Categories: System Center, ConfigMgr, OpsMgr

Earlier I already announced the release of the Dell and HP Deployment Pack. Today IBM released there pack as well!

You can download the pack here.

The second Service Pack of ConfigMgr will be coming very soon. The open beta program at Microsoft Connect for SP2 will start at the end of May this year.

The main foces of the Service Pack will be support for the new client Operating System Windows 7 Out of Band Management and the deployment of Windows Server 2008 R2.

Other improvement are supportability and hotfixes released after Service Pack 1. At the MMS I expect more information regarding this release.

Please join the TAP or Beta program to help the product team to deliver the best.

Enjoy!

Vendors like HP and earlier Dell are providing very useful add-ons for ConfigMgr which I think is really great! Today HP released the Update Catalogus.

Hewlett-Packard Server Updates Catalog for System Center Configuration Manager 2007 enables IT administrators to use Microsoft Systems Center Configuration Manager RTM, SP1, or R2 to automatically manage and distribute HP ProLiant server system software, firmware, and complete support packs. With the HP Catalog, customers can manage HP server inventory and software updates with the same ease they use to manage operating system updates.

Customers using ConfigMgr will benefit from the integration of the HP server software catalog within the ConfigMgr management structure. The HP Catalog allows remote scanning of HP server software configurations and reporting of the results through the ConfigMgr console. The catalog also enables management and distribution of complete Support Packs or individual components (drivers, ROM, and software agents).

All the information and download can be found here.

Today Dell released there Deployment Pack at Dell Tech Center To download the pack directly click here.

The Deployment Kit consists of a number of items, each one interrelated and playing a part in the overall action of deploying OEM hardware.

The pack contains the following:

Configuration Manager Console Extensions / Custom Task Sequence Actions
These user interface elements provide the custom actions available in the Task Sequence Editor as well as custom forms for creating sample task sequence templates.

OEM-Specific Updates
Each OEM provides additional items specific to their server hardware, such as drivers, updates to WinPE boot images, custom task sequences, sample driver packages, categories, and OEM server configuration toolkits.

Client Task Scripts
As part of the task sequence sent to the client, a series of configuration commands are sent in the form of XML, which is interpreted and executed by a comprehensive VBScript. Environment variables can be queried or set, variables in the task or the files associated with the task can be replaced on the fly, and task commands are executed with great flexibility.

Documentation
Of course, every product needs some form of documentation, which is exactly what you’re reading now.

Installer
To simplify the installation of the various components of the kit, the contents are wrapped in an installation program that imports your interface components into the administrator console, and imports the packages, drivers, and other components into the Configuration Manager site system.

Following is added in the console of ConfigMgr:

Yesterday Microsoft released the new Windows Server 2008 cluster Management Pack. This Management Pack provides both proactive and reactive monitoring of your Windows Server 2003 and Windows Server 2008 cluster deployments. It monitors the Cluster services components such as nodes, networks, resources, and resource groups—to report issues that can cause downtime or poor performance.

The MP provides:

• Configuration or hardware issues that interfere with starting the Cluster service
• Connectivity problems that affect communication between cluster nodes or between a node and a domain controller

• Active Directory Domain Services (AD DS) settings that affect the cluster; for example, permissions needed by the computer account that is used by the cluster

• Configuration issues with the network infrastructure needed by the cluster; for example, issues with Domain Name System (DNS)

• Issues with the availability of a cluster resource, such as a clustered file share
• Issues with the cluster storage

You can download it here.