I came accross Could not access network location APPDATA errors in ccmsetup.log during a SCCM 2012 client installation.

Symptom

The installation is stuck with those MSI error logs in ccmsetup.log and will retry in 120 minutes.

Cause

The environmental variable %APPDATA% is required during the SCCM client installation and fail to access. AppData folder contains application settings, files, and data specific to the apps on your PC.

Solution

Open registry and navigate to HKEY_USERS\S-1-5-18\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\User Shell Folders

Change AppData value to %USERPROFILE%\AppData\Roaming

The installation will resume in the next 120 minutes.

(Could not access network location APPDATA)

The post Error ‘Could not access network location APPDATA’ in ccmsetup.log appeared first on System Center Dudes.

This post describe how to install a SCCM 2012 reporting services point.

It describe how to install the reporting services point on a primary site server.

This role can be installed on a remote machine, the process is the same but the logs location is different.

Requirements

Before you can install the reporting services point role you must configure SQL correctly.

We’ll be using SQL 2012 on this post. We are assuming that SQL is already installed and that your SCCM site is up and healthy.

During the initial SQL installation, you must select Reporting Services.

If you have installed SQL Server, but have not installed Reporting Services follow the following steps. If Reporting Services is already installed, skip to the “Configure Reporting Services” section.

• Launch the SQL Server 2012 installation from the media.
• Click the Installation link on the left to view the Installation options.
• Click the top link, New SQL Server stand-alone installation or add features to an existing installation.

• Follow the SQL Server Setup wizard until you get to the Installation Type screen.
• Select Add features to an existing instance of SQL Server 2012.
• Click Next to move to the Feature Selection page.

• Select Reporting Services – Native

• At the Reporting Services Configuration page
• Select Install Only

Continue through the wizard and reboot the computer at the end of the installation if instructed to do so.

Configure Reporting Services

Before configuring the reporting point, some configuration needs to be made on the SQL side. The virtual instance needs to be created for SCCM to connect and store its reports.

If you installed Reporting Services during the installation of the SQL Server instance, SSRS will be configured automatically for you. If you install SSRS later, then you will have to go back and configure it as a subsequent step.

To configure, Open Reporting Services Configuration Manager

• Click Start > All Programs > Microsoft SQL Server 2012 > Configuration Tools > Reporting Services Configuration Manager

• Click Connect to connect to the SQL instance

• On the left-hand side of the Reporting Services Configuration Manager, click Database.
• Click the Change Database button

• Select Create a new report server database and click Next

This wizard creates two databases: ReportServer, used to store report definitions and security, and ReportServerTempDB which is used as scratch space when preparing reports.

• Click the Web Service URL tab
• Click Apply

This step sets up the SSRS web service. The web service is the program that runs in the background that communicates between the web page, which you will set up next, and the databases.

• Select the Report Manager URL
• Accept the default settings and click Apply.

If the Apply button was already grayed out, this means the SSRS was already configured. This step sets up the Report Manager web site where you will publish reports

Exit Reporting Service Configuration Manager.

Add role in SCCM

• Open the SCCM console
• Navigate to Administration/Site/Configuration/Servers and site System Roles
• Right click on your Site Server and click Add system Roles

• On the General tab, click Next

On the Proxy tab, Click Next

On the Site System Role, select Reporting Services Point, Click Next

Wait for the process to complete and close the wizard

Verify

Log
Check for the following logs for reporting point installation status. Both logs are under the SCCM logs file locations.

• Srspsetup.log
• Srsrpmsi.log

If your reporting point is installed on a remote server look for the logs in :

Drive:\SMS\Logs\

Console

Open Monitor/Reporting/Reports node. Verify that your reports are listed

Web Browser

Open Internet Explorer, navigate to http://yourservername/Reports

If everything went well, you’ll have a folder Config_SiteCode containing your reports

SQL

If you check your SQL instance, you’ll see the 2 new database which were created by the installation.

• Open SQL Management Studio
• Locate ReportServer and ReportServerTempDB

Happy reporting !

sccm 2012 reporting services

The post Install SCCM 2012 Reporting Services Point appeared first on System Center Dudes.

Here’s an issue I encountered this week, SMS Executive detected that SMS_Migration_Manager stopped unexpectedly in the event viewer of a secondary site. The problem happens under SCCM 2012 R2 CU1.

Migration manager is the migration service that execute jobs or instructions during the migration. You can refer to Neil Peterson post for more information about Migration Manager.

Symptom

The logs shows that the problem is permanent and happens every hour.

migmctrl.log

ERROR: [MigMCtrl]: FAILED to CREATE JobManager instance. error = The parameter is incorrect., 80070057

ERROR: [MigMCtrl]: FAILED to START WorkItemMgr. error = The parameter is incorrect., 80070057

ERROR: [MigMCtrl]: FAILED to INITIALIZE. error = The parameter is incorrect., 80070057

Cause

I’m still trying to figure out why the SMS_Migration_Manager stopped unexpectedly. I’ll post more information if I find the root cause of this issue.

Resolution

To resolve the SMS_Migration_Manager stopped unexpectedly issue, please follow this procedure:

• Connect on an healthy central administrative site or primary site where the problem is not present.
• Copy microsoft.configurationmanagement.migrationmanager.dll from the healthy server to unhealthy server in a temp folder.
• I suggest to backup the unhealthy DLL file in case you need to rollback.
• Place the new file from healthy server under (installation directory)\(microsoft configuration manager folder)\bin\x64 replacing existing file in the unhealthy server.
• Open command prompt with admin privileges and navigate to c:\windows\microsoft.net\framework64\v4.0.30319
• Run command : regasm.exe (installation directory)\(microsoft configuration manager folder)\bin\x64\microsoft.configurationmanagement.migrationmanager.dll /codebase

• Restart SMS_Executive service on the unhealthy server.

Verification

You can see migmctrl.log having no error after the resolution and few hours. You should not see the SMS_Migration_Manager stopped unexpectedly in the event viewer.

(SMS_Migration_Manager stopped unexpectedly)

The post SMS Executive detected that SMS_Migration_Manager stopped unexpectedly appeared first on System Center Dudes.

Symptoms

Software Center displays “Less than 1 Mb” on each applications that are installed on a machine.

This value is not configurable in SCCM. It is automatically calculated when your install an application.

SCCM version is 2012 R2 CU2.

Cause

This is a display bug coming from Software Center.

When clicking on an application, the information is updated and displayed correctly. In my example, I clicked on both Adobe Reader and Flash Player.

