Many of us are beginning to pack things up and head out for the holidays so I just wanted to give everyone a heads up that I'm doing the same.  I'm going to be out until January 5th so if the posts start to dry up then that's probably why, although you might see a straggler here and there in my absence.

I hope you all enjoy the holidays and I'll see you again next year.

I was asked a few days ago if ConfigMgr or SMS could inventory mapped drives, and while the answer is yes we don't do it by default. In effect we report the logical disk but not mapped drives.

In order to inventory mapped drives we first need to extend the sms_def.mof.  Mapped drives are in the user context so we need to gather this information from every user.  We also need a repository to collect this information; this would be a class in WMI.

So here is how we accomplish this. Add the following lines to the end of the SMS_def.mof:

//======================================================================================

// Mapped Drives Reporting

//

// Note: The class is created using a advertised vbscript (mapdrives.vbs)

//======================================================================================

#pragma namespace("\\\\.\\root\\CIMV2\\SMS")

#pragma deleteclass("CX_mappeddrives", NOFAIL)

[

SMS_Report(TRUE),

SMS_Group_Name("CX Mapped Drives"),

SMS_Class_ID("CX_mappeddrives"),

Namespace("\\\\\\\\.\\\\root\\\\cimv2")]

class CX_mappeddrives : SMS_Class_Template

{

[SMS_Report(TRUE), Key]

string user;

[SMS_Report(TRUE), key]

string Letter;

[SMS_Report(TRUE), Key]

string Path;

};

// <:[-<>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>END>>-Mapped drives Reporting-<<END<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<>-]:>

This will extend the mof and create the necessary stored procedures and tables in the SMS database. After compiling the mof on the site server restart the SMS_executive and the component manager. We will need to compile this sms_def.mof on the clients as well to extend WMI and create the repository to store the mapped drive information. You can do this by a logon script or advertisement.

We now need to gather the mapped drive information. Here is the script to do so. I named it mapdrives.vbs

' This code is provided "as-is" and not supported by Microsoft

'

'

option explicit

on error resume next

Dim wbemCimtypeSint16

Dim wbemCimtypeSint32

Dim wbemCimtypeReal32

Dim wbemCimtypeReal64

Dim wbemCimtypeString

Dim wbemCimtypeBoolean

Dim wbemCimtypeObject

Dim wbemCimtypeSint8

Dim wbemCimtypeUint8

Dim wbemCimtypeUint16

Dim wbemCimtypeUint32

Dim wbemCimtypeSint64

Dim wbemCimtypeUint64

Dim wbemCimtypeDateTime

Dim wbemCimtypeReference

Dim wbemCimtypeChar16

wbemCimtypeSint16 = 2

wbemCimtypeSint32 = 3

wbemCimtypeReal32 = 4

wbemCimtypeReal64 = 5

wbemCimtypeString = 8

wbemCimtypeBoolean = 11

wbemCimtypeObject = 13

wbemCimtypeSint8 = 16

wbemCimtypeUint8 = 17

wbemCimtypeUint16 = 18

wbemCimtypeUint32 = 19

wbemCimtypeSint64 = 20

wbemCimtypeUint64 = 21

wbemCimtypeDateTime = 101

wbemCimtypeReference = 102

wbemCimtypeChar16 = 103

Dim oLocation, oServices, oInstances, oObject, oDataObject, oNewObject, oRptObject

Set oLocation = CreateObject("WbemScripting.SWbemLocator")

'Remove class

Set oServices = oLocation.ConnectServer(, "root\cimv2")

set oNewObject = oServices.Get("CX_mappeddrives")

oNewObject.Delete_

'Create data class structure

Set oServices = oLocation.ConnectServer(, "root\cimv2")

Set oDataObject = oServices.Get

oDataObject.Path_.Class = "CX_mappeddrives"

oDataObject.Properties_.add "Letter", wbemCimtypeString

oDataObject.Properties_.add "Path", wbemCimtypeString

oDataObject.Properties_.add "user", wbemCimtypeString

oDataObject.Properties_("Letter").Qualifiers_.add "key", True

oDataObject.Properties_("Path").Qualifiers_.add "key", True

oDataObject.Properties_("user").Qualifiers_.add "key", True

oDataObject.Put_

'Add Instances to data class

Set oServices = oLocation.ConnectServer(, "root\cimv2")

