Steve Rachui's Manageability blog - ConfigMgr/OpsMgr
Premier Field Engineer/Microsoft Dedicated Support Engineering
Upcoming Technet Webcase on OpsMgr 2007
Microsoft Consulting Services will be hosting a TechNet Webcast to discuss architecting solutions in...
Author: steverac Date: 11/04/2008
Sample Linked Report MP
I've seen several posts on various forums where folks are looking for samples showing how to build...
Author: steverac Date: 10/30/2008
Enough with the Maintenance Mode tools!!!
OK, I've got one more! :) I put together a web application to help with maintenance mode. This was...
Author: steverac Date: 10/27/2008
Grouping Windows Computer Objects and Health Service Watcher Objects - updated
In my original post I gave the XML required to associate windows computer objects and health service...
Author: steverac Date: 10/23/2008
MDT and SCCM 2007 - better together
Now that R2 for SCCM has shipped that includes multicast support, unknown computer support and run...
Author: steverac Date: 10/18/2008
OpsMgr 2007 Command Line Notifications and Alert ID
Was working on setting up some command line notifications this week and ran into an issue I didn't...
Author: steverac Date: 10/18/2008
Setting up Multicasting in SCCM
Multicasting is a new feature of R2 in SCCM and is a welcome addition to the OSD feature. Multicast...
Author: steverac Date: 10/18/2008
Grouping Windows Computer Objects and Associated Health Service Watcher Object
The question has come up several times - how do you create a group that contains windows computer...
Author: steverac Date: 10/17/2008
Gateways and agents in untrusted domains/workgroups
If you have agents in an untrusted domain/forest or workgroup you will have to install certificates...
Author: steverac Date: 10/03/2008
Granular Targeting in OpsMgr 2007
Understanding the various targeting options and when to use each is something every OpsMgr admin...
Author: steverac Date: 10/03/2008
Unique 31569 Event Deploying Reports
Just ran across a unique error when attempting to deploy reports from the RMS to the reporting...
Author: steverac Date: 10/01/2008
Unknown Computers in SCCM 2007 R2- how it works
My previous blog entry discussed how to configure unknown computer support in SCCM 2007 R2 - but how...
Author: steverac Date: 09/21/2008
Unknown Computers in SCCM 2007 R2 - overview
One of the new features in SCCM 2007 R2 is support for OSD deployments to 'Unknown' Computers -...
Author: steverac Date: 09/21/2008
SMSMap
I'm late to the game on this one I'm sure but just had a chance to look at the SMSMap tool. ...
Author: steverac Date: 09/01/2008
SCCM 2007 R2 has released
Doesn't appear that a download link has been posted as of this writing but one should be available...
Author: steverac Date: 08/29/2008
Updated DHCP Management Pack Issue
After installing the latest DHCP MP customers are seeing an issue where the event log cannot be...
Author: steverac Date: 08/27/2008
Updated Print Server MP Released!
The MP is released but there are some challenges - Kevin has a good blog post on this:...
Author: steverac Date: 08/27/2008
DNS, DHCP management packs released!
The updated DNS and DHCP MP's have been released - for more detail take a look at Kevin's blog...
Author: steverac Date: 08/18/2008
AD Integration Updated
I've updated my blog post on AD Integration - the change is basically to remove the section that...
Author: steverac Date: 08/18/2008
ConfigMgr 2007 R2
ConfigMgr R2 continues to make its way toward RTM - have you downloaded and installed it yet? R2...
Author: steverac Date: 08/13/2008
Windows Mobile 6.1 now supported on ConfigMgr!!!
Just announced - ConfigMgr 2007 RTM and SP1 both now support client management on Windows Mobile 6.1...
Author: steverac Date: 08/13/2008
Organized at last
My blog has been in desparate need of maintenance and reorganization for a while now. It's one of...
Author: steverac Date: 08/12/2008
FQDN Task Sequence username limitation
A common step in imaging is to use the 'Apply Network Settings' task sequence item to configure...
Author: steverac Date: 07/19/2008
ConfigMgr and OpsMgr Maintenance Mode
I've seen the question several times now about whether ConfigMgr supports setting OpsMgr agents into...
