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Chapter 8: Client Installation Methods

In Chapter 7, “Resource Discovery,” you learned how to discover resources and add them to the Microsoft Systems Management Server (SMS) database. To manage a computer resource, however, you must make that computer an SMS client, which means installing SMS client components on that computer. In this chapter we’ll focus on the installation process. We’ll begin by exploring the concept of site assignment. Then we’ll look at the installation methods, and you’ll learn how to manage the client configuration and how to remove SMS from the client if necessary.

Site Assignment

Before you can install a computer as an SMS client, you must first assign it to an SMS site. A computer’s site assignment is determined by its IP subnet address and mask and the boundaries you set for the SMS site. (Refer to Chapter 3, “Configuring Site Server Properties and Site Systems,” for detailed information on subnet addresses and subnet masks.) If the computer is assigned to the site, installation continues. If it isn’t, the installation process stops. Site assignment depends on the site boundaries configured for your SMS site. This group of site boundaries is also known as the site assignment rules—the list of subnets, roaming boundaries, and Active Directory directory service sites that define the site boundaries of an SMS site. These rules are maintained at the site server level and are written to the client access points (CAPs) for SMS Legacy Clients and to the management points for Advanced Clients.

Site boundaries determine which clients are to be installed as SMS clients to the site. They aren’t used to specify which site systems can be assigned site roles in the site. In fact, site systems can be members of other accessible subnets. Unlike SMS 2.0, an SMS 2003 client can’t belong to more than one site. You can assign a client to a site manually or let SMS assign the client to a site automatically, but the client can’t be made a client of more than one site.

Microsoft recommends that all subnets identified as site boundaries be local to the site and that site boundaries not span WAN connections unless the link is fast and reliable. Network and site server performance could be adversely affected if the WAN connection is already heavily utilized. When you plan Active Directory sites, you usually keep this same recommendation in mind. For that reason, and because SMS supports it, you should consider using the Active Directory sites you already configured as your SMS site boundaries. Another advantage of using an Active Directory site as your SMS site boundary is that as you add subnets to the Active Directory site, those subnets are automatically included as part of the SMS site boundaries.

Setting Site Boundaries

You create the site assignment rules by setting the site boundaries for the site. Site boundaries are a property of the site and are set through the SMS Administrator Console. To set site boundaries based on IP address, follow these steps:

  1. In the SMS Administrator Console, navigate to your site entry in the Site Hierarchy node. Right-click the site entry and choose Properties from the context menu to display the Site Properties dialog box.

  2. Select the Site Boundaries tab, shown in Figure 8.1.

    Click To expand
    Figure 8.1: The Site Boundaries tab of the Site Properties dialog box.

  3. To add a subnet to the Site Boundaries list, click the New button (the yellow star) to display the New Site Boundary dialog box, shown in Figure 8.2.

    Click To expand
    Figure 8.2: The New Site Boundary dialog box.

  4. Select a boundary type from the drop-down list—either IP Subnet or Active Directory Site.

  5. In the Subnet ID text box, enter the IP subnet address or Active Directory site name, and then click OK to close the dialog box.

  6. Click OK again to begin the site control process, which will update the site assignment rules.

Advanced Clients use roaming boundaries to access distribution points that are members of this site. You can also specify whether the Advanced Client will treat a distribution point as local or remote. If you treat distribution points as local, the Advanced Client uses the When A Local Distribution Point Is Available setting in the Advanced Client tab of the Advertisement Properties dialog box. If you treat distribution points as remote, the Advanced Client uses the When No Local Distribution Point Is Available setting in the Advanced Client tab of the Advertisement Properties dialog box.

To set the roaming boundaries of the site, follow these steps:

  1. In the SMS Administrator Console, navigate to your site entry in the Site Hierarchy node. Right-click the site entry and choose Properties from the context menu to display the Site Properties dialog box.

  2. Select the Roaming Boundaries tab, shown in Figure 8.3.

    Click To expand
    Figure 8.3: The Roaming Boundaries tab of the Site Properties dialog box.

  3. Select Include Site Boundaries Within The Local Roaming Boundaries Of This Site to make the boundaries you configure part of the local boundaries for the site.

  4. To add a new boundary to the Roaming Boundaries list, click New to display the New Roaming Boundary dialog box, shown in Figure 8.4.

    Click To expand
    Figure 8.4: The New Roaming Boundary dialog box.

