Do you want to know to which agents report to a specific Management Server? Just execute the next code in your OpsMgr Command Shell.
Function GetSpecificAgents ([string]$managementserver)
{
write-host ""
write-host "The following servers have $managementserver as their primary management server:"
FOREACH ($i in get-agent)
{
IF ($i.PrimaryManagementServerName -eq $managementServer)
{
write-host $i.name
}
}
write-host ""
}
GetSpecificAgents "[fqdn of management server]"
Pete from SystemCenterForum mentiones that this will also work: get-agent | where-object {$_.PrimaryManagementServerName -eq ‘Mgmt Svr FQDN’} | ft name
Clive Eastwood: On Feb 22nd we shipped the Service Pack 1 of OpsMgr 2007. We made one last minute change to one of the upgrade steps in the upgrade guide which did not make it to the upgrade documentation that was shipped with the SP1 bits.
If you are upgrading from SP1 RC (6246) to SP1 RTM (6278) then you may need to run repair to upgrade the agents rather than approve them from pending management view as agents needing upgrade may not appear in this view. This was not called out in the upgrade document we shipped in SP1. We have updated the web version of the upgrade guide as well as the release notes. Below are the steps that need to be taken after the upgrade if agents to be upgraded do not appear in the Pending Management view.(
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Benefits and Compatibility Overview
Can you feel it!? The anticipation is growing as we count down to the Windows Server 2008 launch. Appropriately, the launch theme is “Heroes Happen Here.”
Heroes are big these days. Just ask my wife how much she has spent on superhero action figures and books for our son this past year.
Of course, with Windows Sever 2008 we are talking about real heroes; IT Professionals. And just like the fictional superheroes, these real IT Pro Heroes have their gadgets and superpowers ready to draw on to make them rise above us mere mortals. This year, the big talk amongst the Hero community is a superhero combination that has everyone else down at the “Hall of Justice” turning green with envy; Windows Server 2008 and System Center.
That’s right. System Center is already being used to help Heroes around the world successfully plan, for the smoothest Windows Server 2008 deployments and upgrades so the most efficient management infrastructure can be in place. Windows Server 2008 and System Center, together, these guys have some serious talent.(
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It's a pretty commonly asked question. People want to use different subject names on the Internet and intranet for their MPs. This isn't hard to do, and it requires something called a Subject Alternative Name, often abbreviated as SAN. The SAN can contain multiple alternate names. The SAN will take precedent over the common name (CN), or the regular subject name for a certificate. This is important because it means that if you have "hostnameA" in the CN, and "hostnameB" in the SAN, "hostnameA" will cause a CN mismatch. You will have to have a SAN for "hostnameA" and "hostnameB" for both to work.
To request certificates with SANs, you have to first configure your CA to support them. On Microsoft CAs, SAN support is not enabled for general requests by default. To enable this, run the following command on your CA server: certutil.exe -setreg policy\editflags +EDITF_ATTRIBUTESUBJECTALTNAME2
You MUST restart Certificate Services after doing this.(
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The command line MOMCertImport command line utility now has a GUI version! A tasty renovation indeed!
If you run in a command prompt with the full syntax momcertimport
, it will still execute from a command line, but if you simply type MOMCertimport with no arguments or double-click the executable, you will get a Gui version.
Microsoft SQL Server 2008 delivers a safe, secure, and reliable platform for running your most mission critical, line-of-business applications. It is the platform for building scalable business intelligence, data warehousing, and transaction processing that allows your business to grow and expand. Learn how System Center Operations Manager 2007, System Center Configuration Manager 2007, and System Center Data Protection Manager 2007 can benefit your SQL Server deployments.
Download Microsoft SQL Server 2008 and System Center datasheet
Using System Center products with Exchange Server 2007 improves the operation of your computing environment and improves your business workflow. Read this datasheet and find out how System Center Operations Manager 2007, Configuration Manager 2007, Data Protection Manager 2007, and Capacity Planner can benefit planning for, deployment of, and management of Exchange Server 2007.
Download Microsoft Exchange Server 2007 and System Center datasheet
Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007 is the driving force behind companies building integrated workflow and collaboration systems. With SharePoint, businesses leverage in-house expertise; build teams to accomplish project tasks; and manage content and workflow, regardless of the physical locations of the participants. Read this datasheet and find out how System Center solutions can help deploy, monitor, and protect Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007.
Download Microsoft SharePoint Server 2007 and System Center Datasheet
Brian Wren: Considering all my work with OpsMgr management packs and my infatuation with PowerShell, it's surprising that I've never put the two together in a public forum. I keep meaning to, just don't ever seem to get there. I finally committed myself to this blog post while sitting at my local It's a Grind (that's a coffee house to all you Seattle Starbucks fans. It's a Grind was born in Long Beach, and I am fanatically loyal to my home town).
So here's the basic question - can I use a PowerShell script in an OpsMgr management pack? In other words, can I execute a PowerShell script from a rule, monitor, diagnostic, recovery, or task? The answer is absolutely you can, but there are some considerations to keep in mind. First let's cover those considerations, then we'll get to concepts and code. If you just want the modules to copy and paste into your MP, go ahead and jump to the end.(continue at source)
Clive Eastwood: I've seen several questions on this topic both internally and externally so it deserves more of an explanation than the upgrade guide possibly supplies.
If you have installed the SP1 RC Evaluation version or SP1 Evaluation version and need to upgrade to Full version you will require the full license product in order to become fully licensed (Requiring the LicensingWizard tool for Eval to Full is no longer required with SP1) which is currently unavailable since the RTM was only 2/22. It will therefore take some time for the full slipstreamed SP1 media to be available (first week in April I'm reliably informed). Please be patient if you find yourself having to wait. (continue at source)
For System Center Forum readers that might have missed our first blog posts, this is Jalasoft’s fourth article about Xian Io’s functionality in a series of eight. Prior posts discussed the monitoring of network device interfaces, port status, a device’s response time and asynchronous monitoring. On this occasion we’ll talk about the monitoring of processes since it is a fairly useful feature unbeknownst to most of our customers.When monitoring UNIX servers, it is important to continuously monitor hardware components like CPUs, interfaces and memory. However, what to do with applications running in a server that also need to be monitored? Fortunately Xian Io gives you a chance to monitor processes and daemons running on a UNIX server.
But how can Xian users monitor processes in UNIX servers? It is quite easy! When configuring the add device rule in the Xian Io console, besides the IP address and port, you can as well discover daemons and processes. To do so, you must select this option in the “add device wizard” of the Xian Io Console and decide on a search criterion to discover the processes (See figure 1). For example, if you would like to monitor all your processes, set the “*” value as the search criterion. If you need to monitor all your sendmail processes, set “*sendmail*” as a criterion. Finally, if you were interested in monitoring only a single process, set the exact name of this process. On the other hand, to add multiple search criteria, just separate them with commas ‘,’.
