However I still had some weird scenarios, even with server OS, eg: After successfully patching a server a few days earlier, the compliance status would still report those patches as missing (although they had been installed successfully…)

This is where I made the link with the so-called WMI stability hotfixes (credits to Kim Oppalfens!  and also http://ccmexec.com/2011/08/suggested-hotfixes-for-wmi-related-issue-on-windows-platforms ).

To try and avoid these kind of problems I have a two-phase approach:

- in the Task Sequence I will install the WMI stability hotfix directly

- I created a separate Task Sequence with all stability hotfixes and have spread that on the rest of our clients.

Note : this is the list of available WMI fixes per OS

2003+XPx64: kb933061
2003 32b: kb933061
XP 32b (SP2): kb933062
Vista/server 2008: which one is it?
Server 2008 R2/W7: 981314 + 977357 + 2465990 (SP1 only)

some more info about this WMI stability hotfix TS:

* first I created a package with 5 different command lines (and 5 programs) pointing to 5 different subfolders

* then I created a TS with 5 separate run command line entries (linked to the 5 programs in the package)

Every Step then has a condition linked to the appropriate OS.

as we have no direct need to integrate MDT, I just needed the functionality of the MDT scripts in SCCM.

Start by copying the MDT scripts and put them into a package.  you do not have to create a program for this package. put it on at least one DP.

Edit the TS:

- create a ‘run command line’ step: cscript.exe ZTIgather.wsf /localonly. browse and select your MDTscripts package.

(the localonly parameter is needed or this step will fail with return code 8000)

-in another existing step I have used the variable ‘IsDesktop’ to determine when to apply the step:

See, you do not have to reinvent the wheel again !

http://www.microsoft.com/download/en/details.aspx?displaylang=en&id=27841

The result can be found here:

http://seminar.the-d-spot.org/Microsoft System Center Suite – a bucket full of fruits – 24102011Presentation.pdf

The result can be found here:

http://seminar.the-d-spot.org/Desktop optimisation – notes from the field – 17102011.pdf

Afterwards the machines will recieve their name and join the domain after being shipped onsite.

the vendor will be providing us with a list of all mac-addresses, so we can use that to import the computer information and create the link between collection and advertisement.

I will try to go through all steps I did to achieve this result.

1° Create a capture of the current TS

as all new machines will be based on the same model, we use this procedure to save some time later on. (the capture will also have the default applications embedded)

2° Create the Prestage media via a TS

Note: this can be done via one of 2 ways, check the full explanation here:

http://blogs.technet.com/b/configurationmgr/archive/2011/01/11/how-to-stage-task-sequence-prestaged-media-on-a-hard-drive-in-configuration-manager-2007.aspx

Right Click on the Task Sequence and select Create Task Sequence Media

Select the option to create Prestaged Media (R3 required !)
Specify publisher information

Specify name and destination of the output file (this will be a WIMfile)

Select boot and OS image to be used.

This TS has been exported as standalone media on an USB stick that will be handed out to our vendor.

Tip: by default when the Autorun is launched, you have to click on the NEXT button before continuing. If you want to avoid this, edit the tsmbootstrap.ini (located in SMS\data) and change the value of unattend=false into TRUE

3° Add the Prestaged OS image in the SCCM console

The next step is to create an OS image under OSD

Right click on OS images and select ADD operating system image

Input the UNC path of the captured wimfile from step 2

Distribute this new os image to a DP

4° Create a TS to prestage the OS image

Select a custom tasksequence

Step 1 : Format and partition disk

Define the necessary partitions

Step 2 : Apply data image

Select the image package we created in step 2

Make sure to select the correct location, if you have worked with a variable in the partition disk step, you have to reuse that variable again or things will fail.

Step 3 : add a new command line with : wpeutil.exe shutdown

as you can see, the difficulty in this process lies not in this part…

Advertise this TS non-mandatory.