When hitting F5 to refresh, you’re getting back to square 1 : Software center displays “Less than 1 mb” on each application.

You can easily reproduce the problem by clicking on any applications and by refreshing.

Resolution

I’ve submitted this bug to Microsoft Connect. Please up-vote my submission if you’re experiencing the same problem. The more up-vote it gets, the more it has chances to be resolved.

https://connect.microsoft.com/

*You need to be loged in to Connect before accessing the link :

https://connect.microsoft.com/ConfigurationManagervnext/feedbackdetail/view/973329

As usual, I’ll update this post as soon as I’ve got news from Microsoft on this issue. Stay tuned !

Software Center displays “Less than 1 Mb” on each applications

The post Software Center displays “Less than 1 Mb” on each applications appeared first on System Center Dudes.

There are many way to update a RDL file into your reporting website (SSRS). This post will show how to do it with the web portal.

A RDL file is an XML application and a standard proposed by Microsoft for defining reports.

Requirements

• SSRS installed and all running components.  You can refer to install SCCM 2012 Reporting Services Point post.
• An healthy RDL file.
• User account with enough access to upload a report. Please read predefined roles on MSDN for more detailed information.

Upload the file

We suggest to upload your file into a Test folder before releasing the report in production. The report can be tested in pre-prod and be approved by your team.

Browse to the respective folder where you want to upload your file and click Upload File.

Click Browse, find your file location and select the file. If you want to override an existing report, check the box Overwrite item if it exists. Click OK.

If the upload is successful, the report will appear else you will have an error message explaining the failure. Any unhealthy RDL file will fail at this process.

Verify

There are few thing to check if you want to deploy the report and make it work perfectly on day 1.

Put the mouse over the report name, a small option menu will appear. Click on Manage.

In the Properties tab, make sure the description does not contain typo and the content is clear enough for users. Click Apply after each changes else it won’t save last modification.

In the Data Sources tab, select your data sources else the report will not process. You can use shared or custom data source. Click Apply.

To enable another data source, click on Browse and select an existing data source in the appropriate folder.

In the Security tab, add security groups or users who want to run your report. The security settings will be enforced by new parent folder security settings. Don’t be surprised if the access change after moving the report into production.

Summary

Adding a report with the web portal isn’t the fastest way but it requires the least prerequisites. It’s pretty straight forward. Make sure your RDL file is not corrupt and the data source is well configured. Verify security settings before sending the link to users.

Good reporting!

The post Update a RDL file into your reporting website appeared first on System Center Dudes.

Here’s a step-by-step SCCM 2012 R2 CU3 Installation guide.

Installing SCCM cumulative updates is very important to your infrastructure. It fix lots of issues, which some of them are important.

Improvements/Fixes

Follow this link to see a full list of issues that are fixed.

Windows Powershell changes are here.

The major new functionality is the Management Point Affinity for SCCM clients.

It allows to restrict a client on which management point can be used to communicate with. It can been used to enter a FQDN of the management point that can be used to communicate with. This feature is set by using registry key AllowedMPs under HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\CCM. This registry key does not affect the communication with other site systems.

You can read more about this new feature on this blog.

Before you begin

Installing this update is very similar to CU2. I’ll guide you through the upgrade process step-by-step in a standalone primary scenario.

• Download the update here

This update can be applied directly to the following Systems/Roles:

• The Central Administration Site (CAS)
• Primary Site
• Secondary Site
• SMS Provider
• Configuration Manager Console

In this guide, I’ll be updating a Primary Site Server, console and clients.

Update the Primary Site

To start the installation, rdp to your Primary Site Server, and run CM12-R2CU3-KB2994331-X64-ENU

A log file will be created in C:\Windows\Temp\CM12-R2CU3-KB2994331-X64-ENU.log

On the Welcome Screen, click Next

Accept the license agreement, and click Next

Review that everything is green, and click Next

Check the box to update the Console and Click Next

Select Yes, update the site database, click Next

Check all 3 checkbox (Server, Console and client), click Next

Edit the package name and program to your need and click Next

Review the summary page, and click Install

Installation is in progress

When setup is complete, click Next, and Finish

Verification

After setup is completed, launch the System Center 2012 Configuration Manager Console, and verify the build number of the console. If the upgrade was successful, the build number will be 5.00.7958.1401.

Open registry editor and check the HKLM\Software\Microsoft\SMS\Setup\ key. If the installation has succeeded CULevel key value will be 3.

The client version will be updated to 5.00.7958.1401 (after updating, see section below)

Package distribution

Navigate to Software Library / Packages / Configuration Manager Updates

You’ll see that your update packages are there.

Go ahead and distribute content to your distribution points.

Updating the Clients

We now need to update the clients. This update contains 2 update packages for client installations. One for 32-bit clients and one for 64-bit clients.

Create two collections for the client upgrade. (If not already done in previous CU)

All-x64-based Clients

select SMS_R_SYSTEM.ResourceID,SMS_R_SYSTEM.ResourceType,SMS_R_SYSTEM.Name,SMS_R_SYSTEM.SMSUniqueIdentifier,SMS_R_SYSTEM.ResourceDomainORWorkgroup,SMS_R_SYSTEM.Client from SMS_R_System inner join SMS_G_System_COMPUTER_SYSTEM on SMS_G_System_COMPUTER_SYSTEM.ResourceId = SMS_R_System.ResourceId where SMS_G_System_COMPUTER_SYSTEM.SystemType = "X64-based PC"

All-x86-based Clients

select SMS_R_SYSTEM.ResourceID,SMS_R_SYSTEM.ResourceType,SMS_R_SYSTEM.Name,SMS_R_SYSTEM.SMSUniqueIdentifier,SMS_R_SYSTEM.ResourceDomainORWorkgroup,SMS_R_SYSTEM.Client from SMS_R_System inner join SMS_G_System_COMPUTER_SYSTEM on SMS_G_System_COMPUTER_SYSTEM.ResourceId = SMS_R_System.ResourceId where SMS_G_System_COMPUTER_SYSTEM.SystemType = "X86-based PC"

Adjust the package options to fit your environments and deploy the update to your clients.

Once deployed I like to create a collection that targets clients without the latest CU. I use it to monitor which client haven’t been updated yet.

Here’s the query to achieve this: (You can also refer to our Set of Operational Collection Powershell Script)

select SMS_R_SYSTEM.ResourceID,SMS_R_SYSTEM.ResourceType,SMS_R_SYSTEM.Name,SMS_R_SYSTEM.SMSUniqueIdentifier,SMS_R_SYSTEM.ResourceDomainORWorkgroup,SMS_R_SYSTEM.Client from SMS_R_System where SMS_R_System.ClientVersion != '5.00.7958.1401'"

Happy updating !

