Category: Microsoft

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ConfigMgr

ConfigMgr : Windows 7 x64 OSDComputerName Ignored

We’ve been tetsing a 64-bit build of Windows 7 SP1, that includes IE 10. SCCM 2012 R2 CU1 performs both the Build and Capture Task Sequence alongside all Deployments of the ‘golden image’ to client devices.

The symptoms of this issue were simple, all “Deploy” Task Sequences were failing – on closer inspection it was clear that the machine had not joined the domain, and it had not used the hostname as defined in the OSDComputerName Task Sequence Variable – in fact the machine was using the name of the machine that we used to perform the golden image creation under the Build/Capture Task Sequence!

Having reviewed the sysprep logs on the client there was an error; SYSPRP LaunchDll:Could not load DLL C:\Windows\SysWOW64\iesysprep.dll[gle=0x000000c1]

This was surprising as the Build and Capture Task Sequence was completing successfully, every time.

Continue reading “ConfigMgr : Windows 7 x64 OSDComputerName Ignored”
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Microsoft

SharePoint 2013 : IIS Default Landing Pages / 404 Errors and the Request Management Service

This was an interesting one I came across recently; intermittently we would get reports of users receiving 404 errors and IIS default landing pages, as if SharePoint sites were not running/working on our Web Front End servers.

The SharePoint environment was 2x WFE, 2x Service Application and 1x SQL Server Reporting Services. The WFE servers were load balanced by a HLB. We’re using Host Named Site Collections, so have to manually configure IIS bindings on the Web Front End servers.

There were few errors that really explained what was going on – initially we thought it was a backup related issue, but I think that the backup simply exacerbated the issue rather than caused the issue.

Just prior to raising a support call with Microsoft I came aross the following blog post, which was pretty much like-for-like what we were seeing on our SharePoint 2013 farm:
http://amolmeshe.blogspot.co.uk/2013/05/sharepoint-2013-request-management.html

The issue was pretty simple – the Request Management Service was proxying requests to other servers in the farm – noteably the Service Application and SSRS servers – where IIS is not configured for the HNSCs. On the Service Application servers we had an IIS site listening on all all IPs/host headers, HTTPS – this was for Central Admin. On the SSRS server there was no HTTPS provision – this explained the randome behaviour we were seeing:

  • IIS landing page on the HTTPS-enabled Service Application servers
  • 404 errors on the non-HTTPS enabled SSRS server

Running some simple PowerShell commands we were able to exclude the Service Application and SSRS servers as targets from the Request Management Service configuration – commands taken from the blog above:

$web=Get-SPWebApplication -Identity <URL of web application>

$rm=Get-SPRequestManagementSettings -Identity

$web $m=Get-SPRoutingMachineInfo -RequestManagementSettings $rm -Name <MachineName> Set-SPRoutingMachineInfo -Identity $m -Availability Unavailable

No need to perform an IIS reset, the commands take effect immediately. Alongside resolving the IIS default page/404 errors, we also noticed that the HNSCs loaded significantly faster after making this change.

More info on the Request Management Service here: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/jj712708.aspx

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Microsoft

SharePoint 2013 : Config Database Large Log File Size

By default the SharePoint 2013 Content Database is set to Full recovery mode – despite reccomendations from MS that this should be set to simple, as outlined here; http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc678868(v=office.15).aspx

If unnoticed, you may find your Transaction Log volumes running short on disk space, as we did this morning, follow these steps to relieve storage pressure:

  1. Open SQL Server Management Studio and connect to the SQL Database Instance associated with your SharePoint farm
  2. Find the CONFIG database and right-click | Properties
  3. Under the options tree, change the recovery model to simple and click OK
  4. Again, right-click the CONFIG database | Tasks | Back Up – perform a backup of the CONFIG database
  5. Finally,right-click the CONFIG database | Tasks | Shrink | Files  – select Log under the “File Type” drop-down

It may be worth reviewing your recover models in-line with the URL above, for us it was just the CONFIG database that wasn’t in-line with MS recommendations.

