How I passed my Configuring and Deploying a Private Cloud with System Center 2012 70-247 exam.

I recently sat this exam and I wanted to talk a little about how I passed the exam. Basically what you are tested on can be found here: http://www.microsoft.com/learning/en/us/exam.aspx?id=70-247 

Its an exam on almost everything System Center and a little bit of Hyper-V, oh and lets not forget storage. The subject matter is a mile wide and an inch deep (Gregg Shields gave me that quote). Its not an easy exam as you are basically answering a bunch of high level questions "what if" scenarios.

I have put together a little help section below that helped me pass the exam. I used a lab with VMware and some very kind Server 2008 R2 images that my gracious employer gave me. So get a hypervisor and complete the following in your lab the hard way. This isn't easy so therefore is totally and utterly worth doing.

1. Understand the Microsoft Private Cloud Architecture and Components. There are 8 of these that make up the system center suite. You will use 7, SCCM isn't really utilized here.
TIP: Private Cloud is NOT Hyper-V.

2. Install Hyper-V on Windows 2008 R2. System Center products Pre-SP1 aren't supported on Server 2012. So don't waste time installing it.

3. Install VMM2012. Learn VMM, Love VMM, Keep VMM close.

4. Configure Your Logical Networks in VMM and Storage Arrays.

5. From VMM, Create a Hyper-V Cluster (if you have more than 1 host) and Create a Private Cloud. There is a button that says "Create Cloud" so don't stress.

6. Working with the VMM 2012 Library: Profiles and VM Templates. Making a Private Cloud is basically the beginning. Play around with templates and profiles to lay the foundations of automation.

7. Configure VMM User Roles and the Self-Service Portal. The VMMSSP is obsolete come SP1, but its on the exam.

8. Create Virtual Application Packages with the Server App-V Sequencer. This is relatively simple and fun actually.

9. Work with VMM 2012 Services and Service Templates. Play around with these, they offer the capability of automatic VM provisioning

10. Create a 3 Tier Service. This is not easy and it took me 4 days to figure it out properly.

11. WSUS on VMM 2012. Easy to up and important to learn.

12. From VMM figure out how to automate the deployment of Hyper-V Hosts - Again, not simple but a massively valuable skill once you have learned it.

13. Install and play with App Controller.

14. Install SCOM and figure out how to integrate Cloud Monitoring from SCOM via VMM 2012.

15. Service Manager integration with all things system center.  Fairly simple and worth spending the time doing.

16. Install DPM and SCORCH. Play with runbooks, and set up some simple backups via DPM.

17. Azure. Understand what it is, and how to use it via App Controller, that's it.

There is a lot to learn but ensuring that only the minimum requirements are met and they are deployed in their simplest form is the key here. You do not need to have in dept knowledge of all the components.

All the help and support is out there, TechNet, MSDN and blogs, all this achievable in a about 5-10 days.

Good Luck.

Top Tips for ConfigMgr/SCCM 2012 From 1E

I was digging around on myitforum.com for a post regarding SCSM, but I found this, its a really great post that was from TechNet originally.

I have I feel cant quite get enough good advice from deploying SCCM. 

Enjoy.

1E Consultants took a deep dive into System Center 2012 Configuration Manager and here are their top tips for success.

