App-V application management tools

To perform day to days App-V tasks there are several tools which will be helpful and make our work more easier .

If you are using power shell scripts to test and debug your applications then you should have look over AppV_Manage tool from TMurgent Technologies LLP which will save ample amount of time

My Favourite is App-V-Commander-Adminscope created by Michiel van Dijk can be downloaded HERE

Microsoft Desktop Optimization Pack Group Policy Administrative Templates available HERE . It Control various client settings specific to App-V 5 and UE-V

Configuration manager client versions

How to view Client version

1. Open the ConfigMgr console

2. Browse to Administration > Site Configuration > Sites

3. Right-click on the site you need information for, and select Properties

4. You’ll find the site version and build number

Configuration manager2012

Release/Update	Version	Build
ConfigMgr 2012 RTM	5.00.7711.0000	7711
ConfigMgr 2012 SP1	5.00.7804.1000	7804
ConfigMgr 2012 SP1 CU1	5.00.7804.1202	7804
ConfigMgr 2012 SP1 CU2	5.00.7804.1300	7804
ConfigMgr 2012 SP1 CU3	5.00.7804.1400	7804
ConfigMgr 2012 SP1 CU4	5.00.7804.1500	7804
ConfigMgr 2012 SP1 CU5	5.00.7804.1600	7804
ConfigMgr 2012 SP2	5.00.8239.1000	8239
ConfigMgr 2012 R2	5.00.7958.1000	7958
ConfigMgr 2012 R2 CU1	5.00.7958.1203	7958
ConfigMgr 2012 R2 CU2	5.00.7958.1303	7958
ConfigMgr 2012 R2 CU3	5.00.7958.1401	7958
ConfigMgr 2012 R2 CU4	5.00.7958.1501	7958
ConfigMgr 2012 R2 CU5	5.00.7958.1604	7958
ConfigMgr 2012 R2 SP1	5.00.8239.1000	8239

 

Configuration manager 2007 Client Versions

System Center 2012 Designs

• Follow all of the links and thoroughly understand what you will be doing and make all required system changes up front! Documentation is available here.

Microsoft System Center Private Cloud Component Diagram (without Configuration manager)

 

System Center 2012 SP1 Integration Map with Configuration manager

System Center 2012 Integration Guide – TechNet

Component Guides

Each of the following sections provides an overview of each System Center component, its different options for automating processes, and the methods for integrating with it from other application and other System Center components.  You can link to each of these sections below.

• System Center 2012 Data Protection Manager
• System Center 2012 Operations Manager
• System Center 2012 Orchestrator
• System Center 2012 Service Manager
• System Center 2012 R2 Service Management Automation
• System Center 2012 Virtual Machine Manager

• Before getting started with the installation be sure to validate firewall settings are configured as required.  Refer to the firewall configuration section of the documentation for details.  Also, during my install I found the installer would sometimes hang, seemingly without error.  I resolved this problem by increasing the maximmum concurrent policy instances on the Installer system which is running the Orchestrator management server.  Details on how to do that are found here.

Thanks to Steve Rachi’s Blog for providing the information of system Center 2012

ERROR in component SMS_MP_CONTROL_MANAGER

Issues :

1) Component: SMS_MP_CONTROL_MANAGER
Message ID: 5436
Description: MP Control Manager detected management point is not responding to HTTP requests. The HTTP status code and text is 500. Internal Server Error.
2214) Component: SMS_MP_CONTROL_MANAGER
Message ID: 5420
Description: SMS management point encountered an error when connecting to the database XXX on SQL Server YYY. The OLEDB error code was 0x80004005.

Resolution :