Dim sComputerName, sUsername, sQuery

Set oInstances = oServices.ExecQuery("SELECT UserName FROM Win32_ComputerSystem")

for each oObject in oInstances

sUserName = oObject.UserName

next

sQuery = "select * from win32_MappedLogicalDisk"

Set oInstances = oServices.ExecQuery(sQuery)

for each oObject in oInstances

Set oNewObject = oServices.Get("CX_mappeddrives").SpawnInstance_

oNewObject.Letter = oObject.DeviceID

oNewObject.Path = oObject.ProviderName

oNewObject.user = sUserName

oNewObject.Put_

next

'--------------------------------- FUNCTIONS -----------------------------------

Function ParseComp(Stg,Pat)

Dim tmpCS, p, q

tmpCS = ""

p = 1

Do while p < len(Stg)

if mid(Stg,p,len(Pat)) = Pat Then

q = p + len(Pat) + 1

Do while mid(Stg,q,1) <> chr(34) and q < len(Stg)

tmpCS = tmpCS + mid(Stg,q,1)

q = q + 1

Loop

Exit do

Else

p = p + 1

end if

Loop

ParseComp = tmpCS

End Function

Now this script can be executed through a logon script.

A few gotchas on the whole process is that the user has to have write access to root/CIMV2 class.  We can over come this by explicitly adding the domain user group to CIMV2 using the MMC or you can use a free tool called wmisecurity.exe(http://www.codeproject.com/KB/system/WmiSecurity.aspx )

Once the script is run the class would get populated with the letter and path and user who ran the script.

Then when hardware inventory is run it will populate information in the database that can be used later to create reports. To verify that it worked fine verify Resource explorer for one machine. It will have a new class named cx_mappeddrives:

Here is a sample report you can use to view the data:

select v_R_System.Name0,v_GS_Cx_Mapped_Drives0.Letter0, v_GS_Cx_Mapped_Drives0.Path0, v_GS_Cx_Mapped_Drives0.user0 from v_R_System inner join v_GS_Cx_Mapped_Drives0 on v_GS_Cx_Mapped_Drives0.ResourceId = v_R_System.ResourceId where v_GS_Cx_Mapped_Drives0.Letter0 like '%' and v_GS_Cx_Mapped_Drives0.Path0 like '%' and v_GS_Cx_Mapped_Drives0.user0 like '%'

The report will look like this:

A good use of this script is to determine a valid drive letter for a new server share or what are your clients mapping to. 

I hope these steps help to gather information and special thanks to Jason Alanis for creating the vbs script.

Alvin Morales - Senior Support Engineer

Looks like there's a new installment in the OpsMgr by Example series over at http://ops-mgr.spaces.live.com/Blog/ and this time they take a look at deploying agents using ConfigMgr 2007.  I have the intro and a direct link below:

========

We return to our OpsMgr by Example series with a discussion of deploying the OpsMgr Agent.

Scenario: If you're looking for an automated way to provision new systems into management and monitoring solutions without human intervention, you will want to consider using Configuration Manager 2007 for deploying the agent, combined with AD Integration to identify the management server.

We begin the process with required changes for Active Directory.

To continue reading visit http://ops-mgr.spaces.live.com/blog/cns!3D3B8489FCAA9B51!1034.entry

J.C. Hornbeck | Manageability Knowledge Engineer

The OpsMgr product team just posted some good notes on getting the Web Console component installed on Windows Server 2008.  If you're struggling getting this to work then check out there post here for the requirements and a related hotfix.

