The D-Spot (The Deployment Spot)

Like mentioned in my previous post, I’m currently working with the SCSM 2010 in a lab environment. After reading a discussion on TechNet I wondered what the feeling must be to work in the Web Portal (Web Console) instead of the SCSM 2010 client. That’s why I installed the Web Portal on my virtual machine.

Before you can install the setup of the Web Portal you need an IIS Server to be configured. Because my VM is a DC, I installed the IIS (Web Server) Role on this machine. 

Prerequisites

• SCSM 2010 Management Server
• SQL Server 2008 SP1
• 4 GB of RAM
• IIS 7.0
• ASP.NET 2.0

Installation

Run the setup.exe (the same one you used to install the SCSM Management Server) and you’ll be presented with the “Microsoft System Center Service Manager Setup Wizard” where you have to choose to “Install the Service Manager Web Portals” .

“Getting started – Product Registration”: You can or fill in the Product Key or you can use the Trial Option (which will only last for 180 days). Read the EULA, mark it as read and click Next.

“Getting started – Installation Location”: Choose a location for the virtual website and be sure you have enough disk space to run it.

“Prerequisites – System Check Results”: The installation of the Web Portals will only proceed once all the prerequisites are fulfilled. The IIS 7.0 needs to be installed before you start the setup for the Web Portals (install the IIS role in the Server Manager).

“Configuration – Configure the Service Manager self-service portal name and port”: Choose a website name and port (the default port is 443 (HTTPS)) and select the server which will issue the SSL Certificate.

“Configuration – Select the Service Manager Database”: This is the page where the info is required of the Service Manager Management Server. As you can notice in the screenshot the SCSM database I use is the ServiceManager which is created on the SRV2008 SQL Server.

“Configuration – Configure The Account For The Service Manager Portals”: I kept the default setting (Local System Account).

“Configuration – Help Improve System Center Service Manager”: Off course I’m willing to participate in the Customer Experience Improvement Program!

“Configuration – Installation Summary”: You can check if all the settings and components you configured are correct. If so, press Install.

“Finished – Setup Completed Successfully”: As you can see in the text on the top of the page two portals were created. One for the end-user and one for the analyst.

On the bottom of the page you can see the additional option to open the “Encryption or Restore Wizard”. In this wizard you’re able to generate a key which can be used to encrypt or restore your settings.

More info:

The Self Service Portal

Google

Today I installed the SCSM 2010 in a lab environment and there where some issues I encountered during the installation. These issues will be explained during the series of screenshots.

Prerequisites:

• SQL Server 2008 SP1
• Domain with Active Directory
• Connection to the internet
• 4 GB of RAM
• Authorization Manager Hotfix (975332)
• .NET Framework 3.5 SP1

Installation:

When clicking on the setup.exe (which has been extracted to the temp folder of the used profile) the installer began to download & install the .NET Framework 3.5 SP1.

“System Center Service Manager 2010 Setup” page installing the .NET Framework 3.5 SP1.

Once the .NET Framework was installed, the “Microsoft System Center Service Manager Setup Wizard” opened and I could choose between the “SM Management Server” and the “SM Data Warehouse Management Server”. I could notice a difference here for the requested memory. The “SM Management Server” needs 4 GB of RAM whereas the “SM Data Warehouse Management Server” needs 8 GB of RAM.

On the “Getting Started” page I did not register the software because I’m using it in a lab environment. If you are going to implement the software in your enterprise, be sure to request a license from Microsoft.

On the “Installation Location” page I didn’t change anything. Note that the System Center Service Manager only requires 1GB of free space!

The wizard is “Checking for requirements…”

On this page – “System Check Results” – I encountered some issues. First, my virtual machine did not have 4 GB of RAM allocated. I changed this and re-ran the installation. This issue was covered but the wizard showed me that the “Authorization Manager Hotfix” was not installed. I subscripted on the Microsoft webpage in order to receive the hotfix in my inbox. The email contained a link to the download location and a password for the .exe file. The .exe file will extract to a default location and the following file is generated: “Windows6.1-KB975332-x64.msu”. Run this file and the hotfix will be installed.

On the “Configure The Service Manager Database” page I lost some time because I did not install the SP1 for the SQL Server. Because of this the wizard could not locate the freshly installed SQL Server 2008. Once SP1 was installed, the wizard could locate the SQL Server and I decided to create a new database for the SCSM, called “ServiceManager”.

On the “Configure the Service Manager management group” I chose the name “ServiceManagers”. The persons in this group will be able to manage the SCSM 2010. The “sm\ServiceManagers” stands for the AD Group “ServiceManagers” in the domain “SM”.

“Configure The Account For Service Manager Services”

“Configure The Service Manager Workflow Account”

“Help Improve System Center Service Manager”

“Use Microsoft Update To Help Keep Your Computer Secure And Up-To-Date"

“Installation Summary”. Short overview of the completed wizard.