  5. Select a boundary type from the drop-down list—either IP Subnet, Active Directory Site, or IP Address Range.

  6. In the text box below the Boundary Type, enter the IP subnet address, Active Directory site name, or IP address range. Select Designate This Boundary as a Local Roaming Boundary to have Advanced Clients treat this site’s distribution points as local. Select Designate This Boundary as a Remote Roaming Boundary to have Advanced Clients treat this site’s distribution points as remote. Click OK to close the dialog box.

  7. Click OK again to begin the site control process, which will update the site assignment rules.

Installation Methods

Just as several discovery methods are available for adding resources to the SMS database, several client installation methods are available for loading the SMS Legacy and Advanced Client components on computers that have been assigned to the SMS site. There are six client installation methods. You can use three of these methods to install both the Legacy Client and the Advanced Client software on assigned computers. The six methods and the SMS client types that they can be used with are described in Table 8.1.

Table 8.1: SMS Client installation methods

Installation Method

Used to Install:

Client Push Installation

Both Legacy and Advanced Client

Logon Script Initiated

Both Legacy and Advanced Client

Manual

Both Legacy and Advanced Client

Windows Group Policy

Advanced Client

Software Distribution

Advanced Client

Imaging

Advanced Client

Note 

It is strongly recommended that you do not install the Legacy Client on computers running Windows 2000 or later except in cases where you are upgrading an existing SMS 2.0 site to SMS 2003. In this case, the upgrade will install the Legacy Client automatically on such computers. However, this should be considered an interim step. SMS includes a report and query to help you identify those computers that have the Legacy Client installed on Windows 2000 or later computers so that you can target those for upgrade to Advanced Client. Advanced Client is considered a more secure client for those operating system environments.

As we saw in Chapter 7, it isn’t necessary for a resource to have been discovered before it can be installed. The installation process will automatically generate a discovery data record (DDR) for the client. The exception to this is Client Push Installation. In order for SMS to push the client software to a computer, that computer must have been discovered first. A DDR must already exist for the computer in the SMS database for that site. In many larger SMS sites, you might choose to discover all your potential SMS clients first so that you can determine which of those can become Legacy or Advanced Clients or to develop a roll-out plan for installing SMS clients.

More Info 

For more information about how to plan the installation of clients in your SMS site, see Chapter 10, “Planning Your Deployment and Configuration,” in the Microsoft Systems Management Server 2003 Concepts, Planning, and Deployment Guide included on the SMS 2003 CD.

All SMS clients receive a core set of components when the SMS client software is installed. Advanced Clients receive all the client agents whether or not the agents have been enabled and configured. Legacy Clients receive only those agents that have been enabled and configured. Although not essential to the successful installation of an SMS client, it would be productive to configure the client agents that you intend to enable prior to installing the client computers. Doing so will ensure that all the agents and their properties will be installed at one time. If you enable a client component later, the client update process will update the client on its next polling cycle—every 25 hours—or when the update is forced on the client.

There are five client agents:

  • Advertised Programs Client Agent

  • Hardware Inventory Client Agent

  • Remote Tools Client Agent

  • Software Inventory Client Agent

  • Software Metering Client Agent

    Tip 

    Client agents are enabled by default when you install SMS using the Express Setup option. No client agents are enabled if you performed a Custom installation.

The process of enabling and installing each of these agents on your SMS clients will be covered in later chapters.

Client Push Installation

Client Push Installation is designed to push either the Legacy Client or the Advanced Client to newly discovered computer resources. The Client Push Installation method supports computers running Microsoft Windows NT 4.0, Windows 2000, Windows XP Professional, or operating systems in the Windows Server 2003 family. Although this method doesn’t automatically install SMS client software on domain controllers and site systems, it can be configured to do so. Also, you can use this method to upgrade SMS clients from the Legacy Client to the Advanced Client, but not from the Advanced Client to the Legacy Client.

This method attempts to connect to the computer using the SMS Service account, if the site is running standard security mode, or a Client Push Installation account that you create. Chapter 16, “Queries and Reports,” discusses these accounts in more detail. It’s important that these accounts have local administrative privileges on the computers that will become SMS clients.

You can enable Client Push Installation to run automatically until you decide to turn it off, or you can initiate a client push by targeting a specific collection or resource in a collection using the Client Push Installation Wizard. Both methods work essentially the same way regarding the manner in which the client is installed. The latter, however, runs only when the administrator initiates it.

