If you receive the following error: “An error occurred while retrieving policy for this computer (0x80072EE7)” when Task Sequence Wizard starts, this can happen if you have DHCP or DNS problems.
You should check if you can contact the DHCP server in order to get an IP address or you can configure a static IP address.
If you have a switch with STP enabled, you might want to read this post.
I just spent half an hour trying to understand why my task sequence cannot find the files on a distribution point; although the TS runs normally, I see all available TSs and I can choose the one I need. Then I found why: I missed something I never missed before and that must not be forgotten! I forgot to configure the network access account.
So, if you receive the following error: “This task sequence cannot be run because the program files for <your package here> are inaccessible on the distribution point.”, you should check if your network access account are configured and the information is correct.
To resolve this issue, you must correctly configure the System Center Configuration Manager 2007 client network access account. To do this, follow these steps:
Here is Microsoft’s article about this: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/935914
Let’s suppose you create a package with one program and want to advertise it only to a few selected platforms, including x86 and x64 Windows 7 systems. Because Windows 7 is not supported yet with Configuration Manager 2007 SP1, you cannot choose it from the supplied list of platforms. As a result of this, after receiving and downloading the package, the system will give you the following message:
Program rejected (wrong platform). Advertisement "XYZ12345" from site "XYZ" was rejected because the client's platform is not supported.
It is expected that SP2 will add support for Windows 7, but until then we can use the following workaround:
select sms_r_system.ResourceID, sms_r_system.ResourceType, sms_r_system.Name, sms_r_system.SMSUniqueIdentifier, sms_r_system.ResourceDomainORWorkgroup, sms_r_system.Client from sms_r_system where OperatingSystemNameandVersion like '%Workstation 6.1%'That’s it. This may not be the best workaround, but it worked very well for me, at least until SP2 will RTM and I can install it in production.
As I have some free time, I’m testing different things with SCCM, mainly in creating different collections that I might need. Bellow you can find the query that will show you all x64 systems, client and server operating systems.
select SMS_R_SYSTEM.ResourceID, SMS_R_SYSTEM.ResourceType, SMS_R_SYSTEM.Name, SMS_R_SYSTEM.SMSUniqueIdentifier, SMS_R_SYSTEM.ResourceDomainORWorkgroup, SMS_R_SYSTEM.Client from SMS_R_System inner join SMS_G_System_COMPUTER_SYSTEM on SMS_G_System_COMPUTER_SYSTEM.ResourceId = SMS_R_System.ResourceId where SMS_G_System_COMPUTER_SYSTEM.SystemType = "x64-based PC"
You can further customize this so it will show you only x64 servers or only x64 Vista systems etc.
Usually, extending the Active Directory schema is the last step I do when installing SCCM. This time, while installing SCCM in a virtual machine, you have to provide a path to a folder with SCCM updates or download these updates from the internet. Working in a virtual machine with a “Local only” network adapter, I couldn’t download those updates; so I switch the network adapter to an external one. After downloading the updates, next step is “Installation Prerequisite Check” and at this step I extend the AD schema.
Well, the following error was written in ExtADSch.log file:
Unable to connect to RootDSE - Cannot update Active Directory. Error code = 1355.
Failed to extend the Active Directory Schema.
Error 1355 is: ERROR_NO_SUCH_DOMAIN. That means that the specified domain could not be contacted or does not exist. The problem here is that I did not switched back to “Local only” network adapter and so the Active Directory could not be contacted. Setting the adapter to “Local only”, I could contact the Domain Controller and extending the schema was successful.
What I learned? Always make sure you can reach your domain.
Someone just asked how to create a collection with all laptop computers? Well, if there is a good naming convention on site, this query will be easy to make. But, otherwise, we need to use chassis type value because, for example, laptops and notebooks are not the same things according to Microsoft.
The full list with chassis types are bellow (taken from http://www.microsoft.com/technet/scriptcenter/guide/sas_cpm_btnz.mspx?mfr=true):
| Value | Description |
| 1 | Other |
| 2 | Unknown |
| 3 | Desktop |
| 4 | Low Profile Desktop |
| 5 | Pizza Box |
| 6 | Mini Tower |
| 7 | Tower |
| 8 | Portable |
| 9 | Laptop |
| 10 | Notebook |
| 11 | Hand Held |
| 12 | Docking Station |
| 13 | All in One |
| 14 | Sub Notebook |
| 15 | Space-Saving |
| 16 | Lunch Box |
| 17 | Main System Chassis |
| 18 | Expansion Chassis |
| 19 | Sub Chassis |
| 20 | Bus Expansion Chassis |
| 21 | Peripheral Chassis |
| 22 | Storage Chassis |
| 23 | Rack Mount Chassis |
| 24 | Sealed-Case PC |
So, to make a collection with all kind of mobile systems (Portable, Laptop, Notebook, Sub Notebook) we will use 8, 9, 10 and 14 chassis types. The final query looks like this:
select SMS_R_SYSTEM.ResourceID, SMS_R_SYSTEM.ResourceType, SMS_R_SYSTEM.Name, SMS_R_SYSTEM.SMSUniqueIdentifier, SMS_R_SYSTEM.ResourceDomainORWorkgroup, SMS_R_SYSTEM.Client from SMS_R_System inner join SMS_G_System_SYSTEM_ENCLOSURE on SMS_G_System_SYSTEM_ENCLOSURE.ResourceID = SMS_R_System.ResourceId where SMS_G_System_SYSTEM_ENCLOSURE.ChassisTypes in ("8", "9", "10", "14")
If you receive the “This query has a syntax error.” error, change the quotation marks when pasting the query, as this one does not work with ConfigMgr.