This download contains the following documentation for System Center Operations Manager 2007:
• Operations Manager 2007 Deployment Guide:
This guide steps you through the deployment process for System Center Operations Manager 2007.
• Active Directory Management Pack Guide for Operations Manager 2007:
This document includes a Management Pack overview, deployment procedures, and monitoring scenarios for the two Active Directory Domain Services (AD DS) Management Packs
• Exchange Management Pack Guide for Operations Manager 2007: This guide includes a Management Pack overview, deployment procedures, and monitoring scenarios for the Microsoft Exchange Server 2003 Management Pack for Microsoft System Center Operations Manager 2007.
• SQL Management Pack Guide for Operations Manager 2007:
The SQL Server Management Pack provides both proactive and reactive monitoring of SQL Server 2000 and SQL Server 2005 for an enterprise environment.
• Windows Server Operating System Management Pack Guide for Operations Manager 2007:
The Microsoft Windows Server Management Packs monitor the performance, health, and availability of Microsoft Windows 2000 Server and Microsoft Windows Server 2003.
• Windows Client Operating System Management Pack Guide:
The Windows client operating system Management Packs are intended for use in gathering data on client computers or individually monitoring designated mission-critical client computers.
• Operations Manager 2007 Terminal Services Management Pack: This guide includes an overview of the Management Pack, deployment procedures, and monitoring scenarios for the Terminal Services Management Pack.
• Operations Manager 2007 Security Guide:
This guide provides you with security-related information as it pertains to Operations Manager 2007.
• Operations Manager 2007 Management Pack Guide:
This guide includes a Management Pack overview, deployment procedures, and monitoring scenarios for the Microsoft Windows Server Internet Information Services 2000 and 2003 Management Packs for Microsoft System Center Operations Manager 2007.
• Operations Manager 2007 Management Pack Terminal Services:
This guide includes an overview of the Management Pack, deployment procedures, and monitoring scenarios for the Terminal Services Management Pack.
• The Operations Manager 2007 Design Guide:
This guide steps the reader through the steps necessary to develop a complete architectural plan for their OpsMgr2007 implementation.
• Operations Manager 2007 Backup and Recovery Guide:
This guide provides guidance in planning for backup and recovery of System Center Operations Manager 2007 server roles and components. The information in this guide will complement your existing recovery strategy to avoid service disruption.
• Operations Manager 2007 Operations Guide:
This guide s a comprehensive resource that can be used to understand and use your Operations Manager 2007 implementation to your best advantage. It teaches the Operations Manager administrator what to do after successfully deployed a Management Group for the first time.
• Operations Manager 2007 MigrationGuide:
This guide is intended to help you understand the migration process from Microsoft Operations Manager 2005 (MOM 2005) to Operations Manager 2007 and the tools that are used in the process.
Microsoft SQL Server 2008 delivers a safe, secure, and reliable platform for running your most mission critical, line-of-business applications. It is the platform for building scalable business intelligence, data warehousing, and transaction processing that allows your business to grow and expand. Learn how System Center Operations Manager 2007, System Center Configuration Manager 2007, and System Center Data Protection Manager 2007 can benefit your SQL Server deployments.
Download SQL_SystemCenter_datasheet.pdf
David from Aquilaweb writes: User roles in SCOM and their scoping are all stored within the MomAuth.xml file which is located at %Program Files%\System Center Operations Manager 2007\SDK Service State. This file can be viewed as you would normally view any XML file using your favourite app or you can view it in more detail using Authorization Manager. This can be accessed as a snap-in within the MMC or by simply running AzMan.msc, once opened you can view the user roles and how they are scoped by selected Open Authorization Store from the Actions menu and selecting your MomAuth.xml file.
The Supported Configurations Guide included with SP1 RTM (ProductDocumentation folder) states the following:
Windows Server 2008 Operating System
Detailed support for The Windows Server 2008 operating system will be published 90 days after the release of Windows Server 2008. This document will be updated on the System Center Operations Manager TechCenter Web site at http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=90676.
For additional information on Opsmgr07 Role support as well as MOM 2005 support see http://blogs.technet.com/momteam/archive/...er-2008.aspx
Also applied to SCE SP1
Clive Eastwood: I thought it may be a good idea to drop a copy of the Opsmgr SP1 Upgrade guide here for those planning deployments. Lots of information to take in and a few caveats besides. This can be found on the SP1 RTM CD image in the ProductDocumentation folder. RTM is imminent:)
And don't forget to import the SP1 Management Packs after upgrade.(continue at source)
Microsoft System Center solutions can work together to provide an integrated, end-to-end management solution for your Windows Server 2008 environment. Learn about the benefits of managing Windows Server 2008 with System Center Operations Manager, Virtual Machine Manager, Configruation Manager, and Data Protection Manager.(continue at source)
Find out how Microsoft System Center Operations Manager 2007 delivers best-of-breed, end-to-end monitoring and management of your Microsoft Windows infrastructure. Read about the benefits and core capabilities of System Center Operations Manager 2007 as well as the different Management Packs that will be available for Windows Server 2008.(continue at source)
This list will be an the update to http://support.microsoft.com/kb/944443/en-us (List of issues that are fixed in System Center Operations Manager 2007 Service Pack 1 Release Candidate). This article will be updated shortly to reflect the KB articles applying to the original release which are not fixed in SP1. For additional functionality/improvements please also see the What's New section of the Operations Manager Help online (soon to be published to the TechNet TechCenter too) - See OpsMgr2007.chm in the ProductDocumentation folder of the SP1 RTM expanded image.
Stefan Stranger: Since I started at Microsoft as a Premier Field Engineer I went to quite some customers still using MOM 2005, so for all of you already working with OpsMgr 2007 (SP1) here some "old school" info on Computer Groups and Computer Rules in MOM 2005.
What are Computer Groups?
Computer Groups allow you to group together similar computers so that you can assign rules to group or computer and not individually to each computer.
(continue at source)
Just another of my personal experiences with VMM. I just completed a P2V of a Windows Server 2003 Domain Controller. Actually, it was a V2V as I was using my virtual environment. Anyhow, one of the things to be aware of is that after doing the conversion and bringing the other system online it prompted to reactivate Windows due to the "significant hardware changes".
It also required a system restart due to the same newly detected hardware. Not a big deal, so to speak, but certainly a concern for production environments.
Lastly, I have to admit that the conversion process was not seamless. Because you’re transferring a live server to a virtualised version of the same, there are additional concerns that you have to tend to. Probably the most important of these is the need to properly reconfigure your network settings on the VM. While I updated my virtual machine settings to include the proper IP configuration settings, it actually took yet another restart for those settings to take effect. While I thought this odd, I was too tired and frustrated to try to figure it out. (continue at source)
Language(s): English.
