DotVBS | Windows Systems Management

How to Troubleshoot SMS Client Install Errors

2008-11-06T13:59:00.000-08:00

Often time, I'm asked how to troubleshoot SMS client installation errors. First thing I would recommend is to check WMI by running wmidiag.vbs on the troubled computer, be sure to run it under admin context. The beauty of wmidiag is, it tells you how to fix the problem. Secondly, if WMI is fine, look through the installation or client logs.

SMS SQL for Last Hardware Inventory

2008-08-05T20:33:00.000-07:00

The following SQL Query will return last HW Inventory date for a specific computer. Code is based on the client health queries by Paul Thomsen.

-- Last hardware inventory

select Name0, LastHWScan as 'HW Inventory'
from v_R_System sys full join v_RA_System_SMSAssignedSites ass ON ass.resourceID=SYS.resourceID
full join v_GS_WORKSTATION_STATUS WS ON WS.resourceID=sys.resourceID
where client0=1
and Name0 = 'computername'

SMS SQL for Last Discovery

2008-08-01T21:31:00.000-07:00

The following SQL Query will return last discovery date for a specific computer. Code is based on the client health queries by Paul Thomsen.

-- Last discovery date

select Name0, AgentTime as 'Discovery'
from v_R_System sys full join v_RA_System_SMSAssignedSites ass ON ass.resourceID=SYS.resourceID full join (select ResourceId, MAX(AgentTime) as AgentTime from v_AgentDiscoveries where agentname<>'SMS Discovery Data Manager' AND agentname not like '%!_AD!_System%' ESCAPE'!' group by ResourceId) disc on disc.resourceid=sys.resourceid
where client0=1 --and IsNULL(AgentTime,@NullVal)>@olddate
and Name0 = 'computername'

VBScript to Set SMS Client Cache Location

2008-07-24T17:05:00.000-07:00

Need to set the SMS Client Cache Location? Well it's pretty easy, here's a basic VBScript to help you get started. This will set the Advanced Clients Cache Location, just be careful to set it correctly. Test, Test, Test! I'd suggest an SMS Package with different cache locations passed via command line (in seperate programs) for maximum flexibility.

---- Begin VBScript ----

On Error Resume Next

Dim oUIResourceMgr
Dim oCache

Set oUIResourceMgr = CreateObject("UIResource.UIResourceMgr")
Set oCacheInfo = oUIResourceMgr.GetCacheInfo

' Set the new location, default is "C:\WINDOWS\system32\CCM\Cache"
oCacheInfo.Location = "C:\WINDOWS\system32\CCM\Cache"

'Return the error so SMS can report it
WScript.Quit(Err)

---- End VBScript ----

SMS SQL for Duplicate Collection Names

2008-07-23T21:49:00.000-07:00

Recently, I've found many collections with duplicate names. The dupes can cause problems when managing those collections. I quickly created the following SQL to find the offending collections.

-- This SQL query will show collections with duplicate names.

Select parentCollectionID, ParentCollection.Name, v_Collection.CollectionID, v_Collection.Name from v_Collection
left outer join
v_CollectToSubCollect
on v_Collection.collectionid=v_CollectToSubCollect.subcollectionid
left outer join
v_Collection ParentCollection
on v_CollectToSubCollect.parentCollectionID = ParentCollection.collectionid
where v_Collection.Name in (Select Name from v_Collection Group By Name Having Count(*)>1)

SMS 2003 Error 10035, What to Do

2008-07-05T08:17:00.000-07:00

Error 10035, or Waiting for Content, seems to be one of the most frequent errors people encounter. Clients often generate this error even when they succeeed. When things go bad, it's important to understand how to troubleshoot error 10035, and know how to fix it.

How to troubleshoot 10035 Waiting for Content Errors
List of Status Message IDs

SMS SQL for Program Failed Run Time Exceeded 10070

2008-07-05T08:11:00.000-07:00

To create a query or collection of SMS clients which return a status of 10070, or program failed due to the runtime being exceeded, use the following WQL (replace advertID with your advertisement ID):

select stat.*, ins.*, att1.*, att1.AttributeTime
from SMS_StatusMessageasstat left joinSMS_StatMsgInsStrings as ins on stat.RecordID = ins.RecordID left joinSMS_StatMsgAttributes as att1on stat.RecordID = att1.RecordID inner join SMS_StatMsgAttributes asatt2 onstat.RecordID =
att2.RecordID
where stat.ModuleName = "SMS Client" and stat.MessageID =10070 and att2.AttributeID = 401 and att2.AttributeValue = "advertID"

SMS "Program failed (run time exceeded)" 10070

2008-07-05T08:05:00.000-07:00

When a program fails due to error 10070, it does so because the Run Time was Exceeded. SMS Allows a program to run for 12 hours, afterwhich it will issue the failed status message if the program hasn't completed successfully.

Note: The Maximum allowed run time within program properties is generally a guide for users running the program themselves, and is not enforced.