J.C. Hornbeck | Manageability Knowledge Engineer

We've received a couple calls on this so I thought a quick post might help just in case you're using Windows SteadyState in your environment.  Anjana Kaku Tyagi wrote up the example below, and while the example is for the SMS client you should be able to use the same procedure for any permanent additions you'd like to make:

========

To install the SMS client on a SteadyState PC simply follow these steps:

1. The first step is to reboot the computer so that any recent changes are undone.

2. Next install the SMS client on the machine as you normally would.

3. Change Windows Disk Protection Settings on the PC to "Save Changes with Next Restart"

Note: For more information see Chapter 6: Windows Disk Protection at http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb457134.aspx

4. Restart the computer.  At this point the SMS client should be permanently installed on the machine.

5. Change the Windows Disk Protection Settings on the PC back to undo the changes on restart to make the state on the PC remain intact:

 

For machines that are joined to the domain, the same settings could be implemented using the group policy adm template SCTSettings.adm located in Microsoft Shared Computer Toolkit\bin directory. To configure disk protection settings through a script we also have a diskprotect.wsf that comes with the install. 

For reference please see the following: Utility Spotlight The Shared Computer Toolkit
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/magazine/cc160970.aspx

========

Thanks Anjana!

J.C. Hornbeck | Manageability Knowledge Engineer

Here's an interesting issue that was sent to me by Rohit Kaul on our OpsMgr 2007 team.  This one concerns an issue where the disk space monitoring of a SQL database file does not trigger an alert if the database is set to Autogrow:

========

Issue:  The disk space monitor for a SQL database file may not trigger an alert in Operations Manager admin console:

Monitor Name:         Db space free
Default Tareget:      SQL DB FILE

Cause: This can occur if the database to be monitored is set to Autogrow.  This is by design.

Resolution: The only way to use triggers for SQL file size monitoring is to disable autogrow on the database in question.  To do this follow these steps:

1. Open SQL Management Studio if using SQL 2005 servers - SQL Enterprise Manager for SQL 2000 servers.

2. Expand SQL INSTANCE---Databases--choose the DB for which an alert is not getting triggered.

3. Right Click DB and choose properties and click FILE --under AUTOGROWTH COLUMN--click on Browse Button and uncheck ENABLE Autogrowth--click OK.

4. Re-cycle the Health service on the targeted server [SQL server in this case].

5. Refresh your OpsMgr console and check for disk space alerts for SQL DB FILE.

Note: Alerts may not show up until the configuration has been completely updated.  To verify this check for event IDs 1201 and 1210 on the targeted server.

========

Thanks Rohit, and before you make any changes be sure you fully understand the implications of having autogrow disabled.  For more information see the following:

KB315512 - Considerations for the "autogrow" and "autoshrink" settings in SQL Server

Storage Top 10 Best Practices

J.C. Hornbeck | Manageability Knowledge Engineer

Here's another issue you may want to be aware of if you're still using the old SUSFP scan engine to detect updates.  This one is from Clifton Hughes in our Las Colinas, Texas office:

========

Issue: In SMS 2003, if you are using SUSFP you may experience issues with the MS08-062 patch related to IIS and Internet Printing.  The SUSFP for SMS 2003 seems to detect that this update is "applicable" on all computers when in reality it is only applicable where IIS is installed.  ITMU and MBSA 2.1 correctly report this update as being applicable only if IIS is installed.

Cause: This is expected behavior and is a limitation of the legacy scan engine used by SMS 2.0 and SMS 2003.  The legacy scanner looks only for the potentially vulnerable files.  If found, it considers the machine vulnerable and offers the update.  The Microsoft Update-based technology used with SMS 2003 ITMU and Configuration Manager 2007 is more specific and in this case more accurate: If the vulnerable bits are present AND IIS is enabled, the system will be flagged as vulnerable.

Resolution: To avoid this issue you should move to the latest scan technologies provided by SMS which will resolve this problem. ITMU with SMS 2003, and/or System Center Configuration Manager 2007 do not suffer from this limitation.

========

Thanks Clifton!

J.C. Hornbeck | Manageability Knowledge Engineer

Here's an issue that Frank Rojas saw the other.  This particular issue involved a Dell E6400 but I thought it was worth a post because the same troubleshooting technique could be used for similar issues with other hardware as well:

========

Issue: When deploying a Windows XP image to a Dell Latitude E6400 laptop using a ConfigMgr 2007 OSD Task Sequence, it may deploy the image properly, however when the Dell Latitude E6400 laptop boots into Windows XP Mini-Setup, Mini-Setup eventually freezes and does not proceed.

