If you want to control the location of your packages instead of SCCM using the drive with the most available disk space, resulting in your packages being spread around several drives there are two options:
- Use a server share site system to host the distribution role. This however does not prevent the folder SMSPKGC$ from being created and his some disadvantages… (http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb892801.aspx)
- Another option is to create an ‘no_sms_on_drive.sms’ file on all drives where you don’t want any packages located. It’s a bit simplistic but it does the trick…
Thought I’d share this since I just used this method for the first time…
Grtz,
Steve.
Last Wednesday we hosted our seminar “Managing the dynamic desktop? Windows 7 deployment”. This seminar not only listed many of the new features and functionality that are included in Windows 7 but also answered many deployment questions. Some of them were “how do I know which deployment system is best-suited for my organization?” and “how can I certify this to be my final mass deployment”.
The result can be found here:
http://seminar.the-d-spot.org/Windows 7 Presentation_part1.pdf
http://seminar.the-d-spot.org/Windows 7 Presentation_part2.pdf
Anyone using SCCM and Forefront Client Security? If so, then you probably have an auto-approve rule in WSUS for your definition files and therefore have these files automatically downloaded to your server. Seen the amount of definition files that are released, you could notice that these files begin to consume a significant amount of disk space and, as in my case, could run into disk space problems if not adequately monitored. Therefore I needed to get these files cleaned up to free up some disk space.
Cleaning up these definition files and freeing up disk space can be done trough the ‘Cleanup Wizard’ in your WSUS console. Normally you would manage your updates trough the SCCM console but the difference is that, by creating this auto-approve rule for definition files, these ‘updates’ are managed by your underlying WSUS infrastructure and not your SCCM infrastructure which you would use for other updates (Windows updates, etc.)
The first time I ran the Cleanup Wizard, this would appear to go in a state of not responding and finally freeze up. These was because it was the first time I ran the wizard and has selected all different tasks…
It is better to perform these tasks individually and in certain order, the first time you run the cleanup wizard. I performed them in the following order:
- I first selected the two bottom options where you decline certain updates
- Then the first option, deleting unused updates and update revisions
- To end with the third option where unnneeded updates are deleted
If like me, you want to schedule this cleanup to run every month or so, you can do this by using the following tool: http://wsus.codeplex.com/releases/view/17612. The tool provides you with an executable, help file and an sql file. Considering the arguments you pass in your command, you can perform the several cleanup tasks as you find in the cleanup wizard of WSUS and perform a database maintenance. All arguments and command line option can be found in the help file, I found it very useful.
Grtz,
Steve.
I guess this message is not new for all of you out there, but it was for me…
The thing is that I was creating a collection with two queries in, where one is based on the file version, when I got the message:
To override the default setting of 2000 results, you must create a new dword value called ValueLimit in the registry under HKLM\software\microsoft\configmgr\adminUI\Queryprocessors and specify a number that will meet your needs.
Do this on the machine(s) where you have the SCCM admin console installed
Well, I just lost an hour figuring out why I could not connect to the SCCM db this morning while other co-workers have no problem at all, so I thought to share the troubleshooting steps…
the exact error is: The ConfigMgr console could not connect to the ConfigMgr site database. Verify that this computer has network connectivity to the SMS Provider computer and that your user account has Remote Activation permissions on both the ConfigMgr site server and SMS Provider computers.
-logon to a site server and open the admin console with the same account : no problem
-logon to another client with the admin console installed (same account): no problem
-launch dcomcnfg and verify that “enable distributed com on this computer” is checked (you can find that when you open the properties of your computer) : ok
-launch wbemtest and try to connect to \\siteserver\root\sms (modify the siteserver with your servername) : nok
-launch wmidiag and verify if all is well : nok
-check the smsadminui.log on your client
what do we find here:
[9][3/12/2009 9:38:36] :Microsoft.ConfigurationManagement.ManagementProvider.SmsConnectionException\r\nThe ConfigMgr Administrator console could not connect to the ConfigMgr site database. Verify your user has read permissions to the ConfigMgr site and then try to connect again.
