Complete WDS in 2008 Server

2.3. Deployment

The deployment story in Windows Server 2008 (and Windows Vista, for that matter) has radically changed. Windows Deployment Services (WDS) replaces the old Remote Installation Services (RIS) product that was included with Windows 2000 and Windows Server 2003. It has a number of enhancements, improvements, and new features, but perhaps the most important and the most useful of them is the ability for WDS to read, manage, and stream the new Windows Imaging Format (WIM). WIM support was first baked into Windows Vista and solves a number of problems that you may have stumbled on if you've worked with imaging products for Windows in the past. While WDS can still deploy what it calls "legacy" images—for example, Windows XP installations in the format you used to use in conjunction with Remote Installation Services—WDS shines when you set up different WIM files with boot and install images for different architectures and systems.

With some upfront grunt work (and that may be putting it mildly), you can significantly reduce the time it takes to achieve a complete deployment on machines that are of different types, architectures, and configurations. Let's take a look at some critical components of the deployment infrastructure under Windows Server 2008.

2.3.1. Windows Imaging Format

Windows Vista introduced the Windows Imaging Format, a hardware-independent format that stores images of the operating system. The premise of WIM is to make images many-to-one in nature; in other words, multiple images can be contained within one WIM file. Since Windows Vista was architected to be so modular, 95% of the base operating system can be replicated among any number of images; as a result, Microsoft itself can ship just one binary image for each processor architecture—x86 and x64—to everyone in the channel. Additionally, the sizes of each of the image files are reduced using single-instance storage techniques and enhanced compression. Further, you can create WIM files very easily for your own uses and modify them as well.

Perhaps the best usability improvement of the WIM format is the ability to edit images offline using standard file management tools like Windows Explorer. You can add files and folder to an image; for instance, instead of the painful driver addition process in Remote Installation Services, you can simply drop drivers directly into a WIM-based image and have them automatically present for future deployments. Best of all, you don't need to create independent images for each edit you make—the additions, modifications, and deletions you make can coexist in one image, reducing management burden.

2.3.2. Windows PE

Windows Pre Environment, or Windows PE, is an execution environment designed to assist in installing and troubleshooting operating system installations. Rather than the old blue-background, text-based installation screen with previous versions of NT, Windows PE comes in graphical format and contains a full complement of tools to assist with getting Windows Server 2008 and Windows Vista installed on a drive.

The big win with Windows PE is that standard Windows network drivers work with it out of the box—no hunting for special NDIS drivers only for network deployment use. Additionally, it has a built-in firewall to protect the operating system in its most vulnerable state, when it is partially installed, and the ability to insert drivers from any sort of removable media into the session. You might recall the frustration of only being able to add a driver by hitting F6 at the right moment of Setup and then having the driver only on a floppy disk. Windows PE eliminates this annoyance.

2.3.3. Windows Deployment Services

Windows Deployment Services is the next generation of Windows 2000 and Windows Server 2003's RIS. It released with Windows Server 2003 Service Pack 2 and is the only supported method of deploying Windows Vista over the network, so if you want to stream Vista images to desktops and notebooks over the Net, you'll need to upgrade your RIS servers to that service pack level and then deploy WDS. WDS supports both x86 and x64 images as well.

Like RIS, WDS uses the Preboot Execution Environment (PXE) capabilities of most modern BIOSes and network interface cards to load a session of Windows PE. Windows PE then presents a menu to the user consisting of all the appropriate image and configuration options available on the WDS machine. The user selects a target, and the image—in WIM format, of course—is laid onto the disk of the target machine. It's all very elegant when you have configured it properly, and it makes it possible to reimage a system—in some cases, with applications and configurations as well—in less than 30 minutes. Imagine the boon to your support department: instead of wasting hours tracking down some obscure problem, you simply stream a new image to a machine while the user is out to lunch, and voilà! Problem solved. True, that's a rosy case, but it's possible and realistic with WDS and WIM.

What's changed from RIS? Here's a quick rundown, courtesy of Microsoft:

• The ability to deploy Windows Vista and Windows Server 2008 aside from simply Windows XP and the old NT-based operating systems

• Windows PE can be used as a boot operating system, allowing for both deployment and troubleshooting

• Support for WIM deployments

• Ability to transmit data and images using multicast functionality, which allows the performance of deployment services over the network to scale significantly better and more efficiently

• An enhanced PXE server stub

• A new, more user-friendly boot menu format that is both easier to use and easier to configure

• A new management console that helps you manage WDS servers on your networks, and the boot and install images contained thereon

There are two types of WDS servers that you can create: a transport server and a deployment server. The transport server only offers the core networking services; it doesn't give you all the functionality of WDS but is useful if you want to take advantage of the multicasting features in larger environments. A deployment server offers everything that WDS offers, including the transport components. For the purposes of this section of the chapter, we'll assume that we are working with a deployment server.

2.3.4. Installing and Configuring Windows Deployment Services

To install WDS, you need a Windows Server 2008 machine that is somehow joined to a domain. You'll also need DHCP working on your network, a valid DNS architecture, a partition formatted as NTFS, and a user account that is both a domain user and a local administrator on the server running WDS. If you meet all those requirements, you can install WDS by loading Server Manager, clicking Add Roles on the Roles Summary pane, and then selecting Windows Deployment Services.

Once you have added the role, it's time to configure the WDS server. There is a command-line utility, aptly named WDSUTIL, and there is the graphical component, which is an MMC snap-in. For this example, we'll walk through the graphical interface for WDS.

Your first steps should be as follows.

1. We'll need to create a shared folder that stores the necessary programs and supporting files to enable PXE-based networking booting, the files for Windows PE which each machine will store in a dynamic RAM disk, the boot images for Windows PE itself so that it can fully run on your client machines, and the install images for your operating systems (these are the actual WIM files themselves that are meant to be deployed to your target machines).

2. We then have to tell WDS how to answer PXE requests from the network, so that incoming client requests are answered or ignored depending on how security-conscious you want your deployment to be.

3. Next, your DHCP settings should be changed, whether your DHCP service is hosted on a Windows Server 2008 machine or provided by some other network device. Specifically, all DHCP broadcasts on UDP port 67 by client computers should be forwarded directly to both the DHCP server and the Windows Deployment Services PXE server. Also, all traffic to UDP port 4011 from the client computers to the Windows Deployment Services PXE server should be routed appropriately. The WDS Configuration Wizard will take care of this step in most environments.