If you’re pushing the Advanced Client, SMS uses two primary files: Ccmsetup.exe and Client.msi. Client.msi is a Windows Installer package that contains the Advanced Client software. Ccmsetup.exe is a wrapper for Client.msi and runs as a service. Ccmsetup.exe copies Client.msi to the computer on which you’re installing the Advanced Client software.

Configuring Client Push Installation

You configure Client Push Installation through the SMS Administrator Console. Follow these steps to enable Client Push Installation:

  1. In the SMS Administrator Console, navigate to the Client Installation Methods node under Site Hierarchy.

  2. Right-click Client Push Installation and select Properties from the context menu to display the Client Push Installation Properties dialog box shown in Figure 8.5.

    Click To expand
    Figure 8.5: The Client Push Installation Properties dialog box.

  3. In the General tab, select Enable Client Push Installation To Assigned Resources to enable this method to run. Select the system types that SMS should push the client software to. Select Enable Client Push Installation To Site Systems if you want site systems to automatically receive the SMS client software. Finally, select the client type to push. If you choose Platform Dependent, SMS will push the Advanced Client software to the discovered computer if the computer’s operating system supports Advanced Client. Otherwise, SMS will push the Legacy Client.

  4. In the Accounts tab, shown in Figure 8.6, use the New button to specify one or more accounts for SMS to use when connecting to the computer to install the client software. Note the requirements for Legacy and Advanced Clients outlined in this tab.

    Click To expand
    Figure 8.6: The Client Push Installation Properties Accounts tab.

  5. In the Advanced Client tab, shown in Figure 8.7, in the Installation Properties text box enter any custom installation properties that you want SMS to use when installing the Advanced Client. For example, enter CCMINSTALLDIR=C:\MS\SMS if you want the Advanced Client support files installed in the folder C:\MS\SMS rather than the default %Windir%\System32\CCM.

    Click To expand
    Figure 8.7: The Client Push Installation Properties Advanced Client tab.

  6. Click Apply and then OK when you’re finished.

    More Info 

    For detailed information about the various configuration options that are available for installing the Advanced Client, see Chapter 17, “Discovering Resources and Deploying Clients,” in the Microsoft Systems Management Server 2003 Concepts, Planning, and Deployment Guide included with the SMS CD.

Using the Client Push Installation Wizard

You can push SMS client software to discovered computers using the Client Push Installation Wizard. This method is a variation of the Client Push Installation method and works in much the same way. The main difference is that the Client Push Installation Wizard runs only when the SMS administrator initiates it. By contrast, the Client Push Installation method runs so long as it remains enabled.

You initiate the Client Push Installation Wizard by targeting a collection of computers or a specific computer in a collection. To do that, follow these steps:

  1. Navigate to the Collections node in the SMS Administrator Console.

  2. Select the collection or computer in a collection that you want to push the client software to. Right-click the selection and choose All Tasks, then Install Client from the context menu to launch the Client Push Installation Wizard shown in Figure 8.8.

    Click To expand
    Figure 8.8: The Client Push Installation Wizard.

  3. Click Next to display the Installation Options page shown in Figure 8. 9. Select the appropriate client type or choose Collect System Status Without Installing The SMS Client if you want to determine whether the discovered resource already has client software installed.

    Click To expand
    Figure 8.9: The Client Push Installation Wizard Installation Options page.

  4. Click Next to display the Client Installation Options page shown in Figure 8.10. Here you can choose to install the client software only to assigned clients—the default—or you can include domain controllers as well. If you selected a collection when you launched the wizard, you can also target resources contained in subcollections.

    Click To expand
    Figure 8.10: The Client Push Installation Wizard Client Installation Options page.

    If you are upgrading existing SMS 2.0 clients to the Legacy Client, select the option Always Install (Repair or Upgrade Existing Client). Do not select this option if you are upgrading from the Legacy Client to the Advanced Client.

  5. Click Next to display the Completing page, shown in Figure 8.11, and then click Finish to begin the client push process.

    Click To expand
    Figure 8.11: The Client Push Installation Wizard Completing page.

Logon Script Initiated Client Installation

This installation method is similar to the Windows NT Logon Installation method you could enable in SMS 2.0, which used the logon point site system installed on a domain controller to initiate client installation. SMS 2003 no longer supports the logon point role. However, SMS 2003 does support installing the Legacy or Advanced Client software using the file Capinst.exe in a logon script as the installation trigger.

