Microsoft technologies and what I do for fun

1. Install Software Update Point.
   • You need to install the Configuration Manager Software Update Point Site Role on top of your WSUS 3.0.  This could also be on another machine which points to a remote WSUS 3.0. If you are going to install this on a server separate from your WSUS 3.0 server, you need to have the WSUS 3.0 admin console prior to installing the software update point. If you want to use your primary site server as your software update point as well, you just need to add a new role and define it as a Software Update Point. The typical configurations for WSUS 3.0 will be used for this configuration, such as if you are using a proxy server to connect to Microsoft Updates, whether you are using an upstream WSUS 3.0 server, etc.  You can also enable a synchronization schedule.  A recommended schedule for this is on a weekly basis and after patch Tuesday (Tuesday afternoon my time).  In my case, I do manual synchronization and run once after patch Tuesday or anytme I get an email alert from Microsoft for Critical Security updates. You also define the classification - critical updates, service packs, etc. - the same way you do in WSUS. Then you specify the products which you need to configure the updates for.  Since you have Microsoft as the vendor by default, you can select which products are installed within your enterprise - Office 2003, SQL Server, Windows, etc. Then, you specify the different languages you need for those updates.
   • Note that the steps are similar to that of the WSUS 3.0 configuration. If you have configured yor WSUS 3.0 prior to deploying your software update point, those will be overwritten by your new configuration.
2. Validate your configuration in the Software Update Point Component
   • Any configuration you've made in setting up your software update point can be validated in the Software Update Point Component under the Component Configuration.  So, if you need to do some modifications in the long run, this is the right place to do it.
3. Configure the Software Update Point Client Installation
   • At this point, we still have to deploy the SCCM client in order to use our software update point for patch management. Under the Client Installation Methods, make sure that Software Update Point Client Installation is enabled. This is to publish the SCCM client to WSUS 3.0 as a mandatory update. Together with this, the appropriate BITS component will be downloaded by the client as well.
4. Configure the Software Update Client Agents
   • Although we haven't really installed the SCCM clients at this point, we can already configure how our clients will behave like enforcing all mandatory deployments and deployment re-evaluation
5. Configure a Group Policy for Windows Update
   • Similar to how we configure a group policy to point clients to download updates from a WSUS server, we need to do the same.  If you already have this in place, you can skip this portion. For a more detailed description on how to do this, check out this Microsoft TechNet documentation.  Make sure that you treat servers and workstations differently so you definitely need separate GPOs for these.
6. Import the SCCM 2007 ADM Template
   • I got this from Kim Oppalfen's (Microsoft MVP for Software Distribution) blog so all credit goes to him on the ADM template and the process on how to do this. Just make sure you specify the parameters needed for this.  In my case, I just used the SMSSITECODE=value parameter.

Now, we're ready to deploy the SCCM client and our Software Update Point has been configured as well. It's like hitting two birds with one stone. The best way to test whether our configuration is to log in to one of the machines in your domain and run a group policy update (gpupdate /force for Windows XP and Windows Server 2003 or secedit /refreshpolicy machine_policy /enforce for Windows 2000) and manually run a force detect of the Windows Update client (wuauclt /detectnow) If you open your Task Manager, you will see ccmsetup.exe in the Image name under the Processes tab.  Another way to find out if the SCCM client is being deployed thru WSUS 3.0 is to look at the WindowsUpdate.log file which contains information regarding the installation of Configuration Manager Client

I am building my image to test System Center Configuration Manager 2007 (SCCM).  SCCM 2007 is the next generation SMS 2003 and is currently on RC1. Since I was responsible for maintaining the WSUS server in our infrastructure, I decided to take a peek at what SCCM 2007 has got to do with making my life easier with patch management. I've listed down a few things I did to prepare for SCCM 2007 installation.

