Useful SCCM CMTrace tips

Benoit LecoursSCCMLeave a Comment

If you’re new to the SCCM world, you have to know that SCCM comes with a log viewer. CMTrace is the tool you need to use to read any SCCM log files. We still meet lots of SCCM admins that don’t know some basic CMTrace features. We’ll show you a couple of SCCM CMTrace tips to improve your skills. In SCCM, client and site server components record process information in individual log files. You can use the information in these log files to help you troubleshoot issues that might occur. By default, SCCM enables logging for client and server components. For more general information about log files in Configuration Manager, see About log files. This article includes information on the tools to use, how to configure the logs, and where to find them. SCCM CMTrace tips #1 The first tip we want to share is the Error Lookup feature. Built-in CMTrace, you … Read More

Monitor SCCM Task Sequence Progress

Benoit LecoursSCCM, WINDOWS 106 Comments

When deploying Windows 10 operating system using SCCM (OSD), you will need to monitor SCCM task sequence progress. This allows us to track task sequence start, end time and most importantly errors (if any). Our post will show 4 different ways to monitor SCCM task sequences. Each of them has its own benefits and drawbacks. Monitor SCCM Task Sequence Using the Console You can view the progress of a task sequence using the SCCM console. This method is simple and easy but permit to see the status of only one machine at the time. If your deployment staff don’t have access to the console or view deployment status, this option is not for you. Open the SCCM Console Go to Monitoring / Deployments Search and right-click the deployment linked to your Windows 10 task sequence On the menu, select View Status In the Deployment Status screen, select the In Progress tab for a running … Read More

Step-by-Step SCCM 2012 R2 SP1 CU3 Installation Guide

Benoit LecoursSCCM16 Comments

Cumulative Update 3 (CU3) for SCCM 2012 R2 SP1 and SCCM 2012 SP2 is now available. This post is a complete step-by-step SCCM 2012 R2 SP1 CU3 Installation guide. If you’re looking for a complete SCCM 2012 installation guide, see our blog series which covers it all. Installing SCCM cumulative updates is very important to your infrastructure. It fix lots of issues, which some of them are important. Microsoft recommends installing Cumulative Updates if you are affected by a resolved issues. If you are not on SCCM 2012 R2 SP1 or SCCM 2012 SP2, the latest CU is Cumulative Update 5. If you are running SCCM 1511, this Cumulative Update is not applicable to your setup. As this is a cumulative update, you don’t have to install prior CU(1-2) before installing CU3. CU3 contains all the fixes included in previous CU. Improvements/Fixes There’s no new major functionality in CU3. This update contains fixes for issues … Read More

Complete SCCM 1511 Installation Guide

Benoit LecoursSCCM23 Comments

In the first post of this SCCM 1511 Installation Guide blog series, we planned our hierarchy, prepared our server and Active Directory. In part 2, we installed and configured SQL in order to perform SCCM 1511 installation. In part 3, we will run the prerequisite checker and proceed to the complete SCCM 1511 installation. We will install a stand-alone Primary site. If you’re already running SCCM 2012 and want an upgrade to SCCM 1511, do not follow this guide. This guide is for a new SCCM 1511 installation only. See our upgrade guide instead. Prerequisite Check Before launching the SCCM 1511 installation, we recommend to launch the Prereqchk tool in order to verify if all components are configured correctly. The SCCM 1511 installation wizard will also run this check but if you’re missing a requirement, you’ll have to go through the whole installation wizard again after fixing it. We prefer to use the standalone tool before running the setup. To start the prerequisite check … Read More

How to resolve Dataldr.log SQL Error in SCCM 2012

Nicolas PilonHardware Inventory, SCCM4 Comments

Are you having inventory issue in SCCM where machines information from the hardware inventory were not updated on the site server? This problem can affect your various systems that use data, such as license management or reports. You can read more about the basics of client inventory and hardware inventory process. This post explains how to resolve the message dataldr.log SQL Error in SCCM 2012. Log file dataldr.log on the site server manages inventory received from clients. If the log file inventoryagent.log on the client shows no evidence of failure and you have this error, your hardware inventory won’t be updated in the SQL database. The string or binary data would be truncated. : dINSTALLED_SOFTWARE_DATA ERROR – SQL Error in ERROR – is NOT retyrable There’s no real explanation of this purpose, but it is a SQL issue for sure. Even with a full hardware inventory scan on the client, the data is not reset. We … Read More

How to perform a SCCM 2012 R2 Installation

Benoit LecoursSCCM6 Comments

In the first part of this SCCM 2012 and SCCM 1511 blog series, we planned our hierarchy, prepared our server and Active Directory. In part 2, we installed and configured SQL in order to perform SCCM 2012 R2 installation. In part 3, we will run the prerequisite checker and proceed to the SCCM 2012 R2 installation. We will install a stand-alone Primary site.   Prerequisite Check Before launching the SCCM 2012 R2 installation, we recommend to launch the Prereqchk tool in order to verify if all components are configured correctly. The SCCM 2012 R2 installation wizard will also run this check but if you’re missing a requirement, you’ll have to go through the whole installation wizard again after fixing it. We prefer to use the standalone tool. To start the tool : Open an Administrator command prompt Browse to .\SMSSETUP\BIN\X64 Run the following command : prereqchk.exe /AdminUI If you follow the guide correctly you’ll have this wonderful result : Refer to this … Read More

Use SCCM CMTrace like a Pro (Part 2)

Nicolas PilonSCCM5 Comments

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 Method’ tab and ‘Add Clause’ to your application. The idea is to detect if the file is already copied. %Windir% will go automatically in the windows folder depending on the operating version. Step 3: Deploy the application to all desktop and server clients Technical supports, administrators and users will benefit from it. You … Read More