Legacy Clients use the CAP site system to install and receive client component updates. Advanced Clients use the management point site system for this function. Logon script-initiated installation uses the server locator point site system to locate either a CAP or management point as appropriate for the client.

Consequently, you need to set up the logon script so that an appropriate server locator point can be found. You can do this either by supplying a specific server locator point as an argument for Capinst.exe or by simply letting Capinst.exe find the first server locator point registered in the Active Directory global catalog. However, if the Active Directory schema hasn’t been extended for SMS, Capinst.exe will fail to find a server locator point. For this reason, it’s recommended that you always specify a server locator point as part of the Capinst.exe statement in your logon script.

The following steps occur when a user runs the logon script:

  1. Capinst.exe finds a server locator point.

  2. The server locator point returns a list of the CAPs (for Legacy Clients) or management points (for Advanced Clients) that are available for the site the client is assigned to.

  3. Capinst.exe launches Smsman.exe (for Legacy Client installation) or CCMSetup.exe (for Advanced Client installation).

  4. If the user has administrative credentials on the client, the installation proceeds. If the user doesn’t have administrative credentials on the client, Capinst.exe generates a Client Configuration Request (CCR) that’s sent to the site server.

  5. If the site server receives a CCR, the client installation is restarted using the Client Push Installation method.

When you configure a logon script, include a call to Capinst.exe along with any command-line options that are necessary. Table 8.2 describes the most common command-line options you’re likely to use. Capinst.exe is located on the site server in the SMS\client\i386 folder. If you want to run Capinst.exe from another server—for example, a domain controller—you must copy that file to the appropriate server. However, keep in mind that if Capinst.exe is later updated, you’ll need to manually copy the updated file to the appropriate servers yourself. The syntax for Capinst.exe is: Capinst.exe /option. For example, to specify a server locator point, use the syntax: Capinst.exe /SLP=server1.

Table 8.2: Capinst.exe command-line options

Option

Description

/AdvCli

Installs the Advanced Client software. If the option isn’t used or the client computer’s operating system doesn’t support Advanced Client, the Legacy Client is installed.

/SLP=<SLP Server Name>

Specifies the server locator point that should be used.

/AdvCliCmd

Lets you include any installation properties specific to Client.msi that you’d like to pass to Ccmsetup.exe to customize the installation of the Advanced Client. If you don’t include any installation properties, Ccmsetup.exe will install the Advanced Client using default settings.

/AutoDetect=<Executable Name>

Lets you specify a script or program that should be executed as part of the installation to help determine which type of client software is installed. For example, you might reference a script that looks for a specific hardware property stored in Windows Management Instrumentation (WMI) on the client and then return a value. A value of 1 installs Advanced Client if the client operating system supports Advanced Client or the Legacy Client if the client operating system does not. A value of 0 installs the Legacy Client, and any other value returned installs no client software.

/DC

Installs Advanced Client on a domain controller.

More Info 

For more information about these and other logons script options that you can use, see Chapter 17, “Discovering Resources and Deploying Clients,” in the Microsoft Systems Management Server 2003 Concepts, Planning, and Deployment Guide included with the SMS CD.

Manual Client Installation

The third method of installing SMS client software on a computer is manual client installation. You can install either the Legacy Client or the Advanced Client using this method. The Legacy Client uses Smsman.exe, and the Advanced Client uses Ccmsetup, also called the Advanced Client Installer.

Using Smsman.exe to Install the Legacy Client

Use Smsman.exe to manually install the Legacy Client directly from a CAP through a UNC path. Alternately, you could use a command-line switch to specify the location of a CAP for the client to use. Smsman.exe is located on the site server in the SMS\Client\i386 folder and on the SMS CD in the SMSSetup\Client\i386 folder.

By default, Smsman.exe launches the Systems Management Installation Wizard, which will provide a series of prompts for you to answer. However, you could also execute Smsman.exe from a command prompt using the options described in Table 8.3.

Table 8.3: Smsman.exe command-line options

Option

Description

/A

Sets the installation location to the path used to launch the Systems Management Installation Wizard.

/D

Generates a discovery record but doesn’t install the Legacy Client.

/H or /?

Displays help.

/M

Specifies the path to a specific CAP. Syntax: Smsman.exe /M \\server\ CAP_sitecode.

/Q

Runs installation in silent mode with no windows or messages displayed.

/T

Allows installation to run in a Terminal Services session.

/U

Removes SMS client software.

/F

Forces the client to be assigned to the SMS site of the CAP.