“Setup Completed Successfully”

“System Manager Management Console”. I’m now completely ready to go for it…

More info:

Documentation on Management Server

Documentation on Data Warehouse Management Server

Info on the installation of the Service Manager 2010 Beta 2 Data Warehouse Management Server

SCUG.be – System Center User Group

… and off course: Google

Microsoft released an update for the company’s free operating system deloyment solution.  If you’re planning to migrate to Windows 7, Server 2008 R2 or Office 2010, MDT is the tool you need.  Here at the D Spot we have blogged a lot about MDT already.  Keep yourself up to date and read our MDT related posts.

What has changed in MDT 2010 Update 1

For native MDT users (Lite Touch Installation)

The populair PDF reader and writer from Adobe are often plagued by critical vulnerabilities. Therefore updating and patching Adobe Reader and Adobe Acrobat applications is highly necessary.

Here is how to slipstream the Reader 9.3.3 patch into the 9.3 source, suppress the automatic updates, and acrobat.com online services.

First step: get the sources.

Download sources

Adobe Reader 9.3: AdbeRdr930_en_US.msi

Adobe Reader 9.3.2 Patch: AdbeRdrUpd932_all_incr.msp

Adobe Reader 9.3.3 Patch: AdbeRdrUpd933_all_incr.msp

Adobe Customization Wizard 9: CustWiz90_en_US.exe

Because the upgrade path is 9.3 > 9.3.2 > 9.3.3, we also need the 9.3.2 patch file.

In the second step we need to create a network installation point (administrative installation point). I use C:\temp\reader933\adminpoint, you can choose your own.

Perform an administrative installation

1. Copy the sources to a directory of your choose, for example:
   

   C:\temp\reader933\sources

2. Create a distribution point folder (a folder where the installer can install the uncompressed program files)
   

   C:\temp\reader933\adminpoint

3. Open a command prompt and execute this command:
   

   Msiexec /a <path of AdbeRdr930_en_US.msi>

   With the /a parameter, you’re extracting the MSI to the administrative installation point (folder).

   

   When asked, point to the administrative installation point created in step 2 and hit Install.

   

   

   Admin point has been created:

   

   The 9.3 source files are extracted, now we will slipstream the 9.3.2 and 9.3.3 patches.

4. Apply the 9.3.2 patch:
   

   msiexec /a <path of msi at distribution point> /p <path of Reader 9.3.2.msp>

   for example in my situation:

   msiexec /a "C:\Temp\reader933\adminpoint933\AdbeRdr930_en_US.msi" /p "C:\Temp\adobereader\sources\AdbeRdrUpd932_all_incr.msp"

   

   

   

   

5. Then apply the 9.3.3 path:
   

   msiexec /a "C:\Temp\reader933\adminpoint933\AdbeRdr930_en_US.msi" /p "C:\Temp\adobereader\sources\AdbeRdrUpd933_all_incr.msp"

   

   

   

   

   Last step is to create a transform file. Here you can disable automatic updates and apply custom settings.

Create a transform file (.mst) using the Adobe Customization Wizard:

Run Adobe’s Customization Wizard and open the extracted MSI (leave other files in place). Then change the settings to suit your needs, use the screenshots as an example (this are our adaptations).

Create new key: AVGeneral (in HKCU\Software\Adobe\Acrobat Reader\9.0)

DWORD: bCheckForUpdatesAtStartup

Value: 0

Create new DWORD: OptIn (in HKCU\Software\Adobe\CommonFiles\Usage\Reader 9)

Value: 0

Before saving the package, create an empty setup.ini file in the root of your admin point. If you don’t create this file the Customization Wizard will throw the error: “Setup.ini not found”. (thanks Terry for letting me know)

Save the package, and you’re done.

Add sites to the Trust Manager

We needed to add some sites to the Trust Manager, this step isn’t necessary in the deployment process. We added this IP ranges to the Trust Manager:

172.33.*

172.75.*

Use this .reg file to deploy via scripting:

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Adobe\Acrobat Reader\9.0\TrustManager]

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Adobe\Acrobat Reader\9.0\TrustManager\cDefaultLaunchURLPerms]

"tHostPerms"="version:2|172.33.*:2|172.75.*:2"

Import via Customization Wizard should also work, although I didn’t tested the import feature. If somesome has experience with importing these settings, please share and make a comment!

Deployment:

I use this command line to deploy my slipstreamed Adobe Reader via ConfigManager 2007:

msiexec /i "path\AdbeRdr930_en_US.msi" TRANSFORMS="path\tranformfile.mst" /qb REBOOT=ReallySuppress /log "path\reader933.txt"

Update Sept 2010:

Patch to reader 9.3.4

Here is how to patch the Reader 9.3.3 administrative distribution point with the updated Reader 9.3.4 version.

First get the Adobe Reader 9.3.4 sources file from Adobe’s website. Then apply the 9.3.4 (.msp) patch to the previous created distribution point:

msiexec /a <path of msi at the distribution point> /p <path of downloaded patch>

for example in my situation:

msiexec /a “C:\Temp\reader933\adminpoint933\AdbeRdr930_en_US.msi” /p “C:\Temp\adobereader\sources\AdbeRdrUpd934_all_incr.msp”

It can be confusing, because I named the distribution point “reader933”.

Copy the files from distribution point to your desired location and you’re done!