62 CHAPTER 2 Configuration Manager Overview

What’s New in This Version

System Center 2012 Configuration Manager brings an impressive list of new features and
capabilities. The following sections focus on the improvements to existing features, new
features, and new concepts.

HETEROGENEOUS MANAGEMENT
Under development but not slated for release with System Center 2012 Configuration
Management RTM is cross platform management functionality. Here are some highlights:
▶ Built and supported by Microsoft, uses a fully customizable CIMOM server to provide
the equivalent of Windows WMI service
▶ Anticipated support for Red Hat, SUSE, Solaris, HP-UX, and AIX
▶ Subset of ConfigMgr functionality, including inventory with reporting, software distri-
bution, and update management

64-Bit Site System Requirements

System Center 2012 Configuration Manager requires an x64 operating system for site
system server roles. A notable exception to this is the distribution point that can still run
on some x86 operating systems—specifically Windows Server 2003 and Windows 7.

User-Centric Management
System Center 2012 Configuration Manager is written with user-centric management in
mind. This is not an abandonment of managing devices; it simply makes the translation
of device to user an automatic one. During a deployment, the administrator targets the
user while ConfigMgr handles the translation to the device.

If you are a ConfigMgr administrator for any earlier version of the product, you do
this every day—just manually. Think about this: The challenge on earlier versions of
ConfigMgr is delivering software to a group of users, but before you can start, you must
have that list of users! The list is usually a list of devices passed through some type of
magical formula (query, script, and so on) to map the user relationship to the device.
When you have the device names, you can set up a collection and finally advertise
software.

System Center 2012 Configuration Manager goes beyond understanding user device affin-
ity (UDA). It uses UDA in ways that manages software deployment behavior for primary
devices and secondary devices. To illustrate this concept, imagine you are deploying an
application such as Microsoft Word to a user. While the user is on their primary machine,
a full version of Microsoft Word with authoring capability needs to be installed. If the
user logs into any other machine, the Microsoft Word Viewer must be available to read
authored documents. Integration with other technology such as Microsoft Application
Virtualization makes this scenario a reality.

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 What’s New in This Version 63

Applications and Packages

System Center 2012 Configuration Manager divides application management into two
areas: applications and packages.

A package contains source files (in most cases) and “programs.” The programs in this
case are commands issued by the ConfigMgr agent. The commands issued are not
limited to just software installations, although this is the primary use case. You can also

2
use a package without source files with a program that simply runs a command, such
as copying files from one location to another. This still exists in System Center 2012
Configuration Manager, largely for backward compatibility.

Applications, on the other hand, employ a new concept for application management that
seeks to understand dependencies and build models around it. This is known as an appli-
cation model. This includes numerous advantages over the legacy deployment method.
Features such as global conditions and expressions remove the burden of managing
requirements from the query and the installation package. The application model itself
holds the requirements of the application instead.

Dependency intelligence has moved to the agent. The agent checks the requirements
(OS type, hardware, disk space, and so on) before it handles the installation request. This
improves things on several layers:

▶ The processing burden is removed from the site server.

▶ Deployment speed is improved because there is no evaluation required by a query to

determine if a computer goes in or out of a collection.

▶ The burden of writing requirements into the installer package is removed.

The application model can also be instructed on how to manage superseded applications
and application uninstalls.

Hierarchy Changes
The hierarchy model in ConfigMgr has changed to become a flat, simplified infrastructure,
redesigned with additions such as role-based administration that make segmentation of
responsibilities easier to manage. In previous versions, the primary site was the boundary
that separated the management of objects belonging to the site. There were ways to sepa-
rate security for workstations and servers, but this is not an easy process and often felt like
a hack.

In a multiple-tiered hierarchy, processing of data discovery records (DDRs) is processed

one time. After processing the DDR, the data is shared in the hierarchy by database repli-
cation. This replication process makes the same data available throughout the entire hier-
archy instead of only at higher-level sites (such as a central site) as it was previously.