The Windows Deployment Services Configuration Wizard will handle a lot of these tasks for you, so let's load it and run through the wizard to get a baseline configuration prepared. If you haven't already, install the WDS role by using the Add Roles Wizard, which you can enter from the appropriate link at the bottom of the Initial Configuration Tasks page. Then, from the Administrative Tools submenu off the Start menu, select Windows Deployment Services. In the left pane, expand the server list, right-click on the current server, and select Configure Server. The wizard launches.

1. On the Select Server Roles screen, shown in Figure 2-8, check the Windows Deployment Services box and click Next.

   Figure 2-8. The Select Server Roles screen

   

2. The Overview of Windows Deployment Services screen appears, as shown in Figure 2-9. Read the overview and listing of requirements, and then click Next when you finish.

   Figure 2-9. The Overview of Windows Deployment Services screen

   

3. The Select Role Services screen appears, depicted in Figure 2-10. Here, you select which of WDS's two roles you want to install, or you can opt for both. The Deployment Server role provides all of the functions and features of WDS and requires the components of the Transport Server role, which actually move the bits and bytes of your operating system images around the network. You can install the Transport Server role without the Deployment Server role, but you cannot have the Deployment Server role without the Transport Server role. Try it; the Add Roles Wizard will flash an error if you attempt the remove the latter and keep the former. For the purposes of our demonstration here, select both roles and click Next.

   Figure 2-10. The Select Role Services screen

   

4. The Confirm Installation Selections screen appears. Verify the settings you've chosen in the wizard and then click the Install button. You may need to restart the machine you are using.

Once the WDS roles are installed, it is time to run the configuration wizard. The Welcome Page appears, as shown in Figure 2-11. Read the introduction and then click Next.

Figure 2-11. The Welcome Page of the Windows Deployment Services Configuration Wizard

The Remote Installation Folder Location screen appears, as shown in Figure 2-12. Here, you tell WDS where to store images to stream to clients. This folder must reside on a volume formatted by NTFS. It's recommended that you choose a volume that doesn't contain the Windows system files for best performance, although you won't be prevented from selecting the system disk—simply acknowledge the warning that will appear. Choose a path, and then click Next.

Figure 2-12. The Remote Installation Folder Location screen

The PXE Server Initial Settings screen appears, depicted in Figure 2-13. Here, you can establish whether your WDS machines will respond to clients who aren't made known to WDS before you begin their deployment. If you want any computer to be able to stream an image to its drive (subject to that user having appropriate permissions), then choose "Respond to all known and unknown client computers." You can also elect to have unknown clients make a request that can subsequently be approved by an administrator. To require that clients be prestaged within WDS, choose the second option, and to turn off WDS network booting completely, choose the first option. Click Finish to complete the wizard.

Figure 2-13. The PXE Server Initial Settings screen

The wizard will trundle for a while, completing the initial configuration steps, and then you will see the Configuration Complete screen, shown in Figure 2-14.

Figure 2-14. The Configuration Complete screen

Next up, you need to add the boot images. These are the images that download over the PXE-based network connection and set up the Windows PE-based environment in which all of the deployment magic happens. Expand the server to which you want to add the boot images, right-click on the Boot Images folder, and select Add Boot Image. Then, insert the operating system media into the local CD or DVD drive, and browse to the BOOT.WIM file (on the Windows Server 2008 DVD, it is located in the \Sources directory off of the root of the CD). Click Open, and then enter a friendly image name and description, click Next, and wait as the images are copied to the WDS machine's shared folder that you established during the configuration wizard.

Finally, you add the install images, which as you will recall are the actual target images streamed down over the network onto the machines on which you want an operating system installed. To get started, I recommend putting a default image of Windows Vista or Windows Server 2008 on your WDS machine. While this image won't come out of the box tweaked to your liking or with applications and settings preconfigured, I have found it useful to have the ability to install a vanilla Windows system over the network for other purposes as well. Additionally, you can start with these plain images, stream them to a system, customize them, capture the resulting image, and then re-upload it to the WDS machine, all without touching distribution media. To add a default install image of Windows Server 2008 onto your WDS machine:

1. Click on the server that will store the install image and expand it to expose the tree of folders beneath it.

2. Right-click on the Install Images folder in the left pane and select Add Install Image.

3. The Image Group screen appears, as shown in Figure 2-15. Type a name for this image group—groups are simply ways to organize collections of images. For example, type in Windows Server 2008 Installations into the group name box. You can then add more images later and store them in this group to make it easy to administer them from the WDS MMC snap-in. Click Next.

   Figure 2-15. The Image Group screen

   

4. The Image File screen appears. Browse the distribution media to find the INSTALL.WIM file located on the disc. For Windows Server 2008, you can find this image in the \Sources folder off the root of the media. Click Open.

5. The List of Available Images screen is next (see Figure 2-16). Here, you select which of the editions of the product you would like to make available to installation clients. Clear the checkboxes of images that you would like to exclude from the WDS server, and then click Next.

   Figure 2-16. The List of Available Images screen

   

6. The Summary screen shows Click Next to add the images to the store. This could take a while, as there is a lot to copy and manage.

Your boot and install images are now set up on the WDS server.

2.3.5. The Boot Menu

The Boot menu is a text-based screen that appears when WDS first begins loading after the PXE network environment has been established. The boot menu allows the user to choose between boot architectures—x86 clients can choose the right architecture, and there is a special boot version for x64 architectures as well—and further along in the process, it will dictate what choices appear in the installation menu.

WDS and 64-Bit Clients: A Quick Tip You might find that some of your x64-based hardware isn't being detected correctly by your hardware and/or the PXE software. In this case, you may want to explicitly instruct WDS to show both x64 and x86 options on the boot menu. The simplest way to do this is from the command line, as follows: WDSUTIL /Set-Server /Defaultx86x64ImageType:both

2.3.6. Creating and Modifying Images

Now that you have a sense of how to deploy WDS, and you have a few plain-vanilla install images on your server, you can set about creating custom images. You can create boot images and install images that are different from the defaults and suited to your requirements.

2.3.6.1. Creating and modifying boot images

You can create two different types of boot images for your needs: a capture image, which is what you boot a client computer into in order to capture an image of its hard drive for later deployment; and a discover image, which is used to install an operating system via WDS onto a computer that, for lack of hardware or software support, doesn't allow a PXE environment to be created.

Capture images automatically boot into the Windows Deployment Services Capture Utility in lieu of Setup. You use a capture image on a computer that is ready to be imaged, and once it is booted, a wizard creates an install image of the reference computer and saves it as a .wim file. You can then upload this WIM file onto your WDS server for deployment to other target machines. Alternatively, you can burn a CD or DVD that contains a capture image and the ImageX command-line utility. You can then boot the sourced system with the media, run ImageX to create the WIM-based image, and then connect over the network to a machine and upload that image for storage. I find it useful to have one of these capture image DVDs available, even if you choose not to make that method your standard way of capturing images.