Product(s): System Center.
Audience(s): IT Professionals.
Duration: 90 Minutes
Start Date: Wednesday, February 27, 2008 1:00 PM Pacific Time (US & Canada)
Event Overview
Microsoft System Center Configuration Manager 2007 shipped recently, but we are not done yet! This year, we will also release a service pack and an R2. In this session, we cover the changes we are making in the System Center Configuration Manager 2007 Service Pack 1 (SP1) timeframe, in addition to the following System Center Configuration Manager 2007 R2 release. We briefly introduce System Center Configuration Manager, but our focus is on the new elements to support Windows Vista Service Pack 1, Windows Server 2008, in addition to some additional changes for Asset Intelligence and Intel AMT Integration.
Presenter: Jeff Wettlaufer, Senior Technical Product Manager, Microsoft Corporation
Register here.
Describes how the Microsoft System Center Operations Manager 2007 (OpsMgr 2007) was implemented to improve Microsoft IT's infrastructure management service offerings. OpsMgr 2007 provides a centralized monitoring infrastructure with increased reliability and granular rights delegation. By implementing OpsMgr 2007, Microsoft IT improved operational efficiency and reduced the cost of IT lifecycle investments.
Download Implementing System Center Operations Manager 2007 at Microsoft
The System Center Operations Manager 2007 team is excited to announce that System Center Operations Manager 2007 SP1 has Released-to-Manufacturing (RTM), and is now available for download! This release of SP1 marks an important milestone for the System Center Operations Manager 2007, making the product easier to support, easier to use, and easier to deploy.
The goals that this Service Pack addresses include:
Address critical customer initiated issues, including a roll-up of all hot-fixes
Improve the ability to deploy and use Operations Manager 2007
Enhance the supportability of Operations Manager 2007
A comprehensive list on what’s included with Service Pack 1 can be found by visiting the What’s New in Ops Mgr 2007 SP1 and What’s Fixed in Ops Mgr 2007 SP1.
Obtaining System Center Operations Manager 2007 SP1
System Center Operations Manager 2007 SP1 is currently being pushed out to the web, and the following links are being replicated over the weekend (replication is expected to be completed by Mon Feb 25th, if not earlier).
Upgrade: http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyId=EDE38D83-32D1-46FB-8B6D-78FA1DCB3E85&displaylang=en
Evaluation: http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyId=C3B6A44C-A90F-4E7D-B646-957F2A5FFF5F&displaylang=en
Need support or assistance?
If you want to discuss the service pack please join the SP1 news group at microsoft.public.opsmgr.sp1 at news.microsoft.com. My fellow MVP, Anders Bengtsson, recommends JetBrains Omea Readers as news group reader, you can download it here. More information about Microsoft news groups here. Or you can visit www.inovativ.nl for INOVATIV, de System Center specialisten, who can help you onsite if you're in The Netherlands.
London, UK - 20 February 08 – 3CX has announced the release of version 5.1 of 3CX Phone System for Windows. The latest version of the award-winning IP PBX has an integrated 3CX Tunnel which simplifies firewall configuration by channeling all VoIP traffic over a single port; making it easy for remote workers to connect to their company’s PBX and for Network Managers to connect different remote PBX systems between them. Traditionally, firewall configuration for remote SIP / VoIP systems and/or extensions can represent a challenge, because it requires many open ports.
Nick Galea, CEO at 3CX said: “We know how important it is for businesses nowadays to have remote workers and branches seamlessly integrated to their company’s phone system, and the addition of the 3CX Tunnel to 3CX Phone System for Windows facilitates this process.
“The 3CX Tunnel, unlike other similar tunneling protocols, is not proprietary and can be used with popular VoIP softphones and hard phones. This is ideal for businesses, as they can use a variety of telephone options with their IP PBX depending on their needs and budget.” (more)
Operations Manager 2007 collects large amounts of data from your environment. By using the Reporting feature, you can create reports based on this data that provide additional information about the health of your environment. For example, you can create a report that shows the amount of time it takes between an alert being raised to its being written in the Operations Manager database. This report can help you identify any network delays and isolate trouble spots. Based on the data in this report, you can then take corrective action.
Download the Operations Manager 2007 Reports Authoring Guide
Suppose you want to create a view to look at performance data that has been collected in OpsMgr. You go to create the view and are prompted for a performance counter name. You copy and paste the performance counter name just as it appears in performance monitor on the system of interest and, you see no data come up. So how do you know if this is normal (because OpsMgr isn't collecting that performance counter) or whether there is a problem? Lets discuss how we can make this determination in the OpsMgr console.
In order to display performance data in a view we must have a RULE to collect data from the specific counter of interest. Notice I wrote RULE in all capital letters. I did that to make a point. In OpsMgr 2007 all data collection (events, perf, whatever) is handled by rules - not monitors. Monitors are solely used for monitoring health state. Rules are used for any data collection. So thats where we need to look - do we have a rule that is configured to collect the peformance counter we are interested in? Assuming we have named all of our performance rules with the name of the counters they collect - all we have to do is search the rule names and see if any rule exists. But, in practical terms, it very likely isn't that easy. Assume, for example, that we have a performance collection rule titled Netlogon Performance Rule 1. That rule is configured to collect data from the new (available with hotfix 928576) 'average semaphore hold time' performance counter. Unless we know this particular rule is the one that collects that counter it is difficult to find. But there is a very easy way to determine all of the performance counters OpsMgr knows about and are configured for data collection - and what rule is actually doing the work to collect the data!(continue at source)
Ever have a performance problem, but don't know what performance counters to collect or how to analyze them? The PAL (Performance Analysis of Logs) tool is a new and powerful tool that reads in a performance monitor counter log (any known format) and analyzes it using complex, but known thresholds (that are provided). The tool comes out-of-the-box with some predefined thresholds defined as high according to the Microsoft consulting/development but those can be adjusted to whatever you like.(continue at source)
Download the entire set of the System Center Operations Manager 2007 Training Videos (in .wmv format) for an offline viewing experience. Version 1.0 download size: 185.6 MB.
Download the training videos
Ben Hunter: I am often asked what the best way is to manage drivers with both BDD/MDT and ConfigMgr. With this in mind I thought I would create two blog posts dealing with this topic. The first post (this one) will cover ConfigMgr and the second BDD/MDT driver management.
