Dario IT Solutions Blog

Hi guys,

We held two open houses this week, one on February 22nd at MediaTech Haifa and the other on February 24th at Microsoft Raanana.

I would like to thank the large number of people who attended, it was great hearing your comments and questions.

Attached below are all the PowerPoint decks from the events:

Hi guys,

I’ll be delivering a session at Intel’s “Life after death using… Intel® vPro™ Technology!” conference held on September 14th 2009 at Air Port City, Israel.

This session will focus on integrating SCCM In-Band management capabilities with vPro Out of Band capabilities.

Out of band management allows an administrator to connect to a computer’s management controller when the computer is turned off, in sleep or hibernate modes, or otherwise unresponsive through the operating system. By way of contrast, in-band management is the classic approach used by Configuration Manager and its predecessors whereby an agent runs in the full operating system on the managed computer and the management controller accomplishes tasks by communicating with the management agent.

Out of band management supplements in-band management. While in-band management supports a wider range of operations because it’s environment is the full operating system, in-band management might not be functional if the operating system is not present or is not operational. In these situations, the supplementary capabilities of out of band management allow administrators to manage these computers without requiring local access to the computer.

Out of band management tasks include the following:

• Powering on one or many computers (for example, for maintenance on computers outside business hours).
• Powering off one or many computers (for example, the operating system stops responding).
• Restarting a nonfunctioning computer or booting from a locally connected device or known good boot image file.
• Re-imaging a computer by booting from a boot image file that is located on the network or by using a PXE server.
• Reconfiguring the BIOS settings on a selected computer (and bypassing the BIOS password if this is supported by the BIOS manufacturer).
• Booting to a command-based operating system to run commands, repair utilities, or diagnostic applications (for example, upgrading the firmware or running a disk repair utility).
• Configuring scheduled software update deployments and advertisements to wake up computers prior to running.

SP2 for SCCM 2007 R2 added some important new features, like:

New Operating System Support
• Windows 7
• Windows Server 2008 R2
• Windows Server 2008 SP2
• Windows Vista Sp2

New Features in Out of Band Management
Configuration Manager 2007 Service Pack 2 improves on the Intel AMT integration provided in Service Pack 1. SP2 adds full feature support for computers that have the Intel vPro chip set and AMT firmware versions 4 & 5. In addition to providing feature parity with SP1 and AMT firmware versions 3.2.1, 4.0 and 5.0, the following new features are supported:

Wireless Management (mobile only)
• Up to eight (8) wireless profiles per out of band service point
• Profiles support SSID, WAP2-Enterprise or WAP-Enterprise security, AES or TKIP encryption, client authentication options of EAP-TLS or EAP-TTLS/MSCHAPv2 or PEAPv0/EAP-MSCHAPv2
• Versions of AMT earlier than 3.2.1 are supported with the Intel translator

Authenticated Wired 802.1x Management
• Single profile
• Profile supports client authentication options of EAP-TLS or EAP-TTLS/MSCHAPv2 or PEAPv0/EAP-MSCHAPv2
• Versions of AMT earlier than 3.2.1 are supported with the Intel translator

Audit Logging
• Supported on AMT versions 4 and 5
• Select which out of band management features to audit (critical events not supported)
• Enable or disable audit logging per computer after provisioning
• View, clear, and export to file the audit log entries by using the out of band management console

Power State Configuration
• Enable configuration of the power settings to specify whether out of band management activity is supported when the host is on (S0), host is on (S0) or in standby (S3), or always on (S0-S5)

Data Storage
• Save up to 4096 bytes in ASCII characters in the AMT data storage of each computer
• View and save to the data store by using the out of band management console

Lastly, check out this cool integration demo from Intel – a ConfigMgr advertisement is used to remotely and securely wake-up (boot) Intel vPro systems and push an automated BIOS upgrade.