Step-by-Step SCCM 2012 R2 CU3 Installation guide

The post Step-by-Step SCCM 2012 R2 CU3 Installation guide appeared first on System Center Dudes.

We have enabled WMI class WIN32_Volume a few weeks ago. The goal was to inventory Mount Point.

Before giving data to client, we have noticed a difference in the result between SQL database and WMI Instances.

Problem

The majority of mount point in SQL database in SCCM 2012 for v_GS_Volume have NULL to Capacity and FreeSpace columns.

Executing the WMI query from the InventoryAgent.log contains no issue and the data is visible locally on the server. This confirms that the problem is not locally on the problematic client.

Looking to the next step, the MP_HINV.log on the site server shows error invalid integer property value out of range for both property instances. This log contains records details about the conversion of XML hardware inventory records from clients and copy those files to the site server.

Cause

The cause of this issue is the comparison between the value of WMI instance locally on the server and the table limitation in SQL on the site server.

In SQL, Capacity0 is an integer with a maximum range of 2 147 483 647. In WMI Instance, Capacity value is 15 000 036 962 304 which is way over the limit.

Resolution

To resolve this issue, we need to find a way to change the data type in SQL to accept value over 2 147 483 647.

Using Class qualifiers editor can configure a friendly display name for the class and the units format when you add a new hardware inventory class in client settings.

The first thing to do is delete the class because the editor can be use only during the importation of the class. From the SCCM console, click on Administration, Client Settings, right click on Default Client Settings and click on Properties. Click on Hardware Inventory then Set Classes. Select and delete the problematic class.

As soon the table and views will be deleted from the SQL database, you can reconfigure the class.

From the same place, click on Add and type the WMI namespace according to your class. Check box Recursive and click Connect. Before clicking on Ok, click on Edit from Add Hardware Inventory Class and select unit Decimal String to the instance you were getting problem and then click Ok.

Choosing Decimal String unit transforms the data type UINT64 of WMI Instance to NVARCHAR(255) in SQL database.

*** We could also use Megabytes unit since 15 000 036 962 304 /1024 /1024 = 14  305 149 which is less then 2 147 483 647. ***

Validation

Initiate a machine policy and a hardware inventory scan from the client. Wait for the data to be processed and you will see value over 2 147 483 647 entering the SQL database. 

Invalid integer property value out of range

The post Invalid integer property value out of range in MP_HINV.log appeared first on System Center Dudes.

I get often ask if it’s possible to add custom Active Directory attribute to SCCM inventory.

The answer is yes, you can add any AD attribute, and it’s quite simple.

For this post, I’ll add the Description attribute from a computer account.

 Configuration

• Natiguate to Administration / Hierarchy configuration / Discovery Method
• Right click Active Directory System Discovery
• Select the Active Directory Attributes tab
• Enter or select your attribute from the Available Attributes list
• If the wanted attribute is not listed, simply click the Custom button and enter it manually
• Click Add
• Ensure that your new attribute is listed in the Selected attribute list and click OK. In this example, I’ve added Description attribute.

Once completed, initiate a Full Discovery on Active Directory System Discovery by right clicking it and choose Run Full Discovery Now

 Validation

Wait for the scan to finish, you can monitor the process by opening adsysdis.log on your site server.

As this is discovery data, the resulting data will be stored in the V_R_System view.

Usage

Collection

With this new data you could create a new collection based on this newly collected data.

• Create a new collection
• Add a Query Membership Rule
• Edit the Query Statement
• Add a new criteria
• Click the Select button and select System Resource under Attribute class
• Select Description under  Attribute
• Select the desired value (ex: like %SQL% ) and close all windows. This will add all resources having SQL in the description filed
• Update collection membership and see the result in your collection

SQL/Report

You can also query this information and include it in your reports.

Select Name0,Description0 
from v_r_system

For my example I’ve run the query on the computer shown in the first screenshot.

The description field in SCCM matches the data from Active Directory.

Use the following Technet link to know more about Active Directory system discovery.

Add custom Active Directory attribute to SCCM inventory

The post Add custom Active Directory attribute to SCCM inventory appeared first on System Center Dudes.

I had to troubleshoot a problem where a Task Sequence return the error Failed to Run Task Sequence. SMSTS.log shows : Failed to resolve selected task sequence dependencies 0x80040104

Not big of a deal, this error oftently occurs. It just means that some package referenced by a task sequence is not distributed to the distribution point. This should be an easy fix… well not in this case.

Troubleshooting

When reading SMSTS.log we can find the problematic package ID. In this case KR100048 was the bad guy.

So I did the basic troubleshooting in those cases :

• Open the SCCM Console
• Navigate to Software Library\Operating Systems\Task Sequences
• Click Reference tab at the bottom
• Locate the problematic ID (KR100048)
• Note the package Name (Windows x64 – HP ProBook 650 G1)

First problem : the Size column is 0.00MB ?!? I immediately thought that I’ve probably forgot to distribute this package on my distribution point.

• Navigate to Software Library\Operating Systems\Driver Packages
• Select the problematic package
• Check distribution status

Surprise, it’s distributed ! I immediately thought that I had not drank enough coffee… ok maybe not.

I decided to go to my Task Sequence and disable the step that reference to this driver package.

Launch a new test, reboot my VM… Boom !  Same error in SMSTS.log (Failed to resolve selected task sequence dependencies 0x80040104) … but on a different driver package. So I disabled this one too… and another, and another…*fast forward 15 min later*… I ended up disabling all my driver packages except for 2 that didn’t gave the error if I kept it enabled.

Interesting. As I am a curious guy, I had to understand this one. So I next decided to check in the SCCM database the difference between all the “non working” and the “working” driver packages.

Analyzing the SMSPackage table, I found some discrepancies :

Select PkgID,Name,NewHash,SourceSize
From SMSPackages 
Where Name like 'Windows 7 x64%' and PackageType = '3'

Some driver packages has no value in NewHash and SourceSize (explaining the 0MB size in the console). The ones with no value are the problematic one.

I yet need to understand why some has values and other don’t as they’ve all been created the same way.