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Microsoft

SharePoint 2013 : Reduce Cumulative Update Installation Time

When upgrading our SharePoint 2013 environment to the June 2014 update we noted installation times in excess of four hours, so when it came to the September update we looked into how we could (if possible) reduce the installaion and deployment time.

I came across the following technet post which reduced installation time significantly on our farms: http://blogs.msdn.com/b/russmax/archive/2013/04/01/why-sharepoint-2013-cumulative-update-takes-5-hours-to-install.aspx

Categories
ConfigMgr

ConfigMgr : Mac OSX 10.9.4 Software Deployment Issues

Another day, another challenge 🙂 We’re currently testing the Software Deployment functionality in SCCM 2012 R2 for our Mac OSX devices, namely for System Center 2012 EndPoint Protecion (SCEP) as defined here: http://blogs.technet.com/b/jchalfant/archive/2014/02/27/deploying-system-center-endpoint-protection-to-mac-os-x-using-configuration-manager.aspx

I have the deployment working on a OSX 10.9.1 device, however on a 10.9.4 test device I am getting some strange errors, and now SCEP deployment. I am yet to resolve this…

The local OSX device CCMClient log is as follows:

{code lang:text showtitle:false lines:false hidden:false}Failed to fetch package info for PkgId : com.microsoft.systemCenter2012EndpointProtection.scep_quar.pkg        01/01/1601 00:00:00    0 (0x0000)
Failed to GetProperty Version from Configuration Provider. Input NodeUri CIM_AppDetection/CIM_AppDetection.Id=com.microsoft.systemCenter2012EndpointProtection.scep_quar.pkg,Type=Package/Version : 80070490        01/01/1601 00:00:00    0 (0x0000)
Failed to fetch package info for PkgId : com.microsoft.systemCenter2012EndpointProtection.scep_sci.pkg        01/01/1601 00:00:00    0 (0x0000)
Failed to GetProperty Version from Configuration Provider. Input NodeUri CIM_AppDetection/CIM_AppDetection.Id=com.microsoft.systemCenter2012EndpointProtection.scep_sci.pkg,Type=Package/Version : 80070490        01/01/1601 00:00:00    0 (0x0000)
Failed to fetch package info for PkgId : com.microsoft.systemCenter2012EndpointProtection.document.pkg        01/01/1601 00:00:00    0 (0x0000)
Failed to GetProperty Version from Configuration Provider. Input NodeUri CIM_AppDetection/CIM_AppDetection.Id=com.microsoft.systemCenter2012EndpointProtection.document.pkg,Type=Package/Version : 80070490        01/01/1601 00:00:00    0 (0x0000)
Failed to fetch package info for PkgId : com.microsoft.systemCenter2012EndpointProtection.scep_daemon.pkg        01/01/1601 00:00:00    0 (0x0000)
Failed to GetProperty Version from Configuration Provider. Input NodeUri CIM_AppDetection/CIM_AppDetection.Id=com.microsoft.systemCenter2012EndpointProtection.scep_daemon.pkg,Type=Package/Version : 80070490        01/01/1601 00:00:00    0 (0x0000)
Failed to fetch package info for PkgId : com.microsoft.systemCenter2012EndpointProtection.SystemCenter2012EndpointProtection.pkg        01/01/1601 00:00:00    0 (0x0000)
Failed to GetProperty Version from Configuration Provider. Input NodeUri CIM_AppDetection/CIM_AppDetection.Id=com.microsoft.systemCenter2012EndpointProtection.SystemCenter2012EndpointProtection.pkg,Type=Package/Version : 80070490        01/01/1601 00:00:00    0 (0x0000)
Failed to fetch package info for PkgId : com.microsoft.systemCenter2012EndpointProtection.sbox_modifier.pkg        01/01/1601 00:00:00    0 (0x0000)
