Security & Management : SMS

My 18th, 19th Microsoft KB Released!

daniel — Fri, 17 Aug 2007 04:11:00 GMT

You cannot change the destination folder when install the Operations Manager 2007

Addlocales value doesn't work in Inventory Tool for Microsoft Update v3

My 14th, 15th Microsoft KB Released!

daniel — Sun, 10 Jun 2007 04:20:00 GMT

This article describes the method to deploy Windows Media Player 11 in unattended mode by using System Management Server 2003

555928

This article describes the method to deploy .NET Framework Redistributable Package in unattended mode by using System Management Server 2003

555929

Incident Management in SMS!?

daniel — Mon, 28 May 2007 15:56:00 GMT

I got some of the requirements from the customers and They always ask the same questions.

"Can I store the Printer/PC Support Maintenance Contracts?"

"Is it provide incident logging for my helpdesk?"

"Can I keep the Purchase Order together?".....

These are the common questions from SME customers. Because there are no different teams for handle Incident Management and Changes/Configurations Management for their organization.

For the Enterprise Customers, HelpDesk Handle the Incident Management tasks, and Infrastructure Team Handle the Changes/Configurations Management tasks.

However, System Center Service Manager addressed the needs for Enterprise Customers, But I don't think it is a good solution for SME customers. (Based on their $$$, scale and the required functions).

So, I developed a Windows Sharepoint Service 3.0 Site with the following features to address the needs from SME:

Single Interface
Incident Logging
Store the Purchase Order, Status Reports (XML with Infopath)
Inventory Reports (WebPart and SMS Reporting)
Remote Desktop (WebPart and RDP Web Connection)
Schedulling
Tasks Assignment and Notifications (Web, Email and RSS)

What other features i should add into this solution for SME?

Please leave your comments and suggestions to me. Any feedbacks are welcome.

My 13th Microsoft KB Released!

daniel — Wed, 23 May 2007 02:53:00 GMT

Inventory Tool for Microsoft Update unable to download the Update Catalog successfully

Microsoft Update Tool Sync Advertisement failed and unable to download the Update Catalog when you are using Proxy Server to access Internet. And you got the message ID 11456 in the Advertisement Status of Microsoft Update Tool Sync. Also, in WUSSyncXML.log, there are records like "User Account:NONE".

For the Solution, Please read: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/555926

My Integrate SMS 2003 with SoftGrid Step by Step Guide Released!

daniel — Tue, 22 May 2007 01:29:00 GMT

I wrote this guide in the last year, and finally, i can publish it on the web and share with everyone.

You can download it from here and it will be published on Microsoft WebSite Later

Enjoy it!

Systems Management Server 2003 R2 with Service Pack 3

daniel — Wed, 02 May 2007 00:22:00 GMT

Microsoft Systems Management Server (SMS) 2003 R2 with Service Pack 3 (SP3) brings organizations full lifecycle support for Microsoft’s latest platform including software distribution, update services and inventory are available to the Vista client.

Adding optional capabilities to enhance the software and hardware inventory functionalities provided in SMS 2003, SP3 provides information to help organizations to make better business decisions about their IT assets. Through a new library of over 400,000 software titles, SMS 2003 SP3 provides an option to augment existing SMS inventory capabilities with deeper asset intelligence. SMS SP3 provides rich reporting about installed applications and hardware enabling better license reporting, software consolidation and upgrade planning.

Download

My 12th Microsoft KB Article

daniel — Thu, 22 Feb 2007 06:34:00 GMT

HOWTO: Assign SMS Advanced Client to the Isolated Secondary Site

The Step by Step Information to configure the SMS Advanced Client to report to SMS Secondary Site without connect to SMS Primary Site.

In some cases, the network connection between SMS Primary Site Management Point and the new installed SMS Advanced Clients that located in SMS Secondary Site maybe isolated. The SMS Advanced Clients unable to contact to the SMS Primary Site Management Point and get the site code and policies directly.

SMS Advanced Clients cannot assign to the SMS Secondary Site. They must located in the SMS Primary Site and assign to the SMS Primary Site first. But it is not suitable for the Desktop computers that located in the isolated Secondary Site.