• Right click the Drivers node in the SCCM console and choose Import
• On the Add Drivers To Package step create a new package and uncheck the box Update distribution points when finished
• Complete the import of the drivers
• Repeat for all models
• Select all driver packages that has just been created
• Right click Distribute Content
• Select my distribution points
• Wait for the distribution to complete

I really doubt about the Update distribution points when finished check box so I decided to import a new driver and Check that box to see if the NewHash and SourceSize will be populated.

Running the same query to see if the database is updated :

Select PkgID,Name,NewHash,SourceSize
From SMSPackages 
Where Name like 'Windows 7 x64%' and PackageType = '3'

Let’s see what’s the console is saying about the content :

Obviously, it’s not distributed as I haven’t choose any DP.

Resolution

So to resume, the NewHash and SourceSize is updated by the Update distribution points when finished check box from the import driver wizard or by the Update Content command from the console. It’s mandatory to use one of both before using this driver package into a Task Sequence. A simple Distribute Content is not enough and your Task Sequence will fail.

The resolution for now :

#1 – Just update the content on the problematic driver package. After updating 1 problematic package, you can see that the database gets correctly updated

#2- Or always check the Update distribution points when finished check box when importing a new driver into a new driver package

This is a product bug as we expect to have the right information in the SCCM console. Don’t tell me that it’s distributed if it’s not !

I have created a Connect feedback about this issue and update this post when I have something new to share.

Failed to resolve selected task sequence dependencies 0x80040104

The post Failed to resolve selected task sequence dependencies 0x80040104 appeared first on System Center Dudes.

I recently had a problem with the PowerShell command New-CMDeviceCollectionVariable creating only 1 variable.

I had to create a set of collection with variables in an OSD project. The goal was to create 20 collections with 7 different variables. Nothing too complicated, Powershell to the rescue !

So I start creating my script, everything went smoothly, no errors were returned. After verification on the created collection I found out that only 1 variable per collection were created instead of the 7 intended.

I decided to do a simple test to verify that New-CMDeviceCollectionVariable cmdlet was working correctly. I had problem in the past with another cmdlet and since then I like to double check if they work correctly.

• Create a Test collection
• Collection Test gets created

• Create a new variable with a value assigned to the Test collection
• Variable 1 gets created successfully

• Create another variable using the same command
• No output from the cmdlet. I can run New-CMDeviceCollectionVariable without error indefinitely but no variables gets created

•  Checking on the Test collection properties, we can see that only 1 variable has been created

I’ve then decided to send my script to the other Dudes (aka Nick Pilon) to confirm the error. The big surprise was that he didn’t experienced the issue. His environment was R2 CU2 while mine was R2 CU3. I made another test on a separate R2 CU3 environment and the error was present.

Conclusion : the error only occurs in R2 CU3, it’s not present in R2 CU2.

I’ve opened a Microsoft Connect bug, feel free to upvote it here if you experience this issue.

New-CMDeviceCollectionVariable creating only 1 variable

The post New-CMDeviceCollectionVariable creating only 1 variable appeared first on System Center Dudes.

I get often asked on how to reduce the number of task sequence and how to make them dynamic. I’m always surprise when I hear from an SCCM administrator that they don’t use variables in their task sequence.

For this post, I’ve build a little scenario to explain it to you.

Let’s say you are working in an international company and use SCCM to deploy operating system. Each offices has their own configuration and specific software to install. You decide to create 1 task sequence per office. Wrong ! You’ll end up in a management nightmare. One task sequence is often enough and this is where you need variables to the rescue.

The magic that you need to understand is collection variables. You have 2 choices, let the user enter the variable value at the beginning of the deployment (explain later) or pre-load these values using collection variables. I prefer the second option which speedup the deployment process.

Scenario :

• You manage SCCM for 3 offices (Alabama,Boston and Charlotte)
• Each Office have a different Administrator password, different timezone, place their computer in different OU in Active Directory
• Alabama Office needs Office 2010, Adobe Flash 15 and 7zip
• Boston Office needs Office 2013 and Adobe Flash 11
• Charlotte Office needs Adobe Acrobat Reader XI

Here is how to achieve this :

Create your OSD Collections

Create 1 collection per office. For this post I created 3 collection Office Alabama, Boston and Charlotte. Each Office will receive different configuration and software based on their variables.

Create your Office variable

• Right click the Alabama collection
• Select Properties
• Select the Collection Variables tab
• Click the star icon
• Create a new variable named Office
• Give it a value of Alabama
• Repeat steps for Boston and Charlotte collection

You’ll end up with 3 collections with their variables having different values.

Open your task sequence and create condition based on those variable

*I assume that you already have a functional task sequence.

• Open Software Library\Overview\Operating Systems\Task Sequences
• Right Click your task sequence
• Select Edit
• To place the computer account in a specific OU :
  • Browse to the Apply Network Settings Section
  • Create 3 Apply Network Settings steps, 1 for each site
  • Click Add, Setting, Apply Network Settings
  • On each Office configure the Name and Domain OU to fits your needs

• On the Options Tab
• Click Add Condition
• Select Task Sequence Variable
• Enter the variable name Office
• Condition : Equal
• Value : Alabama

***Repeat above steps for Boston and Charlotte changing the value of the variable***

• Browse to the Apply Windows Settings Section
• Create 3 Apply Windows Settings steps, 1 for each site
• Click Add, Setting, Apply Windows Settings
• On each Office configure the TimeZone and Administrator password

• On the Option Tab
• Click Add Condition
• Select Task Sequence Variable
• Enter the variable name Office
• Condition : Equal
• Value : Alabama

***Repeat above steps for Boston and Charlotte changing the value of the variable***

•  Browse after the Setup Windows and Config step
• Click Add, General, Install Application
• Create 3 Install Application steps, 1 for each site
• On each step configure the desired software

• On the Option Tab
• Click Add Condition
• Select Task Sequence Variable
• Enter the variable name Office
• Condition : Equal
• Value : Alabama

***Repeat above steps for Boston and Charlotte changing the value of the variable***

Summary

So what we basically done in the previous steps is told the task sequence to run our step based on the Office variable value.

Next, you need to deploy your task sequence to the 3 collections. Ask your IT guys in Alabama, Boston and Chalotte to use their respective collections.

When the task sequence run, it will evaluate each step and run only the Alabama step when in the Alabama collection, the Boston step when in the Boston collection and the Charlotte step when in the Charlotte collection.

Verification

• Start a task sequence
• Open Monitoring\Overview\System Status\Status Message Queries
• Select All Status Messages from a Specific System
• Enter your machine name and select 1 hour ago

•  Follow the installation process
• Then the task sequence evaluate a variable you’ll see this message

• You will see when your variable gets skipped meaning that it works

Extra

If you prefer to have only 1 collection for OSD and ask you IT people to fill in the Office variable, you can achieve that easily.

