Hibernation Hotfix for Windows XP and Vista and Insomnia Madness

I have read of reports where systems will not resume from hibernation but have not seen it replicated myself.  Well if you have seen this problem in your environment this patch, released on April 7th by Microsoft (KB 951126), may be just what the doctor ordered. 

Insomnia? Ambien…

I have also heard reports of a software vendor that claims to have a patch for a situation they refer to as insomnia.  They claim that a bug in the Windows operating system will actually prevent the system from going into hibernate and have a patch to fix it. 

In reality there is no bug and here is what happens.  In the power scheme settings there is a specified time for the system to go into a low power state after n minutes of idle time.  Idle time is when there are no keyboard inputs, mouse movements or changes in window focus, all actions typically performed by the user.  Once the computers idle timer expires the OS will go into a low power state but before that it will query running applications to see if they are busy doing anything and if any of them respond with a "Yes, I am still working!"  the idle timer gets reset and the system stays in its current power state.  The idle timer will reset to n minutes and when it expires it will check again. 

This process is actually handled by SetThreadExecutionState function, which allows application to respond to this request with various values to be able to complete their tasks.  So not only is this not a bug in the OS, if there is a bug it lies in the application that is incorrectly responding and keeping the OS from going into a low power state or it truly is working and needs the computer to stay up.  The whole idea is to keep applications from crashing, causing a BSOD or worse a RSOD and corrupting files.  And personally, the only patch I am going to install for my operating system is going to have to come from Microsoft, I will apply patches from vendors for their own software but if they issue a patch to fix another vendors software I would be a bit concerned to say the least.

More technical details of the function can be found here on msdn.

If you are coming to MMS see you in just a couple weeks!  You can find me hanging out at the booth or in sessions.  I will actually be putting on a couple demos during the week at our booth as well.

Regards,
Anthony

Anthony Clendenen | Solutions Engineer | 1E

http://configmgr.com

© Anthony Clendenen

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How-To: Sequencing Office 2007 with SoftGrid

I wish Microsoft would standardize on either SoftGrid or Microsoft Application Virtualization.  Here is a KB on sequencing Office 2007.

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;EN-US;939796

INTRODUCTION

This article describes one method that you can use to successfully sequence a 2007 Microsoft Office program for use with Microsoft SoftGrid. The method that is described in this article is not the only method that is available. Additionally, you may have to modify the information in this article as appropriate for your particular environment.

 

MORE INFORMATION

Obtain background information

• Review the "Best practices to use for sequencing in Microsoft SoftGrid" article. For more information, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

932137 (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/932137/) Best practices to use for sequencing in Microsoft SoftGrid

• Review the product documentation that was included with SoftGrid. This includes the following documents:

• Quick Start Guide

• Sequencer Install Guide

• Sequencer User Guide

• Install the 2007 Office program to become familiar with the functionality of the program.

 

Prepare the environment

1. Use the Microsoft Office Customization Tool to create an .msp file. To obtain the Office Customization Tool in the 2007 Office system, visit the following Microsoft Web site:

http://technet2.microsoft.com/Office/en-us/library/8faae8a0-a12c-4f7b-839c-24a66a531bb51033.mspx?mfr=true (http://technet2.microsoft.com/Office/en-us/library/8faae8a0-a12c-4f7b-839c-24a66a531bb51033.mspx?mfr=true)

The .msp file must define at least the following settings:

• On the Install location and organization name page, install the 2007 Office suite to Q:\unique eight-character path that you have not used previously\Microsoft Office.

• On the Licensing and user interface page, enter the appropriate license key, and then click to select the I accept the terms of the license agreement check box.

• On the Set feature and installation states page, click Run All From My Computer for each 2007 Office program feature.

• On the Add registry entries page, add the following registry entry:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\Windows Search\Preferences "PreventIndexingOutlook"=dword:00000001

Note This registry entry enables the "Classic" Outlook search feature in Microsoft Office Outlook 2007.

2. If you want to use Microsoft Office Project 2007 together with the 2007 Office program, create an .msp file for Project 2007. This .msp file must define at least the following settings:

• On the Install location and organization name page, install Project 2007 to Q:\unique eight-character path that you have not used previously\Microsoft Office.
Note This is the same path that you specified for the 2007 Office program installation.

• On the Licensing and user interface page, enter the appropriate license key, and then click to select the I accept the terms of the license agreement check box.

• On the Set feature and installation states page, click Run All From My Computer for each Project 2007 feature.

3. If you want to use Microsoft Office Visio 2007 together with the 2007 Office program, create an .msp file for Visio 2007. This .msp file must define at least the following settings:

• On the Install location and organization name page, install Visio 2007 to Q:\unique eight-character path that you have not used previously\Microsoft Office.
Note This is the same path that you specified for the 2007 Office program installation.

• On the Licensing and user interface page, enter the appropriate license key, and then click to select the I accept the terms of the license agreement check box.

• On the Set feature and installation states page, click Run All From My Computer for each Visio 2007 feature.

4. Build the sequencing computer. To do this, use the information from the SoftGrid product documentation. Also, consider the following list of best practices when you create the sequencing workstation:

a. Join the sequencing computer to the domain and allow for Group Policy to be applied to the computer.

b. Log on to the sequencing computer as a member of the local Administrators group. However, do not use the local Administrator account.

c. Do not disable User Account Control (UAC) in Windows Vista.

d. Turn off any real-time scanning programs or indexing programs before you start the sequencing operation. This includes the following programs:

• Microsoft Windows Update

• Antivirus programs

• Anti-malware programs such as Windows Defender.