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 64 CHAPTER 2 Configuration Manager Overview

New Configuration Manager Console

The ConfigMgr console has moved away from the MMC framework and uses the System
Center framework, bringing it into alignment with the same look and feel as other compo-
nents in System Center. The new console has significant usability enhancements such as
easier navigation, search functionality, and role-based administration (RBA) support. With
RBA support, the console displays only the objects to which an administrative user has
access. One neat feature is the new geographical view, which displays a hierarchy over a
Bing map along with site status, as shown in Figure 2.14.

FIGURE 2.14 Site hierarchy on a Bing map.

Enhancements to BITS
BITS continues to provide bandwidth management capabilities. In ConfigMgr 2012, BITS
throttling can be managed by client settings. Because client settings can be applied to
collections, BITS settings can be selectively managed allowing the management of devices
that may operate continuously over suboptimal bandwidth conditions.

Application Catalog
The Application Catalog website point and Application Catalog web services point are
new roles that together offer a new end user experience. The Application Catalog is a
self-service portal designed to enable users to install available software. If the software
installation is of a type requiring approval, the request goes to the administrator first.
The interaction with the ConfigMgr client no longer requires complicated backend cycles
of collection evaluations and client policy retrieval to initiate the software installation
process. Instead, installations happen almost instantaneously.

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 What’s New in This Version 65

Extended Mobile Device Management

ConfigMgr 2012 unifies the management of mobile devices into a single pane of glass
with the mobile device proxy enrollment point. Mobile device management (MDM) is
delivered in an in-depth (client-based) and a light (clientless) model. Building on the
in-depth management features of ConfigMgr 2007 R3, secure, over-the-air enrollment is
now part of the feature set.

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Table 2.2 displays the features available in both types and which devices are supported.
Light management refers to devices managed through the Exchange ActiveSync Connector,
whereas depth management includes devices such as Windows Mobile 6.1, Windows Phone
6.5, and Symbian (Nokia). It also includes Windows Mobile 6.0 and Windows CE 6.0, but
with limited features.

TABLE 2.2 Available Features in Mobile Device Management

Features Light Depth

Inventory X X
Over the Air Enrollment X
Remote Wipe X X
Settings X X
Software Distribution X

Managing with depth gives administrators several more options above light management,
namely over-the-air enrollment and software distribution. For devices that cannot run
the ConfigMgr client, System Center 2012 Configuration Manager includes the Exchange
Server connector. This connector uses the Exchange ActiveSync protocol to find and
manage devices that connect to an Exchange environment bringing together mobile
device management into a single pane of glass. The Exchange Server connector provides
the ability to manage settings, collect inventory, and remotely wipe devices. See Chapter
15, “Mobile Device Management,” for additional information.

Management Point Enhancements

You now can install more than one management point in the same site. The client auto-
matically selects the best MP based on its capability and proximity. Because a site can
have multiple management points, this increases the number of clients each site can
support. Having more than one MP also adds a layer of resiliency by providing a redun-
dant site role.

Boundary Changes
In previous versions of the product, the concept of a boundary defined the logical perim-
eter of a site. Any clients in the boundary of the site would typically become clients of
that site. In System Center 2012 Configuration Manager, the boundary is a hierarchy-wide
object. When defined, it is available at every site.

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 66 CHAPTER 2 Configuration Manager Overview

With the addition of forest discovery, introduced in the “Discovery” section of this
chapter, ConfigMgr can inspect the entire AD forest and read information about all
the domains, sites, and subnets. Boundary groups can be created using the discovered
information. Having the ability to keep boundary information up to date in an effi-
cient manner is critical to maintaining client saturation and ensuring deployments work
smoothly, particularly with roaming clients.

NOTE: DIFFERENCE IN BOUNDARIES AND BOUNDARY GROUPS

Boundaries, in and of themselves, cannot be used for assigning clients to sites or finding
content servers. Instead, boundaries are added to boundary groups; the boundary group
handles this function.

Fallback Site
If a client does not reside in a defined boundary, typically the client remains unassigned.
With the introduction of a fallback site, a default site can be defined for this scenario.
Clients that do not reside in a boundary group would simply be assigned to the fallback
site.

Centrally Managed Client Settings

System Center 2012 Configuration Manager manages client settings centrally. Any
changes committed to the client settings affect all clients in the entire hierarchy. You can
apply granularity to client settings by creating custom client settings and then applying
them to groups of users or devices by assigning the customized settings to collections.