References for additional reading:

vPro ROI Analysis / Benefits of Activating
http://communities.intel.com/docs/DOC-1494/

Case Stories
http://communities.intel.com/docs/DOC-2260

vPro / SCCM Check list, Quick start Guide, & Tips & Tricks
http://communities.intel.com/community/openportit/vproexpert/microsoft-vpro

ConfigMgr Administrators Checklist and Prerequisites

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc161943(TechNet.10).aspx

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc161785(TechNet.10).aspx

Self Pace SCCM SP1 / vPro Activation Training

http://communities.intel.com/community/openportit/vproexpert/microsoft-vpro/blog/2008/10/24/microsoft-sccm-2007-sp1-intel-vpro-training-videos-now-available

Infrastructure Prep Checklist for Microsoft SCCM

http://communities.intel.com/openport/docs/DOC-2300

If you had to maintain a SCCM server in an offline environment you know it’s not a simple task. One of the steps you have to carry out is to download all the updates from the Internet or to copy them from another WSUS/SCCM SUP server that is connected to Internet and had already downloaded all the updates.

For the first method you can use this great post:

http://myitforum.com/cs2/blogs/jgilbert/archive/2008/10/28/getting-required-updates-on-non-internet-connected-sups-part-1.aspx

and part 2:

http://myitforum.com/cs2/blogs/jgilbert/archive/2008/10/28/getting-required-updates-on-non-internet-connected-sups-part-2.aspx

If you have another WSUS/SCCM SUP server that is online, the easiest way to get those updates is to copy them from the server. This is where it gets a little bit tricky:

The updates are found in the “WSUSContent” folder or in SCCM’s case in a folder share of your choice, the only problem is that they are scattered in different folders, This causes a problem because when you’ll need to provide the offline WSUS/SCCM SUP with the updates they will have to be in a single folder. For this purpose I found a little batch file that will get the job done (Credit goes to Rems):

@echo off
title WAIT !

Set "sourceDir=c:\1234"
Set "destinationFolder=c:\SHOEBOX"
Set "_report=c:\logxcopy.txt"

IF NOT EXIST "%sourceDir%" (echo.Could not find %sourceDir% &GoTo:done)

:: overwrite previous log
>"%_report%" (
      echo.%date% - %time%
      echo.---------------------------------------------------
      echo.
)

:: copy files
For /F "Delims=" %%! in ('Dir "%sourceDir%\" /b /s /a-d 2^>nul') do (
   @echo.%%! &(
   @xcopy "%%!" "%destinationFolder%\" /i /y /h /f /c >>"%_report%",2>&1)
)

:done
title,Done.......

echo.&pause>nul

This batch will copy all the files from a folder tree to a single folder.

More info about offline WSUS/SCCM SUP environment:

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc720512(WS.10).aspx

http://myitforum.com/cs2/blogs/jgilbert/archive/2008/10/19/synchronizing-non-internet-connected-software-update-points.aspx

Enjoy!

The Search Folders that come with the software update point role in SCCM, provide an easy  and comfortable way to keep track of you’re update deployment status.

I personally use 3 folders to keep track of my updates status “All Updates”, “Deployed Updates” and “New Updates” , In this post I’ll show you how you can create them yourself.

Creating a search folder is very easy, just right click the “Search Folder” node and select “New Search Folder”, Now all you have to do is give it a name and specify it’s criteria:

1. “All Updates” – This will give you a view of all the the updates that are listed in your repository.

Criteria:

Update Classification – Choose all

Expired – Choose “No”

Mark the “Search all folders under this feature” checkbox

2. “Deployed Updates” – This will give you an idea of what updates are currently included in your software update deployment.

Criteria:

Update Classification – Choose all (or what interest you)

Deployed – Choose “Yes”

Mark the “Search all folders under this feature” checkbox

3. “New Updates” – This will give you an idea of what new updates were released and are not yet included in your software update deployment.

Criteria:

Update Classification – Choose all (or what interest you)

Deployed – Choose “No”

Expired – Choose “No”

Mark the “Search all folders under this feature” checkbox

That’s all there is to it. Enjoy!

If you’re using Microsoft Windows Server Update Services (WSUS), there may come a day when you need to move the updates to another drive. Once WSUS has been installed, the WSUS Administration tool doesn’t let you do this, but you can do it using a command line tool called wsusutil found in C:\Program Files\Update Services\Tools. I’m running version 3.0 SP1.

