node.
• Object: Objects are hidden if the object is not in a security scope associated with the administrative user.  Objects are also hidden when the security roles do not provide any permissions to this object type.
• Action: Actions are hidden if the administrative user doesn’t have permission to operate the specific action for the object. Permissions to take actions on objects are granted by the administrative users’ associated security roles.

Disabled

• Action:   There are two scenarios when an object or action is disabled (not available).

1)  First, you might have permissions to an object and specific actions, but the action is displayed as disabled. The action is shown as disabled because the action is not currently available, but might become available if prerequisites are met or changed.

For example, in the following picture, the action Enable or Disable Asset Intelligence Synchronization Point is disabled because the Asset Intelligence synchronization point is not installed. However,  when the Asset Intelligence synchronization point is installed, the administrative user’s assigned security roles grants them permissions to enable or disable this site system role. 

 

Note: This is prerelease UI and is subject to change

 2)  Second, you might have permissions for some objects, but not the selected object.  This can occur when you are associated with multiple security roles, and your role-based administration configuration associates your associated security roles with specific security scopes or collections. 

Troubleshooting Tips

When you use the “Show Me” behavior, watch out for these commonly reported issues:

1. You can’t see the workspaces, nodes or actions that you expect to see.
   Solution: Make sure that your administrative user account is associated with a security role that grants permissions to the correct object types.
2. You can’t see the objects that you expect to see in the console:
   Solution: Make sure that your administrative user account is associated with the correct security scopes and collections.

You can also use the following two logs files to troubleshoot Configuration Manager console problems:

• <smsprovider setup dir>\Logs\SMSProv.log
• <adminconsole setup dir>\AdminUILog\SmsAdminUI.log

For information about configuring role-based administration, see Configure Role-Based Administration in Configuration Manager 2012 in the Configuration Manager 2012 TechNet library

--Lilian Xuan

This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties and confers no rights.

 




06/27/11--14:15: Tips for Finding Objects in the Configuration Manager 2012 Console (chan 2091226)

[Today's post comes from Min Yang ] 1. Introduction In System Center Configuration Manager 2012, the Configuration Manager console has been greatly improved to enhance its usability. In addition to improvements in performance and layout, there are...(read more)


06/30/11--10:52: Announcement: Configuration Manager Documentation Library Update for June 2011 (chan 2091226)

[Today's post is from the Configuration Manager Writing Team ] The Configuration Manager 2007 documentation library and the Configuration Manager 2012 documentation library have been updated on the web and the latest content has Updated: June 1, 2011...(read more)


07/12/11--15:00: Configuration Manager 2007 Documentation Library Downloadable Update for June 2011 (chan 2091226)

[Today's post is provided by Rob Stack ] The latest downloadable update for the Configuration Manager 2007 Documentation Library has been posted to the Microsoft Download Center. The June 2011 version is the newest downloadable update available and...(read more)


07/26/11--12:40: How to create Prestaged Media for WES 7.1, PosReady7 and ThinPC in ConfigMgr 2007 R3 (chan 2091226)

[Today’s post comes from Chaohao Xu ] This blog post introduces how to create prestaged media for Windows Embedded Standard 7.1, PosReady7 and ThinPC with ConfigMgr 2007 R3. First, you need to setup a reference machine that runs the operating...(read more)


07/26/11--13:13: Configuration Manager Support Announcements for July 2011 (chan 2091226)

[Today's post comes from Harini Muralidharan] We are announcing support changes for the following releases. Please look for these changes to be reflected in the Supported Configuration pages within a few months. Microsoft Windows Embedded Standard...(read more)


07/27/11--15:25: Announcement: Configuration Manager Documentation Library Update for July (chan 2091226)

[Today's post is from the Configuration Manager Writing Team ] The Configuration Manager 2007 documentation library and the Configuration Manager 2012 documentation library have been updated on the web and the latest content has Updated: July1, 2011...(read more)


08/16/11--15:53: Remote site systems and network latency (chan 2091226)

