Program Group

After the primary site server installation is complete, the Setup Wizard adds the Systems Management Server program group to the Start menu. Table 2.5 describes the program group shortcuts that are created during installation.

Services

During the SMS installation, SMS services, or processes, are installed and enabled. By default, the SMS Setup program will load and start three services on a primary site server—SMS Executive, SMS Site Component Manager, and SMS SQL Monitor—and load, but not start, SMS Site Backup. If you’re running SMS in advanced security mode and enable the management point, reporting point, and server locator point roles, these two additional services will be loaded and started: SMS Management Point and SMS Reporting Point.

The SMS Executive is the primary SMS service—sort of like the CIO for the SMS site. It accesses and updates the database, and it manages up to 43 different process threads depending on the components installed. These process threads are listed here:

• Client Configuration Manager

• Client Install Data Manager

• Collection Evaluator

• Courier Sender Confirmation

• Despooler

• Discovery Agents

  • Active Directory System Discovery

  • Active Directory System Group Discovery

  • Active Directory User Discovery

  • Network Discovery

  • Windows Server Discovery

  • Windows User Discovery

  • Windows User Group Discovery

• Discovery Data Manager

• Distribution Manager

• Hierarchy Manager

• Inbox Manager

• Inbox Manager Assistant

• Inventory Data Loader

• Inventory Processor

• Installation Managers

  • Client Push Installation

• Management Point Control Manager

• Management Point File Dispatch Manager

• Offer Manager

• Policy Provider

• Replication Manager

• Scheduler

• Senders

  • Asynchronous RAS Sender

  • Courier Sender

  • ISDN RAS Sender

  • SNA RAS Sender

  • LAN Sender

  • X25 RAS Sender

• Site Control Manager

• Status Summarizers

  • Component Status Summarizer

  • Offer Status Summarizer

  • Site System Status Summarizer

• Software Inventory Processor

• Software Metering Processor

• Status Manager

You’ll learn about the significance of each of these process threads as we encounter them in future chapters.

SMS 2003 Site Configuration

The Site Component Manager carries out most site configuration requests posted in the database and written to the site’s Site Control file. These requests would include adding a site server address, enabling a client agent, or adding a site system.

The SMS SQL Monitor acts as a wake-up service for the SMS Executive and its process threads. Based on SQL event triggers and stored procedures, the SMS SQL Monitor writes a wake-up file to the inbox of the SMS process that needs to carry out a specific task. As a result, you should think of SMS 2003 as being event-driven rather than cycle-driven. Think of each of the SMS components and services involved in carrying out a task on the site server as a domino. As each domino falls, it hits another domino, causing it to fall and hit another, and so on until all dominos have fallen. Similarly, as each component executes, it will write a wake-up file to an inbox or otherwise trigger the next component to execute until the task has been completed.

So when you click OK in a properties dialog box, although the change you “requested” isn’t immediate, in most cases you won’t be waiting around for hours for the task to be completed.

SMS Directory Structure and Shares

When you run the SMS Setup program, it creates the registry, shares, and services needed to make configuration changes. Among the items created are two SMS directories: \SMS and \CAP_sitecode. The \SMS directory is the main SMS installation directory. It is created on the NTFS drive with the most free disk space and contains all the site component files, inboxes, system files, data files, and so forth needed to maintain and service the SMS site. It’s shared as SMS_sitecode, where sitecode represents the three-character site code you assigned to the site.

The \CAP_sitecode directory is created on every site system configured as a CAP. The site server becomes a CAP by default. This directory contains all the client component configuration files, advertisements, site assignment lists, component inboxes for client data, and any other instruction files the Standard Client might require. It’s shared as CAP_sitecode.

The \SMS_CCM directory is created on every site system configured as a management point. Like the CAP, this directory contains all the client component configuration files, advertisements, site assignment lists, component inboxes for client data, and any other instruction files the Advanced Client might require.

The Inetpub\wwwroot\SMSComponent and Inetpub\wwwroot\SMSReporting_ sitecode folders are created on every site system configured as a reporting point. Reporting points are used to provide access to SMS web reports.

The Setup program also shares the \SMS\Inboxes\Despoolr.box\Receive directory as SMS_SITE. SMS site servers use this share to connect to another site and copy package information and other data to that site. Suffice it to say that the setup program creates no superfluous directories. Every SMS component and thread has its directory or directories, and every directory has its component or thread.

Windows Registry

The setup program creates and configures four main areas of the Windows server registry—specifically in the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE hive. Setup adds the Network Access Layer (NAL) and SMS keys to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\ Software\Microsoft in the registry. The NAL key contains information relating to logical disk and network providers used by SMS, connection account information, and CAP lists. The SMS key contains all the site configuration and control information, including components installed, site parameters, SQL information, and so on. Setup will also add the appropriate service-related keys to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Services. In addition, a number of Windows Management providers are installed and the WBEM registry key is updated appropriately.

As always, it’s possible, and sometimes necessary, for you, the SMS administrator, to modify SMS site and component settings through the Windows Registry Editor. As always, please use due caution when making changes. Before browsing the registry to look up current settings or to determine whether a change should or could be made, it would be wise to set the Registry Editor to read- only mode. This precaution will prevent you from accidentally modifying an existing entry, adding an incorrect entry, or deleting a significant entry from the registry—the results of which could range from minor annoyance to critical disaster. This is not a lesson you want to learn the hard way.