1.. Run  http://<MP name>/sms_mp/.sms_aut?mplist
  1.. This returns a blank screen.
2.. Run  http://<MP name>/sms_mp/.sms_aut?mpcert
  1.. This returns a long list of numbers and letters.
3.. Verify that the DTS Service is enabled.
4.. Verify that the Task Scheduler is enabled.
5.. Verify that the Windows Management Instrumentation service is running.
6.. Verify that the SMS Agent Host service is running.
7.. Verify that the World Wide Web Publishing Service is running.
8.. Verify that the MP machine account has been added to the
SMS_SiteSystemToSQLConnection_<site_code> group.
9.. Verify that the SQL Server has named pipes enabled.
10.. Update MDAC on the server.
  1.. Review Q820910 for details.
  2.. http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;820910
11.. SQL boxes that are running under a user account, instead of system,
need the SPN updated in AD.
  1.. Review Q829868 for additional details.
  2.. http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;829868
12.. Crossing domain boundaries between MP and SQL may also need the SPN
updated in AD.
  1.. Review Q829868 for additional details.
  2.. http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;829868
13.. IIS Lockdown Tool
  1.. If you are using the IIS lockdown tool on your IIS 5 servers be sure
to apply the SMS server template from the SMS 2003 toolkit.
  2.. http://www.microsoft.com/smserver/downloads/2003/tools/toolkit.asp
14.. Deinstall the MP and IIS, then reinstall IIS and the MP.
  1.. Remove the MP role on the server.
  2.. Disable IIS. Remove completely. Reboot the server.
  3.. Verify that the DTS Service is enabled.
  4.. Verify that the Task Scheduler is enabled.
  5.. Verify that the Windows Management Instrumentation service is
running.
  6.. Enable BITS, enable WEBDEV and install IIS.
  7.. Verify that the World Wide Web Publishing Service is running.
  8.. Verify that the MP machine account has been added to the
SMS_SiteSystemToSQLConnection_<site_code> group.
  9.. Enable MP role on the server.
This will fix most MP errors. I personally would start with step 11. But please check all

 

Thanks to Eric Zhang CHN Source : Link

Install/enable .Net 3.5 SP1 on Windows Server 2008 R2

Using PowerShell

1. Click the Start button in the lower left hand corner of the display.
2. Highlight All Programs and select Accessories
3. Expand Windows PowerShell and right click Windows PowerShell and select Run as administrator. Click Yes on the User Account Control box.
4. At the PowerShell command prompt, type the following commands, and then press ENTER after each command:
   • Import-Module ServerManager
   • Add-WindowsFeature as-net-framework

Note: A screenshot is shown below:

Office365 Offline deployment Using Click-To-Run

1. Download Installation Source

a) Download the Office Deployment Tool for Click-to-Run

b)

c) Select a folder for it to extract the setup.exe file to

d) Open configuration.xml from the folder created in Step.3 with notepad

e) Add below script to xml file
<Add OfficeClientEdition="32" >
<Product ID="O365ProPlusRetail">
<Language ID="en-us" />
</Product>
</Add>
<Updates Enabled="TRUE" UpdatePath="" />
<Display Level="None" AcceptEULA="TRUE" />
<Logging Name="OfficeSetup.txt" Path="%temp%" />
</Configuration>

f)

g) Office Folder will be created with source (~1.3 GB)

h) Create Network share and copy downloaded & C2R files In network share so that all users have access
ex : \\server\share\Office365\

NOTE: 32Bit / 64Bit will not go together. If 64 bit exists on machine need to install 64bit source.

2. Deployment of Office365 using network Share

a. Edit the configuration.xml with below changes and save as Deploy.xml
SourcePath=“\\server\share\Office365”

So the entire line should look something like

<Add OfficeClientEdition=”32″ SourcePath=“\\server\share\Office365”>

b. Create new file Deploy.bat in network share created \\server\share\Office\
@echo off
pushd %~dp0
echo /******************************************
echo /* Installing Office 365
echo /******************************************
setup.exe /CONFIGURE Deploy.xml
pause

c. Once the Command is executed users should have Office365 Pro Plus installed

Note: Users need to login and activate with Office365 Credentials

Office365 Packaging & deployment Overview

Introduction

Microsoft Office 365 is group of software plus services subscriptions that provides productivity software and related services to its subscribers. For consumers, the service allows the use of Microsoft Office apps on Windows and OS X, provides storage space on Microsoft's cloud storage service OneDrive, and grants 60 Skype minutes per month. For business and enterprise users, Office 365 offers plans including e-mail and social networking services through hosted versions of Exchange Server, Lync, SharePoint and Office Web Apps, integration with Yammer, as well as access to the Office software

Office365 provides productive tools on the go or in office from PC/MAC, iOS, Android, or Windows device in real time.