The command is:

wsusutil movecontent logfile.log x:\WSUS

(where x: is the new destination)

If you have already copied the content (make sure you’ve set the correct permissions), you can run:

wsusutil movecontent logfile.log f:\WSUS -skipcopy

NOTE: This is separate to the WSUS database itself, this only applies to the actual patches.

To see the other uses of wsusutil, run it with no arguments:

C:\Program Files\Update Services\Tools>wsusutil.exe
Windows Server Update Services administration utility. Try:
wsusutil.exe help checkhealth
wsusutil.exe help configuressl
wsusutil.exe help configuresslproxy
wsusutil.exe help deletefrontendserver
wsusutil.exe help listinactiveapprovals
wsusutil.exe help removeinactiveapprovals
wsusutil.exe help export
wsusutil.exe help healthmonitoring
wsusutil.exe help import
wsusutil.exe help listfrontendservers
wsusutil.exe help movecontent
wsusutil.exe help reset
wsusutil.exe help usecustomwebsite
wsusutil.exe help listunreferencedpackagefolders

(Taken from: http://www.chrisburgess.com.au/moving-wsus-server-updates/)

SCCM uses a lot of log files, it could be quite confusing finding what you need. I gathered a list of all the log files and a description of their content to make life easy.

The client logs are located in the %WINDIR%\System32\CCM\Logs folder or %WINDIR%\SysWOW64\CCM\Logs (for x64 OS).
The SCCM server log files are located in the <INSTALL_PATH>\Logs or SMS_CCM\Logs folder.

IIS logs can be found in %WINDIR%\System32\logfiles\W3SVC1 folder.

NOTE: Use the Trace tool included in the SCCM Toolkit or MS Log Parser to easily view log files.

Client Log Files

• CAS – Content Access Service. Maintains the local package cache.
• Ccmexec.log – Records activities of the client and the SMS Agent Host service.
• CertificateMaintenance.log – Maintains certificates for Active Directory directory service and management points.
• ClientIDManagerStartup.log – Creates and maintains the client GUID.
• ClientLocation.log – Site assignment tasks.
• ContentTransferManager.log – Schedules the Background Intelligent Transfer Service (BITS) or the Server Message Block (SMB) to download or to access SMS packages.
• DataTransferService.log – Records all BITS communication for policy or package access.
• Execmgr.log – Records advertisements that run.
• FileBITS.log – Records all SMB package access tasks.
• Fsinvprovider.log (renamed to FileSystemFile.log in all SMS 2003 Service Packs) – Windows Management Instrumentation (WMI) provider for software inventory and file collection.
• InventoryAgent.log – Creates discovery data records (DDRs) and hardware and software inventory records.
• LocationServices.log – Finds management points and distribution points.
• Mifprovider.log – The WMI provider for .MIF files.
• Mtrmgr.log – Monitors all software metering processes.
• PolicyAgent.log – Requests policies by using the Data Transfer service.
• PolicyAgentProvider.log – Records policy changes.
• PolicyEvaluator.log – Records new policy settings.
• Remctrl.log – Logs when the remote control component (WUSER32) starts.
• Scheduler.log – Records schedule tasks for all client operations.
• Smscliui.log – Records usage of the Systems Management tool in Control Panel.
• StatusAgent.log – Logs status messages that are created by the client components.
• SWMTRReportGen.log – Generates a usage data report that is collected by the metering agent. (This data is logged in Mtrmgr.log.)