Role-Based Administration
A much-needed shift in managing security is introduced in this version of ConfigMgr.
Role-based administration looks at security and permissions as roles instead of the confus-
ing and complicated use of class and instance rights. By using a combination of security
roles and security scopes, you can apply permissions to groups of securable objects by
assigning the role to a collection that holds these objects. Because security is available
throughout the hierarchy, an administrator with an assigned role can connect their
console to any site and expect to receive the same set of permissions assigned to them no
matter which site they are in. See Chapter 20 for additional information.

Backup and Recovery

Recovery is completely integrated in the ConfigMgr console, no longer requiring a sepa-
rate utility. With the benefit of a database-replicated infrastructure, the recovery process
can draw from data that is globally available from other sites to help reconstruct the site
server. Even without a backup, data loss is minimized because the same data has been
replicated elsewhere in the hierarchy. Chapter 21 discusses this in more detail.

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 What’s New in This Version 67

Collection Changes
Configuration Manager takes advantage of a feature from previous versions known as
collection limiting and enforces its use. Any new collection must be limited to some other
collection. Collections can no longer contain a mixture of users and devices. Collections
update faster because they execute collection member evaluations through an incre-
mental process (by default, every 10 minutes). Because objects are globally available, a

2
collection at any site can contain the objects from the entire hierarchy. System Center
2012 Configuration Manager also adds two new collection rules, Include Collections and
Exclude Collections, making it much easier to include or exclude objects from another
collection, as shown in Figure 2.15.

FIGURE 2.15 New collection rules for including and excluding objects from other collections.

Folders
Subcollections no longer exist in ConfigMgr and are replaced with folders. Because the
scenario for creating subcollections was usually for organizational purposes, subcollections
were removed from the product.

Include and Exclude Rules

Subcollections were also useful in helping to control the expansion of a deployment. That
functionality is available and addressed with the addition of include and exclude collec-
tion rules. These rules are specifically designed to either include the members of another
collection or exclude them in much the same way that a subcollection is used to control
deployment.

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 68 CHAPTER 2 Configuration Manager Overview

Client Health Status Enhancements

Over the years, the ConfigMgr client has become more durable and less prone to break.
Even with the increased stability, the effort to maintain overall client health is demand-
ing. Dependency on other services such as WMI or BITS is a challenge to overall client
health. For example, WMI has a notorious reputation of becoming corrupt. Unfortunately,
without those services running, the client cannot operate all its components properly. As
if that were not enough, there is the persistent tampering that some “power” users may
feel inclined to do. Often, the root cause is not the ConfigMgr client.

Monitoring and Reporting

Reporting on client status is not a novel concept. Client status reporting was introduced
with SMS 2003 as an add-on product. It required a separate database and offered report-
ing only through Microsoft Excel spreadsheets. Client status reporting was provided in
ConfigMgr 2007 R2 as well with some additional enhancements such as database integra-
tion, status message examination, and native ConfigMgr Web reporting. With System
Center 2012 Configuration Manager, client health is completely integrated into the
console utilizing new features such as alerting administrators when client health drops
below an acceptable threshold.

Remediation
Every seasoned ConfigMgr administrator uses some type of script or process to keep clients
running, which is a laborious process to maintain. Even so, some administrators rely on
manual remediation, which is time consuming and expensive. ConfigMgr 2012 looks to
help solve some of those problems by remediating client issues automatically.

Compliance Settings Changes

System Center 2012 Configuration Manager has improved on what was formerly known
as DCM and labeled it compliance settings. Compliance settings receive new benefits avail-
able in the ConfigMgr 2012 framework such as reporting, monitoring, and enhanced
security.

Overall, the ease of creating and managing baselines has improved with additions such
as creating configuration items while browsing a “gold” device. Enhanced versioning is
included, which allows version-specific configuration items to be included in baselines.
After baselines are deployed, dashboards and reporting help easily determine the level of
compliance for the collection.

The 2012 product adds a missing feature of managing configuration drift. Automatic
remediation of registry and WMI settings can revert a value back if they are detected
as changed. Even a scripted discovery can have a corresponding scripted remediation
response.