Office 365 ProPlus includes the same applications that are available in the Office Professional Plus 2013 client suite. These include the following:

Office 365 ProPlus	Others
Access Excel InfoPath OneNote Outlook PowerPoint Lync Publisher Word	Visio Pro for Office 365 Project Pro for Office 365 SharePoint Designer 2013 Lync 2013 Lync 2013 Basic

Scope

There are several methods to deploy O365 in organisation depending upon requirements deployment method can be selected. In this blog we are concentrating on deployment of O365 on premises without impacting the user’s productivity

Set up Office 365 – Overview

*Courtesy O365 Support

Set up OfficeO365

To set up your organization to use Office 365 email and then the Office apps, below steps need to follow:

	1. Verify your domain	Use the setup wizard to add your custom domain (like www.contoso.com), and verify that you own the domain.
	2. Add users	Add users individually, or add several users at the same time.
	3. Set up Office 365 email with your domain	Tell your domain provider to switch your email to Office 365.
	4. Download and install Office on your Mac or PC	Install Outlook, Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and other Office programs.
	5. Set up email	Set up Outlook to work with Office 365.
	6. Copy email, calendar, and contacts	Choose the method that's right for you to import email, calendar, and contacts.
	7. Set up Office on your phone or tablet	Set up the Office apps and email on your phone or tablet.
	8. Help your users get started	Explore the Office apps and help your users get started quickly.

Methods to deploy Office365 in Organisation

There are several methods to deploy O365 in organisation depending upon requirement deployment method can be selected. In this blog we are concentrating on deployment of O365 on premises without impacting the user’s productivity.

• Office Portal

For very small organisation of less number of users O365 can be deployed manually by log in to Microsoft portal http://portal.office.com/OLS/MySoftware.aspx. And install the application with required language.

• On-Premises

Whereas for organisation of medium or large base of users below tools used to achieve the migration of MS office, Lync etc

For clients who are not having the distribution tools like SCCM clients it is recommended to go with Step -1. Whereas clients who are managing infrastructure using distributions tools like SCCM, LANDesk, Marimba Step-2 would be recommended

1. NetworkShare and Group Policy
2. Software Distribution Product – SCCM or MDT or Intune

Organisations looking for O365 available along with images can go with MDT tool .To manage and deploy O365 on Mobile devices Windows Intune integration will be added advantage.

Packaging O365

Before deployment O365 need to be configured as per client requirement using tool Office Deployment Tool for Click-to-Run

The following are some advantages to using Click-to-Run versions of Office products:

• Faster to download and install. Start using a product before it has finished installing.
• Up-to-date from the start and kept up-to-date automatically. No need to download and install updates manually.
• Run different versions of Office products side-by-side on the same computer.

Packaging O365 enables to configure deployments for

• With Multiple languages
• With 32 Bit or 64 Bit
• Excluding or Including the applications of O365
  • Ex : Excluding Lync or Outlook for deployments can be handled
• Managing the O365 updates and keeps users up-to-date.
• Of-course installation silently without affecting users
• Office365 in App-V format.

Deployment of Office365 With Group Policy

Deployment of the O365 in environment where Distribution tools are not available we can go with Group policies for initiating installation of O365 Products

Click-to-Run products

---

Click-to-Run is available for the following products from Office 365:

• Office 365 ProPlus

• Visio Pro for Office 365

• Project Pro for Office 365

• SharePoint Designer 2013

• Lync 2013

• Lync 2013 Basic

The products that are available to you depend on your Office 365 subscription.

Click-to-Run is also available for the following retail products:

• Office Professional 2013

• Office Home and Business 2013

• Office Home and Student 2013

Step1: Download Office Deployment Tool HERE

• Save the downloaded files on one of the drives on your system

You will get one XML file and Setup.exe

Step2: Customise XML to provide the installation instructions

• Customise the XML for downloading . 
• SourcePath indicates the location to save the Click-to-Run installation source when you run the Office Deployment Tool in download mode.
• Version is optional , if it left blank latest version of he O365 will be downloaded
• OfficeClientEdition indicates to download 32 bit or 64 bit
• ExcludeApp ID  optional attribute indicates to exclude any of the elements/features ex – Access add a line as below after language ID

<ExcludeApp ID="Access" />

<Add SourcePath="\\server\share\" Version="15.1.2.3" OfficeClientEdition="32">       <Product ID="O365ProPlusRetail">         <Language ID="en-us" />       </Product> </Add>

If Office 365 ProPlus and Visio Pro for Office 365 in English (US), Spanish, and Japanese are required copy below code.