Server Log Files

• Ccm.log – Client Configuration Manager tasks.
• Cidm.log – Records changes to the client settings by the Client Install Data Manager (CIDM).
• Colleval.log – Logs when collections are created, changed, and deleted by the Collection Evaluator.
• Compsumm.log – Records Component Status Summarizer tasks.
• Cscnfsvc.log – Records Courier Sender confirmation service tasks.
• Dataldr.log – Processes Management Information Format (MIF) files and hardware inventory in the Configuration Manager 2007 database.
• Ddm.log – Saves DDR information to the Configuration Manager 2007 database by the Discovery Data Manager.
• Despool.log – Records incoming site-to-site communication transfers.
• Distmgr.log – Records package creation, compression, delta replication, and information updates.
• Hman.log – Records site configuration changes, and publishes site information in Active Directory Domain Services.
• Inboxast.log – Records files that are moved from the management point to the corresponding SMS\INBOXES folder.
• Inboxmgr.log – Records file maintenance.
• Invproc.log – Records the processing of delta MIF files for the Dataloader component from client inventory files.
• Mpcontrol.log – Records the registration of the management point with WINS. Records the availability of the management point every 10 minutes.
• Mpfdm.log – Management point component that moves client files to the corresponding SMS\INBOXES folder.
• MPMSI.log – Management point .msi installation log.
• MPSetup.log – Records the management point installation wrapper process.
• Ntsvrdis.log – Configuration Manager 2007 server discovery.
• Offermgr.log – Records advertisement updates.
• Offersum.log – Records summarization of advertisement status messages.
• Policypv.log – Records updates to the client policies to reflect changes to client settings or advertisements.
• Replmgr.log – Records the replication of files between the site server components and the Scheduler component.
• Rsetup.log – Reporting point setup log.
• Sched.log – Records site-to-site job and package replication.
• Sender.log – Records files that are sent to other child and parent sites.
• Sinvproc.log – Records client software inventory data processing to the site database in Microsoft SQL Server.
• Sitecomp.log – Records maintenance of the installed site components.
• Sitectrl.log – Records site setting changes to the Sitectrl.ct0 file.
• Sitestat.log – Records the monitoring process of all site systems.
• Smsdbmon.log – Records database changes.
• Smsexec.log – Records processing of all site server component threads.
• Smsprov.log – Records WMI provider access to the site database.
• SMSReportingInstall.log – Records the Reporting Point installation. This component starts the installation tasks and processes configuration changes.
• SMSSHVSetup.log – Records the success or failure (with failure reason) of installing the System Health Validator point.
• Srvacct.log – Records the maintenance of accounts when the site uses standard security.
• Statmgr.log – Writes all status messages to the database.
• Swmproc.log – Processes metering files and maintains settings.

Admin Console Log Files

• RepairWizard.log – Records errors, warnings, and information about the process of running the Repair Wizard.
• ResourceExplorer.log – Records errors, warnings, and information about running the Resource Explorer.
• SMSAdminUI.log – Records the local Configuration Manager 2007 console tasks when you connect to Configuration Manager 2007 sites.

Management Point Log Files

• MP_Ddr.log – Records the conversion of XML.ddr records from clients, and copies them to the site server.
• MP_GetAuth.log – Records the status of the site management points.
• MP_GetPolicy.log – Records policy information.
• MP_Hinv.log – Converts XML hardware inventory records from clients and copies the files to the site server.
• MP_Location.log – Records location manager tasks.
• MP_Policy.log – Records policy communication.
• MP_Relay.log – Copies files that are collected from the client.
• MP_Retry.log – Records the hardware inventory retry processes.
• MP_Sinv.log – Converts XML hardware inventory records from clients and copies them to the site server.
• MP_Status.log – Converts XML.svf status message files from clients and copies them to the site server.

Mobile Device Management Log Files

• DmClientHealth.log – Records the GUIDs of all the mobile device clients that are communicating with the Device Management Point.
• DmClientRegistration.log – Records registration requests from and responses to the mobile device client in Native mode.
• DmpDatastore.log – Records all the site database connections and queries made by the Device Management Point.
• DmpDiscovery.log – Records all the discovery data from the mobile device clients on the Device Management Point.
• DmpFileCollection.log – Records mobile device file collection data from mobile device clients on the Device Management Point.
• DmpHardware.log – Records hardware inventory data from mobile device clients on the Device Management Point.
• DmpIsapi.log – Records mobile device communication data from device clients on the Device Management Point.
• dmpMSI.log – Records the MSI data for Device Management Point setup.
• DMPSetup.log – Records the mobile device management setup process.
• DmpSoftware.log – Records mobile device software distribution data from mobile device clients on the Device Management Point.
• DmpStatus.log – Records mobile device status messages data from mobile device clients on the Device Management Point.
• FspIsapi.log – Records Fallback Status Point communication data from mobile device clients and client computers on the Fallback Status Point.

