At my customer today , we were upon the first tests on our DPM 2012 platform protecting a SP 2010 farm. The protection groups are working perfectly , however, when trying to recover a Sharepoint item (a jpg file) we are facing some problems. here is a sample recovery session:

• start the recovery wizard on the document
• specify the SQL cluster instance as the staging SQL server
• specify a temporary folder on the SQL cluster, which is already included in the cluster dependencies
• specify a temporary folder on the WFE.

The recovery process ends with failure, displaying this warning on the DPM console: "DPM was unable to attach the database to the SQL Instance SERVER\INSTANCE. Cannot use file \\DPMSERVER\WSSILRShare_{guid}\local-replica-path-to-mdf for clustered server. Only formatted files on which the cluster resource of the server has a dependency can be used. Either the disk resource containing the file is not present in the cluster group or the cluster resource of the sql server does not have a dependency on it (ID 32000 Details :Unknown)"

Solution :

******************The answer below is not right for the error code – I am still investigating why this is not fixed *******************************

******************I will update when the right solution is fixed *******************************

There is a known limitation when using optimized item level recovery (ILR) for Sharepoint 2010 that uses clustered SQL Servers. The workaround is to perform a non-optimized recovery.  Please add the following registry key and try a new recovery.

To disable Optimized ILR completely, use the following registry key on the DPM 2012 server:

Key HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Microsoft Data Protection Manager\Configuration\SharePoint
Value: DisableOptimizedILR
Data:0x1
Type: DWORD

******************The answer below is not right for the error code – I am still investigating why this is not fixed *******************************

Hope it Helps,

Kenny Buntinx

System Center 2012 Configuration Manager has a great feature called the Application model that has many great built-in requirement rules that will help you to get the right deployment type installed on the right machine type even during OSD.

For most of the drivers you need to install during OSD , the driver alone isn’t enough. A great example here is the Intel HD graphics or IDT high definition Audio drivers.

In the old CM07 days you would build packages and programs , use them in your task sequence with a condition that uses a WMI query to apply that TS step on the right HW model. Well , forget about that and start using applications to install your “bad drivers” that need software as well. Let those global conditions figure out on what HW model hardware it is applicable.

For most of my applications the built-in rules can get the job done, but some times we need to create our own Global Conditions, to fit the requirement rules for an application/Deployment Type. In this particular case , we will use a global condition to detect the right PNP ID so we are able to detect the HW. We simply don’t care on what HW model we apply this step , as the global condition will figure it out for you . This will allow you to simplify things in your TS.

Let me give you an example on how to do it :

1. Create your Application : HP Graphics driver and Software and fill in your supported models. Note: When downloading the driver software from the HP website , in the .inf file you will find on what HW models this software is applicable.

2. Create your Deployment Type and specify the install / uninstall parameters . In this case : “Setup –s”

3. Create your “Detection Method” . In this case we will look in to the registry :

Hive: “HKLM”

Key : \Software\Wow6432Node\Intel\GFX”

Value :”Version”

Data Type : “String”

Equals version “ 9.17.10.2967”

Now you can detect if the app is already installed or not .

4. Create your custom Global condition under the “Global Condition” Node in the Console .

5. Create your custom Global condition called:”Video is Intel HD Graphics Compatible Adapter” and specify the following settings :

Name :”Video is Intel HD Graphics Compatible Adapter”

Device Type : “windows”

Condition Type : “Setting”

Setting Type : ”WQL query”

Data Type :”String”

Namespace : “Root\Cimv2”

Class: ”CIM_LogicalDevice”

Property : “PNPDeviceID”

WQL query where clause  :

“PNPDeviceID like ‘%VEN_8086&DEV_0166%’ or PNPDeviceID like ‘%VEN_8086&DEV_0106%’ or PNPDeviceID like ‘%VEN_8086&DEV_0102%’ or PNPDeviceID like ‘%VEN_8086&DEV_0116%’ or PNPDeviceID like ‘%VEN_8086&DEV_0112%’ or PNPDeviceID like ‘%VEN_8086&DEV_0126%’ or PNPDeviceID like ‘%VEN_8086&DEV_0122%’ or PNPDeviceID like ‘%VEN_8086&DEV_010A%’ or PNPDeviceID like ‘%VEN_8086&DEV_0162%’ or PNPDeviceID like ‘%VEN_8086&DEV_016A%’ or PNPDeviceID like ‘%VEN_8086&DEV_0152%’ or PNPDeviceID like ‘%VEN_8086&DEV_0156%’ or PNPDeviceID like ‘%VEN_8086&DEV_015A%’”

To find the above information , you must open the corresponding inf file of the specified driver

6. Attach your previous defined “Global Condition” as a requirement on your deployment type. Make your sure to select that your global condition must exist on the client device .