• Do the same procedure but create only 1 collection for OSD
• Create the Office variable on this collection but leave the value empty

• Doing so, the task sequence will start and wait for a value to be entered in the Office variable
• Double-click the value and enter Alabama, Boston or Charlotte and the task sequence will deploy options based on the designated office

From there, only imagination is the limit. You now understand the power of the variable in a task sequence. Use it in order to maintain the lowest amount of task sequence in your organisation.

Read more about variables on Technet.

You can create you collection variable using PowerShell but for now the cmdlet is broken in CU3. If you need to script the variable creation you must use WMI function for now.

The post Collection variables to build dynamic Task Sequence appeared first on System Center Dudes.

When editing a SCCM 2012 report in Report Builder you receive the following error : A connection was successfully established with the server, but then an error occurred during the login process. (provider: SSL Provider, error: 0 – The certificate chain was issued by an authority that is not trusted.)

Cause

This error occurs because you don’t have the required SCCM SQL certificate on the computer running Report Builder. Follow the following steps in order to resolve the issue.

Export the certificate from your SQL server

• On the SQL Server
• Click the Start menu, click Run, and then type mmc. Click Enter. This starts the Microsoft Management Console (MMC)
• In the console, click the File menu and then click Add/Remove Snap-in

• On the Snap-in list, select Certificates and then click Add

• In the Certificates Snap-in window, select Computer account, and then click Next

• In the Select Computer window, select Local computer, and then click Finish. This adds the Certificates Snap-in to the list. Close the window.

• Browse to Console Root / Certificate (Local Computer) / Personal / Certificates
• Right-click your ConfigMgr SQL certificate

• Select All Tasks and Export

• Select default choices in the Certificate Export Wizard (Next,Next,Next)
• Export the certificate file (.CER) to the machine where you run Report Builder

Import the certificate on your machine

• On the machine running Report Builder
• Click the Start menu, click Run, and then type mmc. Click Enter. This starts the Microsoft Management Console (MMC)
• In the console, click the File menu and then click Add/Remove Snap-in
• In the Add/Remove Snap-in window, click the Add button
• On the Snap-in list, select Certificates and then click Add
• In the Certificates Snap-in window, select Computer account, and then click Next
• In the Select Computer window, select Local computer, and then click Finish. This adds the Certificates Snap-in to the list. Close the window
• Browse to Console Root / Certificate (Local Computer) / Trusted Root Certification Authorities / Certificates
• Right-click Certificate and select All Tasks / Import

• In the Certificate Import Wizard click browse and select the exported certificate

• Ensure that the certificate is placed in the Trusted Root Certification Authorities, click Next

• Click Finish to complete the wizard

That’s it, reopen Report Builder and the error will be gone.

The post Report Builder error – The certificate chain was issued by an authority that is not trusted appeared first on System Center Dudes.

Did you ever needed to analyze the installed software in your business? For those who experimented it, you know that it’s not an easy task. In SCCM, one of the way to achieve this goal is by using Add Remove Programs but you’ll have to deal with a minimum of customization.

The problem is that software companies don’t work in the same direction and not even standardize their own product, Adobe and Microsoft included.

You can experiment issues where publisher or product names are different on the same product. You can even have the same executable file version for two different product. This explains why you see discrepancies with SCCM inventories mechanism.

• Hardware Inventory (Add Remove Program, Installed Software)
• Software Inventory (File Inventory)
• Software Metering

Technet warned the reader when they talk about software inventory in client settings :

Because these names are not always standardized in the file header information, when you view software inventory information in Resource Explorer or run queries, different versions of the same manufacturer or product name can sometimes appear. If you want to standardize these display names….

There’s an option for software inventory in client settings where you can configure display names for manufacturer or product that help you standardize some discrepancies.

Click on Administration / Client Settings / Software Inventory and Set Names to list the inventoried names.

The problem is that it affects only software inventory which doesn’t included Add Remove Programs.

There’s no solution if you want to modify the value of data reported in Add Remove Programs. Creating software reports in SCCM become difficult if you constantly need to deal with exclusions to create data quality.

During the creation of the report Asset – Installed Software, we analyzed the Installed Software WMI class and concluded that a product like Microsoft Visio gives us a lot of trouble.

As an example, querying Visio gives this result :

SELECT DISTINCT ProductName0 AS 'ProductName from v_GS_Installed_Software'
FROM v_GS_INSTALLED_SOFTWARE
WHERE ProductName0 LIKE '% Visio %' AND ProductName0 NOT LIKE '% MUI %' AND ProductName0 NOT LIKE '%Language Pack%' AND ProductName0 NOT LIKE '%Viewer%' AND ProductName0 NOT LIKE '%Services Web%' AND ProductName0 NOT LIKE '%Compatibili%' AND ProductName0 NOT LIKE '%Modeler%' AND ProductName0 NOT LIKE '%SDK%'
ORDER BY 1

• What is the difference between Microsoft Office Visio and Microsoft Visio?

• Why Microsoft Visio Standard 2013 is there twice?

This explains why there’s company like Flexera or Provance that help the community to have best results in your Asset Management inventory. What are the possible solutions if an enterprise does not want to invest in third party applications?

A good starting point would be to use Asset Intelligence in SCCM. You have the ability to manipulate and standardize each software details by using a total of 5 custom labels. It’s enough to create something really clean and organized.

In a next blog post, we will show you how to use those 5 custom labels in SCCM 2012 Asset Intelligence so you can customize your own structure.

Stay tuned!

sccm 2012 asset intelligence

The post Why should you use Asset Intelligence in SCCM 2012? appeared first on System Center Dudes.

Determining if you need a Primary Site, Secondary Site or only a Site System Role (MP,SUP) in your SCCM hierarchy can lead to confusion. This post will focus on the Secondary Site installation. What is exactly his role ?

A Secondary Site controls content distribution for clients in remote locations across links that have limited network bandwidth. It’s always child site of the Primary Site and it’s managed though the SCCM console.

To determine if you should install one, read the Technet documentation or follow Kent Agerlund (Enterprise Client Management MVP) rules of thumb :

Install a Secondary Site only if one of the following statements is true :

• The remote location is between 500 and 5000 clients
• Needs to compress traffic going to the site
• Needs to control the upward flowing traffic
• Needs a local Management Point
• Needs a local Software Update Point

If you’re still convinced that it’s the right option, follow this guide for a step-by-step installation.

