Category: ConfigMgr

Addig an ‘intelligent’ VMWare Tools installation ensures that all of your VM’s get the necessary drivers and tools automatically during Operating System Deployment. Using WMI we can ensure that the tools are only deployed to VMWare machines.

1. Create a VMWare Tools Package

1. Copy the contents of the VMWare Tools CD to a Source Folder
2. Create a New Package with Source Files
3. Within the Package create a Program with the following configuration:
   1. General
      1. Command Line: msiexec /i “VMware Tools64.msi” ADDLOCAL=ALL REMOVE=”Hgfs,WYSE,GuestSDK,vmdesched” /qn /norestart
      2. After Running: Configuration Manager Restart Computer
   1. Requirements
      1. Select Required Platform: Windows 2003 64-bit or newer – note 64-bit ONLY
1. Environment
   1. Program can run: Whether user is logged in or not
1. Advanced
   1. Tick ‘Allow this program to be installed from the Install Package task sequence without being deployed’

2. Prepare the Task Sequence

1. Create a new group with the following ‘Query WMI’ condition:
   1. WMI Namespace: root\cimv2
   2. WQL Query: select Model from Win32_ComputerSystem where Model = “VMware Virtual Platform”
2. Add a Install Package Task underneath this group that deploys the VMWare Tools Program you have just created

When using the SMS_SITE_BACKUP component to perform a Configuration Manager 2012 backup you may receive the following errors:

SMS SQL Backup service on the SQL Server \\<SQL Server Name> failed to backup the site database CM_<Site Code>;. The error reported by the service is Error: SQL Writer not found.. Backup operation is not completed.

Site Backup failed. The error reported by the service is Error: Sql Server could not prepare for the Backup.. Backup operation is not completed. Please see smsbkup.log for more information.

To resolve this simply configure the NTAUTHORITY\SYSTEM account to have SYSADMIN permissions on the System Center 2012 Configuration Manager SQL Instance. This is required for the VSS writer to backup the SQL database.

You’ll have probably noticed that the WinPE images supplied with System Center 2012 Configuration Manager are US ‘regionalised’, this is a bit of a pain with complex passwords as the keyboard layout is not correct.

Follow the instructions below to create new UK-centric (en-GB) Boot Images with the correct time zone and keyboard layout.

I’m currently working out a suitable design for a System Center 2012 Configuration Manager deployment. One of the first things that you need to decide is your site hierarchy, specifically should you implement a Central Administration Site (CAS) with Primary Site(s) model or simply a Primary Site with Secondray Site(s) model. You may be one of the ‘lucky’ few where your design is simple and will always remain so!

Having looked into this, and event tested both in a lab I thought I’d share my opinion and experiences, one thing I should make clear at this point in time – there is no single reason for considering whether or not to use a Central Administration Site, in fact sometimes there are political or business reasons to adopt this model regardless of any technical requirements.