Please note this is not the only way to manage drivers, there are many different ways to manage drivers. However this is an approach that I have used many times with much success.(continue at source)
DeploymentMan: This is one of my favorite features/roles in OpsMgr 2007. When I refer to the Gateway Server I am referring to role in OpsMgr which can be used to monitor un-trusted domains/DMZs and not the spotted cow company that builds servers. If you are not leveraging the Gateway Server role then here are my 10 reasons why you should.(continue at source)
With Short Message Service (SMS) you can easily send messages (max. 160 characters) to mobile phones. Messages can be textual (alphanumeric) or binary. The following four steps are required for you to setup notification with SMS:
- Configure a GSM modem
- Configure SMS notification channel
- Configure notification recipients
- Configure notification subscription
(continue at source)
As many of you are aware, last year Microsoft acquired Engyro for its suite of connectors to MOM 2005 and Operations Manager 2007. While many have speculated over what would come of the Engyro offerings after Microsoft removed them from the market, today Steve Rachui annouced on his Manageability blog that Microsoft has decided to release the Engyro suite free of charge!
While we’re still having to wonder how to actually go about obtaining the connectors, at least there is hope of finally having a free solution to turn Operations Manager 2007 into the "single pane of glass" that it was designed to be.
The Engyro Product Connectors include:
# EPC Ops Mgr to Tivoli TEC
# EPC Ops Mgr to HP OVO
# EPC Ops Mgr to Remedy ARS
# EPC High Availability
Asset Intelligence is an important new component that has been added to System Center Configuration Manager (SCCM) 2007. This feature set is the only real way to accurately account for assets and ensure that all the software you're using is properly licensed.
Asset Intelligence version 1.0 first appeared as part of Systems Management Server 2003 SP3. The tool was useful but flawed by some critical limitations. Fortunately, the release of Asset Intelligence 1.5 beta just a few weeks ago marks the best edition of the tool to date. Version 1.5 has several new features and improvements that make it a much better product than the original, and more extensive than version 1.1, which shipped with SCCM 2007 RTM.
Good afternoon all my Mobile device managers! I just heard that System Center Mobile Device Manager (SCMDM) 2008 has gone RTM!
You can read about it here: Microsoft System Center Mobile Device Manager 2008
This is a great release, also in my last few weeks I have delivered a few TechNet Radio Interviews about mobility and we chatted a few times about SCMDM:
Here is some more information about SCMDM:
- Device Management solution that integrates directly into a Windows Server infrastructure
- Full, Over-The-Air device provisioning
- Automatic deployment of targeted applications to devices
- Secure data channel from the device to the corporate network
- Enablement of core LOB scenarios in a mobile environment unlike before
Nick MacKechnie: Here’s a whole heap of information that is now available on System Centre that you may not be aware of:
Microsoft System Center and Windows Server 2008: Better Together
Whitepaper covering how System Center helps better implement Windows Server 2008.
TechNet Virtual Lab: Introduction to System Center Configuration Manager (SCCM) 2007
After completing this lab, you will be able to use the SCCM 2007 Administrator Console to verify the site configuration, identify the Software distribution and maintenance windows feature of SCCM 2007, identify the Software updates and WSUS integration feature of SCCM 2007, identify the Operating system deployment of Windows Vista feature of SCCM 2007, identify the Desired configuration management feature of SCCM 2007, and identify other miscellaneous SCCM features.(continue at source)
It’s no secret that desktop management is very costly. Especially in a day and age of increasing application complexity coupled with an increased dependence upon desktops. Therefore, Microsoft’s System Center Desktop Error Monitoring Lab provides a decent overview of a great way to increase IT efficiency by mitigating help desk costs.(continue at source)
Peter from System Center Forum: While we do not have the same versioning issues with MS-released managment packs we had in MOM 2005, backup and versioning of your unsealed management packs can still prevent the need to redo work or restore the database when critical changes are lost.
I created a “poor mans version archive” in an management pack backup scscript with built-in versioning for MOM 2005 some time ago.
We posted a Powershell script for automating export of unsealed MPs as well.
Derek Harkin has taken this script to the next level to create the equivalent for Operations Manager 2007 in the form of a Powershell script with similar versioning functionality to my MOM 2005 offering, wrapped up in a sample management pack.
Jeff Tondt, Senior Consultant with Microsoft Federal Services, has just released an update to the highly popular SMSMap product he’s developed to document SMS 2003 and Configuration Manager 2007 topologies.
To make it easier to find, he’s also launched his own website where you can download the free tool from. It’s available at: http://www.tondtware.com/
This is Jalasoft’s third article about Xian Io’s functionality in a series of eight. In part 1, we discussed monitoring network device interfaces and port status. In part 2, we talked about monitoring a network device and it’s response time.We tried to come up with solutions to problems that most Network Administrators encounter on a daily basis, so on this occasion we’ll elaborate on Asynchronous Monitoring.
When monitoring a network device or server, network admins focus on monitoring some aspects considered critical and mandatory; therefore, the rules that monitor such properties are designed to cover these critical nodes and counters and will periodically verify that they are within certain normal boundaries. However, other unexpected events and situations that might affect the normal performance and availability of that server or device could occur. These events are difficult to foresee and therefore explicitly monitor and could even compromise the state of the whole network. Knowing about these events as soon as they occur is very critical since solving this problem requires a response soon after the events are triggered.(continue at source)
With the ConfigMgr 2007 Advanced Client pre-requisites macro component for Windows XP Embedded, you can use ConfigMgr 2007 to manage hardware devices that are running the Windows XP Embedded operating system. These devices include, but are not restricted to, point of sale (POS) terminals, automated teller machines (ATMs) and Windows-based thin clients.
Download Contents The ConfigMgr 2007 Advanced Client Prerequisites macro component for Windows XP Embedded will install the software necessary for installing the same ConfigMgr 2007 Advanced Client that installs on Windows XP Professional, together with the updates needed to successfully run the Inventory Tool for Microsoft Updates. After you have installed an image created with this component, you will need to deploy the ConfigMgr 2007 Advanced Client separately.
Download the ConfigMgr 2007 Advanced Client Prerequisites macro component for Windows XP Embedded
Pete from the System Center Forum website has posted two articles explaining what you can do with Audit Collection Services (ACS) in SCOM2007. In the first article he discusses the real function of ACS, differentiated between product and process, and in the second article he goes in to detail on focus on how to effectively utilize your security information data throughout its lifetime.
Part 1: Audit Collection Services is installed%u2026now what?
ACS Part 2: Effective use of ACS and the information lifecycle
Note: This information is based off Microsoft System Center Configuration Manager 2007 SP1 Beta and is subject to changes between now and RTM.
Once the vPro client has been provisioned by SCCM SP1, you can now start performing vPro Client Manageability through either Collection based power operation or through the “Out of Band Console”.