For the solution, Please visit

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/555853

Systems Management Server 2003 Service Pack 3 Open Beta

daniel — Sun, 04 Feb 2007 15:36:00 GMT

In addition to providing the latest fixes for Microsoft Systems Management Server (SMS) 2003, Service Pack 3 (SP3) adds capabilities to enhance the software and hardware inventory functionalities provided in SMS 2003. Enabled through a new library of over 400,000 software titles, SMS SP3 provides rich reporting about installed applications and hardware to help organizations make better business decisions about their IT assets. New capabilities enable:

•	License Reporting: New reports enable comparison of Microsoft applications installed with licenses purchased as well as how those titles were obtained (for example: volume licensing, retail, or OEM) for better optimization of software use across the organization and fewer unutilized applications.
•	Software Consolidation: View applications by category to better see how many different applications with similar functions and versions are deployed in the organization and make consolidations. The result is accelerated application standardization, a more streamlined support structure, and the ability to maximize volume discounts from software vendors.
•	Upgrade Planning: Identify core and non-core applications in order to understand what applications require migration to the new environment. Software consolidation aids upgrade planning by reducing the number of applications that need compatibility testing. Identify hardware assets that need upgrading based on comparisons to published operating system hardware requirements. The result is more efficient planning and streamlined execution for upgrading users to Microsoft Windows XP and Windows Vista.

Full Windows Vista Support

Deploy Windows Vista with the SMS 2003 Operating System Deployment Feature Pack update. Manage it post-deployment with SMS 2003 via SMS SP3 as you would Windows XP or another operating system. With SMS SP3, administrators can:

•	Deploy Windows Vista updates
•	Deploy applications to Windows Vista client computers
•	Perform software and hardware inventory for Windows Vista client computers

More Information

SoftGrid with SMS Scenarios

daniel — Tue, 28 Nov 2006 02:19:00 GMT

Finally, I completed 4 SoftGrid with SMS scenarios.

SMS+SoftGrid+Domain

This is the most easiest one, And SoftGrid supports this scenario.

SMS Pri+SoftGrid+WorkGroup.

In this scenario, you need to use SoftGrid WebService for the Anonymous Authentication. And the WorkGroup Workstation Local User Account need to standardize. Also. create the same Domain User Account in Active Directory.

SoftGrid+WorkGroup

Same as the previrous one.

SMS Pri, Sec+SoftGrid+WorkGroup

This is the most diffcult and complex scenario. Other than the settings of "SMS Pri+SoftGrid+WorkGroup." Scenario, you also need to create the standardize local user account in the Sec Site Server, And make sure this account is able to access the SMS Distribution Share on the SMS Sec Site DP. (Add the Domain User Account to the DP's Local Users/Admins Group.)

In fact, the most difficult tasks are the permission consideration and testing. Because we have not enough info on the web to talk about it.

Maybe i missed some tips in this post. But i noted them on my memo already, if you want to get more information about it. Please feel free to contact me

SMS 2003 + Microsoft SoftGrid

daniel — Fri, 03 Nov 2006 03:51:00 GMT

I tested the Integration of SMS 2003 and Microsoft SoftGrid.

And i followed the Instructions of the Softricity SoftGrid Integrate SMS guide, and it didn't work.

I found out that there are many mistakes and steps missed in this guide.

Finally, I wrote a new guide for it. (I'm Sorry, I can't Publish it to Public in this moment. Please wait until June 2007)

However, If you have any questions about SoftGrid and SMS integration, I will try my best to answer your questions.

PS. I'm currently testing SMS+SoftGrid+WorkGroup machines, and I can let SoftGrid works with WorkGroup machines perfectly by Web Services. I hope that i can integrate SMS into them soon.

SMS Admin Console on Windows XP SP2 Issue

daniel — Mon, 16 Oct 2006 03:00:00 GMT

One of our customers' 2 Windows XP SP2 machines cannot connect to SMS Site Server by SMS Admin Console Suddenly.

I tried all of the solutions from Microsoft and Internet. And i still cannot solve it.

Maybe, I should pass this FAQ to them.><"

"Some customers have reported this issue, but at this time, Microsoft has not been able to reproduce this condition. If you run the SMS Administrator console only from computers that belong to the same domain as the SMS Provider, permitting unsecapp.exe and port TCP 135 to pass through the Windows Firewall should be sufficient. However, some customers have reported that even after permitting these two exceptions, the SMS Administrator console still cannot connect to an SMS site database from the Windows XP SP 2 client, even when both computers are in the same domain."

Override SMS Remote Tools Global Settings

daniel — Tue, 03 Oct 2006 01:56:00 GMT

I just found and tested the most useful solution from Technet Magazine,

It is used for override the Global SMS Remote Tools Setting on some machines or All machines.

In my situation, my customers asked that "Can the SMS remote tool ask for the User Permission before establish the connection? If not, the Administrator can configure the SMS remote tool to "Don't ask for permission" and view and control the user desktop without user permission" .