To create a capture image:

1. Open the Windows Deployment Services MMC snap-in.

2. Expand Boot Images in the left pane.

3. Right-click on an image to use it as the foundation for your capture image, and select Create Capture Boot Image.

4. Enter a name, description, and the location to save the image.

5. Finish out the wizard and then right-click the boot image folder and select Add Boot Image from the resulting menu.

6. Browse to the new capture image you just created, and then click Next.

7. Finish the addition wizard and close out. Your capture image is now ready to be deployed.

The second type of boot image you can create, a discover image, forces Setup.exe to launch in Windows Deployment Services mode and then ping around the network to find an active WDS machine. You can use these images on a CD or DVD to allow WDS to stream deployments to machines that don't or won't support PXE. To create a discover image, use the following procedure:

1. Open the Windows Deployment Services MMC snap-in.

2. Expand Boot Images in the left pane.

3. Right-click on an image to use it as the foundation for your discover image, and select Create Discover Boot Image.

4. Enter a name, description, and the location to save the image.

5. Finish out the wizard and then right-click the boot image folder and select Add Boot Image from the resulting menu.

6. Browse to the new discover image you just created, and then click Next.

7. Finish the addition wizard and close out. Your discover image is now ready to be deployed.

If you are interested in creating hard media, such as a CD or DVD, to contain your discover image, you can download the Windows Automated Installation Kit from the Microsoft web site and install it. From that point, open a command prompt to the C:\Program Files\Windows AIK\Tools\PETools folder and commence the following procedure:

1. Create a Windows PE build environment by entering CopyPE {arch} c:\WinPE, replacing the architecture of the boot image you'd like when issuing the command.

2. Copy the discover image to a target directory using the following command:

   copy /y c:\boot.wim c:\winpe\iso\sources 

   
   

3. Go back to the PETools folder in step one, and create the bootable ISO image using the OSCDIMG utility that is bundled in the Windows Automated Installation Kit. Type the following:

   oscdimg -b -bc:\winpe\ISO\boot\etfsboot.com c:\windpe\ISO c:\winpe.sio 

   
   

4. Burn the resulting c:\winpe.iso file to a CD or DVD using your preferred burning and mastering software.

2.3.6.2. Creating install images

You can build custom install images (the images that consist of the actual operating system and any changes you want to bake into the package) from prepared computers and upload them for deployment to target machines. Generally, you boot the source computer normally, run the sysprep utility in most cases to strip out physical machine-specific information and security identifiers, then reboot into a WDS-based capture image, take a WIM-formatted image of the client, upload it somewhere else, and then reboot.

Specifically, after you have finished configuring the source (or reference, as Microsoft refers to it) computer the way you'd like it to be imaged, run the following from the command line:

sysprep /oobe /generalize /reboot 

After the utility has finished and the computer has restarted, press F12 and select the capture image from the boot menu that will be displayed. Choose the drive that contains the operating system on which you just ran SYSPREP, provide a name and description for the image, and click Next to continue. Then browse to a location on the machine where you can store the resulting .WIM file, enter a name of the image file, and then click Save. Finally, click "Upload image to WDS Server," enter the name of your WDS machine, and click Connect, entering credentials if prompted or necessary. (Choose the correct image group along the way if you are so prompted.)

Click Finish, and your image will be created, prepared, and uploaded, and will be ready for deployment to your target machines.

2.3.6.3. Sysprep: the system preparation tool

The most common catch to any imaging solution is the need to identify and scrub security identifier (SID) information from your image. Deploying an image onto multiple computers, all with the same SID information, is an invitation to disaster. Sysprep is the answer to this problem.

Sysprep will not reimage a domain controller, a member of any cluster, or a machine functioning as a certificate server because of the inherent machine-specific characteristics of those services. However, after Sysprep has completed, these services are certainly supported and available to be installed.

Here's an overview of how Sysprep works:

1. You generate a prototype image and configure everything on that system as needed.

2. You then copy the profile of the account that has the settings and customizations you've been performing to the Default User profile, so that all future users of the system get those tweaks.

3. Then you run Sysprep. This scrubs SIDs and personal information from your prototype and shuts down the machine.

4. Next, you boot the computer from your WDS capture image and generate the WIM file. You can optionally upload that image as well.

5. Finally, you reboot the computer without the floppy, and proceed through mini-Setup again so that all personal information can be restored and new SIDs can be generated. (You can script this process so that a mini-unattended installation is performed.)

2.3.7. Configuring and Performing Unattended Installations with Scripts

If you are interested in further automating the deployment of operating systems using WDS, look into using unattended installation scripts: not only can you kick off an OS deployment over the network, but you can customize the responses to setup prompts, installed programs, product keys that are configured, and more, so that even if you aren't using an imaged system, you achieve a consistent setup on all machines you roll out.

In Windows Server 2008 and Windows Deployment Services, there are essentially two different unattend files: a WDS client unattend file, which resides on the WDS server and directs the WDS client interface to install the right image and partition disks correctly; and the actual unattend file for the image itself, which is the type of unattend file with which you may be more familiar. This is stored in the $OEM$ structure common in the Windows 2000 and Windows Server 2003 days, or in the \Unattend directory in the image, and automates the remainder of the Setup process that the WDS unattend file can't address.

You'll find the Windows Automated Installation Kit will come in handy if you are creating more than the simplest unattend files—in particular, the Windows System Image Manager can walk you through creating an unattend file, which can then be assigned (associated, in effect) either to clients hitting a specific server or specific clients themselves, as well as different machines based on x86 and x64 architectures.

The format of the WDS client unattend file is easy to read, as it's in XML, which has a familiar syntax and structure. A sample follows.