• Indexing programs or search programs such as the Windows Search service

e. To a local folder on the sequencing computer, copy the 2007 Office suite installation program and any other program that is to be sequenced.
Note Use the media package from a volume licensed 2007 Office suite installation for this purpose.

f. Install the SoftGrid Sequencer tool on the computer. When you install this tool, use the default installation options.

 

Perform sequencing

1. Start the SoftGrid Sequencer program.

2. On the File menu, click New Package.

3. Type the appropriate information in the following boxes, and then click Next:

• Suite Name

• Title

• Comments

• Hostname

• Path

Note For more information about the information these boxes can contain, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

932137 (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/932137/) Best practices to use for sequencing in Microsoft SoftGrid

4. Verify that the appropriate operating systems are selected on the Operating Systems page, and then click Finish.

5. Click Next to start the Installation Wizard.

6. In the Compression Algorithm list, click the appropriate compression algorithm.
Note We recommend that you click Not Compressed in this list.

7. In the Block Size list, click 32KB, and then click Next.

8. Exit all programs that are not needed, close all windows that are not needed, and then click Begin Monitoring.

9. Install Microsoft Office Enterprise 2007 by using the .msp file that you created earlier.

10. Install other 2007 Office programs by using the appropriate .msp files that you created earlier.
Important Install all the following programs to the same package root folder:

• Visio 2007

• Project 2007

• Microsoft Office Communicator 2007

• Microsoft Office Live Meeting

• XPS/PDF add-in

11. Start each program that you installed except Outlook 2007 and Microsoft Office Groove 2007.

12. Verify that each program works correctly. If it is necessary, start each program again.

13. Click Stop Monitoring.

14. When you are prompted, click the package root folder on the Q: drive to which you installed the 2007 Office programs.

15. Accept the default option to add files to the virtual file system (VFS), and then click Finish.

16. Click Next to start the Application Wizard.

17. Customize the shortcuts to be included in the package as appropriate for your environment. When you do this, remove shortcuts that trigger update actions or that are not needed.

18. Click Next.

19. On the Launch Applications page, click each program in turn, and then click Launch.
Important Do not select Outlook 2007 or Groove 2007.

20. Perform the operations in each program as appropriate for the functionality that you want to be included in Feature Block 1. For example, to include the spelling checker functionality, misspell a word, and then check the spelling. Or, to include the Help functionality in Feature Block 1, start Help.
Note By default, the 2007 Office program does not register the following file name extension associations:

• .doc

• .xls

• .ppt

If you want these file name extensions associated with the appropriate 2007 Office program, you must open a .doc file, an .xls file, and a .ppt file as appropriate, and then register the file type with the 2007 Office program.
When you are finished starting programs, click Next.

21. Click Finish to complete the steps in the Application Wizard.

22. On the Virtual Registry tab in the Sequencer, expand the following virtual registry location:

USER\%SFT_SID%\Software\Microsoft\Office\Common\UserInfo

Then, delete the following values:

• UserInitials

• UserName

23. If you include the Live Meeting add-ins in the sequencing operation, follow these steps:

a. On the Virtual Registry tab in the Sequencer, expand the following virtual registry location:

USER\%SFT_SID%\Software\Microsoft\Office\12.0\Word\Data

Then, delete the Settings value and the Toolbars value.

b. On the Virtual File System tab, expand CSIDL_APPDATA\Microsoft\Templates, and then right-click this entry to clear the virtualized flag. This action lets the 2007 Office Online templates function correctly.

24. If you perform the sequencing operation on a Microsoft Windows XP-based computer, follow these steps:

a. On the Virtual File System tab, expand the following location:

CSIDL_PROGRAM_FILES_COMMON\Microsoft Shared\ink

b. Right-click this entry to clear the virtualized flag. This action lets Tablet PC computers function correctly.

25. Save the package together with an appropriate name.

26. Verify that local interaction is enabled. To do this, modify each .osd package to add the following entry to the <VIRTUALENV> section that appears after the <ENVLIST/> tag.

<POLICIES>
<LOCAL_INTERACTION_ALLOWED>TRUE</LOCAL_INTERACTION_ALLOWED>
</POLICIES>

When you enable local interaction, Windows Internet Explorer interaction is improved.

 

Known issues

• The Outlook 2007 Instant Search feature does not function in a SoftGrid environment. The registry key change that is described in this article turns on the Classic form of Outlook search.

• After streaming, the shortcut that is created in the Quick Launch area by Outlook 2007 and the shortcut that is created in the Startup folder for Microsoft Office OneNote 2007 are no longer valid. Therefore, users must manually re-create these shortcuts.

• Items that require interaction with Outlook 2007 from the operating system or from other programs do not function correctly. This includes "mailto:" links and the Start menu shortcut for the default e-mail client.

Regards,

Anthony

Anthony Clendenen | Solutions Engineer | 1E

http://configmgr.com

© Anthony Clendenen

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ConfigMgr’s SMS_OFFER_STATUS_SUMMARIZER Fails To Start - KB 945898

There is a hotfix available for an issue where in ConfigMgr the status summarizer stops working and a backlog SVF files begin to pile up in the OfferSum inbox.  This was first reported publicly on December 3rd on the myITforum.com SMS mailing list by Lane K.  Shortly after it was reported Brian Huneycutt, an Escalation Engineer at Microsoft, launched an investigation into this issue. After it was confirmed a KB was created and sent through the release process. 

