There is no easy way to detect core servers in SCCM by using the default inventory information. Here’s how to extend it to distinguish core and GUI servers. Microsoft recommendation to check remotely if a server is running the core setup is to use the ServerLevels registry hive in HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Server [1]. On a GUI… Read More »
If you are patching your Windows machines with ConfigMgr and WSUS, you rely on the selection that you make in the product catalog: The Windows Update Agent will only search updates for products that you selected. Unfortunately, the list has a long history and there’s no documentation available. If you select products that are not… Read More »
I observed a strange behavior of the reporting services setup process. Below a scripted workaround for it. Symptoms:The setup of the reporting point role fails. Under Monitoring->System Status, you see that the installation reruns every hour with the same result. Components error message: Site Component Manager failed to install this component, because the Microsoft Installer… Read More »
In rare cases, you may see that the inventory isn’t working after an upgrade of the Configuration Manager. In my case, it took two weeks until the issue was noticed and it needed some investigation to find out there was no hardware inventory entry was newer than the date of the upgrade to 2303. On… Read More »
Go to https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/surface/manage-surface-driver-and-firmware-updates and find the appropriate download link for your model. Create the folder that you want to place the drivers in, for example D:\Sources\Drivers\Win10\Microsoft\SurfaceLaptop5 Run the msiexec command to place the drivers in that folder: msiexec /a SurfaceLaptop5_Win10_19044_22.102.17126.0.msi targetdir=D:\Sources\OSD\Win10\Driver\Microsoft\SurfaceLaptop5 Now go to the ConfigMg console, navigate to Software Library -> OSD and open… Read More »
With the critical vulnerabilities in Word (CVE-2023-21716) and Outlook (CVE-2023-23397) the update status of Office 365 has come into focus. The easiest way to check the version status is to go to \Software Library\Overview\Office 365 Client Management in the console. The dashboard behaves a bit beastly but if you succeed to get it loading it… Read More »
With the ADK for Windows 22H2, Microsoft has dropped support for x86 images. When you try to add or update an x86 image in ConfigMgr you’ll get an error. The workaround is simple: Locate the PE image in the ADK installation folder (usually C:\Program Files (x86)\Windows Kits\10\Assessment and Deployment Kit\Windows Preinstallation Environment), copy the amd64… Read More »
There are some really good print driver installation guides for Intune like the one from Ben Whitmore (msendpointmgr) and Rudy Ooms (call4cloud). Their approach is to extract the driver from the installation package of the vendor, install it by using pnputil and then to run the Add-Printer PowerShell cmdlet with printer name (e.g. “Floor 1… Read More »
If you plan to migrate to Windows 11, you will probably want to determine which machines fulfill the requirements for an upgrade. If you are using MECM, you can find this information for single machines in the Resource Explorer. The Resource Explorer item is based on the view v_GS_UPGRADE_EXPERIENCE_INDICATORS which is fed by the hardware… Read More »
Tests were done with CM 2103 and PS App Deployment Toolkit 3.8.4 I’m not a frequent packager and I recently had to provide an Application to install the Configuration Manager console. It should be mainly required for users who don’t have admin rights on the machine that they use for administrating the CM environment (think… Read More »