Using Ccmsetup.exe to Install the Advanced Client

Use Ccmsetup.exe to install the Advanced Client manually to a computer. Ccmsetup.exe uses the Client.msi program to install the Advanced Client software. Client.msi is located on the site server in the SMS\Client\i386 folder, on management points in the SMSClient\i386 folder, or on the SMS CD in the SMSSetup\Client\i386 folder. Ccmsetup.exe copies all the files necessary to complete the installation, including the Client.msi and language-specific files and folders, to the client computer.

Ccmsetup.exe provides several command-line switches that you can use to customize the way it runs. These switches are described in Table 8.4.

Table 8.4: Ccmsetup.exe command-line options

Option

Description

/source

Sets the location for Client.msi and other supporting files. Syntax: Ccmsetup /source:folder

/mp

Specifies a management point as the source file location. Ccmsetup.exe will automatically look in the SMSClient\i386 folder on the server you specify. Syntax: Ccmsetup.exe /mp:server

/useronly

Runs Ccmsetup.exe using the logged-on user’s credentials. If the user doesn’t have administrative credentials, Ccmsetup.exe will fail.

/service

Runs Ccmsetup.exe in the local system account security context. This option assumes you’re using Active Directory and that the client computer account has access to the SMSClient\i386 folder on the management point.

In addition to the Ccmsetup.exe command options described in Table 8.4, you can also customize Client.msi using one or more installation property options. Table 8.5 describes these options. Ccmsetup.exe passes the installation property options to Client.msi. Thus, you append the installation property options to the Ccmsetup.exe command that you create using the options in Table 8.4. For example, if you want to specify a management point source location (/mp from Table 8.4) and specify where the Advanced Client files should be located on the client computer (CCMINSTALLDIR from Table 8.5), the syntax would look like this: Ccmsetup.exe /mp:server CCMINSTALLDIR=folderpath.

Table 8-5: Ccmsetup.exe installation property options for Client.msi

Option

Description

CCMINSTALLDIR

Identifies the folder where the Advanced Client files are installed

CCMADMINS

Specifies an account to grant administrative access to

CCMALLOWSILENTREBOOT

Allows the computer to be rebooted even if a user is logged on

CCMDEBUGLOGGING

Enables debug logging

CCMENABLELOGGING

Enables logging for Ccmsetup.exe and stores the log files in the CCM\Logs folder on the client

CCMLOGLEVEL

Specifies the level of logging required from 0, the most verbose, to 3, which only logs errors

CCMLOGMAXHISTORY

Specifies the number of log versions to keep

CCMLOGMAXSIZE

Specifies the maximum log file size

DISABLESITEOPT

Prevents users with administrative credentials from changing the site assignment

DISABLECACHEOPT

Prevents users with administrative credentials from changing the cache settings

SMSCACHEDIR

Specifies the location for downloaded files to be cached on the client

SMSCACHESIZE

Specifies the cache size

SMSCACHEFLAGS

Allows control of cache usage through SMSCACHEFLAG properties

SMSCONFIGSOURCE

Specifies where and in what order Ccmsetup.exe looks for configuration settings

SMSNOWINSLOOKUP

Controls failover from Active Directory to WINS

SMSPREFERREDCLIENT

Sets the preferred client to Advanced Client if the Legacy Client isn’t already installed

SMSSITECODE

Specifies the site to assign the client to

More Info 

For a detailed discussion of all the options described in Table 8.5, including examples of how to use them, see Chapter 17, “Discovering Resources and Deploying Clients,” in the Microsoft Systems Management Server 2003 Concepts, Planning, and Deployment Guide included with the SMS CD.

Advanced Client Installation Methods

The next three installation methods apply only to deploying the Advanced Client software components to computers. These three installation methods are

  • Windows group policy

  • Software distribution

  • Computer imaging

In a way, you could think of the first two methods as variations on the manual installation method described earlier because they use the Ccmsetup.exe file and its options to run an installation.

Active Directory Group Policy

Active Directory provides a way to distribute programs to clients through group policy. Similar, in a way, to SMS software distribution, you can publish or assign a program to computers based on their organizational unit location in Active Directory. Although you can’t use Ccmsetup.exe in this scenario (unless you include it as part of a custom .MSI file that you create), you can use the Advanced Client installation file Client.msi that Ccmsetup.exe calls. However, this method doesn’t offer you the same scope of customization that the other methods already described do. This method would probably be best used for small groups of similar computers that require the default installation of Advanced Client. For more information about using Active Directory group policy to distribute programs, refer to your Windows server documentation.

