Here’s 3 useful Powershell commands that you can use to save time. #1 – Clear PXE Cache from your OSD Collection Who likes to clear the PXE cache of deployed computers ? Not me ! Instead of this : Run this : Clear-CMPxeDeployment -DeviceCollectionId “YourCollectionID” #2 – Unlock an object Instead of this : ZzzzzZz (waiting) Run this : Unlock-CMObject -InputObject $(Get-CMApplication -Name “Application Name”) TIP : You can change “Get-CMApplication” for “Get-CMTaskSequence” if you want to unlock a Task Sequence for exemple. #3 – List which collection has Incremental update enabled Did you know Microsoft supports only 200 collection using … Read More
Use SCCM CMTrace like a Pro (Part 2)
What are you doing when you want to troubleshoot SCCM client locally on a computer? Connect your USB card with the cmtrace.exe on it? Copy the executable file from a network directory? Do you want to be smarter? Create an application with a file detection method that will copy the executable file automatically on any SCCM clients. Download the file from Configuration Manager Toolkit. Step 1: Create a script to copy the executable file into the Windows directory Use this command ‘Xcopy /y cmtrace.exe %windir%’ in a cmd file. Enter the cmd file into the application program. Step 2: Add a detection method in the application properties Click on ‘Detection … Read More
Use SCCM CMTRACE like a Pro (Part 1)
Still using Notepad to read SCCM logs ? I don’t belive you. As a good admin, you are using SCCM CMtrace to read your logs files but I still meet lots of SCCM admins that don’t know these 2 features. Click on Menu / Tool / Error Lookup. This box translate a generic error in something you can understand. Error 2 ? Error 5 ? Ok easy one. You get it…now go have fun converting those nasty errors ! The second one is the Merge … Read More
Send an Email when OSD Completes a Deployment
Did you know that SCCM can take an action when a specific message is generated on the site server? SCCM records everything it does. You are probably familiar with the tons of logs files but SCCM also record everything on the site server itself. A quick look to the Status message shows that there’s tons of available information. Monitoring / System Status / Status Message Queries / All Status Message : As you can see, there’s lots of valuable information in there. Yeah great !… now what ? Using the power of PowerShell, I tell SCCM to send an email each … Read More
No Collection Evaluator Component on a CAS with SCCM 2012
I was creating a collection directly on the CAS like I do normaly within SCCM 2007 on a central site. The goal was to deploy a script on specific machines. I was having issue with the collection membership when I found that the CAS was having no colleval.log. I decide to look into site server components on the console and got a surprise. In SCCM 2012, collection membership is part of site data so it’s the responsibility of SQL database replication. Data is replicated from primary to CAS. This is why collection evaluator component are on the primary only and the refresh lasted a few minutes longer.
SSRS : SMS_SRS_Reporting_Point Failing with Error Message 7405
I was configuring the reporting services on a dedicated server when I received a SMS_SRS_Reporting_Point failing with 7405 on the component status failure message. The error logs from reporting services is : ERROR: Throwing Microsoft.ReportingServices.Diagnostics.Utilities.ItemNotFoundException: , Microsoft.ReportingServices.Diagnostics.Utilities.ItemNotFoundException: The item ‘/ConfigMgr_CAS’ cannot be found.; Cause: The datasource was not in the good directory. Resolution: Move the datasource on the SSRS website to the same place of the component configuration in SCCM 2012. SMS_SRS_Reporting_Point failing with 7405
KB2905002 Installation and Useful Information
The first hotfix for SCCM 2012 R2 is out and it’s time to install it. I’ll document a step-by-step installation and gives some useful information. For those of you that are used to update SCCM, you won’t be disorientated. The first thing you need to know is that this hotfix will update the sites servers, the consoles and the clients. This mean that you’ll need to update those after the hotfix installation. Rest assured, the hotfix will create 3 updates packages for you during the installation. Start with the higher site in your hierarchy. You can use the update package that will … Read More
SCCM 2012 R2 Application Uninstall Button is Grayed Out
I’ve found a bug in the latest SCCM release. SCCM 2012 R2 application uninstall button is grayed out An application cannot be uninstalled using Software Center when it contains more than one deployment type. I created an application to deploy Acrobat Reader using the msi The application contains 2 deployment type (Install for User) One DT has a requirement for English OS, the other DT is for French OS The installation is successful but it can’t be uninstalled using the Software Center (The uninstall button is grayed out) When a DT is deleted, the application can be uninstalled This scenario has … Read More
Add Server Requirement using Powershell
Before an installation of SCCM, you need to enable a couple of requirements in sccm 2012 server roles and features. You can add these using the server manager snap-in but since you are a good admin, you know that you can use Powershell ! Here’s the commands I use in the script to enable the required roles before my SCCM installations : Get-Module servermanager Install-WindowsFeature Web-Windows-Auth Install-WindowsFeature Web-ISAPI-Ext Install-WindowsFeature Web-Metabase Install-WindowsFeature Web-WMI Install-WindowsFeature BITS Install-WindowsFeature RDC Install-WindowsFeature NET-Framework-Features Install-WindowsFeature Web-Asp-Net Install-WindowsFeature Web-Asp-Net45 Install-WindowsFeature NET-HTTP-Activation Install-WindowsFeature NET-Non-HTTP-Activ Run it in a PowerShell prompt and get a coffee while the magic happens, you earn … Read More
Cannot Connect to the Application Server
The application catalog is one of the nice addition to SCCM 2012. It can be tricky to install, there’s numerous post about different error but the common one is this one. After installing both roles to your site server, when trying to connect to http://yourserver/applicationcatalog you have the following error : Cannot connect to the application server The webserver cannot communicate with the server. This might be a temporary problem. Try Again Later to see if the problem has been corrected. A good starting point is to look at both component status: SMS_PORTALWEB_CONTROL_MANAGER SMS_AWEBSVC_CONTROL_MANAGER … Read More