After a couple of weeks of running an SCCM server, you may get the C:\ drive full. What are the best practices to save disk space on an SCCM server? The first thing we check is how much space is filled by SCCM IIS log files. Usually, it takes a couple of GB on the drive. It’s an absolute must to implement solutions to delete SCCM IIS logs files from your primary server. The SCCM IIS logs files are usually in C:\Inetpub\Logs\LogFiles and are increasing at a rapid pace. In my lab environment with 50 clients, it’s growing at about 1MB per day. Not much… but on an SCCM site, I’m actually managing with a couple of thousand clients, it grows 150 MB a day. It could fill up a drive pretty quickly. There are numerous ways to manage SCCM IIS log files : Delete the logs manually or use a scheduled task Use … Read More
How to Find SCCM Server Log Files
Here’s a simple tip to know which SCCM server logs files to check if you want to dig an error returned by an SCCM Component. In SCCM, client and site server components record process information in individual SCCM log files. You can use the information in these log files to help you troubleshoot issues that might occur. The default path to find the SCCM server logs files is in your SCCM Installation Directory\Logs. If you’ve used the default installation directory, it will be located in C:\Program Files\Microsoft Configuration Manager\Logs. The problem is that when opening this directory, you’ll find dozens of SCCM logs files. When you manage SCCM for multiple years, you get to know which logs to look at, but as a beginner, it can be hard to find the right log. This post aims to help you find the right log file based on a specific component error. … Read More
Useful SCCM CMTrace tips
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
Step-by-Step SCCM 1610 Upgrade Guide
The third upgrade for SCCM Current Branch is now available. This post is a complete step-by-step SCCM 1610 upgrade guide. If you’re looking for a complete SCCM installation guide, see our blog series which covers it all. You can’t install this upgrade if you are running SCCM 2012. You need to be at least at SCCM 1511. Installing SCCM upgrades is very important to your infrastructure. It adds new feature and fixes lots of issues, which some of them are important. New Update and Servicing Model If you’re not familiar with the new SCCM servicing model, read our New Update and Servicing section of the 1602 upgrade post which explain it all. Similar to SCCM 1606, if you need to make a new SCCM installation, you can’t install SCCM 1610 directly. You need to install SCCM 1511 (or 1606) first and then apply SCCM 1610 from the console. SCCM 1606 is the baseline version if you’re … Read More
Upgrade Windows 10 using SCCM Task Sequence
With the introduction of new Windows 10 service branches, you will need to upgrade your Windows 10 devices at a much faster pace. Hopefully, SCCM Current Branch (1511 and higher) has built-in features to help you fulfill this task. You can choose between Upgrade Task Sequence or the new Windows Servicing feature. This post will describe how to upgrade Windows 10 using SCCM Upgrade Task Sequence. If you are running SCCM 1511 we recommend to use the Upgrade Task Sequence over the new servicing features. There is an issue in SCCM 1511 that make all Windows 10 languages and editions to be downloaded to the device when the ADR runs. This is fixed in SCCM 1602, using a new filter you can exclude unwanted languages and editions. If you are running SCCM 1602 or later, it’s really a matter of preference of which process to use. Each one has their … Read More
Windows 10 Deployment | SCCM Task Sequence Upgrade Windows 7 to Windows 10
In the fourth post of this blog series about Windows 10 Deployment using SCCM, we will show you how to upgrade a Windows 7 to Windows computer 10 using SCCM task sequence upgrade. The goal of an upgrade task sequence is to upgrade an existing operating system to Windows 10 without loosing any data and installed software. This post assumes that you are running SCCM 1511 or SCCM 1602 and that you completed the preparation of your environment for Windows 10. If you are running SCCM 2012 R2 SP1, the product team has release important information about SCCM task sequence upgrade that you can find in this blog post. In the past, an in-place upgrade scenario was not a reliable and popular option to deploy the latest version of Windows. With Windows 10, it’s now reliable and features an automatic rollback in case something goes wrong. This scenario can also be considered faster than the wipe and reload deployment scenarios, since … Read More
How to limit SCCM 2012 Pull Distribution Point Bandwidth
Pull Distribution point can help reduce the processing load on the site server and can help to speed the transfer of the content to each distribution point. One other need to use Pull Distribution Point could be because you require more than 250 Distribution point from a single Primary site. Using Pull DPs comes with certain limits compared to using a standard DP. In previous post we covered How to manage your Distribution Points with Collections in large environment. Based on those collections, it’s possible to manage network impact while distributing content to Pull DP. This post will explain how limit SCCM 2012 Pull Distribution Point bandwidth. Pull Distribution Point Bandwidth Limitation Differences Rate Limits One of the key feature missing from Pull DP is the ability to use rate limits. The tab is not even visible for Pull DP properties. To check the Full DP Properties, navigate in your console to Administration / Site Configuration / Servers and Site … Read More
Step-by-Step SCCM 2012 R2 SP1 CU2 Installation Guide
Cumulative Update 2 (CU2) for SCCM 2012 R2 SP1 and SCCM 2012 SP2 is now available. This post is a complete step-by-step SCCM 2012 R2 SP1 CU2 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. As this is a cumulative update, you don’t have to install prior CU(1) before installing CU2. CU2 contains all the fixes included in previous CU. Improvements/Fixes There’s no new major functionality in CU2. This update contains fixes for issues in various areas including software distribution and content management; operating system deployment; site systems and mobile device management. … Read More
Step-by-Step SCCM 2012 R2 SP1 CU1 Installation Guide
Cumulative Update 1 (CU1) for SCCM 2012 R2 SP1 and SCCM 2012 SP2 is now available. This post is a complete step-by-step SCCM 2012 R2 SP1 CU1 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. As this is the first post-R2 SP1 cumulative update, the important requirement for the installation is that SCCM 2012 R2 SP1 is installed. The latest non-R2 SP1 cumulative update is CU5. Don’t get confused, this CU could have been named CU6 (chronologically wise) but Microsoft has decided to reset the numbering due to the Service Pack release. See our SCCM 2012 versions post to have a clear view of all build numbers. Improvements/Fixes The major new functionality of CU1 is the Automatic Client Upgrade feature during CU setup wizard. This will … Read More
SCCM 2012 R2 Management Point Installation
In this part of SCCM 2012 and SCCM 1511 blog series, we will describe how to install a SCCM 2012 R2 or SCCM 1511 Management Point (MP). Role Description Every SCCM hierarchy must have a Management Point to enable client communication. The Management Point is the primary point of contact between Configuration Manager clients and the site server. Management Points can provide clients with installation prerequisites, configuration details, advertisements and software distribution package source file locations. Additionally, Management Points receive inventory data, software metering information and state messages from clients. Multiple Management Points are used for load-balancing traffic and for clients to continue receiving their policy after Management Point failure. Read about SCCM High-Availability options in this Technet article. Prior to SCCM 2012 R2 SP1, it was not possible to assign client directly to a specific Management Point. It’s now possible using the new Preferred Management Point feature. If you don’t have SCCM 2012 R2 SP1 yet, be … Read More
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