Update: (Dec 9 9:00 GMT) hotfix now publicly available for download here.

Currently (Dec. 8th 1200 GMT) the KB is available by contact PSS, your TAM, or standard Microsoft Support (1-800-936-4900) and referencing KB 945898.  It is also available on the premier.microsoft.com site if you have a Premier Support contract.  Rick Jones at AT&T Wireless (formerly Cingular Wireless) reported that when he contacted Microsoft Support that he was told no such KB existed, if this happens to you just ask to speak to an engineer and they will be able to get the hotfix mailed to you.

Additional details on the fix:

• Fix has to be applied to all ConfigMgr Site Servers.
• No reboot or site reset is required but the SMS Exec service will be stopped during the install.
• After applying the hotfix you may notice numerous entries of “Invalid time for offer ‘AdvertisementName’ with message MessageID from client ClientName.”  This is reported by Microsoft to be a side effect of the time difference between the selected Display Interval and the back logged SVF files that are now being processed, and can ignored because it is clearly out of sync because of the back log. 
• The hotfix is applied to the offersum.dll file and if you want to make a backup of this file prior to updating it make sure you copy it to a different directory and do not just rename it and leave it in the original directory because the patch will fail.
  • Not sure why anyone would do this, you couldn’t patch a file that doesn’t exist but I am guessing someone did this and then reported it to Microsoft.
• This hotfix can be uninstalled.

The back log of files should start processing almost immediately after you apply the fix and can be monitored in the OfferSum.log (see note above).

This issue could have other side effects that may not make it immediately apparent as to what is causing the issue you are seeing.

I would very strongly advise against EVER modify the site control file for ANY reason.  I have seen at least one email where the admin deleted lines from the site control file to resolve this issue.  If this file becomes corrupt or is modified in certain ways it could cause far more serious issues than a backlog of files in your Inbox.  As Microsoft puts it “because it is possible to irreparably damage your SMS site.”  If you need to make changes to the site control file do it programmatically through the exposed WMI classes and the SMS Provider.

Regards,
Anthony

Anthony Clendenen | Solutions Engineer | 1E

http://configmgr.com

© 2007 Anthony Clendenen

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ConfigMgr Help Files Updated

Yes it is true the ConfigMgr Doc team has released a new update to the offline help included in ConfigMgr!  And there is a ton of updates to the help file (see below) included in the 7.5 MB download.  I think this is an excellent idea so that you can search and get information when you are testing or if you ConfigMgr server does not have a connection to the Internet.

Ping

Topic last updated—November 2007

The following table describes what’s new in the Microsoft System Center Configuration Manager 2007 Documentation Library as of November 2007. The topics listed in the table are new or contain significant technical changes. Topics that contain minor changes are not listed.

Note

Many Configuration Manager 2007 files are stored under the operating system directory. On 32-bit operating systems, this is %windir%\system32, but on 64-bit operating systems, the directory is %windir%\SysWOW64. In the Documentation Library, the 64-bit directory is not always specified.

Getting Started

Topic
Description

Configuration Manager Planning Phase

Additional information added to describe how to create a deployment project plan.

Configuration Manager Supported Configurations

Additional information added to describe the supported versions of Microsoft SQL Server that can be used to host the site database.

Incorrect information about Itanium based system support for the site database server note corrected.

Incorrect information about the supportability of Fast User Switching for Microsoft Windows XP and Windows Vista corrected.

Setup Prerequisite Checks

Two additional prerequisite check rules added to KB940848 and KB941132.

What’s New in Software Distribution for Configuration Manager

Includes a new section with information about copying multiple packages to one distribution point.

Planning and Deploying the Server Infrastructure for Configuration Manager 2007

Topic
Description

Choose Between Primary Sites, Secondary Sites, and Branch Distribution Points

Updated topic to include considerations for branch distribution points instead of sites.

Configuration Manager in Multiple Active Directory Forests

Includes additional information about site hierarchies across forests.

Configuration Manager In-Place Upgrade

New content added to highlight the fact that upgrading existing SMS 2003 sites using the 120-day evaluation version Configuration Manager 2007 software is not supported.

Considerations for Upgrading Sites

Updated with the required Systems Management Server (SMS) 2003 service pack level required for upgrade to Configuration Manager 2007.

Example Scenarios for Implementing Internet-Based Client Management in Configuration Manager

Includes new scenario: "Support Internet-Based Clients and Intranet Clients in the Intranet on the Same Site System Server." This scenario includes information about how to specify multiple fully qualified domain names (FQDNs) for a site system server that supports intranet clients and Internet clients.

How to Deploy a Site Using Simple Setup and How to Deploy a Site Using Custom Setup

Includes new information about how to handle required setup redistributable files when installing primary sites.

How to Extend the Active Directory Schema Using an LDIF File

Troubleshooting Active Directory Schema Extensions During Upgrades

Configuration Manager Upgrade Checklist

Includes new information about the procedures required when using the LDIF file to extend the Active Directory schema for Configuration Manager if the Active Directory schema has already been extended for SMS 2003 sites.