7. Add the application to your OSD task Sequence . You’re done.

I hope you see that the power of Applications can also be used in your OSD deployment scenarios .

Hope it Helps ,

Kenny Buntinx

Hi ,

If you are searching more info on how connection groups are working in App-V 5.0 , read on :

Connection Group is comprised of two or more individual packages. Which means those packages are Sequenced individually, they are edited individually, and they are upgraded individually. This poses a challenge as how to ensure that individually sequenced packages would work together seamlessly when put together in a Connection Group, and when they don’t work seamlessly together how and what to troubleshoot. This blog touches on these challenges and provides a guide to troubleshooting issues that can be taken care of while sequencing these packages.

In Configmgr 2012 we call a connection group “ Virtual Environments” where we “connect” multiple App-V 5.0 Bubble’s to each other .

If you want to read more , please go to this excellent blog post written by Naveed Ahmad, Senior SDE at http://blogs.technet.com/b/appv/archive/2012/11/29/sequencing-for-connection-groups.aspx

Hope it helps ,

Kenny Buntinx

Cumulative Update 2 for System Center 2012 Configuration Manager is now available.

For all the details and a download link please see the following:

2780664 – Description of Cumulative Update 2 for System Center 2012 Configuration Manager (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2780664)

Hope it Helps ,

Kenny Buntinx

Did you ever configured reporting in Configmgr 2012 and specified a reporting service account like below ?

Did you get an error thrown at you like this when you try to run a report ?

If we look a little closer , we see the following line that is very interesting :”Logon failure: the user has not been granted the requested logon type at this computer “ as shown below in the log file

——————————-

System.Web.Services.Protocols.SoapException: An error has occurred during report processing. —> Microsoft.ReportingServices.ReportProcessing.ProcessingAbortedException: An error has occurred during report processing. —> Microsoft.ReportingServices.ReportProcessing.ReportProcessingException: Cannot impersonate user for data source ‘AutoGen__5C6358F2_4BB6_4a1b_A16E_8D96795D8602_’. —> Microsoft.ReportingServices.Diagnostics.Utilities.LogonFailedException: Log on failed. Ensure the user name and password are correct. —> System.ComponentModel.Win32Exception: Logon failure: the user has not been granted the requested logon type at this computer
   at Microsoft.ReportingServices.WebServer.ReportingService2005Impl.GetReportParameters(String Report, String HistoryID, Boolean ForRendering, ParameterValue[] Values, DataSourceCredentials[] Credentials, ReportParameter[]& Parameters)
   at Microsoft.ReportingServices.WebServer.ReportingService2005.GetReportParameters(String Report, String HistoryID, Boolean ForRendering, ParameterValue[] Values, DataSourceCredentials[] Credentials, ReportParameter[]& Parameters)

——————————-

Solution :  When you request a service account , make sure that people creating this service account grant you the right "Allow log on locally" thru Local Policy or Group Policy. For more information about configuring this group policy on Windows Server 2003, see the Microsoft TechNet article, "Allow log on locally".  To solve this you will need to change the Local Security Policy of the server.

As a best practice , most service accounts don’t get per default the "Allow log on locally" for security best practices .However in this case it is needed to run the reports .

Hope it Helps ,

Kenny Buntinx

Today at a customer I was installing a ConfigMgr 2012 primary Site , and when doing so  it  will automatically do a “Prerequisite Check” before actually starting the installation. BITS extensions are one of the prerequisites for a MP / DP and did you install BITS but the “Prerequisite Check” tells you, that “BITS installed” and “BITS enabled” is failed?

In the detailed error description it will give you the following message :

“Background Intelligent Transfer Service (BITS) is required for the management point and distribution point site system roles. BITS is not installed, IIS 6 WMI compatibility component for IIS7 is not installed on this computer or the remote IIS host, or Setup was unable to verify remote IIS settings because IIS common components were not installed on the site server computer. Also, check if IIS/BITS services are running properly. Setup cannot continue until BITS is installed and enabled in the IIS settings. “

I forgot to install the “IIS 6 WMI Compatibility component for IIS 7” as it was not stated clearly in the Technet documentation. I filed a “doc” bug on it .

“Run the Prerequisites Check” again and magically the error will go away

Hope it Helps,

Kenny Buntinx

After a Software Update Point (SUP) synchronization with Windows Software Update Services (WSUS) is complete, software updates that were previously successfully deployed are displayed unexpectedly as invalid in the Administrator Console in Microsoft System Center Configuration Manager 2007. Specifically, the invalid updates icon (a red arrow) appears alongside the updates when you view the updates in the Deployment Management node of the Administrator Console. Additionally, these updates are no longer listed under the Deployment Packages node.

This issue may occur because of changes that were made to the Microsoft Update service in October 2012. These improvements contain metadata updates that affect all WSUS servers. These changes caused some updates to be marked as having a content change, even though the update binaries were not changed. For some administrators, the metadata changes may have been applied automatically when WSUS synchronized with the Microsoft Update servers in October. Other administrators received the changes by applying update 2734608 to their WSUS servers.