To invoke vPro power management feature from within a collection, you can right click on a single client (or multi-select several clients) and select “Out of Band Management” -> “Power Control”. After which, a “Power Control” Screen will appears for the client(s); from there you can select whether to power on, power off, or restart the vPro Clients. (continue at source)
With Windows Server 2008, the installation process for servers has substantially changed for the first time since Windows NT 4.0. Since the underlying technologies for deploying Windows Server 2008 and Windows Vista are now the same, wouldn’t it be great if you could use the same tools and leverage the same knowledge to deploy both? System Center Configuration Manager and Microsoft Deployment now provide that integrated toolset. In this paper, learn how to use System Center Configuration Manager and Microsoft Deployment to automate the deployment of Windows Server 2008 – through native integration with these new deployment processes and tools.
Download article Deploying Windows Server 2008 With System Center Configuration Manager
You might have heard of Microsoft System Center Operations Manager (SCOM). It’s the latest version of what used to be called Microsoft Operations Manager (MOM). MOM was an enterprise ready network monitoring system with an enterprise grade price. That’s great for enterprises, but what about the mid-sized business who wants to get a leg up on monitoring and securing their network?
Let me introduce you to Microsoft System Center Essentials. System Center Essentials has a subset of capabilities that you get with the SCOM, but it’s an important subset. Using System Center Essentials, you can get a unified view of your network infrastructure and it’s integration with the free Windows Server Update Services (WSUS) helps insure that all the computers on your network are updated with the latest security updates.(continue at source)
System Center Forum is hosting a downloadable copy of the Visio stencils for Operations Manager 2007 for creating OpsMgr 2007 diagrams.
Download Visio Stencils for System Center Operations Manager 2007
J.C. Hornbeck: I came across this nifty Solution Brief on Intel's site and thought you might find it interesting. In case you weren't aware, ConfigMgr 2007 SP1 will include native Intel Centrino Pro and vPro processor technology support when it releases.
There's an Intel press release about this here:Intel Aligns New Technologies To Enhance PC Network Management Capabilities
There's also Intel's Solution Brief that discusses the advantages you'll receive if you use Microsoft's System Center products on computers that feature Centrino Pro and vPro technology:Microsoft System Center and PCs with Intel Centrino Pro and Intel vPro Processor Technology
The converted DPM MP for OpsMgr07 is now available http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=a3e...
As this is a converted MP it has a dependency upon the Backward Compatibility Management Pack 6.0.5000.16 available from http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=98874.
Doug Gowans: I've been taking a look at 'System Centre Capacity Planner 2007' which is now available for all to download. Up to now I have had very little exposure to this member of the System Centre suite so thought I would plug in some numbers and see if I'm in any danger of being out of a job...
The first thing you notice is the disclaimer which rightly highlights that SCCP should not be used as the sole means of designing any E2K7 deployment. Aside from proof of concept labs and pre-production scalability, performance and functionality testing, there is the fact that the results of a model generated by SCCP will be based on a information provided by the user and by hardware vendors for example, which Microsoft does not separately verify. So, so far, as expected really - the tool is designed to assist in producing capacity requirements and provide a good baseline from which to produce a good design... it is not meant to be a 'consultant in a box'. (..phew!)(continue at source)
Sander van den Burg, one of our readers, kindly informed us that Technet Plus has posted the SP1 Update release for download through the Top Downloads section on http://technet.microsoft.com/subscriptions. TechNet Plus subscribers now can download the following:
Windows Vista Service Pack 1 (x86, x64) - DVD (English, French, German, Japanese, Spanish)
Windows Vista Service Pack 1 (x86) - EXE (English, French, German, Japanese, Spanish)
Windows Vista Service Pack 1 (x64) - EXE (English, French, German, Japanese, Spanish)
To use the Top Downloads , you will need to install the Akamai Technologies Download Manager Browser add-on to access these files and will need to allow pop-ups (at least temporarily). The files are on the Top Downloads rather than Subscriber Downloads & Product Keys to load balance the with the download activity related to Windows Server 2008.
The integrated full install of Vista with SP1 will be available for download prior to the end of the month; we are working through download capacity planning and will make it available as soon as we can.
J.C. Hornbeck: I've been getting a few questions about some of our Solution Accelerators so I thought I would post a quick list of some Manageability related SA's that you might be interested in. These and many more are listed at http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/solutionaccelerators/bb892167.aspx but some of the more pertinent ones are broken out here.(continue at source)
J.C. Hornbeck: Over on the MOMTeam blog Cory Delamarter posted a great write-up on Microsoft IT's deployment of System Center Operations Manager 2007. He used to work in Microsoft It and has a tremendous amount of experience deploying this product. If you're looking for some insight into how we here at Microsoft do things then you'll definitely want to give this a quick read.
Jeff Wettlaufer talks with NetworkWorld’s Mitchell Ashley about how System Center technologies are strengthened and improved with Windows Server 2008.
Listen to the podcast here
When you deploy Operating Systems using SCCM 2007 and boot from the boot image you have the option to configure static IP network settings when you press the c-key in the start screen Task Sequence Wizard.
When you have multiple network adapters this can come in handy, because you can see which Network interfaces are detected. You can configure another network adapter with a static IP address if needed. I don't know if this option is only available when you have the command line option enabled on your boot image.
Thanks for the tip Jan!
Paul Thomsen: Summary: understanding the problems client health management reveals is crucial, but there are other disciplines that are also essential to fully managing client health.
In a recent blog posting I presented my 'buckets of buckets' perspective of client health management. The basic idea is that the more you drill into computer management client activity and client health numbers, the more you need to know. Each bucket of clients can usually be subdivided into several buckets. And on it goes.(continue at source)
The Monitoring pane in the Essentials 2007 console provides users a method to find relevant monitoring data to take appropriate actions to maintaind a healthy network. The Monitoring pane displays various aspects of monitoring data that Essentials 2007 collects. Each object in the Monitoring pane is either a view type or a folder that contains a collection of views. The Find, Search, and Scope buttons on the Operations Console allow users to manage that data.
The views displayed directly under the Monitoring node are global views that provide information on your entire environment. The folders listed in the navigation pane are containers for views defined either within a Management Pack or administrator defined custom views. The feature folders are created when Essentials 2007 is installed. The folders that contain views from Management Packs are created when the Management Pack is imported and are named after the Management Packs.
You cannot delete the folders or views that are created during Essentials 2007 installation or from imported Management Packs. You can personalize these views by using the Personalize View feature in the Essentials 2007 Action pane. Additionally, you can hide folders by selecting Show or hide views, which is located just above the navigation buttons. Make your selections by clearing the appropriate check boxes in the Show or hide views window.
Paul Ross: As the person responsible for the product marketing of System Center Service Manager, our IT service desk and IT service management product, I wanted to provide an update on the timeline for the release of the product. I also wanted to share some of the reasons for the change to that timeline.