5° Create a TS to finalize the prestaging

This is the part that will be executed onsite

Start with a duplicate of your regular tasksequence, you can remove the step restart in WindowsPE (machines that have the data image, will start from the local bootimage anyway)

You will have to edit the step partition disk and insert a new task sequence variable _SMSTSMediaType set to: not equals OEMMedia

Verify the step Apply OS to make sure that the correct partition will be targeted (again
if you have worked with a variable, this will not function any more as the TS
will now have skipped the partition disk step.), instead choose the correct destination in
‘Specific disk and partition’

Since we used a captured image, we do not need to install any drivers or software any
more (saves us much time)

You will have to cleanup some leftovers of the OEMMedia on the local disk, like the file
autorun.inf and folders oemmedia, sms, smslogs and sources (for now I used separate steps, I know this can be improved…)

After all this it is safe to restart the computer it will now be ready.

Advertise this TS non-mandatory.

So, as end-result how does this process look like?

Part 1 (offsite)

During part 1 (offsite) the prestaged TS will extract the WIM to the local harddisk and then
shutdown the machine.

The machine is now ready for shipping

Part 2 (onsite)

In part 2 (onsite) make sure the machine is not booting to PXE

The machine will boot by default from the bootimage off the hard disk and will then lookup
the advertised Task Sequence by contacting the SCCM server.

(this is done by the autorun.inf which will launch tsmbautorun.exe)

The TS will skip the partition disk step and continue rather quickly with the rest of the TS.

Check out the new blog series regarding SCCM 2012!
Offcourse ‘the-d-spot’ remains a good resource to check out as well

http://blogs.technet.com/b/server-cloud/archive/2011/10/04/system-center-configuration-manager-2012-blog-series-kick-off.aspx

Regards,

The ReportServer service was running, restarted it but didn’t solve the problem.

Then I opened the SQL mgmt studio and performed a simple query against the Reportserver db, no problem there either.

Then I started the Reporting Services Configuration Manager and noticed the instance was’t there, clicking on Find resulted in the message “invalid class”

wait a minute, last week a SQL guy changed the service accounts, could this be related?

to solve the issue:

browse to <driveletter>:program files\microsoft sql server\msrs10.mssqlserver\reporting Services\Reportserver and open the bin folder.

copy the reportingservices.mof file

(re)register it with: mofcomp <driveletter>:program files\microsoft sql server\msrs10.mssqlserver\reporting Services\Reportserver\bin\reportingservices.mof.

at first impression everything is working fine, but after about 15 minutes I saw event 120 passing by “the report server cannot decrypt the symmetric key most likely the service account or password has changed”.  So I went back to the Reporting Services Configuration Manager tool > Encryption Keys > click on the delete button.

and now everything is running smoothly again

As a number of machines in our environment did not have the SP1 for office 2010 yet, I included it in my Configmanager sw deployment package.

But shortly after that I started recieving complaints that this update kept saying it was downloading without much progress…

SP1 stuck downloading

In Configmgr 07 the SP1 was only imported in english (just as the rest of our updates). The Office 2010 package source is originally in English with (in our case) added languages French and Dutch.

 From one of the troubled clients I found this in the logs;

CAS.LOG:

Location update from CTM for content 1ba18f9a-1d45-44fa-958f-5374f3b9ea5e.1 and request {CDBF2855-B0A1-42AB-80F0-D7B2F939CFD8}               ContentAccess 23/08/2011 04:58:24       828 (0x033C)

Download request only, ignoring location update           ContentAccess 23/08/2011 04:58:24       828 (0x033C)

Setting download timeout options for content request {CDBF2855-B0A1-42AB-80F0-D7B2F939CFD8}: LocationTimeout = 604800, DownloadTimeout = 864000, PerDPInactivityTimeout = 0, TotalInactivityTimeout = 0   ContentAccess 23/08/2011 09:25:33               624 (0×0270)

No need to change timeout settings     ContentAccess 23/08/2011 09:25:33       624 (0×0270)