[ Brian Huneycutt has contributed today’s article] Configuration Manager 2007 can operate successfully in a wide variety of network environments. However, there are still some factors to consider in regards to planning the location of site systems...(read more)


08/17/11--15:45: Known Issue and Workaround: Duplicate Records When You Use Unknown Computer Support with Active Directory Delta-Discovery (chan 2091226)

[Today’s post comes from Minfang Lv ] This post describes how and when you might see duplicate records when you use unknown computer support with Active Directory Delta-Discovery in Configuration Manager 2007 R3, what problems you might see,...(read more)


08/30/11--12:09: Announcement: Configuration Manager Documentation Library Update for August (chan 2091226)

[Today's post is from the Configuration Manager Writing Team ] The Configuration Manager 2012 documentation library has been updated on the web and the latest content has Updated: August 1, 2011 at the top of the topic. There are no significant...(read more)


09/08/11--11:33: R3 Client Computers Fail to Load Power Management Policy (chan 2091226)

[ Brian Huneycutt provides today’s blog post] An issue with the client patch process was recently discovered, which might lead to Configuration Manager 2007 R3 clients failing to load power policy. Affected clients are those that have applied...(read more)


09/08/11--11:53: Configuration Manager Support Announcements for August 2011 (chan 2091226)

[Today's post comes from Harini Muralidharan] We are announcing support changes for the following releases. Please look for these changes to be reflected in the Supported Configuration pages within a few months. Configuration Manager 2007 supports...(read more)


09/23/11--14:38: Introducing Role-Based Administration in System Center 2012 Configuration Manager (chan 2091226)

[Today’s post contributor is Lin Tang ] Overview Role-based administration (RBA) is a new feature introduced in Configuration Manager 2012. RBA provides Configuration Manager administrators with an easy way to implement the security model...(read more)


09/30/11--10:21: Announcement: Configuration Manager Documentation Library Update for September (chan 2091226)

[Today's post is from the Configuration Manager Writing Team ] The Configuration Manager 2012 documentation library has been updated on the web and the latest content has Updated: September 1, 2011 at the top of the topic. There are no significant...(read more)


09/30/11--11:31: Release announcement: System Center Monitoring Pack for Configuration Manager 2007 SP2 (Converted) (chan 2091226)

[Today’s announcement comes from Brian Huneycutt ] The Sustained Engineering team has released an update to the “Microsoft System Center Configuration Manager 2007 SP2 Management Pack for Microsoft System Center Operations Manager 2007...(read more)


11/01/11--12:09: Announcement: Configuration Manager 2012 Release Candidate is Available (chan 2091226)

The release candidates for System Center 2012 Configuration Manager and System Center 2012 Endpoint Protection are now available on the Microsoft Download Center . In case you missed it, the release announcement describing the features of the release...(read more)


11/01/11--12:16: Announcement: Configuration Manager Documentation Library Update for October 2011 (chan 2091226)

The Documentation library for System Center 2012 Configuration Manager has been updated on the web and the latest content has Updated: October 1, 2011 at the top of the topic. There are no significant updates for the Configuration Manager 2007 documentation...(read more)


11/01/11--12:40: How to use the Definition Update Automation Tool for Forefront Endpoint Protection 2010 Update Rollup 1 (chan 2091226)

Earlier today we released an updated version (found here ) of the Definition Update Automation Tool for Forefront Endpoint Protection 2010 Update Rollup 1. This document provides steps for how to use this tool. Tool Description With Forefront Endpoint...(read more)


12/02/11--14:23: Announcement: Configuration Manager Documentation Library Update for November 2011 (chan 2091226)

The Documentation library for System Center 2012 Configuration Manager has been updated on the web and the latest content has Updated: November 1, 2011 at the top of the topic. There are no significant updates for the Configuration Manager 2007 documentation...(read more)


12/19/11--13:26: Announcement: Configuration Manager Documentation Library Update for December 2011 (chan 2091226)

The Documentation Library for System Center 2012 Configuration Manager has been updated on the web and the latest content has Updated: December 1, 2011 at the top of the topic. There are no significant updates for the Configuration Manager 2007 documentation...(read more)