Mobile Device Client Log Files

• DmCertEnroll.log – Records certificate enrollment data on mobile device clients.
• DMCertResp.htm (in \temp) – Records HTML response from the certificate server when the mobile device Enroller program requests a client authentication certificate on mobile device clients.
• DmClientSetup.log – Records client setup data on mobile device clients.
• DmClientXfer.log – Records client transfer data for Windows Mobile Device Center and ActiveSync deployments.
• DmCommonInstaller.log – Records client transfer file installation for setting up mobile device client transfer files on client computers.
• DmInstaller.log – Records whether DMInstaller correctly calls DmClientSetup and whether DmClientSetup exits with success or failure on mobile device clients.
• DmInvExtension.log – Records Inventory Extension file installation for setting up Inventory Extension files on client computers.
• DmSvc.log – Records mobile device management service data on mobile device clients.

Operating System Deployment Log Files

• CCMSetup.log – Provides information about client-based operating system actions.
• CreateTSMedia.log – Provides information about task sequence media when it is created. This log is generated on the computer running the Configuration Manager 2007 administrator console.
• DriverCatalog.log – Provides information about device drivers that have been imported into the driver catalog.
• MP_ClientIDManager.log – Provides information about the Configuration Manager 2007 management point when it responds to Configuration Manager 2007 client ID requests from boot media or PXE. This log is generated on the Configuration Manager 2007 management point.
• MP_DriverManager.log – Provides information about the Configuration Manager 2007 management point when it responds to a request from the Auto Apply Driver task sequence action. This log is generated on the Configuration Manager 2007 management point.
• MP_Location.log – Provides information about the Configuration Manager 2007 management point when it responds to request state store or release state store requests from the state migration point. This log is generated on the Configuration Manager 2007 management point.
• Pxecontrol.log – Provides information about the PXE Control Manager.
• PXEMsi.log – Provides information about the PXE service point and is generated when the PXE service point site server has been created.
• PXESetup.log – Provides information about the PXE service point and is generated when the PXE service point site server has been created.
• Setupact.log Setupapi.log Setuperr.log Provide information about Windows Sysprep and setup logs.
• SmpIsapi.log – Provides information about the state migration point Configuration Manager 2007 client request responses.
• Smpmgr.log – Provides information about the results of state migration point health checks and configuration changes.
• SmpMSI.log – Provides information about the state migration point and is generated when the state migration point site server has been created.
• Smsprov.log – Provides information about the SMS provider.
• Smspxe.log – Provides information about the Configuration Manager 2007 PXE service point.
• SMSSMPSetup.log – Provides information about the state migration point and is generated when the state migration point site server has been created.
• Smsts.log – General location for all operating system deployment and task sequence log events.
• TaskSequenceProvider.log – Provides information about task sequences when they are imported, exported, or edited.
• USMT Log loadstate.log – Provides information about the User State Migration Tool (USMT) regarding the restore of user state data.
• USMT Log scanstate.log – Provides information about the USMT regarding the capture of user state data.

Network Access Protection Log Files

• Ccmcca.log – Logs the processing of compliance evaluation based on Configuration Manager NAP policy processing and contains the processing of remediation for each software update required for compliance.
• CIAgent.log – Tracks the process of remediation and compliance. However, the software updates log file, *Updateshandler.log – provides more informative details on installing the software updates required for compliance.
• locationservices.log – Used by other Configuration Manager features (for example, information about the client’s assigned site) but also contains information specific to Network Access Protection when the client is in remediation. It records the names of the required remediation servers (management point, software update point, and distribution points that host content required for compliance), which are also sent in the client statement of health.
• SDMAgent.log – Shared with the Configuration Manager feature desired configuration management and contains the tracking process of remediation and compliance. However, the software updates log file, Updateshandler.log, provides more informative details about installing the software updates required for compliance.
• SMSSha.log – The main log file for the Configuration Manager Network Access Protection client and contains a merged statement of health information from the two Configuration Manager components: location services (LS) and the configuration compliance agent (CCA). This log file also contains information about the interactions between the Configuration Manager System Health Agent and the operating system NAP agent, and also between the Configuration Manager System Health Agent and both the configuration compliance agent and the location services. It provides information about whether the NAP agent successfully initialized, the statement of health data, and the statement of health response.