Compliance settings broaden the target range by enabling user, device, and mobile
management.

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 What’s New in This Version 69

Remote Control Improvements

Remote Control is finally made usable during times when the user is not in front of the
device. CTRL-ALT-DEL is supported (again), a popular feature that was lost in ConfigMgr
2007 due to using the Windows Vista RDP, which allows administrators to get to the
logon dialog, as shown in Figure 2.16.

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FIGURE 2.16 CTRL-ALT-DEL command is again available.

Hardware Inventory Improvements

Any administrator who has heard of the sms_def.mof file probably understands the
tedium and testing required to extend hardware inventory. Extending hardware inven-
tory required understanding the obscure language used to write the SMS_Def.mof file and
often required trial and error to manage. In System Center 2012 Configuration Manager,
extending hardware inventory is now built into the console (see Figure 2.17) rather than
editing a SMS_Def.mof file. Extending classes to inventory is as simple as clicking a box.
In addition, you can export and import inventory settings.

CAUTION: TESTING IS STILL REQUIRED

Even though the operation of adding and removing inventory is simplified, the selection
may still yield unexpected results. Approach extending hardware inventory with care, and
test every new selection.

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 70 CHAPTER 2 Configuration Manager Overview

FIGURE 2.17 New way to configure hardware inventory.

Power Management Improvements

Power management, a feature introduced in ConfigMgr 2007 R3, is included as part of
System Center 2012 Configuration Manager. By inventorying the current power settings
using hardware inventory and reporting on those settings, ConfigMgr administrators can
configure those power management settings that they want enforced to a certain collec-
tion of computers. System Center 2012 Configuration Manager includes these changes:

▶ The capability to copy power management settings between collections

▶ Excluding virtual machines from power management

▶ A new report showing computers excluded from power management

▶ The capability to enable users to exclude their computers from power management

Power management is enabled as part of Client Settings in the Administration work-

space of the console, and the power management plan is applied to a device collection.
Configuration Manager provides three power plans out-of-the-box:

▶ Balanced

▶ High Performance

▶ Power Saver

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 What’s New in This Version 71

You can create your own power management plan by selecting Customized Peak or
Customized Non-peak, clicking Edit in the collection, and giving the customized power
management plan a name. Table 2.3 provides an overview of the possible settings, which
can be enabled individually or set differently for computers running on battery power and
computers that are plugged in.

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TABLE 2.3 Possible Settings of a Power Plan

Name Description
Turn off display after (minutes) Length of time before the display is turned off for an
inactive computer.
Sleep after (minutes) Length of time before an inactive computer goes to sleep.
Require a password on wakeup Specify if you want the computer to lock after it wakes up.
Power button action Specify what the Power button on the computer will do
when pressed: sleep, hibernate, shut down, or nothing.
Start menu Power button Specify what the Power button in the start menu will do:
sleep, hibernate, shut down, or nothing.
Sleep button action Specify what the Sleep button will do: sleep, hibernate,
shut down, or nothing.
Lid close action What occurs when user closes the lid of laptop (sleep,
hibernate, shut down, or do nothing).
Turn off hard disk after (minutes) Length of time before inactive computer turns off hard
disk.
Hibernate after (minutes) Length of time before inactive computer goes into hiber-
nate mode.
Low battery action Specify computer action when battery is low (sleep, hiber-
nate, shut down, or do nothing).
Critical battery action Specify computer behavior when battery is at critical level:
sleep, hibernate, shut down, or do nothing.
Allow hybrid sleep Specify if computer should write a hibernate file when it
goes to sleep, so settings are preserved in case of power
loss during sleep.
Allow standby state when When you set this setting, a computer either can hiber-
sleeping action nate or turn off.
Required idleness to sleep (%) Specify the percentage of idle time of the processor
required before entering sleep. This option applies only to
computers running Windows Vista and not for Windows 7.
Enable Windows wake up timer You can enable the Windows wake up timer, when the
for desktop computers computer wakes up it remains awake for 10 minutes,
making it possible to install software or software updates,
and for the computer to receive policy from ConfigMgr.