1. Application model – ConfigMgr 2012 introduces a completely new alternative approach to software distribution – the Application Model. With the Application Model, an Application has a number of Deployment Types, each defining the required source files, install and uninstall command lines and user experience (e.g. does a user need to be logged in?), similar to the properties of the legacy Package and Program.
2. Site hierarchy – data can be now coordinated and replicated throughout the Central Administration Site (CAS), while boundaries can be set for all ‘sites’, providing a simpler, minimalist way to manage the IT infrastructure. A Single Site ConfigMgr 2012 hierarchy will be a reality for most organizations with less than 100,000 clients to manage.
3. Site-to-site replication – Site-to-Site communication has received a major overhaul in ConfigMgr 2012 with the introduction of SQL replication replacing most of the legacy file transfer in and out of inboxes. Changes in any Primary Site database will be replicated globally to all Sites in the hierarchy, not just the immediate parent or child.
4. Administration – The Admin Console in ConfigMgr 2012 has been completely redesigned and written from the ground up. It does not use MMC, displays only the features the admin has rights to and has a separate MSI for installation. The revamped admin security model offers a combination of security roles, collections and security scopes to define what objects an administrative user can see and the types of actions they can perform.
5. Managing clients over the internet – New to ConfigMgr 2012 is the possibility for internet-based clients to evaluate user-based policies (such as Application Deployments).
6. Scalability – support for up to 400,000 clients in a Single Site hierarchy when the database for the CAS is running SQL Server Enterprise. Each Primary Site can support up to 100,000 clients if the database and Primary Site roles are hosted on separate servers.
7. Distribution points – There are some notable changes in the role of the Distribution Point (DP) in ConfigMgr 2012. Essentially a single Distribution Point replaces the previous Branch Distribution Point.
8. User in control – ConfigMgr 2012 has been built with the user in mind. The Software Center provides an accessible interface for the user to view and manage all software installed, as well as a new level of control over the actions that will impact users the most.
9. Client health and efficiency – new agents such as Health Evaluation and Endpoint Protection, as well as the Automatic Deployment Rules feature, work to ensure clients remain healthy, operational and efficient.
10. Client configuration – the introduction of ‘profiles’ replace the previous blanket global approach to configuration, allowing more specific settings dependent on your needs. What is really cool with this interface is that new classes can be added by connecting to WMI on any computer and browsing to the class you want to report on.

If you would like a detailed version of these tips please mail: su.kent@1e.com.

Config Manager 2012 SP1 OSD - Whats New?

I have been asked quite a lot about some of the changes that are coming as part of SCCM 2012 SP1. So I thought I'd take a moment to put these changes on the blog. 

Below are the changes for OSD on SCCM SP1 that Microsoft provided. 

The following items are new or have changed for operating system deployment in Configuration Manager SP1:

• Changes to Configuration Manager Setup:
• Configuration Manager SP1 uses the Windows Assessment and Deployment Kit (Windows ADK) instead of Windows Automated Installation Kit (Windows AIK) to deploy an operating system. Before you run Setup, you must download and install Windows ADK on the site server and the provider computer.
• The User State Migration Tool (USMT) for Windows 8 is installed as part of the Windows ADK. At the top-level site, Setup automatically creates the package for this new version of USMT at the site.
• Setup automatically updates default boot images at the site. You must manually update any custom boot images
• Changes to task sequence:
• The default task sequences have been modified to optimize the deployment of operating systems starting with Windows 7.
• Support for computers that are in Unified Extensible Firmware Interface (UEFI) mode. The task sequence sets the SMSTSBootUEFI built-in task sequence variable when it detects a computer that is in UEFI mode.
• The default task sequence automatically partitions the computer based on the default Windows configuration for the operating system.
• The build and capture task sequence was updated to apply the operating system image instead of running Setup.exe for installation. You can still run Setup.exe for Windows 8 deployments.
• You can control the behavior of the write filter on Windows Embedded devices when you deploy task sequences.
• Changes to how you create prestaged media:
• You can specify applications, packages, and driver packages to deploy with the operating system.
• You can add or remove content for prestaged media.
• When you deploy the task sequence by using prestaged media, the wizard checks the local task sequence cache for valid content first, and if the content cannot be found or has been revised, the content is downloaded from the distribution point.
• Changes to BitLocker support:
• Use the Pre-provision BitLocker task sequence step to encrypt the disk drive from Windows PE and only encrypt the space used by data. The result is much faster encryption times.
• TPM and PIN is now available as one of the key management options for the current operating system drive in the Enable BitLocker task sequence step.
• Added language neutral boot images:
• You can use the SMSTSLanguageFolder built-in variable to change the language for information displayed by Windows PE.
• Languages are auto-detected and used when boot images are started from Software Center.
• Added the following task sequence built-in variables:
• SMSTSPersistContent: Use this variable to temporarily persist content in the task sequence cache.
• SMSTSPostAction: Use this variable to run a command after the task sequence completes.
• SMSTSBootUEFI: The task sequence sets the SMSTSBootUEFI variable when it detects a computer that is in UEFI mode.
• SMSTSLanguageFolder: Use this variable to change the display language of a language neutral boot image.
• OSDPreserveDriveLetter: This variable determines whether or not the task sequence uses the drive letter on the operating system image WIM file. In Configuration Manager, the drive letter on the WIM file was used when applying the operating system image WIM file. In Configuration Manager SP1, you can set the value for this variable to False to use the drive letter that you specify in the task sequence.
• SMSTSDownloadProgram: Use this variable to specify a downloader program that is used to download content instead of the downloader for the task sequence. As part of the content download process, the task sequence checks the variable for a specified downloader program. If specified, the task sequence runs the program to perform the download.
• Changes to software update installation to offline operating system images:
• Ability to continue updating an image even when one or more software updates fail to install.
• Software updates are copied from the content library on the site server instead of the package source.
• Better monitoring and status for task sequence content and task sequence deployments.
• New deployment setting allows you to deploy the task sequences that are only available in Windows PE.
• You can manage Windows PE optional components from the Optional Components tab in the properties for boot images.
• You can export and import driver packages from the Driver Packages node in the Software Library workspace.
  