Failed to GetProperty Version from Configuration Provider. Input NodeUri CIM_AppDetection/CIM_AppDetection.Id=com.microsoft.systemCenter2012EndpointProtection.sbox_modifier.pkg,Type=Package/Version : 80070490        01/01/1601 00:00:00    0 (0x0000)
Failed to fetch package info for PkgId : com.microsoft.systemCenter2012EndpointProtection.sbox_restart.pkg        01/01/1601 00:00:00    0 (0x0000)
Failed to GetProperty Version from Configuration Provider. Input NodeUri CIM_AppDetection/CIM_AppDetection.Id=com.microsoft.systemCenter2012EndpointProtection.sbox_restart.pkg,Type=Package/Version : 80070490        01/01/1601 00:00:00    0 (0x0000)
Failed to fetch package info for PkgId : com.microsoft.systemCenter2012EndpointProtection.modules.pkg        01/01/1601 00:00:00    0 (0x0000)
Failed to GetProperty Version from Configuration Provider. Input NodeUri CIM_AppDetection/CIM_AppDetection.Id=com.microsoft.systemCenter2012EndpointProtection.modules.pkg,Type=Package/Version : 80070490        01/01/1601 00:00:00    0 (0x0000)
Failed to fetch package info for PkgId : com.microsoft.systemCenter2012EndpointProtection.finder_menu_10.6_enable.pkg        01/01/1601 00:00:00    0 (0x0000)
Failed to GetProperty Version from Configuration Provider. Input NodeUri CIM_AppDetection/CIM_AppDetection.Id=com.microsoft.systemCenter2012EndpointProtection.finder_menu_10.6_enable.pkg,Type=Package/Version : 80070490        01/01/1601 00:00:00    0 (0x0000)
Failed to fetch package info for PkgId : com.microsoft.systemCenter2012EndpointProtection.scep_scan-1.pkg        01/01/1601 00:00:00    0 (0x0000)
Failed to GetProperty Version from Configuration Provider. Input NodeUri CIM_AppDetection/CIM_AppDetection.Id=com.microsoft.systemCenter2012EndpointProtection.scep_scan-1.pkg,Type=Package/Version : 80070490        01/01/1601 00:00:00    0 (0x0000)
Failed to fetch package info for PkgId : com.microsoft.systemCenter2012EndpointProtection.scepbkp.pkg        01/01/1601 00:00:00    0 (0x0000)
Failed to GetProperty Version from Configuration Provider. Input NodeUri CIM_AppDetection/CIM_AppDetection.Id=com.microsoft.systemCenter2012EndpointProtection.scepbkp.pkg,Type=Package/Version : 80070490        01/01/1601 00:00:00    0 (0x0000)
Failed to fetch package info for PkgId : com.microsoft.systemCenter2012EndpointProtection.GUI_startup.pkg        01/01/1601 00:00:00    0 (0x0000)
Failed to GetProperty Version from Configuration Provider. Input NodeUri CIM_AppDetection/CIM_AppDetection.Id=com.microsoft.systemCenter2012EndpointProtection.GUI_startup.pkg,Type=Package/Version : 80070490        01/01/1601 00:00:00    0 (0x0000)
Failed to fetch package info for PkgId : com.microsoft.systemCenter2012EndpointProtection.finder_menu_10.5_disable.pkg        01/01/1601 00:00:00    0 (0x0000)
Failed to GetProperty Version from Configuration Provider. Input NodeUri CIM_AppDetection/CIM_AppDetection.Id=com.microsoft.systemCenter2012EndpointProtection.finder_menu_10.5_disable.pkg,Type=Package/Version : 80070490        01/01/1601 00:00:00    0 (0x0000)
Failed to fetch package info for PkgId : com.microsoft.systemCenter2012EndpointProtection.Info.pkg        01/01/1601 00:00:00    0 (0x0000)
Failed to GetProperty Version from Configuration Provider. Input NodeUri CIM_AppDetection/CIM_AppDetection.Id=com.microsoft.systemCenter2012EndpointProtection.Info.pkg,Type=Package/Version : 80070490        01/01/1601 00:00:00    0 (0x0000)
