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SCOM TrainingIf you are looking for more great information and the best technical training available on Operations Manager 2007, check out http://www.infrontconsulting.com/events.htm. January 27 Windows Defender - Manually update your client if auto-update failsI ran into an issue today with Windows Defender on a client computer. Windows Defender wasn't able to download updates. When I clicked the Check for Updates button, I would receive the error: "The Program can't download definition updates. Error Found 0x80240022" This was on an otherwise healthy system with access to the internet. Automatic updates where working, though configured to be received by WSUS so I looked into manually downloadeding and installing the Windows Defender definitions which wasn't that intuitive but Windows KB article 923159 helped me find the following links. 32 bit versions of Windows: http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?linkid=70631 x64 version of Windows: http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?linkid=70632 Itanium version of Windows: http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?linkid=70633 January 21 Question from our SCOM Training: Dynamic Groups in SCOMDynamic Groups in SCOM Here’s a question/comment from one of Infront’s SCOM training attendees…
Hi Rory, I was in your SCOM classes in December in Dallas. I really enjoyed the class as you helped me out a lot by confirming the many eccentricities of the product—and that I’m neither insane nor inept when I can’t get it to do what I want.
I have made more progress on my scom implementation in the month since your class than I made in the past two years, and that includes the Christmas holiday.
That said, here’s another one I found:
I’m populating groups with windows servers based on principal name, leveraging our server naming convention. Simple enough.
Any windows computer whose principal name matches wildcard “*bizp*” is a production BizTalk server.
Except some of my servers are named SISBIZP*. And the query is, I’m not kidding, case-sensitive. I have to put an OR group in the query builder or I only get half my servers.
Read the rest of the article at http://www.infrontconsulting.com/resources.php. The article name is Dynamic Groups.
For in-depth, technical training on System Center technologies including Operations Manager, look to http://www.infrontconsulting.com/events.htm. January 08 Exchange 2007 MP HotfixesExchange 2007 MP Hotfixes Are you interested in monitoring Exchange 2007 with SCOM and the latest Exchange 2007 MP? This can be found in the Operations Manager MP Catalog at http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/opsmgr/cc539535.aspx. The MP itself (version 6.0.6461.0, released Dec 8, 2008) can be found at http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=1a83e112-8677-4e03-83c3-f1b7ebfc3a4b&displaylang=en&displaylang=en. In the Overview section, the text calls out three (3) hotfixes that are required for this MP and that should be installed prior to importing the MP. Are you looking for KB950853… Read the rest of the article at http://infrontconsulting.com/resources.htm. The article is titled Hotfix 950853. For in-depth, technical training on System Center technologies including Operations Manager, look to http://www.infrontconsulting.com/events.htm. December 28 Installing the Visual Studio Tools for Office in SCOM...Installing the Visual Studio Tools for Office Runtime... it should be easier than this! I finally got the opportunity over the holidays with a little downtime, too much turkey, and all the time I can spend with my son’s toy car sets (with or without my son) to deal with one of those little pesky annoyances that’s been bugging me for a while but that wasn’t a priority.... installing the Visual Studio Tools for Office runtime on the Root Management Server (RMS) in our lab. Without this, you receive the following message when you attempt to update company knowledge content. Read the rest of the article at http://infrontconsulting.com/resources.htm For in-depth, technical training on System Center technologies including Operations Manager, look to http://www.infrontconsulting.com/events.htm. December 07 Canadian Politics, specifically Canadian Politicians Need to be Better LosersToronto Maple Leafs Win Stanley Cup!!!
How is this possible, Canadians ask? Well, the Leafs have formed a coalition with eastern conference semifinalists the Montreal Canadians, and conference quarter finalists the Ottawa Senators, now outnumbering the Red Wings. According to current Leaf coach Ron Wilson "the Red Wings have lost the confidence of the league and should hand the cup over immediately to our coalition". NHL commissioner Gary Bettman is cutting short a European trip to try to resolve the unprecedented hockey crisis that could force a second playoff series, or see an opposing team coalition take the cup.
Note: I claim no ownership for the above statement. The above statement was received via email with no source noted to reference. December 03 64-bit Woes, not Wows!It is 2008 right? 64-bit operating systems have been out for how long now? 4+ years? It still amazes me, the lack of support, particularly on the desktop side for 64-bit applications and drivers. One of the things we struggle with regularly is being able to demostrate server-side technology to customers and yet still use the notebook on which we run the demonstrations as our everyday notebook. Now to demo a number of Microsoft technologies, we run Windows Server 2008 on our notebooks but in order to run hyper-v, you need to install the 64-bit version of Windows Server 2008. The benefit, outside of being able to run the demonstrations is that the OS sees more system memory than XP or Vista, both of which see between 3.1 and 3.3 GBs of RAM instead of the full 4GBs but the downside is the inability to use different applications and drivers for devices like scanners and printers.
To, I sent an Office Groove invite to a colleague who is running a 64-bit o/s only to leave the Groove, a Microsoft acquired application doesn't support 64-bit. Come on folks, let's please change this!!
December 01 Training or Marketing, you decideI am a Microsoft Certified Trainer (MCT) or at least I hold that designation and have for 10+ years. I truly love to present and deliver training, it's a passion of mine for sure.
As a religious MSDN reader, I like you receive emails from Microsoft (MSDN specifically) about the different 'stuff' that's going on. I received one today and almost fell off my chair laughing at one particular section...
Training
The burb above intrigued me as I agee that IT training is valuable. Working as a consultant, I am always learning and trying to stay on top of technology and all of the changes and as you know, it's hard. Technology changes so quickly, it's difficult to stay current so I value any opportunity that I have to take quality training and that's where I think this gets funny and where the disconnect is that the marketing folks in Redmond or the Microsoft Learning folks just don't seem to see.
At the following link (http://www.microsoft.com/learning/cpls/reasons/default.mspx) you can read how "Microsoft Certified Partners for Learning Solutions are the only training companies that meet the Microsoft international standards of excellence." I am not sure about you, but there is no chance that you would find me taking a class at a Microsoft CPLS unless the trainer actually had real world experience with the technology that the training was on. I am not just looking to have the book read to me or presented articulately, I want to know what works and what doesn't work and what the trainer has seen. At the same time, I want to know that the training material is current to the 'version' or 'service pack' level of the application or operating system that I will be or am working with and this is where I see two glaring disconnects in the current training model.
Disconnect 1: Full time trainers (certified or not) are full time trainers. Don't get me wrong, some of these folks are great instructors and most of them are great people but they bring little to no real world examples or experience with them to the classroom.
Disconnect 2: The quality of the Microsoft curriculum 'in my opinion' has not improved. If anything, there are more and more gaps where curriculum just doesn't exist or if it does the labs either don't work or are extremely problematic. Now, in Microsoft's defense, I understand that over the last 4 years Microsoft's courseware, particularly the classroom setup dynamics have changed and have moved from a physical server installation to a Virtual PC installation and now with some of the more recent releases are using Hyper-V as a platform. That taken into account, the technical depth and product coverage has seemed to slip. Hindsight being what it is (100% right) I would have thought that during the downturn in the training market after the tech bubble burst in the early 2000's that Microsoft would have taken this opportunity to invest in building more technical curriculum to increase interest and help drive demand.
As an organization Infront Consulting Group, identified the gaps in Microsoft's training space and seized the opportunity to develop high-quality, in-depth, deep technical content in the System Center area and have received high praise from the folks that have attended the training. Mindsharp is another company that has done the same in the SharePoint space.
I still find it funny though how market research can be construed or miscontrued and a fact such as "...Our research shows that training leads to improved team productivity, reduced downtime, and increased employee satisfaction and loyalty." can be spun to imply that only training from a Microsoft CPLS will provide these benefits.
What we hear from the people that attend our training and what I heard back when I was an MCT still rings true, it's not the materials that make that class it's the trainer delivering the class and what that person brings with them to the class.
That said, if you are in a position where your manager 'just doesn't get it' and you need some ammunition to convince him or her of the value of training, I hope the following helps...
Special benefits for IT managersLearning can help you:
November 28 Monitoring Team Foundation Server 2008 with OpsMgr (SCOM)Are you interested in monitoring Team Foundation Server 2008 with OpsMgr 2007, if so you will want to check out the newly released MP at http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=28c745b5-28cc-474a-a5fd-944c246d7727&displaylang=en, You can also find the MP in the System Center Operations Manager Catalog. Search for it by selecting "System Center Operations Manager 2007" and entering TFS as a keyword.
Note that you will require both the SQL MP and the ASP.NET MPs in order to utilize the TFS MP.
One of the nice new features that you will notice is the ability to run the BPA against targeted TFS Servers from Operator Console.
For more great, in-depth information on Operations Manager 2007 and soon MP Development and Report Authoring as well as cross platform coverage with OpsMgr R2, check out our training at www.infrontconsulting.com/events.htm. November 11 Ops Mgr SP1 DocumentationLooking for the Operations Manager 2007 SP1 documentation, look to http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?familyid=d826b836-59e5-4628-939e-2b852ed79859&displaylang=en&tm.
For in-depth, technical training on SCOM and other System Center technologies, spend your time wisely with an instructor that comes with hands-on, field experience and answers to your production problems by attending training from Infront Consulting Group. Check out our schedule at http://www.infrontconsulting.com/events.htm. Your time is valuable, don't waste it taking training from someone that has never deployed or supported the technology you need to learn. Trust an expert, trust Infront. November 04 US ElectionWell, if you are not American and feel a little left out not being able to vote in the US election. Check this out and see what the rest of the world would like to see as a result.
October 03 Operations Manager Support StatementFrom time to time, I am asked if a given operating system or application is support in SCOM and I always look to the official support statement to provide the answer. This can be found at http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb309428.aspx. This doesn't mean that the operating system or application will not work if it's not on this list, simply that it is not supported which is something to be mindful of when planning your SCOM architecture.
For great training on System Center, check out http://www.infrontconsulting.com/events.htm. September 25 Resolving Friendly Names to SCOM GUIDsHave you ever created a rule, monitor, task or group in the Operations console and then exported the unsealed MP and tried to find the rule, monitor, task or group? If you have, you will have noticed that when you create an MP element such as a rule, monitor, task or group in the Operations Console, it’s assigned a name with a unique GUID in the MP and this can make it hard to search for. Let’s explore this a little further. In the Operations Console, create a new rule named Domain Admin Membership Change. Export the unsealed MP from the Operations Manager Console and open the xml document in Notepad. (Or any xml editor) <Monitoring> <Rules> <Rule ID="MomUIGeneratedRule2a5e0cd6c818445b9e62c8d4992127ce" Enabled="true" Target="Windows!Microsoft.Windows.Server.2003.OperatingSystem" ConfirmDelivery="true" Remotable="true" Priority="Normal" DiscardLevel="100"> <Category>SecurityHealth</Category> <DataSources> <DataSource ID="DS" TypeID="MicrosoftWindowsLibrary6062780!Microsoft.Windows.EventProvider"> <ComputerName>$Target/Host/Property[Type="MicrosoftWindowsLibrary6062780!Microsoft.Windows.Computer"]/NetworkName$</ComputerName> <LogName>Security</LogName> Look for the Rule ID in this example, highlighted above. This is the name assigned to the rule by the Operations Console. You can see that this name matches the friendly name of Domain Admin Membership Change that you entered when creating the rule in the Operations Console. <DisplayString ElementID="MomUIGeneratedRule2a5e0cd6c818445b9e62c8d4992127ce"> <Name>Domain Admin Membership Change</Name> The Command Shell can also be used to resolve the friendly name known as the DisplayName property to the GUID by running the following command: Get-rule | where-object {$_.DisplayName –eq “Domain Admin Membership Change”} | format-list Name The result of this command can be seen below.
This can be useful in helping you to correlate the friendly name that you assigned to a rule to the ‘Name’ property that the Operations Manager console assigned to the rule when you created it. For more of this type of technical information on Ops Mgr 2007 check out our training at www.infrontconsulting.com/events.htm. September 01 PowerShell script doesn't run "The file foo.ps1 is not digitally signed. The script will not execute on the system."If you receive the following error when attempting to run a PowerShell script “The file foo.ps1 is not digitally signed. The script will not execute on the system.”
To resolve this, locate the ps1 file in Windows Explorer and right click on the file and select Properties.
In the Properties dialog box, click Unblock and click OK. August 23 Detailed MP Breakdown with MPViewerDetailed MP Breakdown with MPViewer Are you interested in seeing a detailed MP breakdown with MPViewer of the following MP elements? · Rules (include things such as event ID or performance counter name) · Monitors · Tasks · Discoveries · Recoveries · Diagnostics · Views
David St. Clair, a fellow Operations Manager consultant at Infront Consulting Group brought this to my attention. Thanks David! Looking for great training on Operations Manager, check out www.infrontconsulting.com/events.htm. You will leave with a comprehensive understanding of Operations Manager as our training is delivered by consultants active in the field that understand the challenges you face implementing an operations management application.
July 08 Because of an error in data encryption, this session will end. Please try connecting to the remote computer again.This one is stumping me. I've just built a new Windows Server 2008 system with Hyper-V and everytime I attempt to connect to the server be it from an XP or Vista box, I get the following error.
This is now also happening with I RDP into one of the guest running on the server. I am still looking for the setting to disable to allow me to connect remotely. If you know, I'd love to hear from you! Ops Mgr 2007 Installation WoesCould not get SQL Server instance names. Prerequisite check failed: SQL Server SP1 is not installed. Well, yesterday marked another day of new and interesting, undocumented features in software. This was a new error for me that in all of the installs I have done, I have not encountered. My install of Ops Mgr 2007 SP1 slipstream failed the prerequisite check stating that SQL 2005 SP1 wasn’t installed. My install was pretty straight forward, one server OPSSQL as the database, data warehouse and Ops Reporting server with SQL 2005 SP1 and SQL RS SP1 installed and one server OPSRMS as the Management Server, Console (Web, Ops, & Command Shell). So as installs go, I start the installation on OPSSQL and get the following error at the prerequisite checker...
So the next logical step was to confirm that SQL was installed and that I have applied SP1 which I new I had as I just finished the installation. This can be done by opening SQL Management Studio and running a couple of SQL queries such as USE MASTER SELECT @@VERSION, the output of which you can see below.
Alternatively, you can run select serverproperty('productversion'), serverproperty('productlevel'), serverproperty('edition') and get the following result...
As you can see, SQL 2005 SP1 was clearly installed. The next place to look for information on troubleshooting this was the log file MOMn.log where n is the number of install attempts you have made. You can see from this that I was at lucky number 7. This file can be found in C:\Documents and Settings\<logged on user>\Local Settings\Temp\. The string to search for in the log file is value=3 but this was to no avail.
So this is where it gets even more interesting but also where the solution lies. The beautiful thing about software is that there is always more than one way to arrive at a final destination!! So, the next step was to try to install the database without running SetupOM.exe by using the CreateDB.exe found in the SuppportTools folder on the OpsMgr2007 installation media and this worked like a charm! I had to run this once to install the OperationsManager DB and again to install the OperationsManagerDW but it ran like a champ on the OPSSQL server and then I was able to run SetupOM.exe on the OPSRMS server and complete the installation of the RMS and consoles. For this and more great real world insight into Operations Manager, Configuration Manager, Powershell and Softgrid, check out www.infrontconsulting.com/events.htm. June 24 OLE DB Monitors on Non-Default PortsOLE DB Monitors on Non-Default Ports Have you ever wanted to monitor SQL availability using an OLE DB monitor in SCOM 2007 and run into the following error? “Unspecified error”
The resolution to this is to add the port number to the connection string. This isn’t possible however when you use the Simple Configuration option in the Add Monitoring Wizard but there is a very quick work around to this. Create the connection string using the Simple Configuration option and then change to Advaned Configuration and enter a comma and the port number after the SQL Server name or SQL Server\instance name.
So typically, your connection string will look something like this before adding the TCP Port: Provider=SQLOLEDB;Server=DWWPRPOLYSQL1P;Database=SCOMProdOpsDB;Integrated Security=SSPI
Modify this to include the TCP port as shown below: Provider=SQLOLEDB;Server=DWWPRPOLYSQL1P,1832;Database=SCOMProdOpsDB;Integrated Security=SSPI Voila, problem solved! You can now monitor databases in instances of SQL that use non-standard (TCP 1433) ports.
For this and more great information on Operations Manager 2007, check out our training at http://www.infrontconsulting.com/events.htm. June 16 Activating Windows Server 2008So today was the day to try replacing Vista on my notebook with Windows Server 2008 x64 and hyper-v in an effort to get better performance out of the notebook and the virtual machines that run on the notebook.
Two issues came up, the first is activation. Everytime I attempted to activate, I got the message: "Activation Error: Code 0x8007232b, DNS Name does not exist". The resolution to this is to run the following command where xxxxx-xxxxx is the VLK.
slmgr -ipk xxxxx-xxxxx-xxxxx-xxxxx-xxxxx
The second issue is connectivity to a projector. This was easily resolved when I downloaded and installed the latest Vista x64 video driver. Now my notebook running Windows Server 2008 x64 connects fabulously to my infocus in10 projector.
A great post on running Windows Server 2008 as your desktop can be found at http://weblogs.asp.net/israelio/archive/2008/02/21/windows-server-2008-as-workstation.aspx June 03 Ops Mgr MP GuidesOps Mgr MP Guides Are you looking for MP Guides? If so, check out http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc540358(TechNet.10).aspx.
Looking for great Ops Mgr training, check out http://www.infrontconsulting.com/events.htm. SNMP and OpsMgr SP1 + Event ID 4000SNMP and OpsMgr SP1 + Event ID 4000 Are you working with Operations Manager 2007 SP1 and SNMP? Are you seeing Event ID 4000 from source Health Services? If so, take a look at KB951526.
Looking for great Ops Mgr training, check out http://www.infrontconsulting.com/events.htm. June 02 MOC 50028: System Center Operations Manager 2007 UpdateOpsMgr Courseware Library Update
Thinking about taking the Microsoft Official Curriculum (MOC) instructor led training for Operations Manager 2007, well first let’s be clear that this isn’t MOC, it’s a courseware library course (CWL) and it’s currently under review do to the feedback that it’s been receiving.
If you are looking for some excellent training on System Center Operations Manager 2007, check out www.infrontconsulting.com/events.htm. We run classes around the world, taught by consultants that have experience implementing the software and who have answers to your real world questions.
Rory May 23 Monitoring Windows Server 2008Monitoring Windows Server 2008 If your plans involve monitoring Windows Server 2008 and you are running Windows Server 2008 DCs, check to see that the Active Directory Object Helper file (oomADs.msi) is installed on those systems. My initial testing shows that the helper file doesn’t install automatically on a DC running Server 2008 when the Ops Mgr 2007 agent installs through a push install from the console.
You can install the oomADs.msi manually by navigating to Program Files\System Center Operations Manager 2007\Helper Objects on each DC and running it from there.
For great Ops Mgr 2007 training, with tips and tricks learned from our numerous worldwide deployments, check out www.infrontconsulting.com/events.htm. May 18 MCT Program Good, MOC Content BadMCT Program Good, MOC Content Bad I renewed my MCT again this year. I am certainly not ‘active’ when it comes to deliver Microsoft Official Curriculum (MOC) content but I do find that participation in the MCT community (be it infrequent) has been valuable. However, this year particularly I held off to the very last minute to renew as I have not been impressed, in fact I have been downright disappointed with the overall quality of the MOC content and especially the Courseware library content available over the past couple of years.
I think that Microsoft learning is really missing the mark when it comes to the development of technical training content that customers, again particularly large enterprise customers are looking for. In my opinion, MOC is now level 200 at best. It seems as though MSL is so focused on ensuring specific styles are adhered to that they forget about the technical appropriateness. I also think that having MCTs technically edit and review the content is a mistake. No disrespect to MCTs because a) I am one and b) I know a lot of great and technically knowledgeable MCTs but I also know a LOT of MCTs that know what’s in the book and no more. It’s these folks that I think should be barred from reviewing content as they have NO real world experience and can’t provide the ‘real world’ feedback needed to actually improve the courses. The feedback channel is crucial and it needs to start at the course outline development stage because that’s where the course is really shaped. From some of the courses I have looked at lately, I question whether the courseware authors have actually used the applications that they are writing about. There is such a disconnect from reality, it’s scary.
The biggest gap is in the courses for the ‘fringe technologies’ like Office Communications Server (OCS) or the System Center family of products. Any of the technologies that don’t have the same level of demand as the Windows O/S course fall way short on quality if they exist at all. One of the biggest surprises actually is the SharePoint courses as this is one of Microsoft’s biggest money makers these days but these course leave a lot to be desired and are driving people to ‘grey market’ offerings created by technology experts at www.mindsharp.com and www.infrontconsulting.com/events.htm.
In the end this is good for independent organizations that have identified and capitalized on the opportunity but this is really an area that I would think Microsoft would step up to address or direct customers to the more technical offerings available and stop developing their own as it’s really a wasted investment in my opinion that leads to customer dissatisfaction. And anyone that has worked closely with Microsoft knows how important customer satisfaction is to Microsoft. MP Guides – Where Do I Find Them?MP Guides – Where Do I Find Them? All the MP guides used to be located at http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/opsmgr/bb498235.aspx and this will still take you to the Ops Mgr product documentation but you will not find the MP Guides any longer. The guides have been removed from that page. The guides are typically available in the .msi for the MP, and are supposed to be available (soon!) online in the TechCenter at (http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb310604.aspx).
As you have likely noticed, only some of the guides were listed previously on http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/opsmgr/bb498235.aspx. You may have also noticed that the MPs released with SP1 did not have updated guides. This is something that Microsoft is aware and is working to fix. Microsoft's Virtualization Support PolicyWhat’s Microsoft’s Virtualization Support Statement This is a question we get all of the time... According to TechNet, MS supports virtualization but only on virtual server. http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=897615 Here’s an excerpt pulled directly from the article listed above... “Hardware virtualization software lets you run multiple operating system instances at the same time on a single computer. Microsoft has two software offerings, Microsoft Virtual PC and Microsoft Virtual Server, that provide this functionality. Third parties also have software in the market that provides this functionality. This article describes support provided by Microsoft for its software running together with non-Microsoft hardware virtualization software. 944987 (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/944987/) Support partners for non-Microsoft hardware virtualization software” |
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