How to Install a Secondary Site Using the Configuration Manager Console

How to Install a Secondary Site Using Configuration Manager Setup

Includes new information about how to handle required setup redistributable files when installing secondary sites from local installation source files at the secondary site server computer.

How to Upgrade an SMS 2003 Administrator Console

Includes new information about how to connect the Configuration Manager console to the site database after upgrading an SMS 2003 Administrator console.

International Client Pack

Includes information from SMS 2003 release notes that still applies to Configuration Manager 2007.

Prerequisite Component Update Checker

A new topic that describes the process used to download updated client component prerequisite installation files.

Scripted Primary Site Installation Example

Scripted Secondary Site Installation Example

New client prerequisite download scripted installation options added to unattended installation scripts.

Setup Command Line Options

Revised content to clarify the functionality of the /PREREQ /ALLSEC command-line option.

Troubleshooting the Configuration Manager Server Infrastructure

Troubleshooting Management Point Communication

Troubleshooting State Message Backlogs

Includes new information for troubleshooting the server infrastructure for Configuration Manager.

Unattended Setup Overview

Revised content to clarify information about the unattended setup client prerequisite download and client agent keys used in unattended setup initialization files.

Configuring Configuration Manager Sites for Best Performance

Includes new Configuration Manager performance planning and configuration information.

How to Modify a Sender

Sender Properties: Advanced Tab

Revised content to clarify how to configure sending thread configurations.

Prerequisites for Native Mode

Includes additional Configuration Manager 2007 dependency for contacting a certificate revocation list (CRL) when it is used in your PKI deployment.

Planning and Deploying Clients for Configuration Manager 2007

Topic
Description

About Client Approval in Configuration Manager

Clarification that a Configuration Manager 2007 client cannot be approved before it is successfully installed and assigned to a site.

Advertised Programs Client Agent Properties: Notification Tab

Updated options displayed on the Notification tab of the Advertised Programs Client Agent Properties dialog.

Example Roaming Scenarios for Configuration Manager: Complex

Pictures added to illustrate each example scenario, as well as corrections to the scenario "Client Roams into another Configuration Manager 2007 Hierarchy."

Firewall Settings for Configuration Manager Clients

Removed reference to the Configuration Manager 2007 console requiring port 135 and unsecapp.exe. Due to console redesign in Configuration Manager 2007, these firewall exceptions are no longer required.

How to Export the Site Server Signing Certificate for Configuration Manager Client Installation

New procedural topic for exporting the native-mode site server signing certificate if you need to specify the SMSSIGNCERT CCMSetup client.msi property during client installation.

How to Identify Client Configuration Details for Native Mode and Internet-Based Client Management

New procedural topic for using Resource Explorer to identify client configuration for native-mode and Internet-based client management. This information is stored in hardware inventory; from there, it can be used for troubleshooting, auditing, or creating query-based collections.

How to Initiate Policy Retrieval for a Configuration Manager Client

Updated to include a script to run on the client computer.

Configuration Manager Management Point Location Data Flow: Mixed Mode

New dataflow displaying the process by which Configuration Manager 2007 clients locate their default management point when their assigned site is operating in mixed mode.

Configuration Manager Management Point Location Data Flow: Native Mode

New dataflow displaying the process by which Configuration Manager 2007 clients locate their default management point when their assigned site is operating in native mode.

Configuration Manager Site Assignment Data Flow

New dataflow displaying the process by which Configuration Manager 2007 clients become assigned to a site.

Supported Localized Languages

Includes new information to confirm that DBCS characters are not supported for package or file names.

Tasks for Managing Configuration Manager Clients on Windows XP Embedded Devices

New topics providing methods for managing the Configuration Manager 2007 client on devices running the Microsoft Windows XP Embedded operating system.

Configuration Manager 2007 Features

Note

The 6A and 12A asset intelligence reports are not present in Configuration Manager 2007 installations. References to these reports in the documentation should be ignored.

Topic
Description

About Collection-Specific Settings

New topic about per-collection settings for policy polling and restart intervals.

About Distribution Points

Includes several new topics about distribution points. Also, existing topics have been expanded. Updated distribution point topics include the following:

About BITS-Enabled Distribution Points

About Protected Distribution Points

About Standard and Branch Distribution Points

Choose Between a Server and Server Share Distribution Point

Choose Between a Standard and Branch Distribution Point

Decide Whether to Enable BITS on a Distribution Point

Decide Whether to Protect the Distribution Point

How to Configure a BITS-Enabled Distribution Point

How to Configure a Protected Distribution Point

How to Deploy a Branch Distribution Point

How to Convert a Standard Distribution Point to a Branch Distribution Point

About Drag-and-Drop Support in the Configuration Manager Console

New topic specifying which objects can be dragged and dropped.

About On-Demand Package Distribution

Revised a statement in this topic that implies that a branch distribution point can get content from a management point. Branch distribution points get content only from a BITS-enabled standard distribution point. Added considerations for configuring high-priority packages for on-demand package distribution.

About Resources

Clarified the types of operations you can perform on non-client resources, such as a user account or routers.

About Software Updates Compliance

New topic about software updates compliance and the scan for software updates compliance process.

About Software Updates Synchronization

Updated topic about the software updates synchronization process.

About the Package Definition File Format

Updated example of supported clients.