We’ve had a great response to the first beta of Service Manager that we made available earlier in the year, with thousands of downloads. This beta, along with input from our Technology Adoption Program customers (a group who we work very closely with on the development of the product), provided a lot of really good feedback on how to ensure this product will meet customer needs. (continue at source)
For System Center Forum readers that might have missed our first blog post of February 4th, this is Jalasoft’s second article about Xian Io’s functionality in a series of eight. We tried to come up with solutions to problems that most Network Administrators encounter on a daily basis, so our topic selected for this occasion is the monitoring of a device’s availability and response time.
Unfortunately, most network problems are caused by a device or computer that is down or due to delays on the response time of network devices; therefore, knowing immediately if any of your machines is not available or is becoming bottlenecked in terms of response time, is one of the most important and basic network administration tasks.(continue at source)
Dell has recently released an updated to its SCOM 2007 Management Pack offering.
Fixes and Enhancements
1) Added support for Microsoft System Center Operations Manager 2007 and System Center Essentials 2007.
2) Enhanced health drill down model in Diagram views from overall Dell Hardware health to individual hardware components.
3) Includes support for the latest versions of Dell OpenManage Server Administrator v5.2 (including the enhanced Storage Management Service 2.2).
4) Supports monitoring of Dell printers using SNMPv2
Version A02 changes:
- Release includes support for System Center Essentials 2007.
- Dell Management Pack code modified with fixes for removing debug events in the Operations Manager log.
Ian Blyth: You would think that by now the major management packs from Microsoft would be settled, especially as many have them have been through a few updates over 6 years. It would be an assumption that many people installing MOM or SCOM for the first time would make - especially based on the marketing. But a number of posts recently made me think about how untrue that is.(continue at source)
Microsoft has just release System Center Configuration Manager 2007 SP1 beta. As part of SCCM 2007 SP1, Microsoft has included native support for several of the core vPro Out of Band Management use cases.
- Security-based management: Through the use of public key infrastructure (PKI), SCCM 2007 SP1 allows for remote provisioning and out of band management communication through Kerberos authentication and Transport Layer Security (TLS) Channels. Activities are also recorded and auditable to ensure traceability and compliance.
- AMT Provisioning: SCCM SP1 provides native provisioning capabilities for vPro Base clients through both bare metal (agent-less) and Configuration Manager 2007 SP1 client (agent based).
- Inventory Data: SCCM 2007 SP1, through the use of core vPro capability, provides enhanced support for hardware base inventory. Inventory data such as BIOS UUID, power states, memory, process, hard drive information, etc that can all be retrieved out of band and independent of power state.
- Power Control: SCCM 2007 SP1 enables you to perform both in and out of band power controls for vPro Clients such as power on, power off, and restart capabilities for a single computer or a selection of vPro clients in the collection.
- Out of Band Manager Console: Within SCCM 2007 SP1, you are able to interaction directly with each vPro client and invoke AMT use cases through the Out of Band Manager Console. This capability allows you leverage additional power control options including the use of Serial over LAN (SOL), IDE Redirect (IDER), and detail vPro Audit / Event logs. SOL allows you to perform terminal emulation to the vPro client and perform character-based commands and/or interact with the systems BIOS. IDER enables you to boot from a remote or local image to take advantage of alternate boot environment or diagnosing / repair tools.
To gain access to Microsoft System Center Configuration Manager 2007 SP1 Beta, you can request access by:
1. Set-up an account. on MS Connect.
MS Connect Website
http://www.connect.microsoft.com/
2. After you've logged in, select "Available Connections" from the menu on the left side of the screen.
3. Select "System Center Configuration Manager 2007". You will be asked to fill out a questionnaire so they can get some background and demographic information.
INOVATIV, a dutch based System Center solutions provider, has just launched their Scheduled Tasks management pack for System Center Operations Manager 2007. Completely free and without any restrictions you can download this native management pack, which is compatible with XP, Vista, W2003 and even W2008. The scheduled tasks management pack introduces two new classes in your System Center Operations Manager 2007 environment:
Scheduler
Scheduled Tasks
It provides the classes as a child to the Windows Computer class and marks it as "public", for use in a Distributed Application. Scheduled Tasks are monitored every 60 seconds for three potential problems:
Last run time is "Never" or "N/A"
Last result is other than 0
Scheduled Tasks - Management Pack
Savision B.V. today announced its participation in Microsoft's System Center Alliance. Savision’s participation builds upon its strong relationship with the System Center Product Group and creates new opportunities to closely collaborate with other ISV partners. Savision’s inclusion in the System Center Alliance program highlights the substantial value that Live Maps for Operations Manager 2007 provides to customers.
The Microsoft System Center Alliance was launched in November 2007 and represents Microsoft’s ongoing commitment to open platforms and partner developed solutions. The purpose of the program is to provide a community to help partners more easily collaborate on the creation of solutions for System Center, as well as deliver a vehicle for providing information about those solutions to our mutual customers.(continue at source)
David from aquilaweb: This tool (CleanMom.exe) I have found invaluable in my test environment where I uninstall/install different SCOM components and agents all the time yet on my rounds in the communities and forums I have found that very few people seem to be aware of it. CleanMom.exe is available as a download from Microsoft as part of the SCOM 2007 Resource Kit and it is a command line tool to cleanup your system fully after removing SCOM components/agents.
Possible usage:
- CleanMom.exe /c /(xml file name) = Produce inventory XML of installed SCOM components
- CleanMom.exe /a /(xml file name) = Process inventory XML of installed SCOM components
- CleanMom.exe /CleanAgents = Remove SCOM agent MSI information
- CleanMom.exe /CleanServers = Remove SCOM server MSI information
Download CleanMom.exe from Microsoft
DPM 2007 FAQ
DPM 2007 Frequently Asked Questions - Technical
Deploying DPM 2007
Deploying DPM 2007 provides information about installing and configuring DPM 2007.
Planning a DPM 2007 Deployment
This document introduces the features and functions of DPM 2007, and provides guidance for planning a DPM 2007 deployment.
DPM 2007 Troubleshooting Guide
Provides information on troubleshooting your DPM 2007 installation.
DPM 2007 System Requirements
DPM 2007 System Requirements lists the minimum DPM hardware and software requirements for the DPM server and the computers and applications it is going to protect.
DPM 2007 Getting Started Guide
The DPM 2007 Getting Started Guide provides quick access to tasks required to protect and recover your data.
Microsoft this week is giving users and partners a sneak peak at the next version of its Visio business diagramming package.
Microsoft also showed off new add-ins for the existing version, Visio 2007.
"The new add-ins will dramatically ease the challenges organizations currently face in monitoring their IT environments, pinpointing and troubleshooting problems in the network, performing diagnostics on different nodes, testing out configuration upgrade scenarios and allowing IT and development staff to work in closer alignment," Wolf's statement continued.