The SMSTS.log will not show any errors indicating what the problem is. Inspecting the setupapi.log taken from the client PC will show the following lines as the last lines in the log:

#-019 Searching for hardware ID(s): acpi\pnp0c0a,*pnp0c0a
#-198 Command line processed: C:\Windows\system32\services.exe -setup
#I022 Found "ACPI\pnp0C0A" in C:\Windows\inf\battery.inf; Device: "Microsoft ACPI-Compliant Control Method Battery"; Driver: "Microsoft ACPI-Compliant Control Method Battery"; Provider: "Microsoft"; Mfg: "Microsoft"; Section name: "CmBatt_Inst".
#I023 Actual install section: [CmBatt_Inst]. Rank: 0x00000000. Effective driver date: 07/01/2001.
#-166 Device install function: DIF_SELECTBESTCOMPATDRV.
#I063 Selected driver installs from section [CmBatt_Inst] in "c:\Windows\inf\battery.inf".
#I320 Class GUID of device remains: {72631E54-78A4-11D0-BCF7-00AA00B7B32A}.
#I060 Set selected driver.
#I058 Selected best compatible driver.
#-166 Device install function: DIF_INSTALLDEVICEFILES.
#I124 Doing copy-only install of "ACPI\PNP0C0A\1".
#-166 Device install function: DIF_REGISTER_COINSTALLERS.
#I056 Coinstallers registered.
#-166 Device install function: DIF_INSTALLINTERFACES.
#-011 Installing section [CmBatt_Inst.Interfaces] from "c:\Windows\inf\battery.inf".
#I054 Interfaces installed.
#-166 Device install function: DIF_INSTALLDEVICE.
#I123 Doing full install of "ACPI\PNP0C0A\1".
#I121 Device install of "ACPI\PNP0C0A\1" finished successfully.

Note: The problem may also happen when trying to deploy a Windows XP image to a Dell Latitude E6400 laptop using other deployment technologies, including Microsoft Business Desktop Deployment (BDD)

Cause: It appears that when Windows XP tries to load the battery drivers for the Dell Latitude E6400 laptop using the battery.inf file from the C:\Windows\INF folder, it hangs the installation.

Resolution: There are a few workarounds to the problem:

1) Remove the battery from the laptop during deployment. Doing so will have Windows XP Mini-Setup not try to detect the battery so Mini-Setup will not hang. While this works, this solution is not the most ideal.

2) Build the reference image on a Dell Latitude E6400 laptop. By building the reference image on a Dell Latitude E6400 laptop, the battery.inf driver installation no longer causes Windows XP Mini-Setup to hang. However, this solution seems to work only in some situations. In testing, the reference image built on the laptop fixed the Windows XP Mini-Setup hang issues and it also worked on most other model PCs, but it did fail on others. Your results may vary depending on your environment and what make/model PCs you have.

3) Install the battery driver within Windows XP instead of during Windows XP Mini-Setup. If using a Task Sequence in either SCCM 2007 OSD, BDD, or MDT to deploy the Windows XP image, you can add tasks into the Task Sequence which forces the battery to be installed while in Windows XP instead of during Windows XP Mini-Setup. The installation of the battery drivers seems to succeed while in Windows XP. It only seems to fail while in Windows XP Mini-Setup. To do this follow these steps:

a) Add a "Run Command Line" task that renames the battery.inf in the Windows\INF folder at some point in the Task Sequence while it is still in WinPE, but after it has dropped down the Windows XP WIM image using the "Apply Operating System Image" (SCCM 2007) or "Install Operating System" (BDD/MDT) tasks. For example, the command line for the "Run Command Line" would be:

rename %DeploySystemDrive%\Windows\INF\battery.inf battery.inf.tmp

b) Add a "Run Command Line" task at some point in the Task Sequence after it has completed Windows XP Mini-Setup and while it is in Windows XP that renames the file back to battery.inf. The command line for the "Run Command Line" should be:

rename %windir%\INF\battery.inf.tmp battery.inf

c) Download the Microsoft DEVCON.exe utility as documented in KB311272 from: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/311272.  This utility allows the installation of devices from the command line by using the following command line:

devcon install INFfile HardwareID

d) In SCCM/MDT/BDD, create a Package/Application that contains the DEVCON.exe program file. For MDT/BDD, set the command line as:

copy devcon.exe %windir%\system32 /Y

For SCCM 2007, after creating the package, create a program with the command line:

copy devcon.exe %windir%\system32 /Y

e) Add an "Install Software" task (SCCM 2007) or an "Install Application" (MDT/BDD) task immediately after the "Run Command Line" task from step b that runs the package/program created in step d.