<Add SourcePath="\\Server\share" Version="15.1.2.3" OfficeClientEdition="32">   <Product ID="O365ProPlusRetail" >       <Language ID="en-us" />       <Language ID="es-es" />       <Language ID="ja-jp" />   </Product>   <Product ID="VisioProRetail" >       <Language ID="en-us" />       <Language ID="es-es" />       <Language ID="ja-jp" />   </Product> </Add>

 

Step3: Download source for Office 365 products and languages to an on premise location

• To download source with configured XML open the command prompt with elevated privileges and run the setup.exe with xml

  Example:

  \\server\share\setup.exe /download \\server\share\CustomC2RConfig.xml

• once download completes it will have new folder office

 

Step4: Configure XML for installing , removing Click-to-Run for Office 365 products and languages, and applies any options as required

Note : /packager and /configure. To run these modes you must have elevated privileges or an administrator command prompt.

\\server\share\setup.exe /configure \\server\share\CustomConfig.xml 

• Deployment XML should be configured as per settings configured for download XML, If downloaded source is for 32 bit deployment XML should be configured for 32 bit or else deployment will fail.

<Configuration> <Add SourcePath="\\Server\share" OfficeClientEdition="32">     <Product ID="O365ProPlusRetail" >       <Language ID="en-us" />            </Product> </Add> <Display Level="None" AcceptEULA="TRUE" /> </Configuration>

• As organisational standards Product updates will be applied only after testing and approved by experts  Ex : Lync is being upgraded to Skype for business Reference by sending the updates to disable the auto updates add line  add below line after Display level

<Updates Enabled="FALSE" />

• To receive the updates and enable auto updates you should add below line after Display level

<Updates Enabled="TRUE" UpdatePath="\\Server\Share" />

• An installation or removal action may be blocked if Office applications are running. Normally, such cases would start a process killer UI. Administrators can set FORCEAPPSHUTDOWN value to TRUE to prevent dependence on user interaction. When FORCEAPPSHUTDOWN is set to TRUE, any applications that block the action will be shut down. Data loss may occur

<Property Name="FORCEAPPSHUTDOWN " Value="TRUE" />

Example :

The code in the following Click-to-Run CustomConfig.xml file example specifies to install 32-bit Office 365 ProPlus and Visio Pro for Office 365 in English (US). It sets updates to Enabled, and uses an alternative source. It also sets Display Level to None, and accepts the end user licensing agreement.

<Configuration>   <Add SourcePath="\\Server\Share" OfficeClientEdition="32" >     <Product ID="O365ProPlusRetail">       <Language ID="en-us" />     </Product>     <Product ID="VisioProRetail">       <Language ID="en-us" />     </Product>   </Add>    <Updates Enabled="TRUE" UpdatePath="\\Server\Share" />   <Display Level="None" AcceptEULA="TRUE" />    <Logging Level="Standard" Path="%temp%" /> </Configuration>

 

Step5: Setting up of Group Policies for deployment

Will be publishing in next blog

SCCM 2007 -Troubleshooting packages that just won’t install on DP’s

Found a very useful link while trouble shooting the packages that are not received to DP’s

First thing first

Check the distmgr.log on the parent (do this first) and secondary site and look for the package ID. Start reading there there.
Also, have you checked the status of the DP component on the secondary site? Make sure it's functioning properly.

1. Troubleshooting packages that just won’t install on DP’s
2. Addressing Packages that do not reach a Distribution Point

How to resolve message 5447, MP has rejected a policy request because it was not approved. Using Management Studio

You get the error message as

Why is this ISSUE :

If SCCM is set to approve in manual Mode this issue could occur. There could be other reasons this is one of them

What are Solutions :

Soln-1 :

• Go to Server installed with SCCM - SQL Server
• Open Management Studio
• Run Below Query on database to identify machines for given GUID
• select SMS_Unique_Identifier0, Name0 from V_R_System where SMS_Unique_Identifier0 = 'GUID:xxxxx-xxx-xx-xx-xxx-x'
• Approve machines from SCCM Collections

SCCM report to list the Computer based on Given GUID

Came Across with Error

MP has rejected a policy request from GUID:xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx  because it was not approved. The operating system reported error 2147942405: Access is denied.

 

To identify non approved computers for particular GUID Create the custom reports with below query

Select
    Sys.Name0,
    Sys.SMSID0,
    Sys.Domain0,
    Sys.SystemRole0
from
    dbo.v_GS_SYSTEM Sys
Where
    Sys.SMSID0 = @GUID

Prompt:

Note : Mention the Name of prompt GUID

select SMS_Unique_Identifier0 from v_R_System