Prerequisites

Secondary Site installation has been simplified since SCCM 2007. All the installation process occurs directly in the SCCM console. No need to install using a local media. The installation is quite simple but you need to prepare your server correctly before launching the installation.

SQL Requirements

The Secondary Site requires SQL Server for its site database. Setup automatically installs SQL Server Express during site installation if a local instance of SQL Server is not available. During the installation it also automatically installs the management point and distribution point site system roles on the Secondary Site.

OS Requirements

A Secondary Site must be installed on a server operating system. To see the full OS requirement click here.

Before installing a Secondary Site the server needs to be prepared with the following components :

Server Features

• Log to your Secondary Site server
• Open Server Manager
• Add the following features
  • .Net 3.5 Framework
  • .Net 4 Framework
  • Remote Differential Compression
  • BITS

Server Permission

• On the Secondary Site server
• Add Primary Site server computer account to local Administrator group

Active Directory Rights

• Open Active Directory Users and Computers
• Browse to Domain / System / System Management
• Right Click System Management, select Properties
• Select the Security tab
• Add your Secondary Server computer account and select Full Control

Firewall Ports

Theses ports needs to be opened 2 ways between the site server and remote Secondary Site server :

• TCP 4022 (SQL)
• TCP 1433 (SQL)
• TCP 135 (RPC/WMI)
• TCP 445 (SMB)

Run the Prerequisites Checker

Once you’ve enable all the prerequisites, run the Prerequisites Checker before starting your Secondary Site installation. It will catch error and missing prerequisites.

• Log on to the Primary Site server and open a command prompt as Administrator
• Browse to the ConfigMgr 2012 installation media

• Run this command from the \SMSSETUP\BIN\X64 folder

prereqchk.exe /SEC yourservername /INSTALLSQLEXPRESS /Ssbport 4022 /Sqlport 1433

Wait for the process to complete, you can verify the progress by reading the C:\ConfigMgrPrereq.log file on the site server.

Fix any errors and warnings. If you follow above instructions, you should be good to go.

Installation

Start the Configuration Manager 2012 console that is connected to your Primary Site or Central Administration Site

• Browse to the Administration / Site Configuration / Sites
• Select the Primary Site that will be the parent of your Secondary Site and click on Create Secondary Site

• In the General screen
• Enter the information about the Secondary Site
• Click on Next

• In the Installation Source Files screen
• Leave the default value or select the network location where your Configuration Manager source files are located. Selecting a local path on the Secondary Site will prevent files to be copied over the WAN.
• Click on Next

• In the SQL Server Settings screen
• Leave the default port if your SQL installation is standard
• Modify the ports if you want to use custom ports (If you modify the default ports be sure to review your firewall configuration in order to open these)

If you don’t have SQL installed on the server, the wizard will automatically install the SQL Express depending on your Configuration Manager 2012 Version :

• System Center 2012 Configuration Manager without a service pack : SQL Server 2008 Express
• System Center 2012 Configuration Manager with SP1 and higher : SQL Server 2012 Express

• In the Distribution Point screen
• Check Install and configure IIS if required by Configuration Manager
• Select HTTP
  • or select HTTPS if your site is configured for HTTPS communications and have a valid PKI client certificate
• Select Create a self-signed certificate
  • or select Import Certificate and provide your certificate if HTTPS is selected)
• Click Next

• In the Drive Settings screen
• Select the drive for your content that fits your needs.
• Click Next

• On the Content Validation screen
• Check the Validate content on a schedule. This verify the integrity of packages on this distribution point.
• Click Next

• On the Boundary Groups screen
• Add your boundary group
• Click Next

• Review the Summary screen
• Complete the installation wizard

Verification

The next steps will be to verify that the Secondary Site installation is successful.

Console

• Browse to Administration / Site Configuration / Sites
• Select the Secondary Site and click on Show Install Status

• Review the installation status
• Review and fix any errors. If you follow the guide correctly and have run the Prerequisites Checker, everything will be fine.

• Browse to Administration / Site Configuration / Sites
• Ensure that the Secondary Site server State is listed as Active

• Browse to Monitoring / Site Hierarchy
• Your Secondary Site will be listed under your Primary Site

Logs

On the Primary Site server :

• Hman.log (Records site configuration changes, and publishes site information in Active Directory Domain Services)
• ConfigMgrPrereq.log (Gives details about the Prerequisites Checks)

On the new Secondary Site server :

• Configmgrsetup.log (Progress of the Secondary Site installation)
• SiteComp.log (Installation of the Site System components)

On both Primary Site and Secondary Site :

• Sender.log (Progress of the data sent between Sites)
• Despool.log (Progress of data received content from another site)
• Rcmctrl.log (Detail about SQL Replications)

That’s it ! You’ve installed a Secondary Site !

SCCM 2012 Secondary Site Installation

The post SCCM 2012 Secondary Site Installation appeared first on System Center Dudes.

Managing Mobile devices is a challenge that all SCCM admins will face in the near future. With the rise of BYOD (Bring Your Own Device), businesses needs to have control over every assets used by their employees. With the various mobile operating systems (iOS,Windows Phone, Windows RT, Android), this task can be overwhelming but it’s not as complicated than it looks. You just need to understand the main concepts and apply the right method to each operating systems.

Mobile Device Management has been introduced with SCCM 2012 SP1 and many enhancements have been made with the R2 release. Microsoft has also released new features in the past weeks which make the solution even better. It’s simply the most complete solution if you manage your devices through SCCM 2012 and have to manage mobile devices. We’ve compiled the full list of features in the Features List section of this post.

A Microsoft Intune subscription is needed in order to enroll mobile devices which then sync data with Configuration Manager. Operational tasks occurs in the SCCM console which provide unified management across both on-premises and in the cloud devices.

The blog post series will describe everything about SCCM 2012 Mobile Device Management with Intune, from the beginning of the implementation to the various operational tasks.

This blog post will continue to grow so be sure to come back often.