System Health Validator Point Log Files

• Ccmperf.log -Contains information about the initialization of the System Health Validator point performance counters.
• SmsSHV.log – The main log file for the System Health Validator point; logs the basic operations of the System Health Validator service, such as the initialization progress.
• SmsSHVADCacheClient.log – Contains information about retrieving Configuration Manager health state references from Active Directory Domain Services.
• SmsSHVCacheStore.log – Contains information about the cache store used to hold the Configuration Manager NAP health state references retrieved from Active Directory Domain Services, such as reading from the store and purging entries from the local cache store file. The cache store is not configurable.
• SmsSHVRegistrySettings.log – Records any dynamic changes to the System Health Validator component configuration while the service is running.
• SmsSHVQuarValidator.log – Records client statement of health information and processing operations. To obtain full information, change the registry key LogLevel from 1 to 0 in the following location:HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\SMSSHV\Logging\@GLOBAL

Desired Configuration Management Log Files

• ciagent.log – Provides information about downloading, storing, and accessing assigned configuration baselines.
• dcmagent.log – Provides high-level information about the evaluation of assigned configuration baselines and desired configuration management processes.
• discovery.log – Provides detailed information about the Service Modeling Language (SML) processes.
• sdmagent.log – Provides information about downloading, storing, and accessing configuration item content.
• sdmdiscagent.log – Provides high-level information about the evaluation process for the objects and settings configured in the referenced configuration items.

Wake On LAN Log Files

• Wolmgr.log – Contains information about wake-up procedures such as when to wake up advertisements or deployments that are configured for Wake On LAN.
• WolCmgr.log – Contains information about which clients need to be sent wake-up packets, the number of wake-up packets sent, and the number of wake-up packets retried.

Software Updates Site Server Log Files

• ciamgr.log – Provides information about the addition, deletion, and modification of software update configuration items.
• distmgr.log – Provides information about the replication of software update deployment packages.
• objreplmgr.log – Provides information about the replication of software updates notification files from a parent to child sites.
• PatchDownloader.log – Provides information about the process for downloading software updates from the update source specified in the software updates metadata to the download destination on the site server.
• replmgr.log – Provides information about the process for replicating files between sites.
• smsdbmon.log – Provides information about when software update configuration items are inserted, updated, or deleted from the site server database and creates notification files for software updates components.
• SUPSetup – Provides information about the software update point installation. When the software update point installation completes, Installation was successful is written to this log file.
• WCM.log – Provides information about the software update point configuration and connecting to the Windows Server Update Services (WSUS) server for subscribed update categories, classifications, and languages.
• WSUSCtrl.log – Provides information about the configuration, database connectivity, and health of the WSUS server for the site.
• wsyncmgr.log -Provides information about the software updates synchronization process.

WSUS Server Log Files

• Change.log – Provides information about the WSUS server database information that has changed.
• SoftwareDistribution.log – Provides information about the software updates that are synchronized from the configured update source to the WSUS server database.