Setting download timeout options for content request {CDBF2855-B0A1-42AB-80F0-D7B2F939CFD8}: LocationTimeout = 604800, DownloadTimeout = 864000, PerDPInactivityTimeout = 0, TotalInactivityTimeout = 0   ContentAccess 25/08/2011 09:15:17               3232 (0x0CA0)

No need to change timeout settings     ContentAccess 25/08/2011 09:15:17       3232 (0x0CA0)

Setting download timeout options for content request {CDBF2855-B0A1-42AB-80F0-D7B2F939CFD8}: LocationTimeout = 604800, DownloadTimeout = 864000, PerDPInactivityTimeout = 0, TotalInactivityTimeout = 0   ContentAccess 25/08/2011 10:28:44               2144 (0×0860)

No need to change timeout settings     ContentAccess 25/08/2011 10:28:44       2144 (0×0860)

Download failed for content 1ba18f9a-1d45-44fa-958f-5374f3b9ea5e.1 under context System, error 0x800705b4                ContentAccess 26/08/2011 22:25:19       4280 (0x10B8)

Download failed for download request {CDBF2855-B0A1-42AB-80F0-D7B2F939CFD8}   ContentAccess 26/08/2011 22:25:19                4280 (0x10B8)

Raising event:

[SMS_CodePage(437), SMS_LocaleID(1033)]

instance of SoftDistDownloadFailedEvent

{

                ClientID = “GUID:9E699560-328B-42A4-9EB4-2DB4E16AC74F”;

                DateTime = “20110826202519.093000+000″;

                MachineName = “xxxxxxxx“;

                PackageId = “1ba18f9a-1d45-44fa-958f-5374f3b9ea5e”;

                PackageName = “1ba18f9a-1d45-44fa-958f-5374f3b9ea5e”;

                PackageVersion = “1″;

                ProcessID = 3360;

                SiteCode = “399″;

                ThreadID = 4280;

};

                ContentAccess 26/08/2011 22:25:19       4280 (0x10B8)

Successfully raised Download Failed event.       ContentAccess 26/08/2011 22:25:19       4280 (0x10B8)

UPDATESHANDLER.LOG:

Starting download on action (INSTALL) for Update (1ba18f9a-1d45-44fa-958f-5374f3b9ea5e)   UpdatesHandler                29/08/2011 20:59:20       4152 (0×1038)

well, Now we know for sure that the culprit is the missing update ID: 1ba18f9a-1d45-44fa-958f-5374f3b9ea5e.  furthermore it is supposed to be part of the bundled update for SP1 office 2010 (kb 2510690).

Originally I thought I had to simply add the dutch and French languages for this SP1 update, but then it became clear that by default also the Spanish proofing tools are installed.. (check this with the office OCT if you are not sure)

SOLUTION:

So I went to my console > software updates > update repository > service packs > microsoft > office 2010 > select the appropriate version (32bit or 64 bit) of the office 2010 sp1,  Right-click > download updates. Select your existing deployment package, select “download from the internet”, in language selection, I had to select French, dutch and Spanish.

Once the supplemental updates had been downloaded, make sure to update your deployment package as well!.

Then I identified which machines where stuck downloading this update with software updates report States 4 and restarted the SMS Agent Host service, after which the download went further.

Note 1: if you have a bundled update like this, you can check in the content information tab what language you have already downloaded.

Note 2: see also this article on the technet blog: http://blogs.technet.com/b/configurationmgr/archive/2011/08/23/troubleshooting-a-configuration-manager-2007-installation-of-office-2010.aspx

Desktop deployment involves much more than just migrating from Windows XP to Windows 7. In fact it’s mainly about managing your desktop and application infrastructure effectively. This Technet article covers all about optimized desktop and why a properly managed desktop has a good TCO. Also the new tools in MDOP are covered and how to use the cloud with Windows Intune. You can take a short tour (half an hour), mid tour (half day) or the full tour (full day).

The following topics are covered:

• Application Compatibility
• Office 2010 Deployment – Office 365
• Desktop Optimization Pack
• Windows 7 Deployment
• Internet Explorer 9
• Windows Intune

Take the deployment dive at Technet.