ConfigMgr 2012

Deploying Windows Embedded 8 Standard with Write Filter Enabled via ConfigMgr 2012

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Its been a while since my previous blog post, so I had some time to collect information for a couple of blog posts and this is the first one! I like it when this are being done automatically. So this week I’m not going to write a PowerShell script myself, but I use a tool to generate it for me. In this blog post I will show the global steps that can be used to create a complete deployment of Windows Embedded 8 Standard with the Write Filter enabled and configured. Create Windows Embedded 8 Standard Image The first thing that we have to do is to create a Windows Embedded 8 Standard Image. This can be done by following the next three steps: Create …

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Showing Dependent Applications in ConfigMgr 2012 via PowerShell

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This week I want to devote a blog post to finding dependent applications. Via the ConfigMgr Console it’s very easy to find the configured Dependencies of an Application, but what if I want to know which applications depend on a specific Application? Via the ConfigMgr Console this is not possible (out-of-the-box), but this doesn’t mean that the information is not accessible. In this blog post I will show where to find this information and I will show a complete script which will show the results in a nice form. Solution In WMI there is the class SMS_AppDependenceRelation. This class doesn’t contain any methods, but does contain a few interesting properties. These interesting properties are FromApplicationCIID, FromDeploymentTypeCIID, ToApplicationCIID and ToDeploymentTypeCIID. The properties mainly speak for themselves, …

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Getting the Client Upgrade Settings of ConfigMgr 2012 with PowerShell

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This week, my blog post will be a very short one. It will be a post about my tweet about the client upgrade settings, of a week ago. A big part of this information is also available via the Hierarchy Settings in the console. Script In WMI there is the class SMS_ImportedObject, which contains the method Get-ClientUpgradeSettings. This method can be used to get the client upgrade settings and doesn’t need any input parameters. It will give all the information, about the name, version and IDs and can be used via to the following code snippet: function Get-ClientUpgradeSettings { param ( [string]$SiteCode, [string]$SiteServer ) Invoke-WmiMethod -Namespace root/SMS/site_$($SiteCode) -Class SMS_ImportedObject -Name GetClientUpgradeSettings -ComputerName $SiteServer } Result The code snippet will give a result like under here. …

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Approve, Block, Unapprove, or Unblock a Client in ConfigMgr 2012 via PowerShell

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This blog post will show how to approve, block, unapprove, or unblock clients in ConfigMgr 2012 via PowerShell. Three of these actions, approve, block and unblock, are also accessible via the console, but via PowerShell it is very easy to perform these actions for a whole collections. This creates the possibility to create a custom automatic approval in combination with for example a collection membership. The fourth action, unapprove, is not accessible via the console and only accessible via WMI (with some help of PowerShell). Solution In WMI there is the class SMS_Collection, which has the methods ApproveClients and BlockClients. These methods can be used to (un)approve and (un)block clients and they require both the same two parameters. They both require a boolean and an …

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Update Collection Membership in ConfigMgr 2012 via PowerShell

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A few weeks ago I’ve got the question if it is possible to speed-up the collection membership update after a new device was added to the database via my Import Comport Form. The short answer is, of course, yes! As this answer would make a really short blog post, I decided to put some more time in it. My first answer could have been, why can’t you wait on the incremental update cycle. As by default, the Use incremental updates for this collection is selected (and grayed-out) for the All Systems collection and the default Interval for Collection Membership Evaluation is five minutes (see this post for more information). Solution Now what can we do when either five minutes takes to long, or the default …

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Go to Desktop on Sign In on Windows 8.1 via Compliance Settings in ConfigMgr 2012

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This weeks’ post will be about Going to the desktop, instead of Start, when signing on Windows 8.1 via Compliance Settings. I will write about the scripts for discovering and remediating this setting, either on a user based, or a computer based configuration, via a Configuration Item. Keep in mind that it won’t be a walkthrough. For a complete step-by-step example, about using scripts in Compliance Settings, take a look at my post about Allowing Direct Installation of Windows 8 Apps via Compliance Settings in ConfigMgr 2012. Of course, in the most situations, the preferable way for configuring this settings is via a Group Policy (as described in this great post of Sander Berkouwer). There are a only a few reason not to use a …

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Updated: Import Computer Form v0.8 – Directly adding a User Device Affinity in ConfigMgr 2012

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A few months ago I released the first public version of my Import Computer Form. I’ve had some nice feedback about it and also some good ideas for added functionality. This update will mainly be about three things: Cleaning-up old code, by merging a few lines and adjusting some queries. Adding error catching, by introducing an error provider for faulty input. Adding functionality, by introducing an option to add a User Device Affinity/ Primary User. Overview These additions mean that this version gives the user the possibility to perform the following actions, without the need of access to and/ or a locally installed ConfigMgr console: Fill in a Computer name. Fill in a MAC Address. Select an OS Deployment Collection. Select a Primary User. Import …

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Changing the Deployment Package for an existing Automatic Deployment Rule in ConfigMgr 2012

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A few months ago I did a post about Changing the Deployment Package linked to an Automatic Deployment Rule in ConfigMgr 2012. That post was about using PowerShell for changing the Deployment Package of an existing Automatic Deployment Rule (ADR). As I see that the script is being downloaded often, and I get some good questions about it, I thought it would be a good time for a small follow-up. Even though the script will still work in ConfigMgr 2012 R2, it will not be needed anymore! Microsoft addressed the issue in R2 by adding a new tab, named Deployment Package, to the Properties of an ADR (see screenshot).

Allow Direct Installation of Windows 8 Apps via Compliance Settings in ConfigMgr 2012

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This weeks’ post will be about Allowing Direct Installation of Windows 8 Apps via Compliance Settings and can be seen as either a stand-alone post as well as a follow-up on my last post about Deploying Certificate Profiles with ConfigMgr 2012 . As there are two real requirements to deploy Windows 8 Apps: The Certification Authority (CA), that is used to sign the App, is trusted by the Windows 8 device. Allow Direct Installation of Windows 8 Apps is configured on the Windows 8 device. Of course these settings are configurable via Group Policies (as described in this post ), but, to use Group Policies, the device needs to be a member of the domain. So when either the device isn’t domain joined, or the …

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Deploying Certificate Profiles with ConfigMgr 2012

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This week I want to devote a post to something new in ConfigMgr 2012 R2, which is still in a preview state, called Certificate Profiles. These profiles integrate directly with Active Directory Certificate Services (ADCS), and the Network Device Enrollment Service (NDES) role, to provision managed devices with authentication certificates. This means that another Group Policy setting is coming to ConfigMgr AND, maybe even bigger, this creates a possibility to automatically deploy certificates to non-domain devices.  Prerequisites Even though this sounds, to me, really promising for the future of ConfigMgr, there is a small catch. That small catch is the third bullet of the prerequisites, following now: Configuration Manager 2012 Service Pack 1 R2 Install and configure the Certificate Registration Point (which requires the NDES …

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