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 72 CHAPTER 2 Configuration Manager Overview

CAUTION: BE CAREFUL WHEN SETTING MULTIPLE POWER MANAGEMENT PLANS

FOR THE SAME COMPUTER
When a computer belongs to multiple collections each having its own power manage-
ment settings, which power management plan will be applied can be unpredictable. The
Computers with Multiple Power Plans report can help identify the computers receiving
more than one power plan.

Software Updates Improvements

Software updates in System Center 2012 Configuration Manager has been overhauled to
address some of the problems that make managing software updates painful for admin-
istrators today: manual cleanup of expired content (including content), lack of auto-
approval, expiring superseded updates, poor end user experience, and lack of decent
reporting.

Functional Changes
System Center 2012 Configuration Manager adds new features to help ease the admin-
istrative burden of patching devices, whether manual or automatic. One such change to
the interface is the ability to perform granular searches of software updates. When the
right criteria are set, the criteria can be saved to be reused later. Other functional changes
include the ability to configure superseded updates so that software updates do not auto-
matically expire after being superseded; this allows the deployment of superseded updates
if required.

Automated Administration
Utilizing software update groups and automatic deployment rules, you can automate the
entire software update process. Software update groups are state-based. When deployed to
a collection, any updates added to the software update group are deployed automatically.
Using automatic deployment rules, software updates matching specified criteria can be
added to a software update group automatically and pushed out.

Software Center Integration

With Software Center (see Figure 2.18), users have the ability to schedule the most conve-
nient times for software updates to install. By scheduling their business hours, users can
instruct the software update process to occur only after hours, minimizing any potential
productivity loss. The ConfigMgr client is also intelligent enough to group future dead-
lines together so that any pending software updates can be installed as a group, minimiz-
ing the amount of reboots that would normally be required.

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 What’s New in This Version 73

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FIGURE 2.18 Software Center showing updates.

Improved End User Experience

Software Center is a new interface for users to request software and manage (to a limited
degree) settings for interaction with ConfigMgr, effectively empowering users with self-
service. Enabling users to manage themselves relieves some burden for IT administrators
by reducing unnecessary support calls.

Content Library
The content library has been added to ConfigMgr as a replacement for traditional file
storage. It uses single instance storage to help reduce drive space requirements. The
content library of a site holds content for all the DPs.

Operating System Deployment

First released as a feature pack for SMS 2003, Microsoft continues to make enhancements
to OSD. Software updates can now be applied using component-based servicing (CBS) to
offline Windows imaging (.wim) format images. Pre-execution hooks (now called prestart
command files) were supported in ConfigMgr 2007 but cumbersome to implement. The
Task Sequence Media Wizard in System Center 2012 Configuration Manager includes the
ability to add prestart command files directly to media.

ConfigMgr also provides the ability to manage some of the new features of 2012 such as
defining user device affinity and installing applications. New features of the User State
Migration Tool (USMT) version 4 have also been included. Chapter 19, “Operating System
Deployment,” discusses OSD in detail.

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 74 CHAPTER 2 Configuration Manager Overview

NOTE: APPLICATIONS SHOULD NOT BE INSTALLED WITH TASK SEQUENCES

Although System Center 2012 Configuration Manager does offer the ability to install appli-
cations as a part of a task sequence, because applications are meant to be state-based,
you should reserve this for installing applications that must reside on all devices.

Distribution Point Changes

System Center 2012 Configuration Manager brings much needed improvements to distri-
bution points, ranging from administrative ease to bandwidth control. ConfigMgr 2012 no
longer offers multiple distribution point types. As mentioned in the “Distribution Point”
section of this chapter, only one type is available, which can be installed on either servers
or workstations, effectively eliminating the need for branch DPs.

Managing Distribution Points as Groups

DPs are now managed as a group of DPs, called distribution point groups. This is a
manageable unit providing the capability to control content to groups instead of a specific
DP, removing the need to target multiple DPs per application or package.

Prestaged Content
Distribution points accept prestaged content to help get files to remote distribution points
without the concern of over saturating a WAN link. Unlike ConfigMgr 2007, the tools for
managing prestaged content are integrated.