Code View:

<?xml version="1.0" ?> <unattend xmlns="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:unattend">    <settings pass="windowsPE">       <component name="Microsoft-Windows-Setup" publicKeyToken="31bf3856ad364e35" language="neutral" versionScope="nonSxS" processorArchitecture="x86">          <WindowsDeploymentServices>             <Login>                <WillShowUI>OnError</WillShowUI>                <Credentials>                      <Username>username</Username>                      <Domain>domain</Domain>                      <Password>password</Password>                   </Credentials>                </Login>             <ImageSelection>                <WillShowUI>OnError</WillShowUI>                <InstallImage>                   <ImageName>Windows Vista x86</ImageName>                   <ImageGroup>Windows Vista</ImageGroup>                   <Filename>Install.wim</Filename>                </InstallImage>                   <InstallTo>                   <DiskID>0</DiskID>                   <PartitionID>1</PartitionID>                </InstallTo>             </ImageSelection>          </WindowsDeploymentServices>          <DiskConfiguration>             <WillShowUI>OnError</WillShowUI>                <Disk>                   <DiskID>0</DiskID>                   <WillWipeDisk>false</WillWipeDisk>                   <ModifyPartitions>                      <ModifyPartition>                         <Order>1</Order>                         <PartitionID>1</PartitionID>                         <Letter>C</Letter>                         <Label>CLIENTMACHINE</Label>                         <Format>NTFS</Format>                         <Active>true</Active>                         <Extend>false</Extend>                      </ModifyPartition>                   </ModifyPartitions>             </Disk>          </DiskConfiguration>       </component>       <component name="Microsoft-Windows-International-Core-WinPE" publicKeyToken="31bf3856ad364e35" language="neutral" versionScope="nonSxS" processorArchitecture="x86">          <SetupUILanguage>             <WillShowUI>OnError</WillShowUI>             <UILanguage>en-US</UILanguage>          </SetupUILanguage>          <UILanguage>en-US</UILanguage>       </component>    </settings> </unattend>   					  

Here's the process to integrate unattend files with your WDS deployment. Start by associating the WDS unattend file to the appropriate image.

1. Create your unattend.xml file for the WDS client. I suggest using the Windows System Image Manager, part of the Windows Automated Installation Kit.

2. Once you've created the unattend.xml file, upload it to your WDS server at the \RemoteInstall\WDSClient\Unattend folder.

3. Open Windows Deployment Services Manager.

4. Right-click the WDS server that is hosting the image to which your new unattend file should be assigned, and click Properties.

5. Navigate to the Client tab.

6. Check the "Enable unattended installation" box, browse to your unattend file at \RemoteInstall\WDSClient\Unattend folder (use the full network path—don't go through the WDS server's local C: drive), and click Open.

7. Click OK.

Next, you can associate the Windows Setup unattended file to the image for a full hands-off deployment. To do so:

1. Open Windows Deployment Services Manager.

2. Expand the image group that contains the image you want to use.

3. Right-click the specific image and select Properties.

4. Navigate to the General tab.

5. Click "Allow image to install in unattend mode," and then click the Select file and browse to your Windows Setup unattend file. Click OK.

6. Click OK to close out of the Properties sheet.

sccm log files

Client Log Files

* CAS - Content Access Service. Maintains the local package cache.
* Ccmexec.log - Records activities of the client and the SMS Agent Host service.
* CertificateMaintenance.log - Maintains certificates for Active Directory directory service and management points.
* ClientIDManagerStartup.log - Creates and maintains the client GUID.
* ClientLocation.log - Site assignment tasks.
* ContentTransferManager.log - Schedules the Background Intelligent Transfer Service (BITS) or the Server Message Block (SMB) to download or to access SMS packages.
* DataTransferService.log - Records all BITS communication for policy or package access.
* Execmgr.log - Records advertisements that run.
* FileBITS.log - Records all SMB package access tasks.
* Fsinvprovider.log (renamed to FileSystemFile.log in all SMS 2003 Service Packs) - Windows Management Instrumentation (WMI) provider for software inventory and file collection.
* InventoryAgent.log - Creates discovery data records (DDRs) and hardware and software inventory records.
* LocationServices.log - Finds management points and distribution points.
* Mifprovider.log - The WMI provider for .MIF files.
* Mtrmgr.log - Monitors all software metering processes.
* PolicyAgent.log - Requests policies by using the Data Transfer service.
* PolicyAgentProvider.log - Records policy changes.
* PolicyEvaluator.log - Records new policy settings.
* Remctrl.log - Logs when the remote control component (WUSER32) starts.
* Scheduler.log - Records schedule tasks for all client operations.
* Smscliui.log - Records usage of the Systems Management tool in Control Panel.
* StatusAgent.log - Logs status messages that are created by the client components.
* SWMTRReportGen.log - Generates a usage data report that is collected by the metering agent. (This data is logged in Mtrmgr.log.)

Server Log Files

* Ccm.log - Client Configuration Manager tasks.
* Cidm.log - Records changes to the client settings by the Client Install Data Manager (CIDM).
* Colleval.log - Logs when collections are created, changed, and deleted by the Collection Evaluator.
* Compsumm.log - Records Component Status Summarizer tasks.
* Cscnfsvc.log - Records Courier Sender confirmation service tasks.
* Dataldr.log - Processes Management Information Format (MIF) files and hardware inventory in the Configuration Manager 2007 database.
* Ddm.log - Saves DDR information to the Configuration Manager 2007 database by the Discovery Data Manager.
* Despool.log - Records incoming site-to-site communication transfers.
* Distmgr.log - Records package creation, compression, delta replication, and information updates.
* Hman.log - Records site configuration changes, and publishes site information in Active Directory Domain Services.
* Inboxast.log - Records files that are moved from the management point to the corresponding SMS\INBOXES folder.
* Inboxmgr.log - Records file maintenance.
* Invproc.log - Records the processing of delta MIF files for the Dataloader component from client inventory files.
* Mpcontrol.log - Records the registration of the management point with WINS. Records the availability of the management point every 10 minutes.
* Mpfdm.log - Management point component that moves client files to the corresponding SMS\INBOXES folder.
* MPMSI.log - Management point .msi installation log.
* MPSetup.log - Records the management point installation wrapper process.
* Ntsvrdis.log - Configuration Manager 2007 server discovery.
* Offermgr.log - Records advertisement updates.
* Offersum.log - Records summarization of advertisement status messages.
* Policypv.log - Records updates to the client policies to reflect changes to client settings or advertisements.
* Replmgr.log - Records the replication of files between the site server components and the Scheduler component.
* Rsetup.log - Reporting point setup log.
* Sched.log - Records site-to-site job and package replication.
* Sender.log - Records files that are sent to other child and parent sites.
* Sinvproc.log - Records client software inventory data processing to the site database in Microsoft SQL Server.
* Sitecomp.log - Records maintenance of the installed site components.
* Sitectrl.log - Records site setting changes to the Sitectrl.ct0 file.
* Sitestat.log - Records the monitoring process of all site systems.
* Smsdbmon.log - Records database changes.
* Smsexec.log - Records processing of all site server component threads.
* Smsprov.log - Records WMI provider access to the site database.
* SMSReportingInstall.log - Records the Reporting Point installation. This component starts the installation tasks and processes configuration changes.
* SMSSHVSetup.log - Records the success or failure (with failure reason) of installing the System Health Validator point.
* Srvacct.log - Records the maintenance of accounts when the site uses standard security.
* Statmgr.log - Writes all status messages to the database.
* Swmproc.log - Processes metering files and maintains settings.