Software Updates Client Computer Log Files

• CAS.log – Provides information about the process of downloading software updates to the local cache and cache management.
• CIAgent.log – Provides information about processing configuration items, including software updates.
• LocationServices.log – Provides information about the location of the WSUS server when a scan is initiated on the client.
• PatchDownloader.log – Provides information about the process for downloading software updates from the update source to the download destination on the site server. This log is only on the client computer configured as the synchronization host for the Inventory Tool for Microsoft Updates.
• PolicyAgent.log – Provides information about the process for downloading, compiling, and deleting policies on client computers.
• PolicyEvaluator – Provides information about the process for evaluating policies on client computers, including policies from software updates.
• RebootCoordinator.log – Provides information about the process for coordinating system restarts on client computers after software update installations.
• ScanAgent.log – Provides information about the scan requests for software updates, what tool is requested for the scan, the WSUS location, and so on.
• ScanWrapper – Provides information about the prerequisite checks and the scan process initialization for the Inventory Tool for Microsoft Updates on Systems Management Server (SMS) 2003 clients.
• SdmAgent.log – Provides information about the process for verifying and decompressing packages that contain configuration item information for software updates.
• ServiceWindowManager.log – Provides information about the process for evaluating configured maintenance windows.
• smscliUI.log – Provides information about the Configuration Manager Control Panel user interactions, such as initiating a Software Updates Scan Cycle from the Configuration Manager Properties dialog box, opening the Program Download Monitor, and so on.
• SmsWusHandler – Provides information about the scan process for the Inventory Tool for Microsoft Updates on SMS 2003 client computers.
• StateMessage.log – Provides information about when software updates state messages are created and sent to the management point.
• UpdatesDeployment.log – Provides information about the deployment on the client, including software update activation, evaluation, and enforcement. Verbose logging shows additional information about the interaction with the client user interface.
• UpdatesHandler.log – Provides information about software update compliance scanning and about the download and installation of software updates on the client.
• UpdatesStore.log – Provides information about the compliance status for the software updates that were assessed during the compliance scan cycle.
• WUAHandler.log – Provides information about when the Windows Update Agent on the client searches for software updates.
• WUSSyncXML.log – Provides information about the Inventory Tool for the Microsoft Updates synchronization process. This log is only on the client computer configured as the synchronization host for the Inventory Tool for Microsoft Updates.

Windows Update Agent Log File

• WindowsUpdate.log – Located in %WINDIR%. Provides information about when the Windows Update Agent connects to the WSUS server and retrieves the software updates for compliance assessment and whether there are updates to the agent components.

(Taken from: HELO Windows Blog- http://blogs.msdn.com/lxchen/archive/2009/04/03/a-list-of-sccm-log-files.aspx)

Management of Virtual Machines is not just about managing the VM’s themselves but also the workloads that run in them. The key to managing the entire IT infrastructure is the integration of both physical and virtual machine management into a single set of tools.

I’ll be giving a presentation on managing a virtual datacenter with SCOM, SCCM, DPM and VMM at a Microsoft Open House that will be held on February 3rd at Microsoft Israel.

The main point in my presentation is that when looking at the data center (or IT environment) as a whole, tools like Systems Center Operations Manger and Systems Center Virtual Machine Manager (that has integration built into them from the grounds up) really stand out in the crowd in comparison to tools that are built for a specific environment (like managing only virtual machines).

One of the demonstrations will involve Performance Resource Optimization (PRO) which is one of VMM’s top features, as it allows administrators to automate practically any type of response to a given condition, including responding to application, virtualization, system, storage, or network events.

I’ll love to get your comments and suggestions regarding the planned presentation and of course to see you at the event

Following is the link with all the info about the Open House, including registration to the event:

https://msevents.microsoft.com/CUI/EventDetail.aspx?EventID=1032401717&culture=he-IL

Issue: After upgrading from SMS 2003 SP2 or SP3 to the Select version of Configuration Manager 2007 SP1, you may see the following status message:

SMS_SQL_MONITOR_SiteServer – 2407    SMS SQL Monitor failed to install trigger "SQLTaskStatus_upd" in the SMS site database.   
Possible cause: Either table "SQLTaskStatus" or column "TaskName,TaskType" of table "SQLTaskStatus" does not exist in the SMS site database. 
Solution: If you modified table "SQLTaskStatus", restore it to its original, unmodified state.   
Possible cause: SQL Server problem. 
Solution:  
1. Review the immediately preceding status messages from this component about SQL Server errors. 
2. Verify that this computer can reach the SQL Server computer. 
3. Verify that SQL Server services are running. 
4. Verify that SMS can access the SMS site database. 
5. Verify that the SMS site database, transaction log, and tempdb are not full. 
6. Verify that there are at least 50 SQL Server user connections, plus 5 for each SMS Administrator console.   
If this error occurs repeatedly, refer to your SMS documentation or the Microsoft Knowledge Base for further troubleshooting information.