f) Add a "Run Command Line" task in the Task Sequence immediately after the "Install Software"/"Install Application" task from step e which initiates the installation of the battery drivers using devcon.exe while in Windows XP.  For example, to install the battery on the Dell Latitude E6400 laptop, set the command line to:

devcon install "%windir%\inf\battery.inf" ACPI\PNP0C0A\1

========

Like I said, even though this issue mentions one specific laptop, the same troubleshooting procedure and resolution method can be used in a wide variety of situations where you see a driver causing an issue during mini-setup.  Thanks Frank!

J.C. Hornbeck | Manageability Knowledge Engineer

A few years ago a young manager at Microsoft had an idea; an idea to create a new blog that would help Microsoft's customers support and manage their SMS and MOM installations.  That was back in June of 2006 and that team manager's name was Britten Martin.  Britten has since moved on to bigger and better things and that blog he started has grown as well, going from a couple hundred hits a month to almost a million today.  But with growth comes change and that leads me to the purpose of this post which is to announce that the SMSandMOM blog will be splitting in two, with one blog specializing in SMS/ConfigMgr and the other specializing in MOM/OpsMgr/SCE.  It's a change that's long overdue in my opinion and one that's been requested by customers like you time and time again.  After all, just because you run OpsMgr doesn't necessarily mean you run ConfigMgr as well, and vice versa, so why have information on one product all mixed up with information about the other?  With the change we'll now be able to better focus our efforts on what truly matters the most to you, and hopefully you find that this gives you a cleaner experience as well.

Beginning on January 5, 2009 I'll begin posting to these two new blogs:

SMS/ConfigMgr: http://blogs.technet.com/configurationmgr/

MOM/OpsMgr/SCE: http://blogs.technet.com/operationsmgr/

At the beginning I'll post links to those new posts here on SMSandMOM, and then maybe after a month or so when I'm fairly confident that everyone has their feeds updated I'll make the switch and stop posting here altogether.  I know that a change like this can really cause a lot of havoc but it's the best I can come up with for now based on the technology available.  If you have any feedback on splitting the blog or on the transition please let us know.  Just use the 'Email' link in the tool bar above and let us know what's on your mind.  I can't guarantee we'll respond to every email we get but I can guarantee that we'll read them.

Cheers,

J.C. Hornbeck | Manageability Knowledge Engineer

For the week of 12-7 through 12-13 we had three new Knowledge Base articles: Two on OpsMgr 2007 and one on ConfigMgr 2007.  Links and titles are below:

========

http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=957135
You cannot change the alert resolution state of any alert in the Active Alerts view in System Center Operations Manager 2007 Service Pack 1
Sys Center Ops Mgr 2007

http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=955955
A task sequence that contains many packages may take longer to run after you install System Center Configuration Manager 2007 Service Pack 1 or hotfix 949225
Sys Center Config Manager 2007

http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=958170
Description of System Center Operations Manager 2007 Service Pack 1 support for Microsoft SQL Server 2008
Sys Center Ops Mgr 2007

========

Enjoy!

J.C. Hornbeck | Manageability Knowledge Engineer

The first half of the below script is a modified version of my previous post , it just translate the BITS version to the popular format we know and remember. The second part of the script is to use a get...(read more)

Here's one that's probably going to be relatively uncommon but I came across it the other day and thought it would be worth a mention here:

========

Issue: The Transfer Site Settings Wizard in System Center Configuration Manager 2007 SP1 fails to transfer client installation methods from one secondary site to another secondary site.  The error message reported is:

(Reason:Skipping the setting because it is unique to a primary site and target site <sitecode> is secondary.)