Author: steverac Date: 07/18/2008
Capturing logs during failed Task Sequence Execution
Every OSD administrator knows the feeling of configuring a complex (or even simple) OSD Deployment,...
Author: steverac Date: 07/15/2008
Task Sequences and advertisements
Have been working a fair amount lately with task sequences. Task sequences are traditionally thought...
Author: steverac Date: 07/15/2008
Testing Network Speed - Multiple Applications
A question came up recently about how to determine network speed. In the specific environment small...
Author: steverac Date: 07/02/2008
The Authoring Console or the Operations Console?
Which tool is best to use for authoring? The answer 'it depends' is very applicable here. One key...
Author: steverac Date: 06/29/2008
Relationships and Grouping
In a recent blog post...
Author: steverac Date: 06/22/2008
Understanding relationships in OpsMgr 2007
Ever wonder how objects are related to each other in OpsMgr? Certainly would be helpful when...
Author: steverac Date: 06/09/2008
Heartbeat detection in OpsMgr 2007
A questionc came up today regarding heartbeating in OpsMgr 2007 - specifically, whether we can...
Author: steverac Date: 05/15/2008
OpsMgr Vista Gadget
Trying to track down that problem with a System Center product but don't know where to look? A Vista...
Author: steverac Date: 05/12/2008
OpsMgr 2007 Security Hardening Guide
Security seems to be a common stumbling block - particularly for those who need to harden security...
Author: steverac Date: 05/12/2008
OpsMgr Authoring Console has released!
We've been working with the release candidate for a while - the official release has recently been...
Author: steverac Date: 05/12/2008
Service Level Dashboard for OpsMgr 2007 now in beta!
Looking for a single view into your OpsMgr environment that will allow near real time end-to-end...
Author: steverac Date: 05/12/2008
OpsMgr cross-platform extender
At MMS this week we announced the pending release (currently beta) of the cross platform extender....
Author: steverac Date: 05/01/2008
Rules/Monitors and Event Descriptions in OpsMgr
It is beneficial at times to be able to scan for text in an event description that might be...
Author: steverac Date: 04/27/2008
ConfigMgr SDK available
About a month late but just had the occassion to need the new ConfigMgr SDK. It's available for...
Author: steverac Date: 04/21/2008
Required security mappings in OpsMgr
Another great post by my colleage, Kevin Holman, with very needed info on security mappings in...
Author: steverac Date: 04/19/2008
Required SQL Maintenance for OpsMgr
My collegue, Kevin Holman, has a blog post with great discussion about SQL maintenance for OpsMgr...
Author: steverac Date: 04/19/2008
OpsMgr AD Integration - how it works
There is a fair amount of documentation about how to enable AD Integration for OpsMgr 2007. Most of...
Author: steverac Date: 03/19/2008
Command line notifications and variables
When enabiling modem paging (or similar) it is often a requirement to pass the user name or phone...
Author: steverac Date: 03/14/2008
Health Service Lockdown Tool
Are you working in a highly secure environment? Do you want complete control over what actions are...
Author: steverac Date: 02/18/2008
Engyro Connectors are FREE!!!
Many organizations use connectors to interface OpsMgr with third party monitoring solutions....
Author: steverac Date: 02/18/2008
PowerGUI
If you have spent much time at all around OpsMgr you most certainly have heard of PowerShell....
Author: steverac Date: 02/18/2008
Performance Data and Views in OpsMgr 2007
Suppose you want to create a view to look at performance data that has been collected in OpsMgr. You...
Author: steverac Date: 02/18/2008
A few questions of interest - Question 8
- Is it possible to create notifications on a rule by rule basis? If so, how? If not, why not? Yes,...
Author: steverac Date: 01/07/2008
A few opsmgr questions of interest - Question 7
- How does reindexing work in opsmgr? Is it a SQL job? Which one? Is it a rule in the SQL...
Author: steverac Date: 01/07/2008
A few opsmgr questions of interest - Question 6
- Is it possible to see the agent and all of the rules/monitors that are applied to them? The SCOM...
Author: steverac Date: 01/07/2008