Rename an SMS Site

2008-06-18T13:56:00.000-07:00

Not long ago, I had to rename an SMS Site, here are the steps I used, from Jase T. Wolfe's blog.

If an SMS Primary Site server, stop the SMS_SITE_COMPONENT_MANAGER, SMS_EXECUTIVE, SMS_SERVER_LOCATOR_POINT, and SMS_SQL_MONITOR services.
If an SMS Secondary Site server, stop the SMS_SITE_COMPONENT_MANAGER and SMS_EXECUTIVE services.
Open the "\SMS\inboxes\sitectrl.box\sitectrl.ct0" site control file.
Search for the section "BEGIN_SITE_DEFINITION".
Within this section, locate the third value, which is the site name.
Change this value to the new site name, leaving the brackets intact.
Do not change any other values.
Save the "\SMS\inboxes\sitectrl.box\sitectrl.ct0" site control file.
Open RegEdit and find HKLM\Software\Microsoft \SMS\Identification.
Change the Site Name value to the new site name.
Done!

Scriptomatic Becomes Self Aware

2008-06-18T13:52:00.000-07:00

Well, not quite, but the scripting guys would prob add that feature if they could. The script-o-matic is a priceless tool that helps create a variety of scripts. Including making WMI easy for the WMI Challenged.

Download Scriptomatic from Microsoft.

SQL 2000 Support End is Near

2008-06-18T13:48:00.000-07:00

Have you upgraded your SMS SQL 2000 installations yet?

With the end of SQL 2000 support just around the corner, now is a good time to move if you havn't already.

Check out Brian Tucker's blogcast on upgrading.

SMS System Health: SQL Performance Counters

2008-06-18T13:45:00.000-07:00

When examining your SMS Systems health, a few good counters to look at include the following:

Memory
Physical Disk
Processor
Access Methods
Buffer Manager
Cache Manager
Databases
General Stats
Latches
Locks
Memory Manager
SQL Stats
SQL Settable

Also take a look at the SMS operations Guide, which talks about the cache hit ratio.

SQL Reporting Services and SCCM R2

2008-06-12T23:27:00.000-07:00

I can't wait to try out reporting services in SCCM R2, for those of you with very large SMS and SCCM installations, this will hopefully bring a bit of relief from the old ASP SMS Web Reporting. One particular feature I'm eager to try out, is the conversion tool which will convert SMS Web Reports into Reporting Services Reports.

Get the SCCM R2 Beta from Microsoft Connect

Configuration Manager 2007 Videos

2008-02-12T09:32:00.000-08:00

Check out the SCCM 2007 videos on the Blogcast Repository.

SMS Client Health Monitor Tool: Inactive

2008-02-02T19:49:00.000-08:00

Brian Tucker demonstrates how to find inactive clients in SMS 2003 using the Client Health Monitoring Tool.

SMS WQL for All Clients where Last Status is Waiting for User Condition

2008-02-02T19:45:00.000-08:00

select sys.ResourceID,sys.ResourceType,sys.Name,sys.SMSUniqueIdentifier,sys.ResourceDomainORWorkgroup,sys.Client from SMS_R_System as sys join SMS_ClientAdvertisementStatus as stat on sys.ResourceID=stat.ResourceIDwhere stat.AdvertisementID='advertisementID' and stat.LastStatusMessageID=10036

--10036 is Waiting for User Condition, replace advertisementID with your advertisement ID.

SMS "Waiting for User Condition" 10036

2008-02-02T19:39:00.000-08:00

Status Message ID 10036, or "Waiting for User Condition" can occasionally grind advertisements to a halt. Make sure the environment and user condition settings for a particular program have been configured appropriately and are not excluding a large portion of your intended audience.

Related Articles

SMS "Waiting for content" 10035

2008-02-02T19:29:00.000-08:00

Status Message ID 10035, or "Waiting for content" is a common error which can drive you up the wall when testing a package deployment.

Have you checked your site boundaries? Often a client is located in a IP Subnet which hasn't been configured within Site or Roaming Boundaries.

Has the software been deployed to the clients local DPs? Check the reports and console, make sure the package has been deployed and is available to the clients.

Is the advertisement configured for download and execute? Check the DP, make sure BITS is enabled, and the web site is functioning properly.

Have you checked the logs? Start with the cas.log and execmgr.log on the client computer.

Related Articles

SMS SQL for Collections with Duplicate Names

2008-02-02T19:21:00.000-08:00

/*
The following SQL will display any collections which appear to have a duplicate name. In some cases this may be normal, however this is a good way to find problems and inconsistencies.
*/

SELECT col.[CollectionID]
,[Name]
,[parentCollectionID]
,[Comment]
,[OwnedByThisSite]
,[ReplicateToSubSites]
,[LastChangeTime]
,[LastRefreshTime]
,[RefreshType]
,[CurrentStatus]
,[MemberClassName]
,[LastMemberChangeTime]
FROM v_Collection col
left outer join
v_CollectToSubCollect sub
on col.collectionid = sub.subCollectionid
Where Name in
(
SELECT Name
FROM v_Collection
Group By Name
Having Count(*) > 1
)
order by name, collectionid

Response_Buffer_Limit_Exceeded

2008-01-23T20:44:00.000-08:00

With large SMS Systems, it's common to exceed the response buffer limit when running certain SMS Web Reports.