I don’t do this usually, but this time this is really interesting.
I want to recommend a very good blog post written by Kenneth Van Surksum about troubleshooting Task Sequences in Configuration Manager. Find it here http://www.techlog.org/archive/2009/03/01/troubleshooting_task_sequences.
He talks about the smsts.log file, where to find it during installation and what tool you can use to read the logs easily. Also, at the end, he wrote a list of helpful links to get you start troubleshooting.
Definitely I will add his feed to my “SCCM blogs I read” list.
Recently, I needed a collection with all computers that do not have Adobe Reader 9 installed.
I created a collection with this query: SMS_G_System_ADD_REMOVE_PROGRAMS.DisplayName not like "%Adobe Reader 9%". Everything was fine except the fact that my computer was also listed, despite the fact that I have Adobe Reader 9 installed. Well, I’m not an SQL geek but I know that SMS_G_System_ADD_REMOVE_PROGRAMS.DisplayName like "%Adobe Reader 9%" should return all computers with Adobe Reader 9 installed. This one was ok – the collection listed only me. Something was wrong with my first query so I asked for help our SQL guys and in a few minutes I had the right query 🙂
Also, I didn’t want to install the Reader on server computers with SCCM client. So the final query looked like this:
select SMS_R_SYSTEM.ResourceID, SMS_R_SYSTEM.ResourceType, SMS_R_SYSTEM.Name, SMS_R_SYSTEM.SMSUniqueIdentifier, SMS_R_SYSTEM.ResourceDomainORWorkgroup, SMS_R_SYSTEM.Client from SMS_R_System inner join SMS_G_System_COMPUTER_SYSTEM on SMS_G_System_COMPUTER_SYSTEM.ResourceID = SMS_R_System.ResourceId where SMS_R_System.OperatingSystemNameandVersion not like "%Server%" and SMS_G_System_COMPUTER_SYSTEM.Name not in (select distinct SMS_G_System_COMPUTER_SYSTEM.Name from SMS_R_System inner join SMS_G_System_COMPUTER_SYSTEM on SMS_G_System_COMPUTER_SYSTEM.ResourceID = SMS_R_System.ResourceId inner join SMS_G_System_ADD_REMOVE_PROGRAMS on SMS_G_System_ADD_REMOVE_PROGRAMS.ResourceID = SMS_R_System.ResourceId where SMS_G_System_ADD_REMOVE_PROGRAMS.DisplayName like "%Adobe Reader 9%")
I’m sure there are more ways to do this, but this is the query that worked for me.
Yesterday I started to play with Hyper-V and SCVMM 2008. I added two hosts and also imported one virtual hard disk (with Windows Server 2003 SP2) to see if a .vhd created by Virtual Server 2005 SP1 works well in Hyper-V.
I noticed that I do not have an internet connection, actually there wasn’t any network adapters installed although I’m sure I had one. I installed Integration Services and it installed Microsoft Virtual Machine Bus Network Adapter. Ok, good. Looks like it doesn’t have the IP address set up. When I tried to configure the adapter, the following error occurred: “The IP address <ip address> you have entered for this network adapter is already assigned to another adapter…”
As I did not have any network adapter prior to installing Integration Services, I opened Device Manager and checked Show hidden devices from the View menu. The result: no Intel 21140-Based… adapter there. Nothing wrong here, this is by design. Installed devices that are not connected to the computer (i.e. USB device) are not displayed in Device Manager, even with Show hidden devices enabled.
So, in order to uninstall the old network adapter (Intel 21140-Based… in my case) do the following:
There is a KB article about this. Although the article applies to Windows XP only, the solution worked very well on Windows Server 2003.
Suppose you have created a task sequence, advertised it and booted from task sequence media or however you want; if you receive the following error: “Task Sequence: <TS name> has failed with the error code (0x80004005). For more information, please contact your system administrator or helpdesk operator.” at Setup Windows and ConfigMgr step you might want to check the Product Key!
Most probably the key is not correct, so either write another one or remove the product key at all from Apply Windows Settings step in your task sequence and you will have to provide it during the install phase.
I left the product key blank and next time I booted the PC from the TS media, at the Setup Windows and ConfigMgr step I was asked to provide a product key. I entered my Business edition product key and everything was ok.