SCCM 2012 Mobile Device Management blog series

• Part 1 | Preparing Intune environment for Mobile Device Management
• Part 2 | Configuring Active Directory and Create Users for Intune

Features List

SCCM 2012 SP1

• The client settings group to configure mobile device enrollment settings is no longer named Mobile Devices but Enrollment
• Mobile devices that are enrolled by Configuration Manager SP1 now use the client policy polling interval setting in the Client Policy client setting group and no longer use the polling interval in the renamed Enrollment client setting group
• You can enroll mobile devices that run Windows Phone 8, Windows RT, and iOS when you use the Windows Intune connector
• Users who have mobile devices that are enrolled with Intune and Android devices that are managed by the Exchange Server connector can install apps from the company portal. The company portal is the Application Catalog equivalent for these mobile devices
• The new Retire option for mobile devices in the Configuration Manager console is supported only for mobile devices that are enrolled by Microsoft Intune

SCCM 2012 R2

• Users can enroll Android devices by using the company portal app which will be available on Google Play. The management agent gives you the more management capabilities (SCCM 2012 R2)
• Users can enroll iOS devices by using the iOS company portal app which will be available in the App store. The company portal app will allow users to perform more actions
• Devices that run Windows RT, iOS and Android now support a deployment purpose of Required
• Wipe and retire functions now include the option to only remove company content from devices
• You can configure enrolled devices as company-owned or personal-owned. Company-owned allows you to get software inventory on on all mobile devices
• You can use Microsoft Intune to manage Windows 8.1 devices that are not joined to the domain and do not have the Configuration Manager client installed
• Extensions for Intune allow you to integrate new mobile device management capabilities into the Configuration Manager console

Intune Standalone Update – November 19, 2014

• Enhanced user interface for Intune administration console
• Ability to restrict access to Exchange on-premises email based upon device enrollment
• Bulk enrollment of devices using a single service account
• Lockdown of Supervised iOS devices and devices using Samsung KNOX with Kiosk mode
• Targeting of policies and apps by device groups
• Ability to report on and allow or block a specific set of applications
• Enforcement of application install or uninstall
• Deployment of certificates, email, VPN and WiFi profiles
• Ability to push free store apps to iOS devices
• More convenient access to internal corporate resources using per-app VPN configurations for iOS devices
• Remote pin reset for Windows Phone 8.1 devices
• Multi-factor authentication at enrollment for Windows 8.1 and Windows Phone 8.1 devices
• Ability to restrict administrator access to a specific set of user and device groups
• Updated Intune Company Portal apps to support customizable terms and conditions
• Enhanced user interface for Intune Company Portal website

Resources

• Microsoft Intune Home Page
• Mobile client supported configuration
• Full list of compliance settings for mobile devices
• Detailed information about data sent and stored in Windows Intune
• Hotfix to extends the client notification component
• Intune Status Page
• SCCM 2012 Mobile Device Management SP1 New features
• SCCM 2012 Mobile Device Management R2 New features
• Intune November 2014 Standalone Update

SCCM 2012 Mobile Device Management

The post Mobile Device Management with Intune and SCCM 2012 appeared first on System Center Dudes.

Before you can prepare your Intune environment, you need to get your Intune subscription. You can apply for a free trial or see all detailed licensing packages.

The first step in order to link Intune and your Configuration Manager 2012 server  is to add and verify your domain in Windows Intune. Mobile devices will be communicating with Intune and not directly with your Configuration Manager.

Intune management is split into 2 distinct links :

• https://account.manage.microsoft.com to access the Windows Intune Account Portal. Use it to add and manage users, subscriptions and domains). This console will be used to setup the environment.
• https://admin.manage.microsoft.com to access the Windows Intune technical console This console will be barely used since all the mobile device management will be made in Configuration Manager.

Let’s start the Windows Intune configuration :

• Log in your Intune Account Portal

• Select Domains section
• Cick on Add a domain

• Enter your domain name
• Click Next

• In the Verify domain screen
• Follow the on-screen instructions to create a TXT record or a MX record on your public DNS. We choose to create a TXT record for this blog post.

• Sign in to your domain name registrar’s website, and then select the domain that you’re verifying.
• In the DNS management area for your account, select the option to add a TXT record for your domain.
• In the Host or Host name box for the domain, type or paste @.
• In the value box, type or paste your MS=msXXXXX. Depending on the website, this box may be labeled Text, Value, Address, Points to, or TXT record.
• Where it asks for TTL information, type 1 Hour to set TTL to 1 hour.
• Save your changes, and then sign out of your domain name registrar’s website.

This step is important because it allows Intune to verify that you are the owner of the domain. Note that your TXT value will have an unique value.

While you are modifying your DNS,

• Create a DNS alias (CNAME record type) that redirects EnterpriseEnrollment.YourDomainName.com to manage.microsoft.com. This will be used  for managing Windows Phone 8, Windows RT and Windows 8.1 devices. It will prevent to enter the server name during device enrollment.

Note: Typically it takes about 15 minutes for your changes to take effect. But it can take up to 72 hours for the DNS record that you created to propagate through the DNS system.

Here’s the result on our domain.

• Once you’re complete your DNS entries, go back to the Intune console
• Click on Verify

You’ll be taken back to the Domains screen.

• Check the status of the domain
• You should read Verified

If you get an error, wait a couple of hour and try again. You need to wait for your domain to sync your new DNS entries.

That’s it, you’ve completed the first step to manage mobile device with SCCM 2o12.

Overview | Mobile Device Management with Intune and SCCM 2012

Next Part | Configuring Active Directory and Create Users for Intune

sccm 2012 mobile device management intune

The post Preparing Intune environment for Mobile Device Management appeared first on System Center Dudes.

In Part 1 of this series, we prepared the Intune environment for mobile device management. We also make sure we got the Intune subscription account.

In Part 2, we will configure Active Directory and create users in Intune to make possible a connection between Configuration Manager 2012 and Intune.

The licensing model for Intune is user based and a single license entitles the user to enroll up to 5 devices.

Active Directory Preparation

In order to prepare your Active Directory, you need to create an alternate UPN suffix to match the domain you added in Intune. See part 1 if that’s not completed.

An UPN suffix is the name of the domain that is added after the @ sign when a domain user account is created. The alternate UPN suffixes will simplify administration and user logon processes by providing a single UPN suffix for all users.

This is the domain that Configuration Manager and Intune would expect users to use when enrolling devices.

•  Open Active Directory Domains and Trusts

• Right-click Active Directory Domains and Trusts
• Click Properties

• On the UPN Suffixes tab
• Type the new UPN suffix that you would like to add to the forest
• Click Add
• Click Ok

The next step is to change the UPN of all your users :

• Open Active Directory Users and Computers
• Browse to the OU where your users reside
• Right click your user and select Properties

• In the Account Tab
• Change the suffix value

Tip : You can also use this PowerShell command to change multiple accounts. Just change the -SearchName and $_.samaccountname value to reflect your environment.