Admin Console Log Files

* RepairWizard.log - Records errors, warnings, and information about the process of running the Repair Wizard.
* ResourceExplorer.log - Records errors, warnings, and information about running the Resource Explorer.
* SMSAdminUI.log - Records the local Configuration Manager 2007 console tasks when you connect to Configuration Manager 2007 sites.

Management Point Log Files

* MP_Ddr.log - Records the conversion of XML.ddr records from clients, and copies them to the site server.
* MP_GetAuth.log - Records the status of the site management points.
* MP_GetPolicy.log - Records policy information.
* MP_Hinv.log - Converts XML hardware inventory records from clients and copies the files to the site server.
* MP_Location.log - Records location manager tasks.
* MP_Policy.log - Records policy communication.
* MP_Relay.log - Copies files that are collected from the client.
* MP_Retry.log - Records the hardware inventory retry processes.
* MP_Sinv.log - Converts XML hardware inventory records from clients and copies them to the site server.
* MP_Status.log - Converts XML.svf status message files from clients and copies them to the site server.

Mobile Device Management Log Files

* DmClientHealth.log - Records the GUIDs of all the mobile device clients that are communicating with the Device Management Point.
* DmClientRegistration.log - Records registration requests from and responses to the mobile device client in Native mode.
* DmpDatastore.log - Records all the site database connections and queries made by the Device Management Point.
* DmpDiscovery.log - Records all the discovery data from the mobile device clients on the Device Management Point.
* DmpFileCollection.log - Records mobile device file collection data from mobile device clients on the Device Management Point.
* DmpHardware.log - Records hardware inventory data from mobile device clients on the Device Management Point.
* DmpIsapi.log - Records mobile device communication data from device clients on the Device Management Point.
* dmpMSI.log - Records the MSI data for Device Management Point setup.
* DMPSetup.log - Records the mobile device management setup process.
* DmpSoftware.log - Records mobile device software distribution data from mobile device clients on the Device Management Point.
* DmpStatus.log - Records mobile device status messages data from mobile device clients on the Device Management Point.
* FspIsapi.log - Records Fallback Status Point communication data from mobile device clients and client computers on the Fallback Status Point.

Mobile Device Client Log Files

* DmCertEnroll.log - Records certificate enrollment data on mobile device clients.
* DMCertResp.htm (in \temp) - Records HTML response from the certificate server when the mobile device Enroller program requests a client authentication certificate on mobile device clients.
* DmClientSetup.log - Records client setup data on mobile device clients.
* DmClientXfer.log - Records client transfer data for Windows Mobile Device Center and ActiveSync deployments.
* DmCommonInstaller.log - Records client transfer file installation for setting up mobile device client transfer files on client computers.
* DmInstaller.log - Records whether DMInstaller correctly calls DmClientSetup and whether DmClientSetup exits with success or failure on mobile device clients.
* DmInvExtension.log - Records Inventory Extension file installation for setting up Inventory Extension files on client computers.
* DmSvc.log - Records mobile device management service data on mobile device clients.

Operating System Deployment Log Files

* CCMSetup.log - Provides information about client-based operating system actions.
* CreateTSMedia.log - Provides information about task sequence media when it is created. This log is generated on the computer running the Configuration Manager 2007 administrator console.
* DriverCatalog.log - Provides information about device drivers that have been imported into the driver catalog.
* MP_ClientIDManager.log - Provides information about the Configuration Manager 2007 management point when it responds to Configuration Manager 2007 client ID requests from boot media or PXE. This log is generated on the Configuration Manager 2007 management point.
* MP_DriverManager.log - Provides information about the Configuration Manager 2007 management point when it responds to a request from the Auto Apply Driver task sequence action. This log is generated on the Configuration Manager 2007 management point.
* MP_Location.log - Provides information about the Configuration Manager 2007 management point when it responds to request state store or release state store requests from the state migration point. This log is generated on the Configuration Manager 2007 management point.
* Pxecontrol.log - Provides information about the PXE Control Manager.
* PXEMsi.log - Provides information about the PXE service point and is generated when the PXE service point site server has been created.
* PXESetup.log - Provides information about the PXE service point and is generated when the PXE service point site server has been created.
* Setupact.log Setupapi.log Setuperr.log Provide information about Windows Sysprep and setup logs.
* SmpIsapi.log - Provides information about the state migration point Configuration Manager 2007 client request responses.
* Smpmgr.log - Provides information about the results of state migration point health checks and configuration changes.
* SmpMSI.log - Provides information about the state migration point and is generated when the state migration point site server has been created.
* Smsprov.log - Provides information about the SMS provider.
* Smspxe.log - Provides information about the Configuration Manager 2007 PXE service point.
* SMSSMPSetup.log - Provides information about the state migration point and is generated when the state migration point site server has been created.
* Smsts.log - General location for all operating system deployment and task sequence log events.
* TaskSequenceProvider.log - Provides information about task sequences when they are imported, exported, or edited.
* USMT Log loadstate.log - Provides information about the User State Migration Tool (USMT) regarding the restore of user state data.
* USMT Log scanstate.log - Provides information about the USMT regarding the capture of user state data.

Network Access Protection Log Files

* Ccmcca.log - Logs the processing of compliance evaluation based on Configuration Manager NAP policy processing and contains the processing of remediation for each software update required for compliance.
* CIAgent.log - Tracks the process of remediation and compliance. However, the software updates log file, *Updateshandler.log - provides more informative details on installing the software updates required for compliance.
* locationservices.log - Used by other Configuration Manager features (for example, information about the client's assigned site) but also contains information specific to Network Access Protection when the client is in remediation. It records the names of the required remediation servers (management point, software update point, and distribution points that host content required for compliance), which are also sent in the client statement of health.
* SDMAgent.log - Shared with the Configuration Manager feature desired configuration management and contains the tracking process of remediation and compliance. However, the software updates log file, Updateshandler.log, provides more informative details about installing the software updates required for compliance.
* SMSSha.log - The main log file for the Configuration Manager Network Access Protection client and contains a merged statement of health information from the two Configuration Manager components: location services (LS) and the configuration compliance agent (CCA). This log file also contains information about the interactions between the Configuration Manager System Health Agent and the operating system NAP agent, and also between the Configuration Manager System Health Agent and both the configuration compliance agent and the location services. It provides information about whether the NAP agent successfully initialized, the statement of health data, and the statement of health response.