Failed to fetch package info for PkgId : com.microsoft.systemCenter2012EndpointProtection.scep_send.pkg        01/01/1601 00:00:00    0 (0x0000)
Failed to GetProperty Version from Configuration Provider. Input NodeUri CIM_AppDetection/CIM_AppDetection.Id=com.microsoft.systemCenter2012EndpointProtection.scep_send.pkg,Type=Package/Version : 80070490        01/01/1601 00:00:00    0 (0x0000)
Failed to fetch package info for PkgId : com.microsoft.systemCenter2012EndpointProtection.scep_mac.pkg        01/01/1601 00:00:00    0 (0x0000)
Failed to GetProperty Version from Configuration Provider. Input NodeUri CIM_AppDetection/CIM_AppDetection.Id=com.microsoft.systemCenter2012EndpointProtection.scep_mac.pkg,Type=Package/Version : 80070490        01/01/1601 00:00:00    0 (0x0000)
Failed to fetch package info for PkgId : com.microsoft.systemCenter2012EndpointProtection.finder_menu.pkg        01/01/1601 00:00:00    0 (0x0000)
Failed to GetProperty Version from Configuration Provider. Input NodeUri CIM_AppDetection/CIM_AppDetection.Id=com.microsoft.systemCenter2012EndpointProtection.finder_menu.pkg,Type=Package/Version : 80070490        01/01/1601 00:00:00    0 (0x0000)
Failed to fetch package info for PkgId : com.microsoft.systemCenter2012EndpointProtection.finder_menu_10.6_disable.pkg        01/01/1601 00:00:00    0 (0x0000)
Failed to GetProperty Version from Configuration Provider. Input NodeUri CIM_AppDetection/CIM_AppDetection.Id=com.microsoft.systemCenter2012EndpointProtection.finder_menu_10.6_disable.pkg,Type=Package/Version : 80070490        01/01/1601 00:00:00    0 (0x0000)
Failed to fetch package info for PkgId : com.microsoft.systemCenter2012EndpointProtection.scep_scan.pkg        01/01/1601 00:00:00    0 (0x0000)
Failed to GetProperty Version from Configuration Provider. Input NodeUri CIM_AppDetection/CIM_AppDetection.Id=com.microsoft.systemCenter2012EndpointProtection.scep_scan.pkg,Type=Package/Version : 80070490        01/01/1601 00:00:00    0 (0x0000)
Failed to fetch package info for PkgId : com.microsoft.systemCenter2012EndpointProtection.scep_ctl.pkg        01/01/1601 00:00:00    0 (0x0000)
Failed to GetProperty Version from Configuration Provider. Input NodeUri CIM_AppDetection/CIM_AppDetection.Id=com.microsoft.systemCenter2012EndpointProtection.scep_ctl.pkg,Type=Package/Version : 80070490        01/01/1601 00:00:00    0 (0x0000)
Failed to fetch package info for PkgId : com.microsoft.systemCenter2012EndpointProtection.scep_kac.pkg        01/01/1601 00:00:00    0 (0x0000)
Failed to GetProperty Version from Configuration Provider. Input NodeUri CIM_AppDetection/CIM_AppDetection.Id=com.microsoft.systemCenter2012EndpointProtection.scep_kac.pkg,Type=Package/Version : 80070490        01/01/1601 00:00:00    0 (0x0000)
Failed to fetch package info for PkgId : com.microsoft.systemCenter2012EndpointProtection.scep.pkg        01/01/1601 00:00:00    0 (0x0000)
Failed to GetProperty Version from Configuration Provider. Input NodeUri CIM_AppDetection/CIM_AppDetection.Id=com.microsoft.systemCenter2012EndpointProtection.scep.pkg,Type=Package/Version : 80070490        01/01/1601 00:00:00    0 (0x0000)
Failed to fetch package info for PkgId : com.microsoft.systemCenter2012EndpointProtection.pkgid.pkg        01/01/1601 00:00:00    0 (0x0000)
Failed to GetProperty Version from Configuration Provider. Input NodeUri CIM_AppDetection/CIM_AppDetection.Id=com.microsoft.systemCenter2012EndpointProtection.pkgid.pkg,Type=Package/Version : 80070490        01/01/1601 00:00:00    0 (0x0000)