This error comes up for all settings:

General
   System types (Servers, Workstations, Domain controllers)
   Enable client push installation to site systems
   Enable client push installation to assigned resources

Other
   Client push installation accounts
   Installation properties

Software Update Point Client Installation
   Enable Software Update Point Client Installation

Cause: This is a known issue with the wizard.

Resolution: To work around this issue, after transferring all of the settings from one secondary site to another secondary site via the Transfer Site Settings Wizard, simply configure the “Client Push Installation Properties” on the site manually.

========

J.C. Hornbeck | Manageability Knowledge Engineer

Looks like the System Center Configuration Manager 2007 User Assistance (UA) team has created a set of quizzes to help you assess your understanding of the dependencies and requirements for key features of Configuration Manager 2007.  Once you complete these quizzes you'll no longer have to suffer the embarrassment of having nothing to contribute when party or bar conversation turns to ConfigMgr prerequisites.  If you're a sucker for quizzes like I am then this should provide hours of lunchtime fun (and education) for you and your colleagues:

========

The System Center Configuration Manager 2007 User Assistance team has created a set of quizzes to help you assess your understanding of the dependencies and requirements for key features of Configuration Manager. These quizzes help to raise your level of awareness of the some of the nuances of these features before you configure and use them. They can also be used to help train other Configuration Manager administrators within your organization. Each quiz consists of 10 questions that can be answered Yes or No. Regardless of your answer, the quiz will display the correct information, and include one or more links to the corresponding related content located in the Configuration Manager 2007 Documentation Library located on the Configuration Manager TechCenter. This new version of the quiz application is built using Microsoft Silverlight to provide a more interactive experience.

The following quizzes are available:
Configuration Manager 2007 Client Installation Quiz
Configuration Manager 2007 Client Management Quiz
Configuration Manager 2007 Client Site Assignment Quiz
Configuration Manager 2007 Desired Configuration Management Quiz
Configuration Manager 2007 Internet-Based Client Management Quiz
Configuration Manager 2007 Native Mode Quiz
Configuration Manager 2007 Network Access Protection Quiz
Configuration Manager 2007 Wake On LAN Quiz
Configuration Manager 2007 Software Updates Operations Quiz
Configuration Manager 2007 OSDeployment Quiz
Configuration Manager 2007 What’s New Quiz
Configuration Manager 2007 Software Updates Configuration Quiz
Configuration Manager 2007 Mobile Device Management Quiz
Configuration Manager 2007 Fundamentals Quiz
Configuration Manager 2007 Client Roaming Quiz
Configuration Manager 2007 Software Updates Interop Quiz
Configuration Manager 2007 Setup Quiz
Configuration Manager 2007 Software Distribution Quiz
Configuration Manager 2007 Service Pack 1 Quiz
Configuration Manager 2007 R2 Quiz

For more information and to download the quizzes visit http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=b9fb478a-ec98-47f2-b31e-57443a8ae88f&DisplayLang=en.

J.C. Hornbeck | Manageability Knowledge Engineer

 

Here's an interesting tip sent to me by Milan Jajal on how to make ACS work on a port other than the default.  I don't know how often something like this would be necessary but just in case you need it here are the steps:

========

Below are the changes that need to be done for ACS in OpsMgr 2007 to work on a port other then the default of 51909. I tried it in my lab here and it worked but the usual caveats apply. 

1. On the ACS Collector server make the following registry change, adding the custom port you want to use:

a. Stop Operations Manager Audit Collection Service.

b. Go to HKLM\System\CurrentControlSet\Services\AdtServer\Parameters and change the value for Reg Key named AdtAgentPort. (Default value will be 51909)

c. Start Operations Manager Audit Collection Service.

d. For verification you can run netstat –a command from command prompt which will show that now the server is listening on your newly configured port.

2. On the DNS Server for the domain where the Collector server and the Forwarder machine belongs, you need to create a new SRV record:

a. Open DNS Management, Server – Forward Lookup Zones – Expand your domain name – Right click on _tcp and click ‘Other New Records…’

b. Select Service Location (SRV) under Select a resource record type and click Create Record.

c. Configure Service as _adtserver, Protocol as _tcp, Priority as 0, Weight as 100 and Port number as value you have configured on collector server in step 1.

d. For the Host offering this service, type the FQDN of the collector server.