About Windows Installer Source Location Manager

Added topics about Windows Installer source location management. Updated the F1 help about the Windows Installer tab with more information about Windows Installer source location management. These new topics contain the same information as the SMS 2003 white paper "Windows Installer Source Location Manager." Windows Installer source location management has not changed in Configuration Manager 2007.

How To Configure Windows Installer Source Update Management

Script Sample for API-Based Triggering of the Product Source Update Manager

Program Name Properties: Windows Installer Tab

Administrator Checklist: Prepare the Configuration Manager Environment for Bare Metal Operating System Deployment

New topic describes the tasks you perform to prepare the Configuration Manager 2007 environment for bare-metal operating system deployments.

About Compliance Evaluation Schedules in Desired Configuration Management

Clarifications about how configuration baseline assignments are evaluated, including the two-hour random delay window.

Compliance Sent As State Messages and Status Messages in Desired Configuration Management

Previously titled "Changes in Compliance That Are Sent to the Site for Desired Configuration Management," this topic now clarifies when compliance information is sent in state messages or status messages.

Compliance Information Missing in Desired Configuration Management

Clarified symptoms when the prerequisite Microsoft .NET Framework version is missing on clients and includes additional information related to the client evaluation time.

Best Practices for Desired Configuration Management

New topic that lists best practice information about desired configuration management in Configuration Manager.

Best Practices for Network Access Protection

New topic that lists best practice information about Network Access Protection in Configuration Manager.

Best Practices for Software Updates

Updated topic with best practices for software updates.

Choose Between Updating and Refreshing a Package

New topic about the differences between updating and refreshing packages.

Decide Whether Clients Should Download Content If They Are on a Slow or Unreliable Network Boundary

New topic about considerations for configuring clients to not download content on slow or unreliable network boundaries.

Determine Administrator Roles and Processes for Wake On LAN

New topic that provides guidance on the various roles and processes involved with implementing Wake On LAN in Configuration Manager 2007, and some of the possible consequences of not identifying them.

Example Package Access Scenarios

New topic illustrating the security context used to access packages in various forest and domain configurations. These scenarios work with the following new flowcharts:

Package Access Flowchart When Running from Distribution Point

Package Access Flowchart When Downloading from an Intranet Distribution Point

Package Access Flowchart for Internet-Based Clients

Example Scenarios for Implementing Wake On LAN

New topic that contains three example scenarios of how Wake On LAN can be implemented in Configuration Manager 2007 to address specific business requirements.

Flowcharts for Software Updates

New flowcharts for software updates, including the following:

Software Updates Synchronization Process Flowchart

Software Update Deployment Process Flowchart

Deployment Package Process Flowchart.

Frequently Asked Questions for Discovery

New topic for frequently asked questions. This information is from the SMS 2003 Technical FAQ but still applies to Configuration Manager 2007.

Frequently Asked Questions for Software Distribution

Carried over several frequently asked questions (FAQ) from the SMS 2003 Technical FAQ that still apply to Configuration Manager 2007.

In the FAQ, called out that dependent programs are not installed when a program is run in a task sequence. The information already existed in the content for operating system deployment. Also added the content to the F1 help for programs: Program Name Properties: Advanced Tab.

Known Issues for Mobile Device Management

Updated topic that describes known issues for the mobile device management feature and solutions for issues when available.

Ports Used in Software Updates

New diagram that illustrates the ports used by software updates in a typical Configuration Manager hierarchy.

Run Query Special

Removed content because it no longer applies. In previous versions, run query special was included because large queries sometimes caused the console to stop responding. Queries are now run immediately when the query is selected.

Software Distribution Troubleshooting Flowcharts

Added a section with software distribution flowcharts.

Software Metering Log Files

New topic listing log files that can help to troubleshoot Configuration Manager 2007 software metering.

Software Updates State Messages

New topic about the state messages created by software updates clients.

Troubleshooting Discovery

Moved the existing Discovery Troubleshooting Administrator Workflows to the troubleshooting section. Added discovery troubleshooting workflows. Includes new topic for troubleshooting common issues: Troubleshooting Discovery Issues.

Prerequisites for Operating System Deployment

Updated to include the public key infrastructure (PKI) certificates that might be required for operating system deployments if the site is configured for native mode.

Planning for Operating System Deployment in a NAP-Enabled Environment

New topic with planning information about how to configure operating system deployments with Network Access Protection (NAP).

Planning for Operating System Deployment in a Native Mode Site

New topic with planning information about the public key infrastructure (PKI) certificates that are required for operating system deployments in a native mode site.

Troubleshooting Operating System Deployment

New topics included in the operating system deployment troubleshooting section to help you identify and resolve problems related to operating system deployments.

Troubleshooting Software Metering Issues

New topic for problems and solutions related to Configuration Manager 2007 software metering.

Troubleshooting Software Updates Issues

New topics for troubleshooting software updates issues, including the following:

Troubleshooting General Software Updates Issues

Troubleshooting Software Update Point Configuration Issues

Troubleshooting Software Updates Synchronization Failures

Troubleshooting Software Update Deployment Issues

Troubleshooting Software Updates Client Issues

Troubleshooting Group Policy Configuration for Software Updates

Troubleshooting Inventory Tool for Microsoft Updates Issues

About State Messages

Includes new information about client state message behavior.

Troubleshooting Wake On LAN Issues

New topic for possible problems and solutions related to Wake On LAN failing to wake up computers as expected.

Security and Privacy for Configuration Manager 2007

Topic
Description

About Maintenance Windows

Updated to confirm that maintenance windows are not inherited by subcollections.