It is a big concern for the Government and some banks.

Finally, I tested the solution successfully.

http://www.microsoft.com/technet/technetmag/issues/2006/09/CustomizeSMS/

Sizing Tools for MOM and SMS

daniel — Tue, 01 Aug 2006 06:57:00 GMT

Microsoft released some great sizing tools for MOM and SMS, You can use them to plan the Hardware Capacity for each of the MOM and SMS component.

MOM 2005 Sizer

The MOM 2005 Sizer provides recommendations for MOM server configurations based on modeled workloads.

SMS 2003 Capacity Planner

A planning tool that helps consultants, SMS administrators, and IT professionals perform scenario analysis on their existing and proposed SMS 2003 hierarchy

System Center Capacity Planner

Microsoft System Center Capacity Planner 2006 helps size and plan deployments of Microsoft Exchange Server 2003 and Microsoft Operations Manager (MOM) 2005. It provides you with the tools and guidance to deploy efficiently, while planning for the future by allowing for "what-if" analyses.

70-089 SMS 2003 Exam

daniel — Wed, 26 Jul 2006 11:18:00 GMT

I took the 70-089 SMS 2003 Exam today.

And i got 1000 marks (full marks again)

I'm very happy about it.

It is not a very difficult exam, focus on Patch Management and Local/Remote Distribution Points, System Requirement and OSD.

Microsoft in talks to buy Softricity

daniel — Fri, 19 May 2006 14:47:00 GMT

Microsoft is in talks to buy application virtualisation software vendor Softricity of Boston, USA CRN has learned.

"It's coming down to the final stretches," said one source close to Microsoft who is familiar with the discussions. "It's not a done deal yet but it's just last minute haggling kind of stuff."

That's not all. At its hardware conference for OEMs next week, Microsoft is expected to announce plans to accelerate the delivery of its homegrown virtualisation hypervisor code-named "Viridian" and will formally debut plans for a virtualisation management platform code-named Carmine.

The deal with Softricity - which hit the rumor mill earlier this week - is expected to be finished before the Windows Hardware Engineering Conference (WinHEC) in Seattle next week. Sources say Microsoft at WinHEC also will unveil Virtual DLL, a feature for Windows Vista developed in conjunction with Softricity.

The feature will not enable full application virtualisation offered by Softricity's SoftGid platform but it will allow users to virtualise application registries and "end DLL hell once and for all," one source said.

"I know Microsoft has been talking to Softricity and has worked with engineers at Softricity," said another source familiar with the joint development work on Virtual DLL by the two software companies.

"It allows you to have a virtual registry instead of a single registry so you have can have multiple DLLs sitting on the registry," he continued. "The benefit for us is to remove application conflicts. With this, you can have Office 97 and Office 2003 on the same machine."

Softricity did not respond to CRN calls for comment. A Microsoft spokesperson said only that the company does not comment on "speculation."

Sources say they are not surprised about the deal with Softricity, a former Citrix ISV that has quickly emerged as a key Microsoft ISV partner over the past six months.

At Microsoft Management Summit last month, Microsoft highlighted Softricity's new SoftGrid 4.0 for Systems Management Server 2003, which allows IT managers to virtualise Windows applications on the fly from within the management platform.

The flurry of activity in Microsoft's virtualisation unit comes as VMware - the market leader in the explosive virtualisation software market - is expected to announce availability of its next generation ESX Server 3.0 and VirtualCenter 2 platform during the first week of June.

In addition to its application virtualization push with Softricity, Microsoft will try to slow adoption of VMware's platform by announcing a stepped up delivery plan for Viridian, sources told CRN.

Microsoft plans to put Viridian into private beta with a limited number of partners sometime in the fourth quarter, sources said.

The hypervisor, which will replace its standalone Virtual Server product, was originally planned to be integrated into Windows Longhorn Server in 2006. That server is now due to ship in the second half of 2007.

But company executives later amended that plan and said Viridian would be in the R2 release of the Longhorn server. R2 is not expected to be available until 2009 or 2010.

Sources said Microsoft is speeding up its Viridian plans and pushing forward on its virtualisation management plans and application virtualisation efforts to appease corporate customers that want a VMware-like platform but don't want to wait much longer.

Microsoft is very worried because corporate customers are really pressuring the company to step it up or they will go to VMware, sources said, noting Microsoft's recent agreement to license its virtual Hard Disk format to XenSource - an open source company.