  For more details all the other System Center SP1 changes can be found here: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/jj649385#BKMK_SCCMWN
  
  Hope that helped.

I Gave Up At SMS

Something rather startled me today, it wasn't the mounting pressure of project nearing completion nor was it the fact I can't even recall what day of the week it is, it was something a technician said as we were discussing System Center 2012. Let me set the scene

His name is Mark, he's been a technician (3rd line support) for about 15 years now, working at the same office in the same server room all that time. Its safe to say that he knows his environment inside out as literately every I.T change that's occurred in the last 15 years, Mark has been the guy that's installed the software that runs his organization. So he's invaluable to his company. We struck up a conversation around where Config Manager 2012 fits into the private cloud, he looked at me with a blank expression and said "I gave up at SMS". Those 5 words hit me right between the eyes and left me dazed, and it got me thinking again, rather a lot.

Things is, I couldn't comment, I've never used SMS. Ever. To me SMS was an old wives tale. I'm of the understanding that SMS got the nickname "Slow Moving Software" (Greg Shields told me that one) and that's it, my knowledge is exhausted. You see, I'm of the generation where everything is 100mph, things like 3G, Smartphones and Facebook were just there, all the time, its how people communicated, it's considered the norm. It made me reminisce in the same way you would say "Wow Grandad, World War 2 doesn't sound like a nice time away from Granny at all". I'm never going to see a war on my home front on the scale of what was seen in 1939 - 1945, but I can imagine it must have been terrible.

It quickly dawned on me that I'm still a guppy in the ocean of I.T. I can make a few things tick over on Config Manager 2007 and 2012, mostly 2012. And that puts me at a disadvantage I fear as I wasn't there in the good old days when things just never worked, or worked all the time depending on the individual at the time.

That leads me onto the question of is it getting easier or more and more difficult to step into I.T at high level? I mean think about it, you never really leave support do you, even the guys who are in the management and infrastructure teams are still supporting the business and ultimately the application owners and end users is some way. Where do you start? at the bottom of course, I think these days its getting harder and harder to make a solid move in the I.T game without moving organizations or getting a job at Google.

Point is, I'm still in a state of Flux, being my age and advising guys who have seen and done it all has its challenges, but I would assume that keeping your head down and simply moving on seems to be the best way forward.