February 2006 - Posts
SMS 2003 R2 contains new features/capabilities in two areas – Vulnerability Assessment and Software Updates.
SMS Scan Tool for Vulnerability assessment.
SMS 2003 R2 leverages the vulnerability assessment technology and knowledge in MBSA 2.0. SMS 2004 R2 leverages the SMS infrastructure to deploy the MBSA 2.0 VA scanner, scans the system and report scan results across the enterprise. SMS customers can now get a global view of the vulnerabilities and risks in their organization and drill down to very specific vulnerabilities. For example, using SMS 2003 R2 customers will be able to get a global view of the # of desktops/servers that have accounts without passwords and then drill down and see every account on every desktop/server without defined passwords. This same level of detail is present in SMS 2003 R2 for over 70 vulnerabilities including vulnerabilities for IIS, SQL, and Windows.
Microsoft Inventory Tool for Custom updates.
Software updates (patching) is one of the most commonly used features of SMS 2003. SMS 2003 is the leading software update solution for Enterprise organization. One of the most common customer requests is to extend the SMS 2003 software updates capabilities to enable distribution/reporting of non-Microsoft packages and LOB software updates. The SMS and Windows Update teams collaborated to define a common catalog schema that SMS 2003 R2 could leverage that would be common with Microsoft Update for patching of 3rd party and LOB applications. SMS 2003 R2 includes a scanner and catalog publishing tool that enables Microsoft’s ISV partners to build and ship software update catalogs that SMS natively consumes. SMS 2003 R2 also enables customers to create software update catalogs – enabling SMS 2003 R2 to natively patch your internally developed applications.
Program significant dates:
Open Beta: 2/9/2006
RC: 4/13/2006
RTM: 5/18/2006
Systems Management Server 2003 R2 Open Beta program: Apply now and be the first to participate in the SMS 2003 R2 Beta.
Go to http://connect.microsoft.com/, and click on “Available Programs” for details.
Systems Management Server v4 Open Beta program: Apply now and be the first to participate in the SMS v4 Open Beta currently planned to start in late February of 2006!
| Program Start Date |
1/29/2006 |
| Program End Date |
|
| Nomination Start Date |
2/15/2006 |
| Nomination End Date |
Go to http://connect.microsoft.com/, and click on “Available Programs” for details.
On the DPM newsgroup, one of the customers is facing this problem of DPM installation.
The installation can continue but when i want to install an agent there a message:
unable to connect to active directory database...
ID: 7
Microsoft response:
With the assistance of Microsoft PSS it seems that we've been able to
resolve this problem. It turns out to have been an active directory
permissions issue. To resolve the problem we did the following:
1) Open adsiedit (You may need to install adsiedit first - part of the
Windows 2000 Support Tools)
2) Find the computers OU in the left hand pane, right click on it, and go to
properties.
3) Go to the security tab and add the "authenticated users" group to the ACL
and give it read permissions.
4) Repeat steps 2 and 3 on the domain controllers OU.
Go back to your DPM server and you should be able to deploy the agent by
manually entering the appropriate NetBIOS server name.
Microsoft Systems Management Server (SMS) 2003 Service Pack 2 (SP2) is primarily a rollup of a number of fixes for SMS 2003, but also introduces some changes to the supported configurations and broadens the configurations allowed. SMS 2003 SP2 also includes incremental improvements to usability, security, and performance.
Important:If you are planning to install the Inventory Tool for Microsoft Updates after you have upgraded your site to SMS 2003 SP2, then you must use the version that is designed for SP2. That version is included with SP2, but not installed by default. You can also download it separately from the link below.
What's New and New SMS Client System Requirements
SMS 2003 SP2
This session will cover Microsoft's management product plans for the next 12 months, including new product releases. It will outline the new System Center family of products and discuss how they integrate to provide a complete management solution. A number of partner solutions will be described which extend Microsoft's management solutions to non-Microsoft applications and platforms.
Watch It!
To install MOM Reporting Server on the Domain Controller is not recommended.
But sometimes, you must need to install it on the Domain Controller, for example, Demo VMs, Limited Hardware..etc.
When you installed the MOM Reporting Server on the Domain Controller and then try to generate the reports, You may experience the "Logon Failure" error in the Reporting Console.
To solve the problem, Open Administrative Tools, Domain Controller Security Policy, Local Policies, User Right Assignment. And add the MOM Report User Account and SQL Reporting Service Account to "Allow Logon Locally".