The add-ins tie into Microsoft's System Center Operations Manager 2007, SQL Assessment and Datacenter Storage Management. The latter pulls data from Microsoft Excel to aid in managing storage infrastructure. (continue at source)
Q: How can I run a report showing all opening alerts of a particular severity?
A: An easy way to this is to simply use Powershell and export rules
that are both unresolved and critical to an Excel spreadsheet.
In the example below, we use select-object cmdlet to select the fields we want to include in our report and the export-csv cmdlet to export the output to csv file we can open in Excel.
get-alert | where-object {$_.ResolutionState -lt 255} | where-object {$_.Severity -eq “Error”} | select-object Name, Severity, Description | export-csv “c:\alerts.csv”
If you want to see all available fields, temporarily removing the formatting elements off the end and run the script again to return alerts meeting the criteria to the screen.
get-alert | where-object {$_.ResolutionState -lt 255} | where-object {$_.Severity -eq “Error”}
Then put them back, adding any add’l fields you want to the comma-separated list in the select-object list. You can even schedule this to run on scheduled basis with Scheduler on any computer with the OpsMgr Command Shell loaded.
Different from WSUS, SCE can perform any software installation, update or patch to your machines. What's interesting about SCE is that it actually uses your WSUS infrastructure as the mechanism for deployment. The Windows Update Agent that's likely already installed onto your computers is leveraged by SCE to perform automated software distributions.
In order to do this, you'll first need to create what we call a "silent installation." If your software media is an .MSI file, then that's an easy process. (continue at source)
The Windows Automated Installation Kit (Windows AIK) is designed to help corporate IT professionals customize and deploy the Windows Vista and Windows Server 2008 family of operation systems. The Windows Automated Installation Kit (Windows AIK) is a set of tools and documentation that support the configuration and the deployment of Windows operating systems. By using Windows AIK, you can perform unattended Windows installations, capture Windows images with ImageX, and create Windows PE images.(continue at source)
Download WAIK1.1 here. (more)
The release of OpsMgr 2007 SP1 is just around the corner!
It will be released in English as well as Japanese, German, French, Russian, Italian, Spanish, Korean, Chinese (Simplified and Traditional), and Brazilian Portuguese.
What's new in the Service Pack? http://connect.microsoft.com/SystemCenter/content/content.aspx?ContentID=6859 lists some of the improvements and major changes in functionality. Some of the more interesting ones include:
* Support has been added for SNMP v1 network devices, to complement the existing support for SNMP v2
* The ability to search across monitors and rules by their overrides
* Support for exporting OpsMgr 2007 diagrams to Visio VDX format from the Diagram view
* The ability to copy and paste from the Alert Details pane
* Invoking the Secure Storage Backup Wizard at the end of setup to backup the RMS encryption keys
* The ability to repromote a RMS cluster to the RMS role after the cluster is fixed
* Capability to copy views from an existing management pack to an unsealed management pack
* Improved performance
This is just a partial list. See the above URL for full details. (more)
Michael Niehaus:We'll be coming out with an update for Microsoft Deployment sometime later this month (February) to fully support Windows Server 2008 and Windows Vista SP1 deployment with the Windows Automated Installation Kit 1.1, all of which were released to manufacturing this week. To give you an idea of what this deployment process looks like, I recorded a video that walks through the steps of installing Windows Server 2008 using Microsoft Deployment's Lite Touch capabilities. To make things a little more interesting, I decided to use the Server Core installation option. All total, the recording lasts just under 10 minutes, although that includes some editing to remove the boring parts.
Lite Touch Windows Server 2008 Walkthrough
Andre Dugdell writes: Windows 2008 hit RTM today (in building 26 actually), you can read the official announcement over at Presspass.
So I guess this (maybe) marks the beginning of ‘that final countdown‘: Hyper-V to release 180 days from now. This means the release date would roughly be the first week in August; Just in time for VMworld and WinHEC in September =)
Speaking of mid September, that should be around the time that the first beta of SCVMM vNext should be available. Just remember, none of these dates are formal, just pure speculation based on the information out there.
The Microsoft Solution Accelerator Communications and Collaborations group is pleased to announce the availability of the SharePoint Capacity Planning Tool for download on TechNet.
When planning a new SharePoint deployment, you will need a way to quickly characterize the general topology and minimum hardware requirements to support expected usage loads with adequate performance. You will need a way to explore plausible scenarios and get pointed in the right direction. The SharePoint Capacity Planning Tool gives you a quick way to draft topology and equipment sizing for your particular scenario and usage profile.
The SharePoint Capacity Planning Tool consists of System Center Capacity Planner 2007 (SCCP) models for:
Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007 (MOSS)
Windows SharePoint Services 3.0 (WSS)
SharePoint Capacity Planning Tool for SCCP 2007
Note: This Solution Accelerator needs System Center Capacity Planner 2007 to be installed first.
Beckett Thomsen, Sr. Product Manager, System Center Marketing:
The product team is pleased to announce the release of Microsoft System Center Capacity Planner (SCCP) 2007! SCCP 2007 is a pre-deployment capacity planning and post-deployment change analysis solution for Microsoft Server products including Microsoft Exchange Server 2007. It employs state of the art modeling technology to bring unprecedented functionality and flexibility to the process of performance analysis and planning of distributed application deployments. It provides Information Technology professionals with the tools and guidance to deploy efficiently, while planning for the future by allowing for "what-if" analyses.
The new version adds the following new capabilities:
• Application model for Exchange Server 2007
• Extensibility with new models from Microsoft, including Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007 and Microsoft Windows SharePoint Services 3.0. A model for System Center Operations Manager 2007 will be available soon.
• New, more powerful deployment wizards deliver unprecedented ease of use
• Support for 64-bit processor architectures
• Comprehensive reporting of disk IO and storage utilizations
• Increased flexibility in customizing server usage profiles
Unlike the previous version, SCCP 2007 doesn’t require a Microsoft TechNet Plus or MSDN Premium subscription, and is available for anyone to download now on the Microsoft Download Center. Please visit our website to learn more about SCCP 2007.
In many of our OpsMgr by Example articles, we recommend you install the Windows Server management pack to be able to get access to underlying operating system performance data for applications including SQL Server, Exchange, and IIS. However, per KB article 948097 , the CPU percentage utilization monitors do not work on a Windows 2003 Server!
These monitors are targeted to the Windows Server 2003 processor class - but by default, there is no available Windows Server 2003 processor class instance, since the corresponding discovery rule (Discover Windows CPUs) is disabled by default. To enable the rule, perform the following steps:
1. In the Operations console, navigate to the Authoring space. Open Authoring -> Management Pack Objects -> Objects Discoveries.