Get-ADUser -Filter * -SearchBase 'ou=xxxx' -Properties userPrincipalName | foreach { Set-ADUser $_ -UserPrincipalName "$($_.samaccountname)@systemcenterdudes.com"}

Intune Users Creation

Your Active Directory Users needs to be synchronized with Intune. You can use Microsoft Azure Active Directory Sync (DirSync) or create your users manually if you have a small amount. For the sake of this post we’ll create them manually.

• Log in your Intune Account console
• In the left pane, click Users
• Click New, User

• Enter your user information, make sure to select the right domain
• Click Next

• Decide if you want to assign administrative access to your user. Learn more about administrator roles
• Set the user location. This is used for licencing reason, it won’t prevent your user to travel
• Decide if you want this user to have administrator permissions to companies you support. Learn more about administrator roles
• Click Next

• Select the default Windows Intune group. This group won’t be used since access will be managed through an SCCM User Collection that we’ll configure later.

• Choose if you wish to receive the user credentials by email
• Click Create
• Wait for the process to complete
• Click Finish
• Repeat the steps if you have more users to create

mobile device management active directory

The post Configuring Active Directory and Create Users for Intune appeared first on System Center Dudes.

Are you importing your applications in SCCM when it’s time to copy applications from one environment to the other? In some company, SCCM is installed twice, one for development and one for production. SCCM in a development environment provides flexibility but it adds additional cost to maintain both environment. Using the import application wizard in SCCM can ease the process and save time to copy applications from one to another environment.

In the best of worlds, it is best to keep environment identical much as possible, but it is very difficult to get there. The problem is that you can end up with missing features and import applications that require these requirements.

Did you ever receive this Referenced Configuration Items Not Available error message at the end of Import Application Wizard?

This is because one of your Referenced Configuration items not available in the destination environment you import the application.

In the future, if you get this error message, connect to your SCCM development environment :

• Open the SCCM console and navigate to Software Library / Application Management / Applications
• Select the application and click on Deployment Types tab at the bottom
• Right click on the Deployment Type and select Properties

• Click on Requirements tab and change your requirements to make it works in your destination environment

In our situation, we planned to import mobile devices applications that was supporting iOS 9. Both environments were SCCM 2012 versions but one doesn’t have the iOS 9 Extensions enabled. The option was not available in the destination environment and make the import application to fail. We resolve the problem by enabling iOS 9 extensions in production environment.

SCCM Applications Report

Related SCCM report that give you detailed information about applications.

• Configuration Manager | Applications

Referenced Configuration Items Not Available

The post Referenced Configuration Items Not Available in SCCM appeared first on System Center Dudes.

Our blog reach the 1 000 000 views milestone ! Thanks to our readers, followers and supporters. You are the motivation behind our work.

The post Our blog reach the 1 000 000 views milestone ! Thanks to our readers, followers and supporters. You are the motivation behind our work. appeared first on System Center Dudes.

When deploying Windows 10 operating system using SCCM, you will need to monitor SCCM task sequence progress. This allows to track task sequence start, end time and most importantly errors (if any). Our post will shows 4 different ways to monitor SCCM task sequences. Each of them has their own benefits and drawbacks.

Monitor SCCM Task Sequence Using the Console

You can view the progress of a task sequence using the SCCM console. This method is simple and easy but permit to see the status of only one machine at the time. If your deployment staff don’t have access to the console or view deployment status, this option is not for you.

• Open the SCCM Console
• Go to Monitoring / Deployments
• Search and right-click the deployment linked to your Windows 10 task sequence
• On the menu, select View Status

• In the Deployment Status screen, select the In Progress tab for a running task sequence or the Success tab to review a completed task sequence
• At the bottom, click the Asset Details pane, right-click your device and select More Details

• On the Asset Message screen, click the Status tab
• You can view all task sequence Action Name with their Last Message Name

Console Status Message Queries

You can use Status Message Queries in the SCCM console to filter only task sequence messages. This method is useful to have messages from multiple devices instead of targeting a specific computer like in the previous methods. This method is a bit trickier to implement.

• The first step is to get the DeploymentID of your task sequence deployment
• Go to Monitoring / Deployments
• Add the DeploymentID column by right-clicking the top row. Note your DeploymentID, in our example 1002000B

• Go to Monitoring / System Status / Status Message Queries
• Right-click Status Message Queries and select Create Status Message Query

• On the General tab, enter a desired Name and click on Edit Query Statement

• On the Query Statement Properties window, click on Show Query Language

• Enter the following query in the Query Statement window

• Change the SMS_StatMsgAttributes.AttributeValue to reflect your DeploymentID

• Click OK
• In the Status Message Queries node, find your newly created Query, right-click on it and select Show Messages

• Select the desired Date and Time and click OK

• All messages from your selected deployment will be displayed for all devices that run it

SCCM Built-in Reports

There’s 28 built-in reports concerning task sequence in SCCM. The majority of the reports focus on statistics about overall deployments. To monitor progress, we refer to the 2 following reports :

• Task Sequence – Deployment Status / Status of a specific task sequence deployment for a specific computer
  • This report shows the status summary of a specific task sequence deployment on a specific computer.

• Task Sequence – Deployment Status / History of a task sequence deployment on a computer
  • This report displays the status of each step of the specified task sequence deployment on the specified destination computer. If no record is returned, the task sequence has not started on the computer.

 

As you can see, readability is easier using the console but keep in mind that reports can be accessible without having console access.

SMSTS.log

Last method we want to cover to monitor Windows 10 task sequence deployment is using the SMSTS.log file. This is the method you’ll want to use when you have a failing task sequence. The SMSTS.log file contains every details about every steps in your task sequence. It’s the first place to look to troubleshoot a problem with a specific deployment.

The downside of this file is that it’s stored locally on the computer (by default). Another downside is that this file location change depending on the stage you are at :

• Connect on the computer you want to troubleshoot
• Press the F8 key. A command prompt will open. If you have no command prompt by pressing F8, consult our Preparation post to enable Command Line support in your Boot image
• In the command windows, enter CMTrace to open the log viewer (it’s included by default in the latest WinPE version)

• Browse to the location when the file reside (see above table)

• The SMSTS.log opens and you can search for errors

There’s also methods to redirect your SMSTS.log automatically to a network share which could help :

• Using SLShare variable (MDT Integrated)
• Using the _SMSTSLastActionSucceeded variable

We hope this post will ease your Windows 10 deployments. Leave your comments and questions in the comment section.

The post Windows 10 Deployment | Monitor SCCM Task Sequence Progress appeared first on System Center Dudes.