About the SMS Admins Group

How to Assign Rights for Objects to Users and Groups

Clarified information about SMS Admins group. If the SMS Provider is not installed on the site server, Configuration Manager 2007 cannot automatically add users to the SMS Admins group.

How to Configure Windows SCW for Configuration Manager

It was previously assumed that the templates would be released on the download center. The templates are now planned to be released as part of the Configuration Manager 2007 Toolkit. The following related topics have been updated to reference the Toolkit:

What’s New in Security for Configuration Manager

Best Practices for Securing Site Systems

How to Manage Accounts from the Command-Line

Removed Site System Installation Account as an account that can be managed using the Manage Site Accounts tool (MSAC.exe).

Overview of Configuration Manager Security

Clarified that rights do not flow down the site hierarchy and must be set at each site individually.

Ports used by Configuration Manager

Added number 37 for PXE Service Point to the Microsoft SQL Server communication. Updated the remote control Ports section.

Technical Reference for Configuration Manager 2007

Topic
Description

Custom Error Codes for Configuration Manager 2007

Includes new information mainly related to native mode in the Client Custom Error Codes section.

Computer Client Agent Properties: General Tab

Updated an incorrect value for the state message reporting cycle. This now reads 15 minutes.

Import Object Wizard

Corrected statement about duplicate objects overwriting existing objects. Reports with duplicate names overwrite existing reports, but collections and queries create duplicate object names with different IDs.

Example Configuration Manager Deployment Scenarios

• Example Configuration Manager Installation Scenario
• Example Configuration Manager Upgrade Scenario

Example Configuration Manager Deployment Checklists

• Example Configuration Manager Installation Checklist
• Example Configuration Manager Upgrade Checklist

Added Configuration Manager Setup and upgrade scenarios as well as example custom installation checklist examples to assist in planning and deploying Configuration Manager sites.

Regards,
Anthony

Anthony Clendenen | Solutions Engineer | 1E

http://configmgr.com

© 2007 Anthony Clendenen

no comments yet.

Why Patch Tuesday Turns Into Patch Thursday or Friday or Monday

I used to hate the second Tuesday of every month.  I honestly liked it better when patches were released as they were ready.  What happens with the scheduled updates is that everyone knows that it is coming and that means that everyone expects their SMS Engineers to have the patches deployed that night, no matter how late, no matter how many people, no matter what!  And on Wednesday morning, usually around nine, everyone wants to know the status of the deployments.  For me I had some advantages, one I controlled the entire SMS hierarchy, everything from the design, the site servers, the physical servers, collections, packages, ads, reports, you name it, I was also on the west coast, when Microsoft didn’t release the catalog until noon, it was noon, not three in the afternoon or 11 PM.  I also didn’t have other managers trying to tell me what to do, occasionally I would get a call from the IT director our someone higher up but when I uttered those three little words, "It’s patch Tuesday", 99% of the time that conversation was over.  So I could close my door, not answer my bat phone, turn off my work cell phone, and make full use of my time. 

But here’s the thing, my situation was unique, most SMS Engineers either have a ton of other responsibilities, a ton of competing requests from people, don’t have that kind of flexibility in their scheduling, don’t have that kind of control over the SMS hierarchy, don’t live in the PST time zone, or any combination of these including but not limited to all of these!

And if you are a manager and are reading this you may think to yourself, "they just need to manage their time better" or "these are just minor roadblocks that they can over come" or even "it’s their job and if they can’t do it then we will find someone else who can," I have a couple questions for you.  First, have you ever read a KB article?  No, no, no, not this summary…if that is what you read, and even if you read the entire KB article did you miss that one little piece about known issues, you had to click on a link, go to another page, and then click on another link, and then scroll down where you were presented with a little more information on what you may encounter, it reads like so…

Known issues

• During the last two steps of the SharePoint Products and Technologies Configuration Wizard, you may receive the following error message:

Failed to start service SPSearchServiceInstance on this server after completing upgrade. Please start it manually.

However, the SPSearchServiceInstance service was actually started after the SharePoint Products and Technologies Configuration Wizard finished. You can safely ignore this error message and the error message that is logged in the SharePoint Products and Technologies Configuration Wizard log file.

• The Microsoft GroupBoard Workspace 2007 add-in template for Windows SharePoint Services 3.0 may cause the SharePoint Products and Technologies Configuration Wizard to fail during a build-to-build upgrade.
For more information, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

941678 (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/941678/) SharePoint Products and Technologies Configuration Wizard does not finish successfully on a computer that also has GroupBoard Workspace 2007 installed

• When you run a gradual upgrade of a Windows SharePoint Services 2.0 site collection to a Windows SharePoint Services 3.0 site collection, the server may be brought down. You must allow the gradual upgrade to complete before you apply this security update.

• You use quiet mode to install Windows SharePoint Services 3.0. If this security update is applied during the installation, the SharePoint Products and Technologies Configuration Wizard unexpectedly runs after the installer program has finished.
To resolve this issue, extract this security update to a folder on the computer. Then, copy the files to the Updates folder of the program’s release version. After the extracted files are copied to that location, the folder is ready to be used to install the release version of the program that is updated to this security update level.