System Health Validator Point Log Files

* Ccmperf.log -Contains information about the initialization of the System Health Validator point performance counters.
* SmsSHV.log - The main log file for the System Health Validator point; logs the basic operations of the System Health Validator service, such as the initialization progress.
* SmsSHVADCacheClient.log - Contains information about retrieving Configuration Manager health state references from Active Directory Domain Services.
* SmsSHVCacheStore.log - Contains information about the cache store used to hold the Configuration Manager NAP health state references retrieved from Active Directory Domain Services, such as reading from the store and purging entries from the local cache store file. The cache store is not configurable.
* SmsSHVRegistrySettings.log - Records any dynamic changes to the System Health Validator component configuration while the service is running.
* SmsSHVQuarValidator.log - Records client statement of health information and processing operations. To obtain full information, change the registry key LogLevel from 1 to 0 in the following location:HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\SMSSHV\Logging\@GLOBAL

Desired Configuration Management Log Files

* ciagent.log - Provides information about downloading, storing, and accessing assigned configuration baselines.
* dcmagent.log - Provides high-level information about the evaluation of assigned configuration baselines and desired configuration management processes.
* discovery.log - Provides detailed information about the Service Modeling Language (SML) processes.
* sdmagent.log - Provides information about downloading, storing, and accessing configuration item content.
* sdmdiscagent.log - Provides high-level information about the evaluation process for the objects and settings configured in the referenced configuration items.

Wake On LAN Log Files

* Wolmgr.log - Contains information about wake-up procedures such as when to wake up advertisements or deployments that are configured for Wake On LAN.
* WolCmgr.log - Contains information about which clients need to be sent wake-up packets, the number of wake-up packets sent, and the number of wake-up packets retried.


Software Updates Site Server Log Files

* ciamgr.log - Provides information about the addition, deletion, and modification of software update configuration items.
* distmgr.log - Provides information about the replication of software update deployment packages.
* objreplmgr.log - Provides information about the replication of software updates notification files from a parent to child sites.
* PatchDownloader.log - Provides information about the process for downloading software updates from the update source specified in the software updates metadata to the download destination on the site server.
* replmgr.log - Provides information about the process for replicating files between sites.
* smsdbmon.log - Provides information about when software update configuration items are inserted, updated, or deleted from the site server database and creates notification files for software updates components.
* SUPSetup - Provides information about the software update point installation. When the software update point installation completes, Installation was successful is written to this log file.
* WCM.log - Provides information about the software update point configuration and connecting to the Windows Server Update Services (WSUS) server for subscribed update categories, classifications, and languages.
* WSUSCtrl.log - Provides information about the configuration, database connectivity, and health of the WSUS server for the site.
* wsyncmgr.log -Provides information about the software updates synchronization process.

WSUS Server Log Files

* Change.log - Provides information about the WSUS server database information that has changed.
* SoftwareDistribution.log - Provides information about the software updates that are synchronized from the configured update source to the WSUS server database.

Software Updates Client Computer Log Files

* CAS.log - Provides information about the process of downloading software updates to the local cache and cache management.
* CIAgent.log - Provides information about processing configuration items, including software updates.
* LocationServices.log - Provides information about the location of the WSUS server when a scan is initiated on the client.
* PatchDownloader.log - Provides information about the process for downloading software updates from the update source to the download destination on the site server. This log is only on the client computer configured as the synchronization host for the Inventory Tool for Microsoft Updates.
* PolicyAgent.log - Provides information about the process for downloading, compiling, and deleting policies on client computers.
* PolicyEvaluator - Provides information about the process for evaluating policies on client computers, including policies from software updates.
* RebootCoordinator.log - Provides information about the process for coordinating system restarts on client computers after software update installations.
* ScanAgent.log - Provides information about the scan requests for software updates, what tool is requested for the scan, the WSUS location, and so on.
* ScanWrapper - Provides information about the prerequisite checks and the scan process initialization for the Inventory Tool for Microsoft Updates on Systems Management Server (SMS) 2003 clients.
* SdmAgent.log - Provides information about the process for verifying and decompressing packages that contain configuration item information for software updates.
* ServiceWindowManager.log - Provides information about the process for evaluating configured maintenance windows.
* smscliUI.log - Provides information about the Configuration Manager Control Panel user interactions, such as initiating a Software Updates Scan Cycle from the Configuration Manager Properties dialog box, opening the Program Download Monitor, and so on.
* SmsWusHandler - Provides information about the scan process for the Inventory Tool for Microsoft Updates on SMS 2003 client computers.
* StateMessage.log - Provides information about when software updates state messages are created and sent to the management point.
* UpdatesDeployment.log - Provides information about the deployment on the client, including software update activation, evaluation, and enforcement. Verbose logging shows additional information about the interaction with the client user interface.
* UpdatesHandler.log - Provides information about software update compliance scanning and about the download and installation of software updates on the client.
* UpdatesStore.log - Provides information about the compliance status for the software updates that were assessed during the compliance scan cycle.
* WUAHandler.log - Provides information about when the Windows Update Agent on the client searches for software updates.
* WUSSyncXML.log - Provides information about the Inventory Tool for the Microsoft Updates synchronization process. This log is only on the client computer configured as the synchronization host for the Inventory Tool for Microsoft Updates.


Windows Update Agent Log File

* WindowsUpdate.log - Provides information about when the Windows Update Agent connects to the WSUS server and retrieves the software updates for compliance assessment and whether there are updates to the agent components
-------------------
Thanks,
Paddy

Best Step by step from the site for SCCM

http://www.windows-noob.com/forums/index.php?/forum/71-reports/

Solar Power Technology

Yep I back after 10 years almost!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

Yes it's me MAD SOLOR MAD

Introduction: Most of the electricity in India comes from fossil-fuels like coal, oil and natural gas. Today the demand of electricity in India is increasing  where as the reserves of the fossil-fuel are depleting every day. The demand of electricity is already more than the production of electricity. We can feel this fact from the electricity-cuts during summer. Luckily Sun throws so much energy over India, that if can trap few minutes of solar energy falling over India we can provide India with electricity for whole year. Most parts of India get 7 KWH/ sq-meter of energy per day averaged over a year.

                We have gathered the most advanced techniques in solar world to provide cost efficient systems.  We are working towards our dream to eliminate the problem of electricity in India. This article gives a glance of our technology. This article does not have all the details of our technology and is a mere introduction.

