SCCM 2012 General

SCCM versions
http://blogs.technet.com/b/configmgrdogs/archive/2014/04/11/configmgr-2012-version-numbers.aspx

http://blogs.technet.com/b/neilp/archive/2013/03/28/determine-if-cu1-has-been-appropriately-applied-to-a-2012-configuration-manager-2012-sp1-site-admin-console-and-client-old.aspx

Management Point Affinity (CU3)
http://blogs.technet.com/b/jchalfant/archive/2014/09/22/management-point-affinity-added-in-configmgr-2012-r2-cu3.aspx

Note that with a Management point (MP) configuration in CU3,  restarting the SMS Agent Host service will cause the assigned MP to cycle round to the next value.

CU3 link
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2994331

SCCM Client Installation Command Line parameters CCMSETUP.EXE
https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/gg699356.aspx

Deploying SCCM updates
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/jj553405.aspx

SCCM 2012 Ports
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/hh427328.aspx


If packages are not downloading to the cache as expected, check the CAS.log file to verify the valid DPs have been identified.

CAS.log entries like "The number of discovered DPs(including Branch DP and Multicast) is 0"
and
ContentTransferManager.log entries like "Received empty location update for CTM job..."

These messages may indicate that the client is operating in a network location where no boundary group has been assigned!

W2008 and W2012 administrator file access issue.

While setting up a W2012 server a strange effect was observed where local user members of the local administrators group were unable to access files permissioned with the local administrators group.

The exact cause was not determined however a similar situation is discussed here.

https://social.technet.microsoft.com/Forums/windowsserver/en-US/fedbb110-556d-4d2f-83bb-fb679c125cc3/windows-server-2012-uac-folder-problem


The solution was to create the File Administrators Group as suggested by the original poster on the above thread.

other key words permissions UAC share 2012

Windows Software Licensing Management Tools slmgr

Use the command

slmgr

to display the help screens for managing the activation of product keys

e.g. /upk     uninstalls\deactivates a product key.

Operating System version numbers

http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/windows/desktop/ms724832(v=vs.85).aspx

Broadly - rough interface relations

desktop  version   server
2000      5.0          2000
XP         5.1 5.2    2003
Vista      6.0 6.1    2008
7            6.1          2008 R2
8            6.2          2012
8.1         6.3          2012 R2
10         10.0         2016

SCCM 2012 Detection Methods

Be careful with the SCCM 2012 Detection Method.  It uses a similar WMI query to below to determine whether the specified ProductCode GUID is present on a machine.  If something somewhere does not match up it will play havoc with your deployments especially if this is incorrectly specified for prerequisite packages.

powershell command

Get-WmiObject -Namespace root\ccm\CIModels -Class CCM_MSIProduct | Sort-Object ProductName |Format-Table ProductName,ProductCode,ProductVersion


Spoofing Detection

It is possible to fool SCCM into thinking that an MSI in installed when it is not.  Effectively, this spoofs the SCCM MSI detection.

To do this you need to identify the remixed product code GUID that is used in the registry.  e.g.
This product code guid
{BD2F44B4-985B-4CCA-A4E7-A2B0AE45442B}
is remixed (rehashed?) to
4B44F2DBB589ACC44A7E2A0BEA5444B2
The coloring shows the related sections of the GUID and how they are remixed.


Install the MSI that SCCM is trying to detect on to a test machine.
Export the following registry keys to separate reg files.

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Classes\Installer\Products\<remixed GUID>

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Installer\UserData\S-1-5-18\Products\<remixed GUID>

Importing the above keys to a target machine will fool SCCM into thinking the MSI is installed.

These keys (x64) control the display in Programs and Features but they are not needed for detection spoofing.
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall\{BD2F44B4-985B-4CCA-A4E7-A2B0AE45442B}


Slightly odd:  If the spoofing keys are in place and you run a manual install from the same source specified in the spoof keys, then Windows Installer performs an UNINSTALL

The same install  command run again then runs an INSTALL.

Microchip MPLAB X IDE v2.20 launch failure

Microchip MPLAB X IDE v2.20 would fail to launch on some machines/users.  No dialogs or errors appear, just nothing happens.  javaw.exe would start and then stop in the processes list.   This issue was difficult to troubleshoot initially because some unknown aspect of the environment could prevent launch.  There was no detectable consistancy between users and machines.  Some users would work on some machines not others.  Some machine installations would work for any logged on users, some would not.

Attempting a launch in a command window produced a message:

Your user directory (C:\Program Files\Microchip\MPLABX\mplab_ide) cannot reside
inside your NetBeans installation directory (C:\Program Files\Microchip\MPLABX\m
plab_ide).

http://www.microchip.com/forums/m574126.aspx

The page above mentions using a --userdir launch parameter.  This was found to resolve the issue.

"C:\Program Files (x86)\Microchip\MPLABX\mplab_ide\bin\mplab_ide.exe" --userdir %USERPROFILE%\.mplab-ide

Note the preceeding period (.) at the beginning of the folder name!

App-V 5 Connection Groups COM Mode

DeploymentConfigs for App-V 5 packages arranged in a connection group should have the COM Mode section edited

Default

      <COM Mode="Isolated">
        <IntegratedCOMAttributes OutOfProcessEnabled="true" InProcessEnabled="false" />
      </COM>

Connection Group mods:

      <COM Mode="Integrated">
        <IntegratedCOMAttributes OutOfProcessEnabled="true" InProcessEnabled="true" />
      </COM>

More on COM Mode
https://blogs.technet.microsoft.com/virtualshell/2016/05/06/app-v-5-com-mode-functionality/

https://blogs.technet.microsoft.com/gladiatormsft/2013/09/11/app-v-on-com-isolation-and-interaction/