\r\n at Microsoft.ConfigurationManagement.AdminConsole.SmsSiteConnectionNode.GetConnectionManagerInstance(String connectionManagerInstance)
at Microsoft.ConfigurationManagement.AdminConsole.SmsSiteConnectionNode.BuildTreeWorker()\r\nAccess is denied. (Exception from HRESULT: 0×80070005 (E_ACCESSDENIED))
\r\nSystem.UnauthorizedAccessException\r\nAccess is denied. (Exception from HRESULT: 0×80070005 (E_ACCESSDENIED))\r\n at System.Runtime.InteropServices.Marshal.ThrowExceptionForHRInternal(Int32 errorCode, IntPtr errorInfo)
-last step: delete the profile under which you are attempting to launch the admin console
this did the trick for me!
The second Truesec Deployment CD by MVP Johan Arwidmark has been released. This disc contains PDF guides and training videos. Covering Lite-Touch Deployments using the Microsoft Deployment Toolkit and Zero-Touch Deployments using System Center Configuration Manager. This new version covers MDT2010 and SCCM 2007 SP2 R2.
The CD consists of step-by-step guides and video tutorials:
Lite Touch Deployments:
- Installing the server for MDT 2010 Lite Touch
- Creating a Windows 7 reference image using Lite Touch
- Deploying a Windows 7 image using Lite Touch
- Dynamic Settings, creating and using the deployment database
Zero Touch Deployments :
- Installing the server for MDT 2010 Zero Touch and ConfigManager 2007 R2
- Creating a Windows 7 reference image using ConfigManager 2007 SP2
- Deploying a Windows 7 image using ConfigManager 2007 SP2
- Dynamic Settings, creating and using the deployment database
Additional Presentations:
- New features in MDT2110
- Upgrading MDT 2008 to MDT 2010
- Migrating Windows XP to Windows 7
Get your copy at a deploymentcd.com
When deploying several packages trough SCCM, I ran into this one particular package which would stop downloading without any clear reason. When checking the log files, these would not display an error, just the download process would show that it suddenly stopped downloading… The SCCM Client center tool showed a ‘WaitingContent’ status.
After some searching I found this article from Matthew Boyd which pointed me to the fact that this was an IIS problem and not a SCCM problem. The IIS logfile showed an ‘404.8 – hidden namespace’ error. The cause for this error was the Request Filtering feature for the Web Server which contains a <HiddenSegments> portion in the ‘applicationHost.config’ file. Since my package contained a bin folder, I had to remove the line: <add segment="bin" />. The ApplicationHost.config file can be found here: “%windir%\System32\inetsrv\config\”
So finally I would be able to deploy my package… or not?
Next error I bumped into was again an IIS error, now giving me a ‘404.7 – File extension denied’ error. This is due to the same Reguest Filtering feature where in the same ‘applicationHost.config’ file there is a fileExtensions portion. For each file extension of which files exist in the package, I changed the line to allowed=”true”. This is something that is pointed out in the prerequisite steps by Microsoft but since I had no idea of which packages would get distributed at the time of installation…
And still I could not get my package deployed…
Now I received the error in the SCCM log file that the hash verification failed. To solve this problem I had to verify that no files were marked hidden in the package. Once these files were no longer marked as hidden, and did a refresh (not an update!) of the DP, the package finally installed correctly…
Yesterday I have installed SP2 on my Lab system, no problem there.
It just got me thinking about this: if today you would need to install a new SCCM system, there are already a couple of installs to do, by preference start with a ‘SCCM 2007 with SP1′ disc, then install SP2, then install R2 if you need those features also.
The R2 and coming R3 are feature packs (or addons if you want) which are not part of the basic SCCM product, so they will always have to be installed separately if you need those features. That is the difference with SP2, which is a service pack for the basic product (and applies to the site, clients and admin consoles)
As it seems during next month a new ‘SCCM 2007 with SP2′ disc will be released, so that is one setup less to do…
at Teched 2009 (currently in Berlin) Microsoft announced that the follow up version of SCCM 2007 will be branded as ConfigMgr 2011 (instead of v.Next that appeared on the MMS slides earlier this year).
Release is likely to happen near MMS 2011.
as soon as we have more official intel about Configmgr 2011, we will keep you updated on it.