More info here :

KB 2783466: Software updates are displayed as invalid unexpectedly in the Administrator Console in System Center Configuration Manager 2007

Hope it helps ,

Kenny Buntinx

Regarding my previous blogpost  “ConfigMgr 2007/2012 , WEDM 2011 & HP Thin clients with WES 7 : Part 1” , Microsoft has released a great document called Designing Devices for Enterprise Management Using Windows Embedded Device Manager 2011 for WES7.

This document can be found here : http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=28586

I will be start working on Part 2 very soon , so stay tuned

Hope it Helps ,

Kenny Buntinx

Hi All,

Our DPM2012 CU3  has been working pretty well for us , but this morning I came in the office and tried to open the DPM2012 console but received this error:

—————————————

The description for Event ID 999 from source MSDPM cannot be found. Either the component that raises this event is not installed on your local computer or the installation is corrupted. You can install or repair the component on the local computer.
If the event originated on another computer, the display information had to be saved with the event.
The following information was included with the event:
An unexpected error caused a failure for process ‘DPMAMService’.  Restart the DPM process ‘DPMAMService’.

—————————————-

Step 1 :  Verify that the following related DPM services are running :

• SQL Server –> Make sure they run with .\MICROSOFT$DPM$Acct
• SQL Server Agent –> Make sure they run with .\MICROSOFT$DPM$Acct
• SQL server Browser
• DPMAMService –> DPM AccessManager Service
• DpmWriter –> DPM Writer Service

The DPM service was dependent on the SQL Server and SQL Server Agent services. I have gone to the Services and all services are running except one called “DPMAMService” .

I get this error message when trying to run it :

——————————

The DPM AccessManager Service service terminated unexpectedly.  It has done this 2 time(s).  The following corrective action will be taken in 100 milliseconds: Restart the service.

——————————

Step 2 :  Verify that the related DPM services have enough time to start:

When a service starts, the service communicates to the Service Control Manager how long the service must have to start (the time-out period for the service). If the Service Control Manager does not receive a "service started" notice from the service within this time-out period, the Service Control Manager terminates the process that hosts the service. This time-out period is typically less than 30 seconds (30000 miliseconds). If you do not adjust this time-out period, the Service Control Manager ends the process.Adjust this time-out period, follow these steps:

a.  In Registry Editor, locate, and then right-click the following registry subkey:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control 

b.  Point to New , and then click DWORD Value.
c.  Enter:  ServicesPipeTimeout  and then press ENTER. 
d.  Right-click the ServicesPipeTimeout registry entry that you created in step c, and then click Modify . The Edit DWORD Value dialog box appears. 
e.  In the Value data text box, type TimeoutPeriod , and then click OK

Note TimeoutPeriod is a placeholder for the value of the time-out period (in milliseconds) that you want to set for the service. For example, if you want to set the time-out period to be 5 minutes (300000 milliseconds), type 300000. 
f.  Restart the computer. You must restart the computer for Service Control Manager to apply this change. 

Step 3 :  Verify that the related “.\MICROSOFT$DPM$Acct” has the “Log on as a service right“:

After checking it on the local security policy , I noticed that the related “.\MICROSOFT$DPM$Acct” was not part of the “Log on as a service right“. You should grant the Log on as a service right to this account and it will be OK again. But do not ask me why did this right disappeared. ( I am investigating if a GPO would do the hostile take-over   ) . I rebooted the server , just in case !

Step 4 : On the DPM server , open the DPM Management shell  and run dpmsync:

I had also to open the DPM management shell and use command “dpmsync –sync” and after that  the DPM console started well.

Conclusion:

I know all of the above steps are maybe not necessary . However as I cannot find a lot of information on the internet , I posted these steps for verification and it might help you to solve your problem .The Product team should really do something about the “How to Troubleshoot DPM issues” .

Hope it Helps ,

Kenny Buntinx

An update is available that adds support for Windows 8-based client computers in Microsoft System Center Configuration Manager 2007 Service Pack 2 (SP2).

Additionally, this update adds Windows 8 and Windows Server 2012 to the supported platform list in the following features:

• Software distribution
• Software update management
• Desired Configuration Management (DCM)

This update also fixes the following issues:

• Discovery Data Manager (DDM) does not create Client Configuration Requests (CCRs) for Windows 8-based computers that are discovered by using the Active Directory System Discovery.
• When the system processes a new power profile, the SMS Agent Host service (Ccmexec.exe) or the WMI Provider Host service (Wmiprvse.exe) stops unexpectedly.

For the latest version of this article as well as a link to the hotfix, please see the following:

(http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2750782)

Hope it Helps ,

Kenny Buntinx