1. Windows Server 2003 SP1, SP2 or R2
   • Since I was doing a fresh installation, I chose Windows Server 2003 and installed SP2, although you can do this on a Windows Server 2008 as well.  This will act as my domain controller, my database server, my WSUS 3.0 server and my SCCM 2007 server. In a typical setup, you would want to offload your SCCM 2007 and have a separate WSUS 3.0 server and database server (I am assuming that you do not want to run anything on your domain controller machine aside from AD).
2. IIS 6.0
   • You need to install IIS 6.0 if you want to take advantage of BITS technology for clients on low bandwidth connection. There are a lot of reasons for using IIS and this is just one of them. Make sure to enable WebDAV and install BITS Extensions for IIS.  I've learned this the hard way as my SCCM 2007 installation was not making any progress because of this.  Since I was concerned about security, I did not install those components which I don't need (ASP.NET, SMTP, FTP, NNTP, etc.)  The ASP.NET version which I need is v2.0.  The one which comes with Windows Server 2003 is v1.1. Another reason I am installing this first before any ASP.NET 2.0 component is that I no longer have to do anything related to ASP.NET 2.0 later on (like running aspnet_regiis.exe -i to install ASP.NET v2 on IIS). We just need to allow ASP.NET 2.0 later on in IIS after installing SQL Server 2005
3. SQL Server 2005 with SP2
   • This will be my database server. Since SQL Server 2005 comes with .NET Framework 2.0, this takes care of my ASP.NET 2.0. Now since I will also host my WSUS 3.0 server on this machine, I can use this as the database server as well. Most of the time, I would work on different instances to identify which one is for what function since SCCM 2007 and WSUS 3.0 would require a database server. For this particular setup, I will just install one instance which will be used by both WSUS 3.0 and SCCM 2007. This makes management a lot easier for me. SP2 is definitely a must for SCCM 2007.  
   • After SQL Server 2005 has been setup, ASP.NET 2.0 needs to be allowed in IIS
   • If SQL Server 2005 will be on a different machine, you need to set the Service Principal Name (SPN) as well.  This is discussed in detail in this Microsoft KB article
4. MMC 3.0
   • This will be required by both WSUS 3.0 and SCCM 2007.  MMC 3.0 requires .NET Framework 2.0 which was already installed because of SQL Server 2005
5. BITS 2.5
   • This is a new download available since June 26, 2007.  It's a required component for SCCM 2007 and Windows Live OneCare (which I don't really need). There are a lot of versions for this but the one I installed is the one for Windows Server 2003.  We are definitely going to need the Windows XP version as well for client management
6. WSUS 3.0
   • Since I will be doing patch management with SCCM 2007, I definitely need WSUS 3.0. WSUS 3.0 is required to setup a Software Update Point.  This is required for every primary site server that is managing software updates. SCCM 2007 is now tightly integrated with WSUS 3.0 for patch management.  WSUS 3.0 requires MMC 3.0 and .NET Framework 2.0 which has already taken cared of
7. Run extadsch.exe
   • Similar to what you do in SMS 2003, you need to extend your Active Directory schema. You definitely need schema admins permission on your AD to do this
8. Give the SCCM 2007 machine Full Control permissions on the System container in your Active Diectory
   • This procedure will allow your SCCM 2007 machine to create the Systems management container and its necessary objects. Since by default, the System container is not shown, you have to enable the Advance Options in your Active Directory Users and Computers
9. Install System Center Configuration Manager 2007
   • Once you reach the system checker portion of the installation, it will give you some information on whether or not you can proceed with the installation. This was my hint that BITS Extensions for IIS was not installed
10. Configure your Site Boundaries
    • In order for your clients to be able to find your management point with the help of Active Directory(and vice versa), you have to define your Site Boundary. Under Boundaries, create a new boundary.  You can specify whether your boundary type will be an Active Directory site,  an IP subnet, an IP Address Range or an IPv6 prefix. If you select an Active Directory site, you can browse thru your AD sites and read the information from there, taking advantage of your existing AD configuration.
11. Configure the Discovery Method
    • If you will be using Active Directory as your discovery method, you need to configure this as well.  Under the Discover Methods, modify the proerties of the Active Directory System Discovery.  Make sure to enable Active Directory System Discovery.  You can also modify the Polling Schedule but for the purpose of testing, you can check the Run discovery as soon as possible checkbox so you can see later on when you start deploying your clients whether or not it is working.