Failed to fetch package info for PkgId : com.microsoft.systemCenter2012EndpointProtection.com.microsoft.scep_daemon.pkg        01/01/1601 00:00:00    0 (0x0000)
Failed to GetProperty Version from Configuration Provider. Input NodeUri CIM_AppDetection/CIM_AppDetection.Id=com.microsoft.systemCenter2012EndpointProtection.com.microsoft.scep_daemon.pkg,Type=Package/Version : 80070490        01/01/1601 00:00:00    0 (0x0000)
Failed to fetch package info for PkgId : com.microsoft.systemCenter2012EndpointProtection.scep_set.pkg        01/01/1601 00:00:00    0 (0x0000)
Failed to GetProperty Version from Configuration Provider. Input NodeUri CIM_AppDetection/CIM_AppDetection.Id=com.microsoft.systemCenter2012EndpointProtection.scep_set.pkg,Type=Package/Version : 80070490        01/01/1601 00:00:00    0 (0x0000)
Failed to fetch package info for PkgId : com.microsoft.systemCenter2012EndpointProtection.scep_clean.pkg        01/01/1601 00:00:00    0 (0x0000)
Failed to GetProperty Version from Configuration Provider. Input NodeUri CIM_AppDetection/CIM_AppDetection.Id=com.microsoft.systemCenter2012EndpointProtection.scep_clean.pkg,Type=Package/Version : 80070490        01/01/1601 00:00:00    0 (0x0000)
Failed to fetch package info for PkgId : com.microsoft.systemCenter2012EndpointProtection.scep_kac_64_106.pkg        01/01/1601 00:00:00    0 (0x0000)
Failed to GetProperty Version from Configuration Provider. Input NodeUri CIM_AppDetection/CIM_AppDetection.Id=com.microsoft.systemCenter2012EndpointProtection.scep_kac_64_106.pkg,Type=Package/Version : 80070490        01/01/1601 00:00:00    0 (0x0000)
Failed to fetch package info for PkgId : com.microsoft.systemCenter2012EndpointProtection.Uninstaller.pkg        01/01/1601 00:00:00    0 (0x0000)
Failed to GetProperty Version from Configuration Provider. Input NodeUri CIM_AppDetection/CIM_AppDetection.Id=com.microsoft.systemCenter2012EndpointProtection.Uninstaller.pkg,Type=Package/Version : 80070490        01/01/1601 00:00:00    0 (0x0000)
Failed to fetch package info for PkgId : com.microsoft.systemCenter2012EndpointProtection.finder_menu_10.5_enable.pkg        01/01/1601 00:00:00    0 (0x0000)
Failed to GetProperty Version from Configuration Provider. Input NodeUri CIM_AppDetection/CIM_AppDetection.Id=com.microsoft.systemCenter2012EndpointProtection.finder_menu_10.5_enable.pkg,Type=Package/Version : 80070490        01/01/1601 00:00:00    0 (0x0000)
Failed to fetch package info for PkgId : com.microsoft.systemCenter2012EndpointProtection.scep_kac_32_105.pkg        01/01/1601 00:00:00    0 (0x0000)
Failed to GetProperty Version from Configuration Provider. Input NodeUri CIM_AppDetection/CIM_AppDetection.Id=com.microsoft.systemCenter2012EndpointProtection.scep_kac_32_105.pkg,Type=Package/Version : 80070490        01/01/1601 00:00:00    0 (0x0000)
Failed to fetch package info for PkgId : com.microsoft.systemCenter2012EndpointProtection.scep_kac_64_109.pkg        01/01/1601 00:00:00    0 (0x0000)
Failed to GetProperty Version from Configuration Provider. Input NodeUri CIM_AppDetection/CIM_AppDetection.Id=com.microsoft.systemCenter2012EndpointProtection.scep_kac_64_109.pkg,Type=Package/Version : 80070490        01/01/1601 00:00:00    0 (0x0000)
Instance Win32_OperatingSystem=@ is in unexpected format.        01/01/1601 00:00:00    0 (0x0000)
Failed TokenizeInstanceName for Instance Name : Win32_OperatingSystem=@. Input NodeUri : Win32_OperatingSystem=@/Name        01/01/1601 00:00:00    0 (0x0000){/code}