2. Narrow your scope, then search for the "Discover Windows CPUs" discovery rule.
3. In the Properties window of the rule, go to Overrides. Set overrides on all Windows Server 2003 Operations System role type objects. Check "override" on the "Enable" parameter.
4. Save the override setting to an unsealed management pack, preferably not the Default management pack.
Once the Processor class is functional, the CPU percentage utilization monitors will also start working.
Kathy Dixon from TechNet Plus subscriptions reports: I’m happy to report that Windows Server 2008 is now live and available to all TechNet Plus subscribers from TechNet Plus Subscriber Downloads. The following software editions and languages are now available:
Windows Server 2008 Datacenter, Enterprise and Standard (x64)
Windows Automated Installation Kit 1.1 (x86, x64, ia64)
Windows Server 2008 Multilingual User Interface Language Pack (x64)
Additional editions and language versions will be made available over the next few weeks. Please keep your eye out for the following upcoming editions:
Windows Server 2008 Datacenter, Enterprise and Standard (x86)
Windows Web Server 2008 (x86, x64)
Windows Server 2008 for Itanium-based Systems
Windows Server 2008 Datacenter, Enterprise and Standard without Hyper-V (x86, x64)
Windows Server 2008 Multilingual User Interface Language Pack (x86, ia64)
REDMOND, Wash., Feb. 4, 2008 –Approaching the company’s largest enterprise launch in its history, Microsoft reached another important milestone today with the release to manufacturing (RTM) of Windows Server 2008. The response from IT professionals and developers has been strong as the company moves toward the worldwide launch of Windows Server 2008, SQL Server 2008 and Visual Studio 2008 on February 27.
One indication of the momentum that is building around the latest server operating system is the number of beta and evaluation versions that customers and partners have obtained: more than two million.
IT professionals face increasing pressure from rapidly changing technology, increasing costs and security concerns, and expanding business needs. Windows Server 2008 helps alleviate these pressures by automating daily management tasks, tightening security, improving efficiency and increasing availability. It also offers virtualization solutions that will enable IT professionals to reduce costs, increase hardware utilization, optimize their infrastructure, and improve server availability.
Furthermore, because Windows Server 2008 was developed in tandem with the Windows Vista code base, it has most of that operating system’s advanced management and security features, such as integrated Network Access Protection (NAP) and Group Policy. Customers will also see system-wide performance improvements from an integrated system architecture, including network file sharing, managed quality of service and reduced power consumption. Common tools and processes across both operating systems will result in efficiencies for IT organizations. (more)
One of the major headaches when dealing with Active Directory is the issues of accidental deletion of objects by un-trained or malicious people. Of course one must have the right permissions in Active Directory in order to be able to delete any object from it, but this does happen now and then. For example, you might want to perform a deletion of one object but instead select another one, and without giving it a second thought, pressing delete. You might delete an entire organizational unit (OU) with all the nested objects in it, and not pay attention to the two warning windows that ask you if you're sure you want to perform that task.(continue at source)
As many Network Administrators would tell you, it is very critical to know whether the most important interfaces and ports of any network device such as a switch or router are up and available or if they suddenly change to another state such as down, disabled, unknown, etc. and thus be able to know if the connectivity to a particular server, sub- network, or Internet is interrupted or affected, so that this problem can be solved quickly.(continue at source)
The System Center Updates Publisher has been built on the custom updates framework that was introduced in Systems Management Server 2003 R2. Updates Publisher is a stand-alone tool that enables independent software vendors or line-of-business application developers to import software update catalogs, create and modify software update definitions, export update definitions to catalogs, and publish software updates information to a configured update server. By using Updates Publisher to define software updates and publish them to the update server, administrators can begin detecting and deploying published updates to client and server computers in their organization.
Updates Publisher enables administrators to do the following:
* Import catalogs created by non-Microsoft organizations or created from within the administrator’s organization.
* Create applicability and deployment metadata for software updates.
* Export software update catalogs so that they can be imported by Updates Publisher at another location, or export a test catalog to verify that the rules for the updates work as expected.
* Manage software updates information.
Learn more about System Center Updates Publisher
Microsoft Consulting Services (MCS) works with customers every day to aid in the design and deployment of Microsoft SoftGrid Application Virtualization solutions. This guide is a compilation of practices MCS has gathered over time to help with streamlining the Sequencing process.
Download the MCS Sequencing Guidelines
Microsoft has released the latest version of System Center Capacity Planner, SCCP 2007. SCCP 2007 allows you to model your design of certain solutions before you even deploy them. It gives you a rough idea how they will scale and how you need to design your architecture. It currently supports a limited number of products but MS has promised to grow that.
Read more about the release
Download Capacity Planner 2007
Paul Thomsen: Summary: in recent posts we've examined some techniques for automatically generating and delivering highly customized reports. Here's some examples (especially the graphs).
The techniques I posted enable you to automatically produce highly formatted, analytical computer management reports, complete with graphs and e-mailing to your internal customers. But before you invest the effort into producing them you'll want to visualize what they could look like, and how that benefits you. This posting gives a variety of examples. (Some time ago I blogged a couple of graphs, and occasionally I've shown some of these reports in various presentations, so they may look familiar.)(continue at source)
Pete from System Center Forum: I’ve been touching on file system monitoring in example scripts in the scripting series, and wanted to point out a few others I’ve posted ad-hoc during that time. I wanted to point you to those, and give you a heads up on part 3 of the scripting series coming soon.
In Part 1 and Part 2 we touch on file size and file presence (or absence), and show off some custom performance objects in part 2.
I’ve recently posted scripts for
- Folder Size (click HERE)
- Folder Size + size data to custom perf object (Click HERE)
- File Age (Click HERE), and most recently
- File Count. (click HERE)
Daniel Savage has written a document about data retention and grooming that many of you might find useful.
Download Operations Manager Data Retention & Grooming
Boris Yanushpolsky has released version 1.3 of his MPViewer.
Added another several small features in this version:
1 - The target of a rule/monitor
2 - The type of a monitot
3 - The priority of the alert generated by a monitor
4 - Whether a rule generates an alert as well as the severity and priority of the alert.
5 - Command line mode is now supported. So you can run it like this: C:\MPViewer.exe "C:\SampleMP.mp" "C:\SampleMPReport.html" (this can help create HTML reports for a large number of management packs without opening each one in the MPViewer UI).
Download MPViewer 1.3
J.C. Hornbeck:We have a couple updates (with more to come soon) regarding which Operations Manager 2007 Server Roles we officially support on a specific cluster setup.
An Operations Manager 2007 management group can provide a multitude of services. These services can be distributed to specific servers, thereby classifying a server into a specific role. Not all server roles and services are typically deployed onto the same server. The following table lists the compatibilities and dependencies and if the role can be installed on a failover cluster.(continue at source)