Added Bandwidth Control

Distribution points are now bandwidth-sensitive allowing the same kind of control over
bandwidth, throttling, and scheduling common with secondary site servers. BranchCache
integration gives administrators far better control over how to distribute content to
devices.

PXE Role Integration

Along with multicast, the PXE role, which is a site role in ConfigMgr 2007, is inte-
grated into the distribution point site system role. Instead of a visible Preboot eXecution
Environment (PXE) share to store boot images, images are automatically held in the
PXE store.

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 Feature Dependencies of System Center 2012 Configuration Manager 75

Content Validation
Sometimes packages in ConfigMgr 2007 would go out of sync with the content of the
source location. Whenever this happens, the content hash fails to match up properly
causing clients to fail installing software because they would not obtain content. System
Center 2012 Configuration Manager includes content validation, which can be scheduled
or run manually to verify integrity.

2
System Center 2012 Endpoint Protection Integration
Endpoint Protection, known previously as Forefront Endpoint Protection, has been inte-
grated into System Center 2012 Configuration Manager. Unlike most of the other features
of ConfigMgr that are integrated into the ConfigMgr agent, Endpoint Protection uses its
own agent.

Endpoint Protection supports the detection and remediation of malware, spyware, and
rootkits. A full set of policies scan schedules, definition update source locations, exclusion
settings, default actions, and so on. In addition, Endpoint Protection can manage basic
Windows Firewall settings such as enabling or disabling the firewall state, blocking incom-
ing connections, and user notification of program blocking.

More information on Endpoint Protection is available in Chapter 16, “Endpoint

Protection.”

Feature Dependencies of System Center 2012

Configuration Manager
ConfigMgr includes 13 optional roles that can be installed to provide a variety of addi-
tional functionality such as distribution points, management points, reporting services
points, and so on. Each of these roles may have dependent technologies.

For example, BITS is required for distribution points. Because BITS is a part of IIS, IIS is
required for a distribution point. Other roles such as software update points require WSUS
because it is a core component to the way patch management works in ConfigMgr. Table
2.4 outlines the dependencies required for each role in System Center 2012 Configuration
Manager.

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04_9780672334375_ch02i.indd 76

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TABLE 2.4 System Role Dependencies in System Center 2012 Configuration Manager

CHAPTER 2
Windows Update
.NET Framework

. NAP Policies

SQL Database
(Full Version)

Compression

Deployment
BITS Server

Differential

Windows

Configuration Manager Overview

ASP.NET

Services
WebDav
Remote

WSUS
Agent
.WCF
Optional ConfigMgr Roles

PKI
IIS
Application Catalog web service point X X X X
Application Catalog website point X X X
Asset Intelligence synchronization point X
Distribution point X X X2 X
Endpoint protection point X
Enrollment point X X X
Enrollment proxy point X X X
Fallback status point X
Management point X X2 X
Out of band service point X X X
Reporting services point X X
Software update point X2 X1 X X
State migration point X
System health validation point X
PXE X
Multicast X
1
Required by WSUS
2
Required for Internet-based management
6/22/12 10:35 AM

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 Summary 77

Summary
The landscape of configuration management continually evolves. To stay current with
these changes, System Center 2012 Configuration Manager has evolved as well into a
user-centric configuration management platform. While increasing capability and perfor-
mance, the ConfigMgr infrastructure has simplified to reduce the administrative burden.
ConfigMgr is a completely scalable architecture, which can run in complex scenarios as a

2
widely distributed system or as a simple, stand-alone server.

The shift of ConfigMgr to a state-based system introduces a new paradigm of configura-

tion management. Instead of managing software, administrators manage applications with
enough intelligence built in to handle most deployment scenarios. When the intent of
how to manage the application is set (installed, uninstalled, and so on), the state-based
deployment can continuously ensure the application follows those requirements. The
new console includes monitoring and alerting views, which relieves the requirement of
constantly going out of the console to gather information from queries, reports, spread-
sheets, and so on.

A state-based system, with simplified architecture, easier administration, administrative

task automation, and a better end user experience, makes System Center 2012 Configuration
Manager an evolutionary leap from its past legacy.

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