Software Distribution

To install Advanced Clients through software distribution, use Ccmsetup.exe as the program when you create your software distribution package. Configure the Advanced Client installation using the Client.msi properties and command-line options described earlier.

Alternatively, SMS 2003 includes a package definition file called Smsclint.sms that you can use to create the basic software distribution package based on predefined defaults. This file is installed on your SMS site server only if you selected the setup option Package Automation Scripts during SMS setup. It’s also available on the SMS 2003 CD. Chapter 12, “Package Distribution and Management,” describes how to create software distribution packages from scratch and by using a package definition file.

Computer Imaging

Computer imaging is more commonly known as “cloning” or “ghost imaging.” Basically, this process involves setting up a source, or reference, computer with all the applications, settings, registry keys, and so on that are commonly required for computers in an organization. A snapshot, or “image,” of this computer configuration is created, which can then be loaded onto other computers. The result is a standard computer configuration across the set of computers that received the image.

Several tools allow you to create a computer image and distribute it to other computers in your organization, including Remote Installation Services (RIS), a feature of Windows 2000 Server and later. You can deploy the Advanced Client by installing it without a site assignment on the reference computer before you create the image using manual installation as described earlier. Then, when you load the image on subsequent computers, they’ll have the Advanced Client components already installed. The only additional step you’ll need to take is to assign those clients to an appropriate site. As we’ve seen already, you could use client push, a logon script, or a command-line option to carry out this last task. You could also use the Systems Management icon in Control Panel to assign a site code to the client.

Understanding and Managing the Client Configuration

Now that you’ve finished installing SMS on your clients, let’s explore what happened on the client. Just what have we accomplished here? Actually, all we’ve done is make the client ready to receive or enable any of the optional client agents that allow you to more fully manage the client. The Legacy Client receives a core set of components when it’s installed. Other client agents, such as the Hardware Inventory Client Agent, are installed after you enable them at the site and the client runs its next update cycle. The Advanced Client, however, receives all client components when it’s installed. The components are enabled after you enable them at the site, and the Advanced Client runs its next update cycle.

Changes to the Client

So what does happen to the client? The installation process causes several changes to occur on the client, affecting its directory structure and disk space, its services, its registry, and its Control Panel. Let’s start by looking at changes to the client’s directory structure.

Directory Structure Changes

First and foremost, perhaps, is the creation of an SMS directory structure within the operating system directory. The default operating system directory name tends to vary among the Windows operating systems, so we’ll refer to it here as the system directory, or by its system variable name, %Windir%.

The form that the SMS directory structure takes depends on whether you installed the Legacy Client or the Advanced Client. If you installed the Legacy Client software, base and optional client component support files installed on the computer are stored in their respective folders under %Windir%\MS\SMS\ Clicomp. Client installation history and its DDR are maintained in the %Windir%\MS\SMS\Core\Data folder. SMS sites that the client has been assigned and installed to are reflected under %Windir%\MS\SMS\Sitefile. Client components and services generate their log information in files written to the %Windir%\MS\SMS\Logs folder. The %Windir%\MS\SMS\IDMifs and NOIDMifs folders are used for customizing entries to the SMS database.

If you installed the Advanced Client software, base client component support files installed on the computer are stored in their respective folders under %Windir%\System32\CCM\Clicomp. Client installation history and its DDR are maintained in the %Windir%\System32\CCM \Core folder. Client components and services generate their log information in files written to the %Windir%\System32\CCM\Logs folder. Client agent components are stored in their respective folders under %Windir%\System32\CCM. For example, files that support the inventory agents, including the IDMifs and NOIDMifs folders, are stored in %Windir%\System32\CCM\Inventory.

You’ll find numerous other folders as well, but these are the most pertinent to our discussion in this book. As you can see, just like the SMS directory structure on the site server or any site system, there are no superfluous directories. Each has a purpose and, in this case, is monitored or used by one or more client components.

Service and Component Changes

As we’ve seen in our examination of logon discovery and logon client installation processes in Chapter 7 and in this chapter, several .EXE and .DLL files are installed and loaded to aid in the discovery and installation process. These files include Clicore.exe and Clisvc.exe on the Legacy Client and CCMExec.exe on the Advanced Client.