Solar Cell :  A Solar cell is made up of silicon semiconductor wafer. The Solar cell generates current when light strikes on it. There are lots of technologies being used for PV cells today. Poly-Crystalline is the most widely used technology. As of today commercial  Solar cells have efficiency of 17% at max. Usually the poly-crystalline solar panels have 15 % efficiency. The power generated by a solar-cell is function of lots factors that are beyond the scope of this article. Our technology extracts every drop of  power from these solar panels to make our systems price-effective.

Solar Panel: A Solar panel is nothing but number of solar-cells connected in series and parallel to get desired voltage/current. Besides this, these solar cells are encapsulated in weather-proof material to guard the solar-cells against rain, hail , dust, wind etc. Most of solar panels are framed in aluminum-frame to provide structural re-enforcement and facilitate installation. PV arrays or panels are the most expensive part of the solar power system.

    We have done extensive research on Lead-Acid batteries and  Solar-cells to design optimum system that can give maximum efficiency and provide long life to batteries. Following are the few features of our systems.

1. Enhanced Solar Charge Controller: It seems very easy at first, hook the Solar Panels to battery or a load. But it is very complicated to extract energy from solar panels and feed it to batteries for use during night. The very first charge controllers just connected the solar panels to battery and switched off the panels when battery reached a specific voltage. Such systems waste significant part of the solar energy and kill the batteries. You can see that batteries used in inverters in homes die within 2-3 years where as battery life is much longer.

2. Temperature compensation: The characteristics of a Lead Acid battery change with battery temperature. The temperature of battery is decided by ambient temperature and the heat produced from internal resistance. For example a typical lead acid  battery is fully charged at 13.6 Volt at 45 Degree Celsius and 14.7 Volt at 0 Degree Celsius. India has extreme temperature conditions, during summer the temperature reaches 47 Degrees and in Winter it touches 5 Degrees. Under these conditions if we don't use temperature compensation we will overcharge the battery during summer resulting in excessive gassing and reduced battery life. During winter the battery will remain under-charged. Our systems monitor the battery temperature continuously and adjust the battery charging accordingly. 

3. Three stage battery charging: Our systems will use advanced three stage battery charge controllers to provide maximum efficiency and longer battery life. The three stage battery charger can be explained using simple analogy. The three stage charging is just like filling an empty pot with water. In starting we fill the pot with maximum speed and as the pot gets near to full , slow down the flow of water to gently top off the pot without spilling.

Bulk Stage. In the stage maximum current from the solar panels is transferred to batteries as inferred by the word "bulk".

Absorption Stage: In this stage, only that much charge is given to the battery as much battery can take. The battery is not forced to take the         charge it does not want to take.

Float: In this stage the battery is trickle charged to maintain the charge.

4. Batteries: Lead Acid batteries are most popular for storing electrical energy when the application is stationary. You would have seen the Lead Acid batteries used in inverters. Lead Acid batteries can be divided in two basic categories.

Automotive Battery: These batteries are used in  automobiles like cars, trucks for starting the engine. Lots of people use these batteries for inverters. These batteries are not suitable for inverters at all. These batteries are designed to provide high current for short time like starting the engine. If they are fully discharged repeatedly, just like in inverters, they will die soon. As you see most of cheap inverter batteries die in  2 years. Automotive batteries are designed for a discharge of 10%.

Deep Cycle Batteries: These batteries are designed for deep-discharging. These are the batteries designed for inverters and Solar Power systems. We will be using only high quality Deep-Cycle batteries in our system. These batteries are designed to provide low-current for long period and are built to survive deep-discharges. Our systems will provide a battery life of 7 years and above. There are further classifications in the deep-cycle batteries like flooded and VRLA etc. More details on the batteries are beyond the scope of this article.

5. Inverter:  The inverter is used to convert the DC power from solar panels to 220V AC. There are two types of inverters in the market

a) Modified sine Wave: These inverters produce modified sine wave. The harmonic distortion in these inverters can be as much 50%. These are cheaper and are and more efficient inverters. Most of the inverters used in homes are modified sine wave. These are good for most of the appliances. But if  these inverters are used for long time motors-based appliances run hotter. Also lots of appliances don't run on modified-sine wave at all like medical equipment.

b) Pure sine Wave: These inverters provide pure sine wave just like the mains power. These inverters have bit less efficiency than the modified sine wave, but these inverters can run all kind of appliances as these inverters provide pure sine wave. These are usually 2-3 times costlier than modified-sine wave inverters.

We are planning to use the pure-sine wave inverters in all major systems, so that all appliances  can run on the power they are designed for. Appliances run cooler, run silent on pure-sine wave inverters and enjoy a long life.
-------------------
Thanks,
Paddy

Deleting Invalid SMS 2003 Distribution Points

Deleting Invalid SMS 2003 Distribution Points

If a server is decommissioned before removing SMS, orphaned Distribution Points are left in the SMS 2003 database. This becomes apparent in the SMS Administrator Console when trying to add a package to a Distribution Point, showing blank DP entries.

This post provides information on methods to cleanse the SMS database, with all methods going through the SMS provider.

Method 1 - Use the CleanDP.vbs VBScript

cscript CleanDP.vbs %server%

Method 2 - Use WMIC

Query for the distribution points for the server:

wmic /namespace:\\root\sms\site_%sitecode% /node:%server% path sms_distributionpoint WHERE "ServerNALPath like '%serverToDelete%'" get *

And then execute the delete method against the distribution point:

wmic /namespace:\\root\sms\site_%sitecode% server% path sms_distributionpoint WHERE "ServerNALPath like '%serverToDelete%'" delete

Note that the delete command can be quite powerful, use the /interactive:on global switch to prompt for each deletion.

Method 3 - Use the WMI CIM Studio

The Microsoft WMI CIM Studio application provides a GUI interface for WMI management, allowing connections to servers and paths, along with executing WQL queries and providing the possibility of deleting the result set.

' -- CleanDP.vbs
'
' Update strSiteServer and strSiteCode, and uncomment the objDP.Delete_ line
'
strSiteServer = "SERVER"
  strSiteCode = "AAA"

If WScript.Arguments.UnNamed.Count = 1 Then
 strServer = WScript.Arguments.UnNamed(0)
Else
 WScript.Echo "Provide a server to delete all the packages from"
 WScript.Quit(2)
  End If 

wscript.echo strserver

Set objNameSpace = GetObject("winmgmts:" & "\\" & strSiteServer & "\root\sms\site_" & strSiteCode)

strQuery =  "SELECT * " & _
    "FROM SMS_DistributionPoint " & _
  "WHERE ServerNalPath Like '%" & strServer & "%'"

Set objDPSet = objNameSpace.ExecQuery(strQuery)
For each objDP in objDPSet
   wscript.echo objDP.PackageID & ", " & objDP.SiteCode & ", " & objDP.ServerNALPath & ", " & objDP.Status
 'objDP.Delete_
Next 

-------------------
Enjoy,

DP Basics to Advanced- Step by Step

 

 

I will start with the basics here:

Requirements

• OS - Windows Server 2000 SP4 or newer. Although not supported, in small offices you can sometimes get away with using a Windows XP desktop. There is a limit to 10 connections on a share, so this should only be used in offices with less than 10, and be thoroughly tested before put into production.
  
