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
Pull DP Upgrade Consideration in Large Environment
Many challenges come with managing and maintaining System Center Configuration Manager in large environment. In previous posts, we covered how to limit Pull DP bandwidth and How to manage Pull DP with collections to ease management in large environment. Probably the biggest challenge with large environment, is to keep SCCM up to date. In this post, we will provide in depth details, considerations and useful tips on Pull DP upgrade for large SCCM environment. The goal is to provide ways to prevent upgrades of SCCM to become a nightmare by taking more time than planned and/or heavy hit on the network. We will cover theses subjects : Automatic package update and distribution How to work around automatic package update and distribution Pre-requisite checker Upgrade time lapse Distribution point and PullDP upgrade ratio What happen while Distribution point/ Pull DP upgrade Note that all details and considerations are regarding major upgrade like service pack upgrades and major … Read More
SCCM Service Connection Point Installation
In this part of SCCM 2012 and SCCM 1511 blog series, we will describe how to perform an SCCM Service Connection Point Installation. The Service Connection Point is a new site system role that serves several important functions for the SCCM hierarchy. It might affect how you configure this site system role: Manage mobile devices with Microsoft Intune– This role replaces the Windows Intune connector used by previous versions of SCCM, and can be configured with your Intune subscription details Manage mobile devices with on-premises MDM– This role provides support for on-premises devices you manage that do not connect to the Internet Upload usage data from your Configuration Manager infrastructure– You can control the level or amount of detail you upload Download updates that apply to your Configuration Manager infrastructure – Only relevant updates for your infrastructure are made available, based on usage data you upload Site System Role Placement in Hierarchy … 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
Configure SCCM 2012 Boundaries
In this part of this SCCM 2012 and SCCM 1511 blog series, we will configure SCCM boundaries. First, let’s define what a boundary in SCCM is : From Technet : In System Center 2012 Configuration Manager, a boundary is a network location on the intranet that can contain one or more devices that you want to manage. Boundaries can be an IP subnet, Active Directory site name, IPv6 Prefix, or an IP address range, and the hierarchy can include any combination of these boundary types. To use a boundary, you must add the boundary to one or more boundary groups. Boundary groups are collections of boundaries. By using boundary groups, clients on the intranet can find an assigned site and locate content when they have to install software, such as applications, software updates, and operating system images. A boundary does not enable clients to be managed at the network location. To manage … Read More
Managing Windows 10 with SCCM 2012
Since Windows 10 is out, there’s been a ton of information coming out from the SCCM product group. Many people gets confused at what’s needed for managing Windows 10 with SCCM 2012. The goal of this post is to centralize all those information so you can reach out when your organisation will be ready for managing Windows 10 with SCCM 2012. [Updated 12/21/2015] – For complete Windows 10 support, upgrade to SCCM 1511 or perform a complete SCCM 1511 installation Requirement for Managing Windows 10 with SCCM 2012 Before you can manage and deploy Windows 10 in your organisation, you need to update your SCCM infrastructure. Your site servers needs to be updated to SCCM 2012 R2 SP1 or SCCM 2012 SP2. Refer to our installation guide if it’s not the case. You need to apply R2 SP1 Cumulative Update 1. Refer to our installation guide if it’s not the case. You need to update your boot images to Win PE version 10. Refer to the Deployment section of … Read More
Deploy the SCCM 2012 Console using the Application Model
The installation of SCCM 2012 console can be either manually or automatically. Manual installation remains a good choice if you have a small team. Using role-based access control in SCCM 2012, you can delegate administrative tasks to your team and allow more users with different level of access to the SCCM 2012 console. At this point, you would rather go the automatic way. This post will explain you how to save time by using the Application Model in SCCM 2012 to automatically deploy the console to all your devices. We won’t cover the pre-requisites needed to install the SCCM 2012 console on a device. Make sure your devices are compliant. Step 1 | Create a Collection To regroup all the devices of users that will be using the console, there’s two possible types of collection to trigger the installation, either user or device collection. Users Create a user collection if your goal … Read More
Our favorite SCCM 2012 R2 SP1 New Features
Microsoft announced the release of SCCM 2012 SP2 and SCCM 2012 R2 SP1. This service pack includes tons of new features. We covered the complete installation, now we decided to compile a list of our favorite SCCM 2012 R2 SP1 new features and we’ll be describing how to enable them and explain why they made the cut. Preferred Management Points Official description from Technet : Preferred management points enable a client to identify and prefer to communicate with a management point that is associated with its current network location or boundary. When configured, a client attempts to use a preferred management point from its assigned site before using a management point from its assigned site that is not configured as preferred. Basically it means that you can assign your clients to a preferred management points like you did in the past for content (Distribution Points) using boundary groups. Cumulative Update 3 had a similar concept of Management Point affinity but it was not configurable … Read More
Step-by-Step SCCM 2012 R2 SP1 Upgrade Guide
Microsoft has recently announced the release of SCCM 2012 SP2 and SCCM 2012 R2 SP1. Before performing an SCCM 2012 R2 SP1 upgrade, we recommend that you read carefully all the available resources and carefully plan the upgrade process throughout your SCCM 2012 R2 hierarchy. The good news is that our SCCM 2012 R2 SP1 Upgrade Guide will list everything you need to know before applying this major upgrade to your existing SCCM 2012 installation. We’ve got you covered ! What’s new The main reason you’ll want to upgrade to SCCM 2012 R2 SP1 is probably for Windows 10 support. No plan for Windows 10 deployment in your organisation? There’s interesting new features and a lots of bug fixes (thousands, which are not fully documented) in this release that are worth it. Do I still need to perform the SCCM 2012 R2 SP1 upgrade? See the full list of features on this Technet Article to figure it out. Naming … Read More