Registry Changes

In addition to the directories created and the services and components installed, the client installation process adds several keys to the client’s registry under HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\SMS\Client for both Legacy and Advanced Clients, SMS\Mobile Client for Advanced Clients, and WBEM for Windows 98 and Windows NT 4.0 clients. The installation process also adds the appropriate client service entries under HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\ System\CurrentControlSet\Services.

The SMS\Client and SMS\Mobile Client keys maintain all client component configuration settings—both configurable and nonconfigurable by you, the administrator. The WBEM key, of course, supports the Windows Management implementation on Windows 98 and Windows NT 4.0 clients. The Services key contains service-specific information, such as startup parameters and service accounts for the SMS Client Service and the Windows Management Service. You can find this information in the appropriate subkeys of the Services key: the Clisvc subkey on Legacy Clients, the CCMExec subkey on Advanced Clients, and the Winmgmt subkey.

Control Panel Changes

Last but by no means least, the client installation process updates the client’s Control Panel to include the Systems Management icon, as shown in Figure 8.12. This program is used to install, update, or repair components on the client. The only other programs that can be added to the Control Panel are Remote Tools and Advertised Programs if these optional components have been enabled and installed on the client. Administrators familiar with earlier versions of SMS will notice that the old SMS Client program group is no longer added to the client’s Start menu. In fact, in SMS 2.0, user access to, and control of, SMS client components is far more limited than it was in earlier client installations.

Click To expand
Figure 8.12: The updated Control Panel.

All these changes combined require about 20-25 MB of disk space on the client computer, depending on the client type you installed and the components you enabled.

Systems Management Icon

You use the Systems Management icon to install, update, and repair SMS components installed on the client. Double-clicking this icon in Control Panel will display the Systems Management Properties dialog box, which differs depending on whether you installed the Legacy Client or the Advanced Client.

Systems Management Icon for Legacy Client

When you run the Systems Management program on the Legacy Client, the dialog box that displays contains three tabs: General, Sites, and Components.

General Tab

The General tab, shown in Figure 8.13, displays a list of the client’s system properties. This is a subset of the discovery data reported to the site server and includes the client’s IP address and subnet, MAC address, operating system, and domain or workgroup membership—and the SMS GUID assigned to the client. This GUID is a randomly generated, 32-character identifier used internally by SMS to identify the client. Unlike in earlier versions of SMS, the SMS 2003 administrator doesn’t need to refer to the client by its GUID at any time. You can use the discovered information to manage and troubleshoot your computer.

Click To expand
Figure 8.13: The General tab of the Systems Management Properties dialog box for the Legacy Client.

The General tab also provides a mobile computing option that you can enable for the Legacy Client if that client will be connecting to the network—and potentially to different SMS sites—from different subnets. Enabling this mode can prevent the client from changing its site assignment if it roams to a different site.

You can enable the traveling mode by selecting the This Computer Connects To The Network From Different Locations check box. If this mode is enabled, the user will be presented with a dialog box when the client connects to a different site and the client update cycle runs or a client installation method is executed. The user can either change site assignment to the new site (become a member of a different SMS site) or keep the existing site assignment. If the user doesn’t install to the new site, he or she won’t be prompted again for 30 days, even if the client roams to that site again.

Note 

On computers running Windows NT or higher, the user must have administrative credentials on the client to enable or disable travel mode.

Sites Tab

Systems Management also lets you update the client configuration. The Sites tab of the Systems Management Properties dialog box, shown in Figure 8.14, displays the SMS site to which the client has been assigned.

Click To expand
Figure 8.14: The Sites tab of the Systems Management Properties dialog box for the Legacy Client.
Tip 

If the client belongs to multiple sites, the Update Configuration button will refresh the client components from all the sites.

The SMS client polls for component updates every 25 hours to see whether there are any new components to install, components to remove, or components whose configurations need to be modified in some way. As you enable and configure components on the site server, you can be assured that the client will be updated on a daily basis. However, if you want or need to update the client immediately, you can force the client to perform an immediate update by clicking the Update Configuration button at the bottom of the Sites tab.

Components Tab

You can repair the configuration through the Components tab of Systems Management. The Components tab, shown in Figure 8.15, displays a list of components that have been installed on the client, their version numbers, and their current status.

Click To expand
Figure 8.15: The Components tab of the Systems Management Properties dialog box for the Legacy Client.

A basic installation of SMS on the client will result in the following components being installed:

  • Available Programs Manager Win32

  • SMS Client Base Components

  • Windows Management

The Available Programs Manager manages the programs available to run on the client. It isn’t the same as the Advertised Programs Client Agent, which is used to run advertised programs. This entry represents the support file SMSapm32.exe that’s used to run installation programs for various client components.