SCCM itself shows the deployment as ‘Error’:

Categories
ConfigMgr

ConfigMgr : Mac OSX 10.9.x Support

Update: See the following TechNet article on this bug and how to workaround it, http://blogs.technet.com/b/configmgrteam/archive/2014/07/07/mac-os-x-10-9-3-support-for-system-center-2012-configuration-manager-clients.aspx

In summary, you need to disable the Win32_VideoController hardware inventory class in the Default Client Settings, note that I tested creating a Mac-specific Client Settings policy and this did not resolve the issue.

 

 

Unfortunately I’ve spent the last couple of days chasing my tail on what now appears to be a bug with the SCCM 2012 R2 client for Mac OSX. We’re using the client from here: http://www.microsoft.com/en-gb/download/details.aspx?id=39360

Looking here: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/gg682077.aspx#BKMK_SupConfigMacClientReq – supported Mac OSX versions include 10.9 – however I can confirm that 10.9.1 works, but 10.9.4 will not work – the client keeps crashing and will not contact the SCCM site server. I have confirmed this on several devices, and it looks as if there are others with this issue: https://groups.google.com/forum/#!msg/macenterprise/O6adotOzLU0/F4TTZ0jYtvgJ – would appear that the issues started with OSX 10.9.3.

Client will enroll successfully, but then will not communicate with the Site Server – the Configuration Manager client utility shows “Communication with the client service has been lost:”

Categories
Microsoft

SharePoint : Poor Startup Times and Integrated SSRS Performance

We’ve had an open issue with MS for a while now, regarding poor SharePoint-integrated SSRS performance,namely:

  1. Long delays when opening up integrated SSRS reports first thing in the morning (several minutes in some cases)
  2. Random delays when opening integrated SSRS reports throughout the day (several minutes in some cases)

When troubleshooting a replacement SSL certificate issue I stumbled across the solution.

Continue reading “SharePoint : Poor Startup Times and Integrated SSRS Performance”
Categories
Microsoft

Active Directory : Title Attribute Write Permission Delegate

When trying to delegate the permissions for a service account to update user “Title” (job title) attributes in Active Directory we found that despite effective permissions showing write permissions, access was denied.

On further instigation we found that “Write All Properties” worked, which made it even stranger.

The same issue is reported here:http://social.technet.microsoft.com/Forums/windowsserver/en-US/e7df62b5-58b0-4ef9-ba42-040170eb1a4f/access-denied-when-changing-users-job-title. The article references the need to modify the attribute in the schema, for us we opted for the Write All Properties option.

Categories
ConfigMgr

ConfigMgr : Collection of Devices Based on Primary User Group Membership

In the spirit of ‘eating your own dog food’ I often test new deployments on my team’s client devices – to make this easier I’ve created a WQL, query-based collection of all of their client devices based upon Primary User’s group membership. The nice thing about this group is that any new devices we’re testing will automatically be added.

{code lang:text showtitle:false lines:false hidden:false}Select SMS_R_SYSTEM.ResourceID,SMS_R_SYSTEM.ResourceType,SMS_R_SYSTEM.Name,SMS_R_SYSTEM.SMSUniqueIdentifier,SMS_R_SYSTEM.ResourceDomainORWorkgroup,SMS_R_SYSTEM.Client
FROM SMS_R_System
JOIN SMS_UserMachineRelationship ON SMS_R_System.Name=SMS_UserMachineRelationship.ResourceName
JOIN SMS_R_User ON SMS_UserMachineRelationship.UniqueUserName=SMS_R_User.UniqueUserName
WHERE SMS_UserMachineRelationship.Types=1 AND SMS_R_User.UserGroupName=”DOMAIN\\GroupName” AND SMS_R_System.OperatingSystemNameandVersion like “Microsoft Windows NT Workstation%”{/code}

Categories
ConfigMgr

ConfigMgr : Refresh Scenario Error 80070002 Post 2012 R2 Upgrade

Issues with the Network Access Account following an SCCM 2012 R2 upgrade are not uncommon:

Despite creating a new account, deleting the old account and recreating boot images we were still running into issues on some refresh scenarios with Task Sequences failing with a 80070002 error code – bare-metal deployments of new machines were fine, using the same boot images.

It turns out that the clients targeted by the refresh Task Sequence we’re still running the legacy, non-R2, SCCM client. After upgrading the client to the R2 version all Task Sequences ran without issue.