• After you install this update on a computer that is running Microsoft Windows Small Business Server 2003, the Web sites may not restart within the time-out period. Therefore, you may be unable to access the Backup, CompanyWeb, Microsoft Server ActiveSync, Monitoring, Outlook Web Access, or Remote Web Workplace Web sites. To resolve this problem, use one of the following methods:

• Open Internet Information Services (IIS) Manager, and start any Web sites that are stopped.

• Restart the computer.

• If you run a virus scanning program during the installation of this security update, you may experience intermittent issues during the installation. To resolve these issues, turn off the virus scanning program before you apply this security update.

• You use host-named site collections in Windows SharePoint Services 3.0. If you have many host-named site collections in your deployment, you may experience severe performance issues while this security update is being applied. For example, this issue may occur when there are more than 50 host-named site collections in your deployment.

Microsoft is aware of this issue in which the installation and upgrade will take a long time to update the databases when you run the SharePoint Products and Technologies Configuration Wizard. If you have many host-named site collections in your deployment, we recommend that you do not apply this security update at this point.
Note If you do not use host-named site collections in Windows SharePoint Services 3.0, you can safely apply this security update.

• Consider the following scenario. You unprovision a Windows SharePoint Services 3.0 search service database by using one of the following methods:

• Method 1
You run the following command-line:

%ProgramFiles%\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\web server extensions\12\bin\STSADM.EXE" -O SPSEARCH -ACTION STOP -F

• Method 2
You use the Central Administration page to stop the "Windows SharePoint Help Search" service. To do this, follow these steps:

1. Click Start, point to Administrative Tools, and then click SharePoint 3.0 Central Administration.

2. Click Operations, and then click Services on Server under Topology and Services.

3. Click Stop to stop the Windows SharePoint Help Search service.

You perform a basic installation of Windows SharePoint Services 3.0 that contains the unprovisioned search service database and this security update. When you run the SharePoint Products and Technologies Configuration Wizard in this scenario, the wizard is not completed successfully.
To determine whether you are experiencing this issue, open the latest PSConfig log that is saved in the following location:

%ProgramFiles%\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\web server extensions\12\Logs

If you receive the following error message in the PSConfig log, you are experiencing this issue:

Exception: System.ArgumentException: The object with id SOME-RANDOM-GUID does not exist in the configuration store. The object may have been deleted by another operation.
at Microsoft.SharePoint.Administration.SPConfigurationDatabase.DeleteObject(Guid id)
at Microsoft.SharePoint.Administration.SPConfigurationDatabase.DeleteObject(SPPersistedObject obj)
at Microsoft.SharePoint.Administration.SPPersistedObject.Delete()
at Microsoft.SharePoint.Search.Administration.SPSearchServiceInstance.ProvisionDatabase()
at Microsoft.SharePoint.Search.Administration.SPSearchServiceInstance.Provision()
at Microsoft.SharePoint.PostSetupConfiguration.ServicesTask.InstallServiceInstanceInConfigDB(Boolean provisionTheServiceInstanceToo, String serviceInstanceRegistryKeyName, Object sharepointServiceObject)
at Microsoft.SharePoint.PostSetupConfiguration.ServicesTask.InstallServiceInstances(Boolean provisionTheServiceInstancesToo, String serviceRegistryKeyName, Object sharepointServiceObject)
at Microsoft.SharePoint.PostSetupConfiguration.ServicesTask.InstallServices(Boolean provisionTheServicesToo)
at Microsoft.SharePoint.PostSetupConfiguration.ServicesTask.Run()
at Microsoft.SharePoint.PostSetupConfiguration.TaskThread.ExecuteTask()

To work around this issue, follow these steps:

1. Do one of the following:

• Delete the Windows SharePoint Services 3.0 search service database in the Windows SharePoint Services 3.0 SQL instance. The database name starts with "WSS_Search_" and ends with the server name.

• Reprovision the Windows SharePoint Services 3.0 search service database by specifying a nondefault Windows SharePoint Services 3.0 search service database. To do this, use one of the following methods:

• Method 1
Run a command-line that resembles the following command-line:

%ProgramFiles%\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\web server extensions\12\bin\STSADM.EXE" -O SPSEARCH -ACTION START -DATABASENAME “DBNameExample"

• Method 2

a. Click Start, point to Administrative Tools, and then click SharePoint 3.0 Central Administration.

b. Click Operations, and then click Services on Server under Topology and Services.

c. Verify that the Windows SharePoint Services Search service is stopped. If it is running, stop the service.

d. Click Windows SharePoint Services Search under Services.

e. Under the Search Database, change the database name to any name other than the default name, and then click OK.

f. On the Services on Server page, click Start to start the Windows SharePoint Services Search service.

2. Run the following command-line:

%ProgramFiles%\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\web server extensions\12\bin\ PSConfigUI.exe

• The hotfixes for the following issues are included in this security update. However, if you install a Windows SharePoint Services 3.0 service pack after you install this security update, the following hotfixes are lost.

• You rename a Windows SharePoint Services 3.0 site collection. If you add a new user to the site collection, the welcome e-mail message that is received by the new user contains the old site name.

• You use the Application Definition Designer tool to import a database model that is included in the Business Data Catalog Definition Editor tool (BDC tool) of the software development kit (SDK) for Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007. After the database model is imported, the database connection string is blank.

• When you run SPWriter.exe, the program closes unexpectedly with an error message in module Oleaut32.dll. This issue was resolved by a hotfix that moved the GetTimeZoneMoveParameters() function to the end of the Owssvr.dll file.