It took me a couple of days to finish my installation as I still had to configure my WSUS 3.0 to download the patches I need. September security patches from Microsoft will be the next in the queue  

Server Error in '/MobileAdmin' Application.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The remote server returned an error: (403) Forbidden.
Description: An unhandled exception occurred during the execution of the
current web request. Please review the stack trace for more information
about the error and where it originated in the code.

Exception Details: System.Net.WebException: The remote server returned an
error: (403) Forbidden.

Now from the looks of it, this seems like a permission/security error on the site. Either this is a web application permission problem or something else. I found this site which solved my problem. It basically recommends that you uncheck the "Require secure channel (SSL)" option on the exadmin virtual directory.  This did the trick. Afterwhich, I was able to do a remote wipe on the device I was testing. The only worry I have is that now this web application is no longer secured unless you block access from the public Internet    

1. Open the Command Prompt using the Administrator user context.  This is important as you definitely need administrator privileges to run the disk defragmenter
2. Run this command: defrag C: -a (change C: to any drive you wish to analyze)
3. Hit Enter and wait for a few minutes

This will display some statistics of how much your drive is fragmented.  This will give you an idea whether or not to perform defragmentation.  I was thinking of a thousand and one easons why Microsoft would take this out of the UI for Disk Defragmenter. I found a decent explanation here

 Installation error. Stop all applications and processes,
maximize available storage space, and run installation again. Support info: 4

An unexpected error has ocurred in app.exe. Select Quit and
then restart this program, or select Details for more information.
This application requires a newer version of the .NET Compact
Framework than the version installed on this device

http://blogs.msdn.com/windowsmobile/archive/2007/04/25/security-configuration-manager-powertoy-an-orcas-feature.aspx

http://blogs.msdn.com/hegenderfer/archive/2007/05/23/a-windows-mobile-security-primer-for-developers.aspx

http://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb278115.aspx

C:\Program Files\Microsoft SQL Server\90\Tools\binn

sqlcmd -S \\.\pipe\MSSQL$MICROSOFT##SSEE \sql\query –E

<html>

<head>
    <title>My Gadget</title>
    <style>
        body{width:120;height:80}
    </style>
</head>

<script language="VBScript">

    Sub Window_Onload
        GetMemory
        iTimerID = window.SetInterval("GetMemory", 10000)
    End Sub

    Sub GetMemory
        Set objLocator = CreateObject("WbemScripting.SwbemLocator")
        Set objWMIService = objLocator.ConnectServer(".", "root\cimv2")
        Set colItems = objWMIService.ExecQuery("Select * From Win32_OperatingSystem")
        For Each objItem in colItems
            DataArea.InnerHTML = objItem.FreePhysicalMemory
        Next
    End Sub

    Sub RunSub

        Set objLocator = CreateObject("WbemScripting.SwbemLocator")
        Set objWMIService = objLocator.ConnectServer(".", "root\cimv2")

        Set colItems = objWMIService.ExecQuery("Select * From Win32_ComputerSystem")
        For Each objItem in colItems
            strHTML = "Computer Name: " & objItem.Name & "<br>"
            strHTML = strHTML & "User Name: " & objItem.UserName & "<br><br>"
        Next

        Set colItems = objWMIService.ExecQuery("Select * From Win32_OperatingSystem")
        For Each objItem in colItems
            strHTML = strHTML & "Operating System: " & objItem.Caption & "<br>"
            strHTML = strHTML & "Service Pack: " & objItem.ServicePackMajorVersion & "<br><br>"
        Next

        Set colItems = objWMIService.ExecQuery("Select * From Win32_Processor")
        For Each objItem in colItems
            strHTML = strHTML & "Processor: " & objItem.Caption & "<br><br>"
        Next

        Set colItems = objWMIService.ExecQuery _
            ("Select * From Win32_NetworkAdapterConfiguration Where IPEnabled = True")
        For Each objItem in colItems
            strHTML = strHTML & objItem.Caption & "<br>"
            For Each strAddress in objItem.IPAddress
                strHTML = strHTML & "IP Address: " & strAddress & "<br>"
            Next
        Next

        Set objIE = CreateObject("InternetExplorer.Application")
        objIE.Navigate("about:blank")
        objIE.Toolbar = 0
        objIE.StatusBar = 0
        Set objDoc = objIE.Document.Body
        objDoc.InnerHTML = strHTML
        objIE.Visible = True
    End Sub

</script>

<body>
    <span id="DataArea"></span><p>
    <input type="button" value="Information" name="run_button" onClick="RunSub">
</body>

</html>
  

'Script to change the startup type of Automatic Updates and Background Intelligent Transfer Service

'Variable to specify computer name. To run on a remote machine, change the . to IP Address
strComputer = "."