• Permissions - SMS Site Server added to local Admin group on the server targeted to be the DP, and if a file share is used, the local admin group should have full rights, and authenticated users grated read permissions. This will ensure that the system accounts on the targeted PCs can access the packages.
  

Optional:

• IIS installed with WebDav enabled – this is required if you are going to use BITS on the DP. Depending on the connection to targeted clients this may be a nice thing to have, but you must also consider the security risks of having IIS installed, and lock it down accordingly. This will allow the site to control the rate at which the package is copied to the local cache on the client, and allow the client to resume the download if the connection is lost instead of beginning the download again from scratch. This should be considered for any DP that remote, VPN, and Dialup users will use.
  

Considerations:
When choosing a server for a DP, and deciding whether to use a file share or accessing the entire server you must consider your end result. If you add the server, you will be giving SMS access to all drives, and creating a package share on each NTFS formatted drive, unless you create an empty file named No_SMS_on_drive.sms and place it on the root of that drive. SMS will place the packages on the drive that has the most free space available. This may change as drive space changes. If you are going to use this server for anything else besides a DP, such as a Reporting Point, you will have to add it as a site system. If you add a share you have created, you will force SMS to always use that location. This can be helpful if you need to ensure the path does not change from one DP to another, or you want to be able to find where the packages are being copied. I typically use a share called SMSPKG on all my file servers for this reason.

The second item, and maybe it should be the first, is space. My 1st DP only had 50 Gig of free space, and to this day I could still survive with that so long as I do not put my OSD images there. I now require a minimum of 40 Gig free on all DPs, and 250 Gig on my site server for packages. This is because I have all packages on my site server, but only what is needed on the other DPs. The big question is how much space are you going to need 2-3 years from now. There are some calculations out there but it all comes down to how much you need today, and how much will you grow. Between OSD images, Office packages, and 50-100 other applications you will need to have available in your site for your company, I believe the standard is to allow enough room for your package repositories to double in size. I know some companies require over 250 Gig on all DPs due to the amount of packages required for day to day business.

Last is which site you want to add the DP to. If you have only one site this is not an issue, but if you have multiple sites, you will need to create the DP in the same site as the clients it will serve. DPs from a child are visible to the parent site(s) so they can assign packages, but a child site cannot see or assign packages to DPs on a parent site.

Standard DP:

• Add site server to local Administrators group on the select server
  
• Create a share (If needed) and set permissions
  
• Create an empty file named No_SMS_on_drive.sms and place it in the root of any drives you do not want used for packages if adding as a site system
  
• From the SMS Console, go to
  System Management Server\Site Database\Site Hierarchy\"Site Name"\Site Settings\Site Systems
  
• Right click on Site Systems, and choose New, Server (or Server Share depending on you need)
  
• Click Set and enter the server name and share depending on your selection above, and click OK.
  
• If you are running 2003 SP2, and have extended the schema, click Specify a Fully Qualified Host Name. This will allow clients to find the site systems using DNS, reducing network traffic.
  
• Click the Distribution Point tab
  
• Click Use this site system as a distribution point, this will enable the system as a DP
  
• Click Enable BITS if you have IIS installed, and wish to use BITSs to send package
  

Protected DP:
Although Microsoft does not come out and say this, any remote DP should be protected unless you want to risk clients pulling their packages across WAN links, or you have 10+ Meg connections to all your offices. SMS 2003 is better at finding local DPs, but we will always get a black eye if we cause even one bandwidth issue. It is better if you can tell management that you know without a doubt that SMS is not filling up the pipe between offices.

• Click Enable as a protected distribution point
  
• Click the Configure boundaries button
  
• Click the starburst button to add boundaries
  
• Select the boundaries for your DP. You can select multiples if you use the Shift or CTRL key when you are clicking on the IDs, and click OK. Only boundaries specified for the site will be visible. If you are using AD Sites for your SMS Site boundaries, you will only see those sites listed as options for your DP. If you wish to use subnets for your boundaries that are not listed, you will need to add them to your SMS Site or Roaming boundaries.
  

Group membership:
You can add DPs to groups to make it easier to add large numbers of DPs to a package. This is very handy when you assign packages to certain DPs based on business use, department, locations, etc.. I have groups set up for Security Patches, and Sites so that when I create a package I can use the select group option and get all the DPs I need instead of selecting them one at a time.

From the Distribution Point tab in the Site System properties

To create a new Group:

• Click on the starburst button
  
• Enter the name of the new group
  
• Click include this site system in this distribution point group
  
• Click OK
  

To add a DP to an existing Group:

• Click on the Group
  
• Click the Change Membership button this will change entry for member to yes or no depending on the current value
  
• You can also click the Properties button, and then click Include this system in this distribution point group. This window will also show you all the other systems that are currently members of this group.
  

Known Issue:
Antivirus may block copying of INF files; we have had to turn off scanning of the SMS Package folders when using McAfee. I do not recommend removing the Antivirus on any server or desktop as a resolution to any issue. If you run into problems with SMS accessing your DP, you may want to check your antivirus solution to ensure that it is not blocking access to the DP based on behavior such as remote access via HTTP, or a package that has a .INF (such as drivers in an OSD package).

Troubleshooting:
Once you have successfully added a DP, or any other site system, you should be able to see the status for this site in the Site Database\System Status\Site Status\"Site name"\Site System Status screen. The status should be listed as OK, and you should also see drive statistics such as free space.

A second place to look is SMS_SITE_COMPONENT_MANAGER. 1014 will show the system is being installed, and a 1015 message will indicate success for installing the site system. Any errors should be checked against the message codes in the download below from Microsoft.

If you have successfully created the DP, but your package is not being uploaded to the DP, check the message on the SMS_DISTRIBUTION_MANAGER component. If you are seeing access denied messages, they are most likely due to one of two issues; Antivirus is blocking the package(or part of it), or someone has changed the permissions on the DP.
-------------------
Enjoy,
26

No_SMS_on_drive.sms

No_SMS_on_drive.sms
-------------------