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
SCCM Office 365 Inventory Report
This post describes how to inventory Office 365 using SCCM 1606. We will also provide a free report at the end of the post that you could use on your Reporting Point to easily display Office 365 inventory data. SCCM 1606 introduces new hardware inventory classes for Office 365 configurations. You no longer need to edit your MOF files to gather Office 365 inventory. If you are using SCCM 1602 or below, follow Jason Sandys post which describes Office 365 inventory process using a MOF customization. If your goal is to deploy Office 365 updates, refer to our post on how to manage Office 365 updates using SCCM. SCCM Office 365 inventory report post summary : SCCM Office 365 Inventory Report – Direct Download link If you don’t want to read the whole post, you can download the RDL file directly using this link : Office 365 Inventory Data Office 365 is using new update channels and update mechanisms. Tracking versions and update … 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
How to configure SCCM Server Group
Starting with SCCM 1606, a new pre-release feature allows to configure server group settings for a collection. This is a major change that gives much more flexibility to your patch management process as you can coordinate maintenance operation to optimize server up-time. Server groups permit to define specific collection settings for software updates installation : Allow a percentage of machines to be updated at the same time Allow a number of machines to be updated at the same time Specify the maintenance sequence Configure PowerShell scripts to run custom actions before and after your deployments How does SCCM Server Groups works ? The Technet explanation is pretty clear : When you deploy software updates to a collection that has server group settings configured, SCCM determines how many computers in the collection can install the software updates at any given time and makes the same number of deployment locks available. Only computers that get a deployment lock will … Read More
How to configure SCCM Device Categories
Beginning with SCCM 1606, you can create device categories to automatically add devices into device collections when you are using SCCM and Intune in a hybrid scenario. (In a standalone scenario, this feature is named Device group mapping). At enrollment time, the mobile users are required to choose a device category. Once a device category is selected, the device is added to the corresponding collection based on a new collection membership : Device Category Rule. Device categories can also be set manually on a single device using the SCCM Console. Here’s everything you need to know in order to manage this new features : Create SCCM Device Categories Open the SCCM Console Go to Assets and Compliance / Device Collections On the top ribbon, click Manage Device Categories In the Manage Device Categories dialog box, you can create, edit, or remove categories. For our post, we will be creating a Test category Create Device Category Rule When you associate a collection with … Read More
Manage Windows 10 Upgrades using SCCM (Windows as a Service)
Windows as a service provides a new way to think about building, deploying, and servicing the Windows operating system. Microsoft will releases new builds two to three times per year rather than the traditional upgrade cycle. Instead of doing traditional Windows deployment projects, you will need a continuous updating process which will reduce the overall effort required to maintain Windows 10 devices in your environment. SCCM Windows 10 Upgrades Summary This post will look at the available tools in SCCM to manage and deploy Windows 10 upgrades. We have broken down the post in 4 different sections : Windows 10 Servicing Dashboard What’s missing in the Windows 10 Servicing Dashboard Windows 10 reports Windows 10 Collections SCCM Windows 10 Servicing Dashboard The Windows 10 servicing dashboard provides information about Windows 10 computers in your environment, active servicing plans, compliance information, and so on. Let’s get a look at the different dashboard tiles: Windows 10 Usage tile … Read More
How to apply SCCM 1606 Update Rollup 1 (KB3186654)
The second hotfix for SCCM Current Branch (1606) is now available. This post is a complete SCCM 1606 Update Rollup 1 (KB3186654) installation guide. If you’re looking for a complete SCCM 1511 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 running at least SCCM 1606. Installing SCCM upgrades is important for your infrastructure. It fixes a lot of issues from SCCM 1606, 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. You may wonder what’s the difference between a Cumulative Update (CU) and an Update Rollup (UR) : A CU is a new servicing baseline. A post-CU1 hotfix requires CU1 first, whereas a post-UR1 hotfix doesn’t require UR1. Like CU, UR are cumulative … Read More
Upgrade Windows 10 using SCCM Servicing Plans
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 use SCCM Windows 10 servicing plans to upgrade Windows 10 devices. If you are running SCCM 1511 we recommend using the Upgrade Task Sequence over servicing plans. SCCM 1511 has an issue that makes 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 own advantages, the … 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
How to install Local Administrator Password Solution (LAPS)
One of the challenges faced by workstation administrators, is to manage the local administrator account in large environment. One of the options was to use Group Policy Preferences, but that was before KB2962486 removed the possibility to set password using Group Policy Preferences. Since then, Microsoft as come up with a solution : Local Administrator Password Solution (LAPS). Here’s the benefits of using LAPS : Unique password for local administrator per computer Password available from Active Directory, if needed to use local administrator account Remotly change the local administrator password Ability to use a custom administrator account Limitation : Only the local administrator account can be managed or a custom local account as administrator. In this post, we will detail how to install Local Administrator Password Solution (LAPS) to manage the local administrator password on a Windows 10 computer. High-level steps to install Local Administrator Password Solution (LAPS) On management computers … Read More
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