3. On the ACS Forwarder machine, make the following registry change:

a. Stop the Operations Manager Audit Forwarding Service.

b. HKLM\Software\Policies\Microsoft\AdtAgent\Parameters and change the value for Reg key named LocalConfig from 0x00000001(1) to 0x00000000(0).

c. Start the Operations Manager Audit Forwarding Service.

Once this is complete, the ACD Forwarder machine will locate the SRV record from the DNS server and connect to the ACS Collector server on the newly configured port.  You can verify this using netstat command from a command prompt on the Forwarder machine.  Also you can check for Event ID 4368 in the Application Event log of the ACS Forwarder machine which should say something like “Forwarder successfully connected to the following collector: FQDN:Port."

========

Thanks Milan!

J.C. Hornbeck | Manageability Knowledge Engineer

Here's another issue I got from both Clifton Hughes in our Irving, Texas office and Keith Thornley out in North Carolina.  We're starting to see this somewhat frequently so hopefully this will help you avoid a potential headache:

========

Issue: After applying the MSXML3 SP10 update released under KB955069, ScanWrapper fails to run and ScanWrapper.log will show the following error:

Unable to upgrade the existing MSXML3 component on the machine. Previous version is protected by the OS.

and

Unable to install correct version of MSXML. Upgrade to latest version of MSXML3 and re-run scan. This is terminal error.

You may also notice that updates will install, however the status for the clients may show Pending Reboot, rather than installed.

Cause: This problem occurs because the program checks to see if MSXML 3 SP2 (version 8.20.8730.1) is in place before running the scan and ScanWrapper.exe compares the current version of MSXML3.dll (SP10 is 8.100.1048.0) with the 8.20.8730.1 value and mistakenly thinks SP10 is older than SP2.

Resolution: You can work around the problem by adding the /noxml switch to the command line for the scan programs in the SMS Admin Console. In addition, both Command1 and Command2 entries in the Scan.ini file for each package need to have /noxml added.  Just be sure to update your DPs once this is done.

========

Thanks guys!

J.C. Hornbeck | Manageability Knowledge Engineer

Here's another interesting one for you.  What I wanted was a way to track what scripts are executed by the Operations Manager Agent on a box as this would help in fine tuning some of the rules/monitors which were configured to run very frequently.  In MOM 2005 we had a ScriptDebugging option which logged all script activity in the AgentResponse.log, so I had to find answers for the below questions

1. What script is running on the agent?
2. How frequently does it run?
3. For how long does the script run?
4. Started with what parameters?
5. What is the script exit code?

The answer lied in a utility which we all have been using for quite some time now: Process Monitor

We can use Process Monitor to know which script is being fired and continue investigation.

We start by setting up a filter:

Start ProcMon

Set a filter

1. Select "Process Name" is "Cscript.exe" and click Add:

2. "Operation" is "Process Start":

 

3. Then right click on the columns where it says

Sequence | Time | Process Name ...

choose select Column

4. Choose CommandLine and ParentPID

Click OK

5. Now you will see all of the cscript.exe processes along with the command line and the time they were started:

6. To differentiate between Opsmgr and other Cscript Process, check the process ID of MonitoringHost.exe and compare with the Parent PID.

7. For little more advanced debugging you can also include this additional filter:

"Operation" is "Process Exit" 

This will give us some Information on resources used by the thread/script.  OpsMgr 2007 also uses PowerShell scripts and by modifying the filter above you can use the same basic process to capture those as well.

Jeevan Bisht | Support Escalation Engineer

Here's a quick tip on why some of the data in reports based on SystemConsoleUsage may be missing in SMS 2003:

========

Issue: Reports based on the SystemConsoleUsage class do not show all data, although the data is actually being collected.

Cause: Data stored under SystemConsoleUsage comes from the Local Security Database and information in the Local Security database is saved only when a user logs off.  This can also occur if the information written in the audit logs get over-written due to the rollover period being too small.

Resolution: To cover both of these scenarios, make sure that the users log themselves off their workstations before they leave, this would make sure all data is saved in WMI.  If the rollover period is too short, you could try extending the roll over period of the event logs so as to accommodate more events.