• You migrate user accounts to a new site collection by using the Stsadmin.exe command-line tool. When the new site collection is crawled, you receive event errors 6482, 6875 and 6482 in the Application log. This issue may occur when the user’s SID in Windows SharePoint Services 3.0 is invalid.

• You use a custom template in a Windows SharePoint Services 3.0 site collection. If you create a new Web page, all the standard Web parts may not be available when you click Add a Web Part.

• When you apply this security update, some third-party services may be incorrectly stopped. If this issue occurs after you apply this security update, you must restart the computer.

• You connect to a Windows SharePoint Services 3.0 site collection. If the page contains a Calendar Web part that is set to Calendar view, the page may not load completely. This issue may occur if you do not have the permission to read the Calendar list.

Prerequisites

There are no prerequisites to apply this security update.

Restart information

In certain circumstances, a restart of the computer may be required. If a restart is required, follow these steps:

1.Restart the computer.

2.Run the "SharePoint Products and Technologies Configuration Wizard."

3.Verify that all the SharePoint services are now running in the services console.

4.Verify that all the Web sites are running in the Internet Information Services (IIS) Manager.

Removal information

After you install this security update, you cannot remove the update.

If you as the SMS Engineer also own the SharePoint servers and sites then you may not have that much work to do on this one, but it is unlikely that you don’t, then this might cause some concern for you.  You know that you have to get this patch out tonight, and you have to build a query for several products now, find out the owners of those servers, contact them, discuss this with them, come up with a plan for patching the server, and do this for each one, unless the one person owns all the SharePoint servers.  And when you are done with that, you get to setup a SharePoint server and test the patch on it.  So what time is it?  Do you have SharePoint on the network?  Know where the media is?  If you read each one of the articles in full, that alone is a couple hours, and that is only the first step in a very long list of procedures for deploying patches.

If you are a manager reading this, my advice, first, never ever utter the last example to an SMS Engineer because if your guy or gal has stuck it out this long, you are unlikely to find someone else as good or better for what pay you are giving them, second, on Wednesday morning bring coffee, tea, Diet Coke, your engineers caffinated beverage of chose, and lastly, relax you have a firewall and it is configured correctly - right?

This is the Daily Ramblings of an (ex)SMS Engineer…

Regards,
Anthony

Anthony Clendenen | Solutions Engineer | 1E Inc.

http://configmgr.com

© 2007 Anthony Clendenen

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Vista Updates Leaves Users With Non-Working Computers

For some this update installs without a problem for others it leaves them searching for their Vista media to reload.  Some people (2 that I know of) have found that this rather lavish and attractive update with promises of better stability, reliability, and Energizer Bunny like laptop battery life actually leaves them with a unbootable Vista instead. 

In the article it states that you should only install this if you are experiencing one of the problems listed below, who isn’t?

INTRODUCTION

This update improves the compatibility, reliability, and stability of Windows Vista. This update includes the following improvements:

•It extends the battery life for mobile devices.

•It improves the stability of portable computers and of desktop computers that use an uninterruptable power supply (UPS).

•It improves the reliability of Windows Vista when you open the menu of a startup application.

•It improves the stability of Internet Explorer when you open a Web page.

•It improves the stability of wireless network services.

•It shortens the startup time of Windows Vista by using a better timing structure.

•It shortens the recovery time after Windows Vista experiences a period of inactivity.

•It shortens the recovery time when you try to exit the Photos screen saver.

•It improves the stability of Windows PowerShell.

This update also resolves the following issues in Windows Vista:

•A compatibility issue that affects some third-party antivirus software applications.

•A reliability issue that occurs when a Windows Vista-based computer uses certain network driver configurations.

An update is available that improves the compatibility, reliability, and stability of Windows Vista

A supported hotfix is now available from Microsoft. However, it is intended to correct only the problem that is described in this article. Apply it only to systems that are experiencing this specific problem.

An update is available that improves the compatibility, reliability, and stability of Windows Vista

Regards,
Anthony

Anthony Clendenen | Solutions Engineer | 1E Inc.

http://configmgr.com

© 2007 Anthony Clendenen

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Group Policy Diagnostic Best Practice Analyzer

In larger environments this new tool to identify GP configuration and dependency problems should be a great time saver and really help with the administration of GPO’s.  As a Solutions Engineer that works with customers who have workstations all over the globe and seats that number in the six figures I have seen some really complicated GP configurations.  Logon times that are calculated in minutes sometimes.  This is not exclusive to large environments however, the worst group policy settings I have helped to cleanup was only about 3,000 seats.

Links to download the tools are below.

Overview

The Microsoft Group Policy Diagnostic Best Practice Analyzer (GPDBPA) for Windows XP and Windows Server 2003 is designed to help you identify Group Policy configuration errors or other dependency failures that may prevent settings or features from functioning as expected.

Group Policy Diagnostic Best Practice Analyzer for Windows Server 2003

Group Policy Diagnostic Best Practice Analyzer for Windows Server 2003 x64 Edition

Group Policy Diagnostic Best Practice Analyzer for Windows XP

Group Policy Diagnostic Best Practice Analyzer for Windows XP x64 Edition

For my US readers enjoy your long weekend!

Regards,
Anthony

Anthony Clendenen | Solutions Engineer | 1E Inc.

http://configmgr.com

© 2007 Anthony Clendenen

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