When we need CAS in SCCM1012

I was working on  SCCM2012  design for a small environment and wanted to figure out if I need to incorporate CAS ( Central Administration Site ) in the design. Initially I was assuming that CAS will provide HA in the environment, but I was wrong . CAS is only required when we want to manage 100K+ clients  and when we have multiple primary sites. For a relatively small environment,  people are recommending to go with stand alone primary site.

Here are some links for a good reference on CAS:







Help for CCIE Data Center Lab preparation

If you are looking for help on passing CCIE Data Center lab preparation at reasonable price , please submit your query in the form located at the top right corner of this blog. We will get in touch with you. Guidence will be provided by CCIE data center certified trainers  who are currently working on live prjects with big IT companies.

CCIE Data Center Trainer in Bangalore

One of my friend is providing CCIE Data Center Training in Bangalore, if you are looking for help and guidance please submit your queries through the contact form provided at the top right corner of this blog. We will get in touch with you as soon as possible. The trainer is CCIE DC certified with 10 years of hands on experience in designing and implementing  data center networking  technologies at enterprise level.

He is also providing online CCIE DC training to IT professionals who are preparing for CCIE  Data Center lab or written exam.

Step by Step SCCM 2007 Installation on Server 2008 R2

I came across this great article on  Step by Step SCCM 2007 Installation on Server 2008 r2 , it covers configuring all the major roles as well:

http://www.emware.nl/articles/server-2008r2-with-sccm-2007-sp2-step-by-step-guide.html

You might come across issues in client installation if WebDAV component in not working properly. Following links will give you more information:
http://ajweh.com/blog/?tag=sms_mp_control_manager-error


Permissions for source files in SCCM

Before creating Software Creation packages in SCCM, you need to set up permission on source files. If the permissions are not setup correctly you see this error in “SMS_DISTRIBUTION_MANAGER”

error 2306:The source directory "\\<server>\<share>" for package "xxx00000" does not exist. The operating system reported error 5: Access is denied.

These two articles will give you more information:

http://chadstech.net/wiki/index.php?title=File_Share_for_package_source_files 

http://www.windows-noob.com/forums/index.php?/topic/1090-share-and-ntfs-permissions/

How to Remove Plug-ins from vCenter

Some back ground about the issue :

I removed a plugin from Add/remove Programs of vCenter server but still it was showing up in the vSphere client. I was able to  enable/disable it but could not remove it from the list of available plug-ins in Plug-in Manager. This becomes an issue specially when you don’t want people ( vmware admins and non-admins)  to see any such plugin when they  connect to vCenter server from the vSphere client.

To resolve the issue I followed this VMware KB article, which worked like a charm:

http://kb.vmware.com/selfservice/microsites/search.do?language=en_US&cmd=displayKC&externalId=1025360 

Please also refer to these links for more info on How to Remove Plug-ins from vCenter :

http://www.virtuallyghetto.com/2010/07/how-to-unregister-vcenter.html

http://www.viktorious.nl/2012/05/06/vcenter-howto-remove-a-plugin-from-the-plugin-manager/

http://www.running-system.com/how-to-remove-an-old-disabled-plugin-from-plugin-manager-in-your-vcenter/comment-page-1/

Creating CentOS template for vSphere ESX

I came across of online resources for creating CentOS template for vShphere/ESS, keeping here for self notes:

mentioned on this blog (http://ninet.org/2012/09/deploy-centos-6-from-vmware-template/) - Before you convert the VM to a template.

rm /etc/udev/rules.d/70-persistent-net.rules

sed -i ‘/HWADDR*/d’ /etc/sysconfig/network-scripts/ifcfg-eth0

sed -i ‘/UUID*/d’ /etc/sysconfig/network-scripts/ifcfg-eth0

(This also applies to SLES 11 SP2 (use /etc/sysconfig/network/ifcfg-eth)

Another URL :https://peterpap.net/index.php/Creating_a_CentOS%5CRed_Hat_VMware_template

Windows Server 2012 template for VMware

Just used this link to create a Windows Server 2012 template for VMware. Sharing this as self note as well as for my fellow readers .

http://snowvm.com/2012/12/04/windows-server-2012-template-for-vmware/

Third Party Patching Tool from SCCM

Shavlik has released an update for their popular product SCUPdates , which is a great Thrid Party Patching form SCCM.

Here is are the list of new features has been introduced in the latest version:

Integrated plugin for the SCCM 2012 console

  • View of available patches
  • Select patches to publish and expire
  • Smart filtering of patches based on multiple criteria (vendor, product, etc.)
  • Check for and download new patch data automatically
  • Publish new patches automatically based on smart filter
  • Auto-detect Windows Software Update Server
  • Digital Certificate management
  • Handles difficult to install patches including Java
  • Streamline handling of bundled patches such as Apple

Read more about this : http://windowsitpro.com/configuration-manager/shavlik-renames-scupdates-adds-features-patching-configmgr-2012

Server 2012 template for VMware vCenter and Workstation

I came across this link on how to create a Server 2012 template for VMware workstation, which can be also helpful in case we have vSphere and vCenter:


Part 1: http://willcode4foodblog.wordpress.com/2013/03/20/creating-a-server-2012-golden-image-with-sysprep-and-vmware-workstation/

Part 2: http://willcode4foodblog.wordpress.com/2013/03/22/creating-a-server-2012-golden-image-with-sysprep-and-vmware-workstation-part-2-of-2/

While running sysprep  you might see this error “A fatal error occurred while trying to sysprep the machine” .

This is a know issue and Microsoft has released a Hotfix for it.
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2693187

More info:
http://kb.vmware.com/selfservice/microsites/search.do?language=en_US&cmd=displayKC&externalId=2036372

Load testing tools for VDI Environments

Here is a list of useful links you can refer to get some idea on how we can measure the performance of a VDI Environment and what are load testing tools for VDI available in  the market :

  1. http://www.loginvsi.com/download
  2. http://www.aspen-systems.net/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/LoginVSI%20-%20No%20More%20VDI%20Performance%20Problems.pdf 
  3. http://searchvirtualdesktop.techtarget.com/tip/Virtual-desktop-toolbox-VDI-performance-monitoring-capabilities
  4. http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=2218

I will add more links as I progress with my DVI study…thanks for stopping by.