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J.C. Hornbeck | Manageability Knowledge Engineer

Here's another neat tip from Clifton Hughes in our Irving, Texas site.  If you're PXE booting machines and they're throwing 0x80072ee7 errors along with getting APIPA addresses then you might try turning on portfast if you're using a Cisco Spanning Tree Protocol (STP) enabled switch to see if that helps:

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Issue: When attempting to PXE Boot and install an Operating System Image with System Center Configuration Manager 2007, the Task Sequence may error out and reboot the machine. The SMSTS.LOG files may show error code 0x80072ee7 that points to a name resolution and/or networking issue. Additionally, you may notice that WINPE boots and gets an IP address from the DHCP server initially, however, once it gets to the Graphical User Interface portion of WINPE and try and run the Task Sequence it reverts to an Automatic Private IP Address (APIPA)  of 169.354.x.x.

Note: If you use Task Sequence Boot Media and manually configure a static IP address and subnet mask, etc. then the Task Sequence runs as expected.

Cause: This can occur if portfast is not enabled on your SPT enable Cisco switch.  If portfast is not enabled then the port using STP may remain in blocking mode long enough to prevent the client computer from communicating over the network.

Resolution: To resolve this issue you can turn on "spanning tree portfast enable" on the Cisco switch.  For more information on this feature contact your switch manufacturer or see the following article on Cisco.com's website:

http://www.cisco.com/en/US/tech/tk648/tk361/technologies_tech_note09186a00800f0804.shtml

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Thanks Clifton!  Personally I've only seen this feature on Cisco switches but I image there are others out there using SPT that have a similar feature as well.  I guess the ultimate takeaway is that if you're seeing problems that may be networking related and you're using Spanning Tree on a directly connected switch you might investigate the options to force that port online immediately.

J.C. Hornbeck | Manageability Knowledge Engineer

For the week of 11-30 through 12-6 we had four new Knowledge Base articles.  Links and titles are below:

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http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=956307
Error message when you install the Inventory Tool for Dell Update (ITDU) on an SMS 2003 site server after July 1, 2008: "The Sync task failed to download content from source location"

http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=957560
The System Center Operations Manager 2007 console crashes, and a NullReferenceException exception is generated
OpsMgr 2007

http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=960883
Modifications required to run the Web Console on a FIPS compliant server
OpsMgr 2007

http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=960920
Constraint violation 0x8007202F running AdConfig /enableGPSecurity
System Center Mobile Device Manager 2008

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Enjoy!

J.C. Hornbeck | Manageability Knowledge Engineer

The MOMTeam blog just posted a great list of prerequisites that will help ensure that Reporting installs successfully.  Before you install Reporting you'll want to give this a quick read:

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Detailed below are some validation steps that should be completed before attempting to install Operations Manager 2007 Reporting.

During this installation, you are prompted for two accounts: the Data Warehouse Write account and the Data Reader account. These accounts are created as domain user accounts and added to the local Administrators group on the target server.

· Data Warehouse Write account: This account is assigned write permissions on the Data Warehouse database and read permissions on the OperationsManager database.

· Data Reader account: This account is used to define what user SQL Reporting Services uses to run queries against the Operations Manager Reporting Data Warehouse. This account is also used for the SQL Reporting Services IIS application pool account to connect to the RMS.

Note

Before you perform this procedure, be sure that the account you plan to use for the Data Warehouse Write Account has SQL Login rights and is an Administrator on the computers hosting both the Operations Manager database and Reporting data warehouse. Otherwise, setup fails and all changes are rolled back, which might leave SQL Reporting Services in an inoperable state.

All permissions are shown below:

• Make sure the user running setup has following permissions
• User is local administrator (Needed to run MSI, to configure SSRS)
• User is Ops Manager Administrator (Needed to configure Reporting roles, creating instances)
• User is SysAdmin in Ops DB (Needed to configure dwsynch_users role)
• User is SysAdmin in DW DB (Needed to configure OpsMgrWriter, OpsMgrReader roles)

To continue reading see http://blogs.technet.com/momteam/archive/2008/12/04/installing-operations-manager-2007-reporting-successfully.aspx.

J.C. Hornbeck | Manageability Knowledge Engineer