New SCCM Reporting Dashboard

Looks like a great new tool for IT admins to wow their managers with! 

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ff369719.aspx

SCCM Client Automatic Approval

Here is the process SCCM uses to automatically approve secure clients.  Great article.

http://blogs.technet.com/configurationmgr/archive/2010/01/20/how-it-works-automatic-client-approval-in-configuration-manager-2007.aspx

DNS issue with a Single Label Domain

Clients and servers have issues dynamically registering DNS records in a single label domain.  Here are the steps to resolve this issue.

Problem: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/300684

Resolution: http://windowsitpro.com/article/articleid/96707/register-dns-records-in-a-single-label-domain.html

Add Secondary DNS Zones

#This script will pull a list of DNS zones and add them to a DNS server as secondary zones.
#Change $ServerName to FQDN or IP of the DNS Server
#Modify $ZoneList for location of file with list of zones
#Writen by Brady Randolph
#01/20/2010

$ServerName = "FQDN"
$ZoneList = "c:\zonelist.txt"
$zones = Get-Content $zonelist

foreach ($zone in $zones) {

$NewZone=([WMIClass]"\\$ServerName\root\MicrosoftDNS:MicrosoftDNS_Zone").CreateZone($zone , 1, $False, "", @("172.16.2.10"))

}

Change Static DNS IPs

##    This script reads a list of server names an changes the static DNS IP Addresses
##    You will need to change the location where your txt file of server names is
##    located by changing $list variable
##    You will need to change the DNSIPs variable
##    If you are changing WINS IP Settings, you’ll need to change the WINSIPs variable
##    and uncomment $WINSServers and $NIC.SetWINSServer($WINSServers)
##    This also outputs a file with the server name, old DNS Values and New DNS Values
##    and you will need to modify the location of the output file by changing
##    $OutputFileLocal variable
##    Writen by Brady Randolph of RBA Consulting
##    1/15/10

$list = “c:\servers.txt”
$DNSIPs = “172.16.2.10″,”172.16.250.10″
$WINSIPs = “172.16.2.10″,”172.16.250.10″
$OutputFileLocal = “c:\DNSOuput.txt”

$ServerList = get-content $list

foreach ($Server in $ServerList) {

    #Get NICS via WMI
    $NICs = Get-WmiObject -Class Win32_NetworkAdapterConfiguration -ComputerName $Server -Filter “IPEnabled=TRUE”

    foreach($NIC in $NICs) {

    $OldDNSValues = $NIC.DnsServerSearchOrder
    $DNSServers = $DNSIPs
    $NIC.SetDNSServerSearchOrder($DNSServers)
    $NIC.SetDynamicDNSRegistration(“TRUE”)
    #$WINSServers = $WINSIPs
    #$NIC.SetWINSServer($WINSServers)
        $NewDNSValues = $NIC.DnsServerSearchOrder
        #Output a list of the servers and their current DNS IP Settings
        $output = “$Server $OldDNSValues $NewDNSValues”
        Write-host $output
        out-file -filepath $OutputFileLocal -force -inputobject $output
    }
}

Playoff Weekend

The Vikes host the Dallas Cowboys this weekend in what should turn out to be an excellent game.  Both teams have weapons on either side of the ball and who makes the least amount of mistakes should win this contest.  I give the Vikings a slight advantage because of home field advantage, but if the Cowboys come out and take the crowd out of the game, they will be tough to beat.  On the other hand, if the Vikes come out with a bang, they are very hard to defeat with a raucous crowd behind them.  The defense feeds off of the crowd noise and Romo could find himself on the turn often.  The keys of the game will be which team can block the defensive end’s will win.  I am not making any predictions as last year I was burnt on several occasions, especially in the playoffs.  But a home win would be sweet.

KB974571 Breaks USMT 4.0

A client of mine ran into an issue where USMT began to fail with the following errors in the SMSTS.log file:

Failed to import the client certificate store (0×80092024) OSDSMPClient 
ClientRequestToMP::DoRequest failed (0×80092024). OSDSMPClient 
ExecuteCaptureRequestMP failed (0×80092024). OSDSMPClient 
ExecuteCaptureRequest failed (0×80092024). OSDSMPClient

—————————————————————-

Failed to run the action: Request User State Storage.
The administrative limit for this request was exceeded. (Error: 00002024; Source: Windows) TSManager

I found a couple sites saying KB974571 broke the SMS certificates on the client and uninstalling the patch on the client should resolve your issue.  If you don’t want to uninstall the patch on all machines, here is a workaround:

http://social.technet.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/configmgrosd/thread/53e310aa-3dfc-44ea-8e41-3ae1374d9437

A workaround would be to logon to your client and follow these steps:

1. On a target agent, run "mmc.exe", click File> Add/Remove Snap-in, click Add,
highlight the Certificates snap-in, and click Add.
2. In the Certificates snap-in dialog box, choose "Computer account", click Next,
and click Finish.
3. Click Close to close the Add Standalone Snap-in dialog box, and click OK to
close the Add/Remove Snap-in dialog box.
4. Browse to Certificates (Local Computer)> SMS> Certificates. You will have two
certificates in the right pane — SMS Encryption Certificate and SMS Signing
Certificate.
5. Double-click to open one of the certificates, say SMS Encryption Certificate.
6. On the Details tab, click Edit Properties.
7. Edit the Friendly name to make it something like SMS Encryption Certificate1.
8. Click OK to close the two dialog boxes.
9. Double-click to open the certificate again. Edit the Friendly name back to SMS
Encryption Certificate. Click OK to close the two dialog boxes.
10. Repeat the steps 5 – 9 on the other certificate.

Big Game in Carolina

After the bounce back performance Sunday vs. Bengals, the Vikings can clinch the NFC North Division with a win in Carolina and possibly the the 2nd seed and first round bye.  With a win and a Philadelphia loss, the Vikes are guaranteed the 2nd seed and if New Orleans falters the last few weeks, the playoffs could possibly run through the Metrodome.  Either way, the Vikings have clinched a spot in the playoffs for a second consecutive year.

SCCM OSD using Multicast

Here is a great article explaining Multicast and how to deploy it for OSD.

http://blogs.msdn.com/steverac/archive/2008/10/19/setting-up-multicasting-in-sccm.aspx

Thanks to Steve Rachui.

SCCM 2007 WDS and PXE Troubleshooting

I found this information very handy when I ran into an issue deploying WDS and PXE on SCCM 2007.

http://blogs.technet.com/smsandmom/archive/2008/09/17/configmgr-2007-troubleshooting-pxe-service-point-issues-and-wds-service-not-starting.aspx

Thanks to the Manageability Team!