As you enable additional client components and they’re installed, they’ll be displayed in this list as well.

At the bottom of the Components tab are three buttons: Repair Installation, Refresh Status, and Start Component. Clicking Refresh Status will cause the client components to be rechecked and their status updated. Table 8.6 describes the different status indicators you might see.

Table 8-6: Client component status indicators

Status

Description

Installed

The component has been successfully installed on the client.

Install Pending

SMSapm32.exe has initiated the installation process for the component, but it hasn’t yet been completed.

Repair Pending

CCIM32 is verifying the component and reinstalling it.

Reboot Required

The component has been repaired, but it won’t initialize until a reboot has taken place on the client.

Not Available

The component, although enabled at the site server, isn’t compatible with this computer’s current configuration. Could also indicate that the client’s IP address no longer falls within the site assignment rules for the SMS site and that the client components have been subsequently uninstalled.

If you suspect or determine that you’re having a problem with a particular component—for example, if yesterday the component’s status was Installed and today it is Not Available—you can select that component and click Repair Installation. This will cause that component’s status to change to Repair Pending, while CCIM32 attempts to verify and reinstall that component. This technique is the best way to recover from corrupted component support files. You can either keep clicking Refresh Status until the status changes to Installed or close Systems Management and wait a few minutes for CCIM32 to complete the reinstallation.

Tip 

You can observe the CCIM32 and SMSapm32 processes through Windows Task Manager to gauge when the repair starts and finishes.

System Management Program for Advanced Client

When you run the Systems Management program on the Advanced Client, the dialog box displays four tabs: General, Components, Actions, and Advanced.

General Tab

The General tab, shown in Figure 8.16, displays a list of the client’s system properties similar to that shown for the Legacy Client. However, because Advanced Clients handle roaming differently from Legacy Clients, there’s no travel mode option.

Click To expand
Figure 8.16: The General tab of the Systems Management Properties dialog box for the Advanced Client.
Components Tab

Like the Legacy Client, the Components tab, shown in Figure 8.17, provides a list of the SMS client components available on the client along with each component’s current status. Background components such as services are displayed as Installed. Recall that all client agents are installed on the Advanced Client whether or not you’ve enabled them at the site server. So, as you see in Figure 8.17, the agents display a status of Disabled if you haven’t yet configured and enabled the agent for the site or Enabled if the agent has been enabled at the site and the client update cycle has subsequently enabled the agent at the client.

Click To expand
Figure 8.17: The Components tab of the Systems Management Properties dialog box for the Advanced Client.

If you’ve enabled a client agent and you notice that within 25 hours the client agent status still displays as Disabled when viewed through Systems Management on the client, you should investigate whether the client received its update, whether the client update cycle ran, and other potential problems. As with the Legacy Client, if you suspect that a component is corrupted or needs to be reinstalled, you can select that component in the Components list and then click Repair.

Actions Tab

The Actions tab, shown in Figure 8.18, displays a list of procedures that you can run that are related to the various components installed and enabled on the Advanced Client. If, for example, you wanted to get an updated machine policy for this client outside of the interval configured by the SMS administrator, you would select Machine Policy Retrieval & Evaluation Cycle in the Actions list and then click Initiate Action.

Click To expand
Figure 8.18: The Actions tab of the Systems Management Properties dialog box for the Advanced Client.
Advanced Tab

The Advanced tab, shown in Figure 8.19, allows a user with administrative credentials to change some Advanced Client settings for the client. The SMS Site section of this tab displays the current site that the client is assigned to. You can also click the Discover button to have the client search for the appropriate local site. You could use this option to assign a client that was created from a computer image and wasn’t yet assigned to a site or to change the client’s site assignment. You can also remove the site assignment for this client by deleting the site code value and leaving it blank, or null. If you do this, however, discovery records, inventory, and status messages aren’t generated and advertisements and Advanced Client policies aren’t downloaded. The client is therefore considered dormant.

In the Temporary Program Download Folder section you can modify the folder location on the client where advertised programs will be cached when they’re downloaded to manage the size of that folder and to delete files from the folder if necessary. The client will automatically delete older files from the folder specified when the disk space limit is reached.

Click To expand
Figure 8.19: The Advanced tab of the Systems Management Properties dialog box for the Advanced Client.


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