Configuring SLP / MP in WINS

Configuring SLP in WINS

To manually configure the SMS 2003 Server Locator Point (SLP) server in WINS, type the following from a command prompt:

C:\>netsh <enter>
NETSH>wins <enter>
WINS>server <enter>
WINS SERVER>add name Name=SMS_SLP endchar=1A rectype=0 ip={xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx}
(NOTE: Replace x's with IP address of server acting as SLP)

Command completed successfully.
(This will appear if you used the proper syntax.)

This can also be configured in one simple command (all on one line) as follows:
wins server \\SERVERNAME add name Name=SMS_SLP endchar=1a rectype=0 ip={xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx}

To verify the SLP entry in WINS:

WINS SERVER>show name Name=SMS_SLP endchar=1A

Name : SMS_SLP [1Ah]
NodeType : 1
State : ACTIVE
Expiration Date : Infinite
Type of Rec : UNIQUE
Version No : 0 1bc1
RecordType : STATIC
IP Address : xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx
Command completed successfully.

Configuring MP in WINS
To manually configure the SMS 2003 Management Point (MP) in WINS, type:

WINS SERVER>add name Name=SMS_MP endchar=1A rectype=0 ip={xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx}
(NOTE: Replace x's with IP address of server acting as SLP)

Command completed successfully.
(This will appear if you used the proper syntax.)

To verify the MP entry in WINS:
WINS SERVER>show name Name=SMS_MP endchar=1A

Name : SMS_MP [1Ah]
NodeType : 1
State : ACTIVE
Expiration Date : Infinite
Type of Rec : UNIQUE
Version No : 0 1bc2
RecordType : STATIC
IP Address : xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx
Command completed successfully.

When finished, type:
WINS SERVER> exit <enter>
C:\>

Everything was going really well with the newest version of SMS 2003, including an average software distribution success rate of more than 95%. About a month later, when hardware became available, another primary site was configured at our Disaster Recovery location, including a separate server to act as a Central Site for both primary sites.

Problems Arise
From this point, strange things began to happen. Some of our SMS 2003 Advanced Clients were not even receiving configured advertisements and our success rate dipped as low as 60% successful.

Thanks to Michael Niehaus's expertise, the syntax for configuring a Management Point in WINS is slightly different if all the SMS sites in the hierarchy share the same WINS database!!!

Configure Multiple MPs in one WINS Database
To configure multiple SMS 2003 Management Points (MP) in WINS that share the same database, follow this syntax:

add name Name=MP_<sitecode> endchar=1A rectype=0 ip={xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx}
(NOTE: Replace x's with IP address of server acting as SLP)

To verify the MP entry in WINS:

show name Name=MP_<sitecode> endchar=1A

Enjoy,

Paddy