'Create a WMI object for the specified computer
Set objWMIService = GetObject("winmgmts:" _
    & "{impersonationLevel=impersonate}!\\" & strComputer & "\root\cimv2")

'Query the Win32_Service namespace and search for the service name Alerter. Change to appropriate service name when necessary
Set colServiceList = objWMIService.ExecQuery _
    ("Select * from Win32_Service WHERE DisplayName='Background Intelligent Transfer Service' OR DisplayName='Automatic Updates'")

'******************************************************************
'Iterate thru the Win32_Service namespace to find the BITS and AU services
For each objService in colServiceList

 'Check for StartMode
 'if not Automatic then change to Automatic
 'Change the startup type to Disabled. You can also set it to either Manual or Automatic
 If objService.DisplayName="Automatic Updates" Then
        If objService.StartMode="Auto" Then 
                  objService.StopService() 
                  objService.ChangeStartMode("Disabled")
        Else
                  objService.ChangeStartMode("Automatic")
                  objService.StartService() 
        End if
 Else
        If objService.StartMode="Auto" Then 
                 objService.StopService() 
                 objService.ChangeStartMode("Manual") 
        Else
                 objService.ChangeStartMode("Automatic")
                 objService.StartService() 
        End if
 End If
 
Next

SET objShell = CreateObject("Wscript.Shell")

'Get OS Information
Set objWMIService = GetObject("winmgmts:" _
    & "{impersonationLevel=impersonate}!\\" & strComputer & "\root\cimv2")

Set colSettings = objWMIService.ExecQuery("SELECT * FROM Win32_OperatingSystem")

For Each objOperatingSystem in colSettings
 If INSTR(objOperatingSystem.Name,"Windows 2000") <> 0 Then
       'run secedit /refreshpolicy machine_policy /enforce
       objShell.Run("%COMSPEC% /c secedit /refreshpolicy machine_policy /enforce & wuauclt /detectnow")
 ElseIf INSTR(objOperatingSystem.Name,"Windows Server 2003") <> 0 Then
       'run gpupdate /force
       objShell.Run("%COMSPEC% /c gpupdate /force & wuauclt /detectnow")
 Else
       'run gpupdate /force - this is for Windows XP clients as Windows 2000 Professional also uses secedit
       objShell.Run("%COMSPEC% /c gpupdate /force & wuauclt /detectnow")
 End If
Next

Set objWMIService=NOTHING
SET objShell=NOTHING
'******************************************************************

'Just a notification that the script has finished executing
WScript.Echo "FINISHED"

W3Wp.exe PID:    1234    AppPoolID:  AppPoolNameYouCreated

W3Wp.exe PID:    5678    AppPoolID:  DefaultAppPool

1. Start Registry Editor, and then locate the following registry key: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall

2. In the left pane, click each GUID. For each GUID that you click, look for a display name in the right pane that matches “Microsoft SQL 2005 Embedded Edition…”.

3. When you see a display name that matches the name, copy the value of the Key named “UninstallString”
4. Open a Command-Window (Start->run->cmd)
5. Paste the Copied string. It should be something like this: MsiExec.exe /X{BDD79957-5801-4A2D-B09E-852E7FA64D01}
6. Append “ CALLERID=OCSETUP.EXE” at the end of the MsiExec.exe eg “MsiExec.exe /X{BDD79957-5801-4A2D-B09E-852E7FA64D01} CALLERID=OCSETUP.EXE”

7. Run the command. This will go through the process of uninstalling SQL Server 2005 Embedded Edition

8. Reboot.