Source: http://www.itnews.com.au/newsstory.aspx?CIaNID=32786

Installing MOM 2005 SP1 and SMS 2003 SP2 on SQL Server 2005 backend

daniel — Fri, 14 Apr 2006 02:33:00 GMT

For SMS 2003 SP2, It supports SQL Server 2005 already.

For MOM 2005 SP1, Microsoft released 3 hotfixes to let it supports SQL Server 2005.

But there are many customers to ask the procedure for install these hotfixes.

Andrej posted it on his blog already. (Step by Step) :)

http://blogs.technet.com/alipka/articles/424009.aspx

Schedule the Refresh for SMS Client's Machine Policy

daniel — Sun, 26 Mar 2006 03:49:00 GMT

In some cases, You may want to change the Machine Policy Refresh Cycle on the SMS Client. And you may want the SMS Clients to get the Updated Policy/Instruction from SMS ASAP.

To do this automatically, You should schedule the Script to run on the SMS Clients.

===========================================

On Error Resume Next

Dim objCPAppletMgr
Dim objClientActions
Dim objClientAction
Dim strActionName

strActionName="Request & Evaluate Machine Policy"

'Get the Control Panel applet manager object
set objCPAppletMgr = CreateObject("CPApplet.CPAppletMgr")

'Get a collection of client actions

set objClientActions=objCPAppletMgr.GetClientActions

'Loop through the available client actions

For Each objClientAction In objClientActions

If objClientAction.Name = strActionName Then
    objClientAction.PerformAction
     WScript.Echo "Action " + objClientAction.Name + " initiated"
End If
Next

===========================================

You can get more SMS scripts on the Microsoft Script Center!

SMS 2003 Collection Query for Office 2003 Pro Installation

daniel — Sat, 11 Mar 2006 04:40:00 GMT

Finds all SMS Clients that have the resources required to support Offiice 2003. This requires a 233MHz processor, 128MB Ram, 400 MB of free space, and Windows 2000 SP3 or later (including Windows XP and Windows Server 2003)

select SMS_R_System.Name, SMS_R_System.SMSInstalledSites,

SMS_R_System.OperatingSystemNameandVersion,

SMS_R_System.ADSiteName, SMS_R_System.IPSubnets from

SMS_R_System inner join SMS_G_System_PROCESSOR on

SMS_G_System_PROCESSOR.ResourceID =

SMS_R_System.ResourceId inner join

SMS_G_System_X86_PC_MEMORY on

SMS_G_System_X86_PC_MEMORY.ResourceID =

SMS_R_System.ResourceId inner join

SMS_G_System_LOGICAL_DISK on

SMS_G_System_LOGICAL_DISK.ResourceID =

SMS_R_System.ResourceId inner join

SMS_G_System_OPERATING_SYSTEM on

SMS_G_System_OPERATING_SYSTEM.ResourceID =

SMS_R_System.ResourceId where

(SMS_R_System.OperatingSystemNameandVersion = "Microsoft

Windows NT Workstation 5.0" and SMS_G_System_OPERATING_SYSTEM.CSDVersion >= "Service

Pack 3") or (SMS_R_System.OperatingSystemNameandVersion =

"Microsoft Windows NT Server 5.0" and SMS_G_System_OPERATING_SYSTEM.CSDVersion >= "Service

Pack 3") or (SMS_R_System.OperatingSystemNameandVersion =

"Microsoft Windows NT Advanced Server 5.0" and SMS_G_System_OPERATING_SYSTEM.CSDVersion >= "Service

Pack3") or SMS_R_System.OperatingSystemNameandVersion =

"Microsoft Windows NT Server 5.2" or SMS_R_System.OperatingSystemNameandVersion = "Microsoft

Windows NT advanced Server 5.2" or SMS_R_System.OperatingSystemNameandVersion = "Microsoft

Windows NT Workstation 5.1" and SMS_G_System_PROCESSOR.MaxClockSpeed >= 233 and SMS_G_System_X86_PC_MEMORY.TotalPhysicalMemory >= 130612

and (SMS_G_System_LOGICAL_DISK.FreeSpace >= 400 and

SMS_G_System_LOGICAL_DISK.Name = "C:")

Systems Management Server 2003 R2 Open Beta

daniel — Wed, 22 Feb 2006 00:32:00 GMT

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 3^rd 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 2003 Service Pack 2 Upgrade

daniel — Tue, 14 Feb 2006 02:08:00 GMT

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

SMS 2003 Account Review Tool

SMS 2003 Inventory Tool for Microsoft Update (SP2)

SMS 2003 with SP2 EVAL