Cause: This occurs when the ConfigMgr 2007 upgrade doesn’t remove the SMS_SQL MONITOR server per the following:

Configuration Manager 2007 SP1 Select Setup Might Not Remove Unneeded Services When Upgrading from SMS 2003 SP2 or SP3

When upgrading from SMS 2003 SP2 or SP3 using the Select version of Configuration Manager 2007 SP1, the SMS SQL Monitor service (SMS_SQL_MONITOR) is not completely removed. This service is not required for Configuration Manager 2007 sites, and because the service is not successfully removed during the upgrade process, the service will attempt to start and generate site status warning messages when the site server computer starts up.

Resolution: The following procedure can be used to remove the SMS_SQL_Monitor service:

1. In a new command prompt instance, enter the following command to delete the SMS_SQL_Monitor service:

sc delete SMS_SQL_MONITOR

Then press Enter.

After the SMS_SQL_Monitor service is successfully deleted, enter the following commands to delete service-related registry keys:

REG DELETE HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\SMS\COMPONENTS\SMS_SITE_COMPONENT_MANAGER\Component Servers\<site server computer name> \Components\SMS_SQL_MONITOR

REG DELETE HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\SMS\Tracing\SMS_SQL_MONITOR

Close the command prompt instance, and restart the site server computer.

(Taken from Manageability Team Blog: http://blogs.technet.com/smsandmom/archive/2008/11/19/configmgr-2007-status-message-2407-in-sms-sql-monitor-after-upgrade-from-sms-2003.aspx)

Microsoft has released a new document to help you create custom reports.

You can download it here.

Overview

Microsoft System Center Configuration Manager 2007 queries SQL Server views in the Configuration Manager site database when retrieving the information displayed in reports. The Configuration Manager site SQL database contains a large collection of information about the network, computers, users, user groups, and many other components of the computing environment. The database also contains objects that represent Configuration Manager 2007 items such as advertisements, software update deployments, configuration baselines, reports, and status messages. Configuration Manager administrators need to understand the different categories of the SQL views, what information is stored in each view, and how the SQL views can be joined to one another to create reports that return the desired information.

The Windows Installer CreatingCustomReportsByUsingSQLViews.msi package provides information that will help you to create custom reports, determine which Configuration Manager SQL views contain the information you need for your reports, and identify a path between the necessary SQL views and determine what columns can be used to join them. The download package includes the following files:

• Before You Use – Readme document (BeforeYouUse_Readme.doc)-
Provides information about how to use the other documents in the Windows Installer download package.
• Using Configuration Manager 2007 SQL Views to Create Custom Reports help file (CM2007CustomReports.chm)-
Provides an overview of the Configuration Manager 2007 SQL view schema and SQL views, an overview of the existing reports and associated reporting procedures, sample SQL statements for each Configuration Manager SQL view category, scenarios for creating custom reports, exercises for creating custom reports, an overview for writing report SQL statements, and an overview of the Configuration Manager Provider WMI schema. This documentation will be your main resource throughout the process of creating your custom report.
• Configuration Manager 2007 SQL View Schema Microsoft Visio document (CM2007SQLViewsSchema.vsd)-
Provides the Configuration Manager 2007 SQL views schema, organized by category.
• Configuration Manager 2007 SQL Views Excel spreadsheet (CM2007SQLViews.xls)-
Provides a list of the Configuration Manager 2007 SQL views with descriptions, a list of the SQL views and columns ordered by SQL view name, and a list of the SQL views and columns ordered by column name.

A very cool tool I came across with is the SCCM Client Center.

As it’s name applies it is used for SMS/SCCM client management, it has many functions and a very cool GUI.

You can download it here.

This is how it looks like: