SCCM Clients BASICS

SCCM Clients BASICS

How to install SCCM client on a computer?

SCCM client can be installed through number of  ways.

1.       Install SCCM 2012 client by client push

2.       Install SSCM 2012 Client by using software update based installation

3.       Install SSCM 2012 client using group policy

4.       Install SSCM 2012 client manually

5.       Install SSCM 2012 client using logon script

6.       Install SSCM 2012 client while operating system deployment

Install SCCM 2012 Client by Client push

Client push installation  installs  the SCCM client software on computers that Configuration Manager has discovered. Configuring  client push installation for a site, and client installation will automatically run on the computers that are discovered within the site's configured boundaries when those boundaries are configured as a boundary group.

Configuring the sites to automatically use client push for discovered computer

·         In the Configuration Manager console, navigate to  Administration.

·         In the Administration workspace, expand Site Configuration, and then click Sites.

·         In the Sites list, here it enables you to select the site for which you want to configure automatic site-wide client push installation.

·         On the Home tab, in the Settings group, click Client Installation Settings, and then click Client Push Installation.

·         On the General tab of the Client Push Installation Properties dialog box, select Enable automatic site-wide client push installation. Select the system types to which Configuration Manager should push the client software by selecting Servers, Workstations, or Configuration Manager site system servers. The default selection is Servers and Workstations.

·         Select whether you want automatic site-wide client push installation to install the System Center 2012 Configuration Manager client software on domain controllers.

·         On the Accounts tab, specify one or more accounts for System Center 2012 Configuration Manager to use when connecting to the computer to install the client software. Click the Create icon, enter the User name and Password, confirm the password, and then click OK. If you do not specify at least one client push installation account, System Center 2012 Configuration Manager tries to use the site system computer account. The account must have local administrator rights on every computer on which you want to install the client.

Using the Client push installation wizard

·         In the Configuration Manager console, navigate to  Assets and Compliance.

·         In the Assets and Compliance workspace, select one or more computers, or a collection of computers.

·         On the Home tab, choose one of the following:

o   To install the client to a single computer or multiple computers, in the Device group, click Install Client.

o   To install the client to a collection of computers, in the Collection group, click Install Client.

·         On the Before You Begin page of the Install Client Wizard, review the information, and then click Next.

·         On the Installation options page, configure whether the client can be installed on domain controllers, whether the client will be reinstalled, upgraded, or repaired on computers with an existing client, and the name of the site that will install the client software. Click Next.

·         Review the installation settings, and then close the wizard.

Install SSCM 2012 Client by using software update based installation

Software update-based client installation publishes the SCCM  2012 client to a software update point as an additional software update. This method of client installation can be used to install  client on computers that do not already have the client installed or to upgrade existing System Center 2012 Configuration Manager clients.
If a computer has client installed, Configuration Manager provides the client with the software update point server name and port from which to obtain software updates. This information is included in the client policy.
If a computer does not have client installed, you must configure and assign a Group Policy Object (GPO) in Active Directory Domain Services to specify the software update point server name from which the computer will obtain software updates.
You cannot add command-line properties to a software update-based client installation. If you have extended the Active Directory schema for SCCM  2012, client computers automatically query Active Directory Domain Services for installation properties when they install.
Configure GPO in active directory domain services to specify software update point for client installation and software update

·         Use the Group Policy Management Console to open a new or existing Group Policy Object.

·         In the console, expand Computer Configuration, expand Administrative Templates, expand Windows Components, and then click Windows Update.

·         Open the properties of the setting Specify intranet Microsoft update service location, and then click Enabled.

·         In the box Set the intranet update service for detecting updates, specify the name of the software update point server that you want to use and the port. These must match exactly the server name format and the port being used by the software update point:

o   If the Configuration Manager site system is configured to use a fully qualified domain name (FQDN), specify the server name by using FQDN format.

o   If the Configuration Manager site system is not configured to use a fully qualified domain name (FQDN), specify the server name by using a short name format. For example (http://SCCMServer1.anu.com:8530)

·         Assign the Group Policy Object to the computers on which you want to install the Configuration Manager client and receive software updates.

Publishing the SCCM client to the software update point

·         In the Configuration Manager console, click Administration.

·         In the Administration workspace, expand Site Configuration, and then click Sites.

·         In the Sites list, select the site for which you want to configure software update-based client installation.

·         On the Home tab, in the Settings group, click Client Installation Settings, and then click Software Update-Based Client Installation.

·         In the Software Update Point Client Installation Properties dialog box, select Enable software update-based client installation to enable this client installation method.

·         If the client software on the System Center 2012 Configuration Manager site server is a later version than the client version stored on the software update point, the Later Version of Client Package Detected dialog box opens. Click Yes to publish the most recent version of the client software to the software update point.

Installing  SSCM 2012 client using group policy

When assigning the SCCM client to computers by using Group Policy, the client installs when the computer first starts. When you publish the System Center 2012 Configuration Manager client to users by using Group Policy, the client displays in the Control Panel Add or Remove Programs for the computer for the user to install.
Use the Windows Installer package (CCMSetup.msi) for Group Policy-based installations. This file is found in the folder <ConfigMgr installation directory>\bin\i386 SCCM 2012 site server. You cannot add properties to this file to modify installation behavior

Installing SSCM 2012 client manually

Manually installing SCCM  client software on computers  by using the CCMSetup.exe program. This program and its supporting files can be found in the Client folder of the System Center 2012 Configuration Manager installation folder on the site server and on management points in your site. This folder is shared to the network as <Site Server Name>\SMS_<Site Code>\Client.
For example, specify the following command line CCMSetup.exe /mp:SCCMServerName /logon SMSSITECODE=AUTO

How to check if the client installation is succeeded or not?

Solution:
The client installation status can be verified using the log file or Control panel icons.

To check the log file, navigate to C:\Windows\System32\ccmsetup of the client computer and open the ccmsetup.log and clientmsi.log file. If the installation is success then you can see a “Installation Succeeded” line updated in the log file.

Also you can navigate to Start->Control panel and look for configuration manager icon entry (assuming that the control panel view is set to small icons).

How to uninstall a client?
Solution:
To uninstall a client from the client computer, execute the following command on the client computer.

Ccmsetup.exe /uninstall

To  run this command  open a cmd prompt and change (cd) to the directory where ccmsetup.exe can be found (most likely in %windir%\system32\ccmsetup on 32bit versions of Windows). Then you can run ccmsetup.exe /uninstall.

To confirm the Un-installation of the client, verify that the control panel icon is gone and ccmExec.exe process will be removed.

How to Speed up software advertisement by forcing Policy Retrieval & Evaluation cycle?

Solution:
Open control panel, navigate to Configuration manager icon and click on it. As the ConfigMgr window pops up switch to action tab and initiate the “Machine policy Retrieval & Evaluation Cycle” by clicking on “Initiate Action”

The SCCM client may not be installed properly or some agents won’t be running on the client computer. These clients won’t be receiving any policies due to this issue.

Solution:
This can be verified from the control panel, configuration manager icon. Open the configuration manager item and navigate to Action tab and if you see only some feature will be available like “User policy retrieval & Machine policy retrieval.
Look for the Locationserives.log file from c:\windows\system32\ccm\logs and it will contain the following error messages,
“Failed to refresh trusted key information while refreshing mp list”
“Failed to verify received message 0×80090006”
“Failed to verify received message 0x8009100e”

Follow the below steps to resolve this issue,
• Log on to the SCCM management point computer by using an account that has administrative permissions.
• Click Start, click Run, type services.msc in the Open box, and then click OK.
• In the Services MMC snap-in, right-click SMS_EXECUTIVE, and then click Stop.
• In the Services MMC snap-in, right-click SMS_SITE_COMPONENT_MANAGER, and then click Stop.
• Click Start, click Run, type ccmdelcert in the Open box, and then click OK.
• You receive the message:  “Successfully deleted cert”.
• In the Services MMC snap-in, right-click SMS_EXECUTIVE, and then click Start.
• In the Services MMC snap-in, right-click SMS_SITE_COMPONENT_MANAGER, and then click Start.

How to Speed up software advertisement by forcing Policy Retrieval & Evaluation cycle?

Solution:
Open control panel, navigate to Configuration manager icon and click on it. As the ConfigMgr window pops up switch to action tab and initiate the “Machine policy Retrieval & Evaluation Cycle” by clicking on “Initiate Action” once.

How to detect problems respect to no computer entry in SCCM while computer connected to network?

There are different reasons for a client computer not being displayed on the SCCM Console but connected to the network.

Solution: Check if the SCCM client is installed on the client computer by navigating to Control panel and look for “configuration manager” icon entry (assuming that the control panel view is set to small icons)

If the client is installed, then open services.msc in the client computer and verify if the SMS_AgentHost service is running, if not start the service.

Check the Firewall enabled or disabled if enabled, allow the ports to talk to site server

Finally do an update of collection membership as described below,

Open SCCM console and navigate to Assets and Compliance  ->Collections ->”Right click on a collection where the required client is not present” then select “update collection membership”

After distributing the software to the client, if the software package gets failed to download into the client computer cache

Cause: The software package may not be downloaded into the client computer cache if the client does not meet the requirement.

Solution: Ensure that the following services are up and running on the client computer

Background intelligence Transfer service
SMS agent Host
Windows Installer
Windows Management Instrumentation

Check if the client is contacting the DP using LocaitonServices.log file and if not add the required DP to the package.

If the client  fails to run an deployment  or if the software distribution failed on a client computer then how to troubleshoot?

Finding the Issue: Check the execmgr.log file in c:\windows\system32\ccm\logs on the client computer which will capture the execution of the program. It contains the exit code to determine the failure reason or the exact reason for the failure, normally for success the exit code is 0. If the program is failed then the exit code will be < or > 0. From these exit codes the reason for the failure can be sorted out.

If the distribution is failed on group of computers then the failure reason can be verified by running the report named “All advertisements for a specific package”. This report can be executed by navigating to Monitoring->Reports. In the right hand side you can see a report named “All advertisements for a specific package” right click on this report and run now you have to enter the package ID of the package which is failed, finally click on display.