Microsoft provides this article regarding the problem.
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/925764

To max out the buffer, basically set the aspbufferinglimit to -1

SMS WQL for All Clients where Last Status is Time Exceeded

2007-09-29T16:52:00.000-07:00

select sys.ResourceID,sys.ResourceType,sys.Name,sys.SMSUniqueIdentifier,sys.ResourceDomainORWorkgroup,sys.Client from SMS_R_System as sys join SMS_ClientAdvertisementStatus as stat on sys.ResourceID=stat.ResourceID
where stat.AdvertisementID='advertisementID' and stat.LastStatusMessageID=10070

10070 is Time Exceeded, replace advertisementID with your advertisement ID.

SMS Status Message IDs

2007-09-29T16:51:00.001-07:00

10050 Cache too small
10061 Download failed (retrying)
10003 Failed (bad environment)
0 No messages have been received
10054 Not enough space in cache
10045 Not enough space in cache
10034 Program cancelled by user
10022 Program completed successfully (reboot pending)
10009 Program completed with success
10008 Program completed with success
10004 Program failed
10007 Program failed
10006 Program failed
10057 Program failed (download failed - content mismatch)
10053 Program failed (download failed)
10058 Program failed (download/location failure)
10051 Program failed (no content)
10071 Program failed (retrying)
10072 Program failed (retrying)
10056 Program failed (retrying)
10070 Program failed (run time exceeded)
10021 Program failed (unexpected restart)
65535 Program received - no further status
10062 Program retrying (download/location failure)
10060 Program retrying (no content)
10005 Program started
10040 Program will not rerun
10055 Retry (Bad environment)
10037 Waiting for another program
10035 Waiting for content
10036 Waiting for user condition

Potential Bug with Delete Programs Wizard?

2007-09-06T10:24:00.000-07:00

It appears there may be a bug with the SMS 2003 SP2 Delete Programs Wizard. When deleting a program, the wizard shows you advertisements which have the same program name as the program you are deleting, regardless of the package name, or dependancies, etc.

Here's the test:

Build two packages with the same program name
Advertise both programs
Delete one of the programs

Do both advertisements show in the wizard?

Do both get advertisements get deleted?

Only the correct advertisement is deleted, however the wizard can be misleading.

Removing the SMS Clients two minute wait for Policy Processing

2007-09-05T12:02:00.000-07:00

Removing the SMS Clients two minute wait for Policy Processing is often needed in your test, packaging, or development environments. Recently one of our developers indicated that 2 minutes adds up to a lot of waiting during test cycles. Considering a lot can happen in "two minutes" I remembered finding something about this very issue.

On the 1e blog, Phil Wilcock outlines a process developed by Simon Burbidge from IE came up with. Basically, you modify the client with a mof which removes the 2 minute wait. Now your agent service will be able to process policy without waiting 2 minutes. Keep in mind, this is not a change for your entire infrastructure, but only in those rare cases you need to compress time a little and remove the SMS Clients two minute wait. Hey, in some cases 2 minutes can be a lifetime! :)

Here's the process:
1. Open notepad (or your favorite text editor).
2. Create a text file called setwait.mof.
3. Select the text below, and past into your setwait.mof file.

#pragma namespace("\\\\.\\root\\ccm\\policy\\machine\\Requestedconfig")
instance of CCM_PolicyAgent_Configuration
{
PolicySource = "Local";
PolicyDownloadMethod = "BITS";
PolicyEnableUserGroupSupport = true;
PolicyRequestAssignmentTimeout = 65;
PolicyTimeUntilAck = 43200;
PolicyTimeUntilExpire = 86400;
AuthorityName = "SMS:xxx";
PolicyTimeUntilUpdateActualConfig = 0;
};

4. Find the site code "SMS:xxx".
5. Replace "xxx" with your site code.
6. Run the command "mofcomp.exe setwait.mof" to compile the MOF on your SMS client.
7. Restart your SMS Agent Host service

Thanks to the guys at 1e, you should now have removed the SMS Clients 2 minute wait for policy processing. Oh, be sure to test this before applying to any production computers!

Create tutorials and how to videos with Windows Media Encoder

2007-08-29T23:22:00.000-07:00

Many have asked how we create tutorials and how to videos for SMS and general Windows Topics. Primarily, we use Microsoft Windows Media Encoder, a free Microsoft product. Media Encoder captures screen and microphone input to a WMV file for later distribution or editing.

I find that a little editing can go a long way in terms of speeding up demos and how to videos. There's no need to make viewers wait when something is going on in the background, just cut the video and use a transition (like dissolve) between cuts. Audio is something I generally lay down as a guide the first time, then replace it with a better sweetened up voice over for the final cut.