Client folder empty on SCCM Site Server

Question

Client folder empty on SCCM Site Server

M Tran 491

Hi,

Sometimes we have to do manual client installation. Lately my team has encountered error "you don't have permission to access folder" when they go to \<site server name>\SMS_<site code>\Client\

I went onto our site server and discovered that the contents of this folder "F:\Program Files\Microsoft Configuration Manager\Client" were no longer in the folder. It is empty.

I am not sure what happened or when this happened. How do I get the contents back into this folder?

Thank you!

M Tran 491 Reputation points

2021-05-31T21:08:10.703+00:00

Updated: I found the "source" Client folder in \cd.latest\smssetup anc copied the contents to the other Client folder.

I hope this is it. I still don't know why the entire folder became empty.
Jason Sandys 31,421 Reputation points Microsoft Employee Moderator

2021-06-01T19:03:04.76+00:00

Getting access denied to this folder is standard and by default; anything else means that someone has tampered with the defaults. You should never allow direct access to this folder either. For manually installing the client, techs or whoever should be using a copy placed in a common shared location.
M Tran 491 Reputation points

2021-06-02T16:12:28.603+00:00

According to MS we can do the manual install using this path \<site server name>\SMS_<site code>\Client\

(ref: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/mem/configmgr/core/clients/deploy/deploy-clients-to-windows-computers#BKMK_Manual)

But here when we run into the issue where try to run the command following the example CCMSetup.exe /mp:SMSMP01 /logon SMSSITECODE=AUTO FSP=SMSFP01

That's when we get access denied to the folder \<site server name>\SMS_<site code>\Client\
Jason Sandys 31,421 Reputation points Microsoft Employee Moderator

2021-06-02T16:17:56.887+00:00

"Can" and "should" are two different things.

That's when we get access denied to the folder \<site server name>\SMS_<site code>\Client\

Correct. As noted, that expected and by design. You should copy the necessary files to another common location for best results.

Also note that using /mp for this scenario makes no sense as there's no reason to download the client files from the MP if you have them accessible from a share. /mp is not the same as using the SMSMP property and does not configure the MP for the client to use initially.

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M Tran 491 Reputation points

2021-05-31T21:08:10.703+00:00

Updated: I found the "source" Client folder in \cd.latest\smssetup anc copied the contents to the other Client folder.

I hope this is it. I still don't know why the entire folder became empty.
Jason Sandys 31,421 Reputation points Microsoft Employee Moderator

2021-06-01T19:03:04.76+00:00

Getting access denied to this folder is standard and by default; anything else means that someone has tampered with the defaults. You should never allow direct access to this folder either. For manually installing the client, techs or whoever should be using a copy placed in a common shared location.
M Tran 491 Reputation points

2021-06-02T16:12:28.603+00:00

According to MS we can do the manual install using this path \<site server name>\SMS_<site code>\Client\

(ref: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/mem/configmgr/core/clients/deploy/deploy-clients-to-windows-computers#BKMK_Manual)

But here when we run into the issue where try to run the command following the example CCMSetup.exe /mp:SMSMP01 /logon SMSSITECODE=AUTO FSP=SMSFP01

That's when we get access denied to the folder \<site server name>\SMS_<site code>\Client\
Jason Sandys 31,421 Reputation points Microsoft Employee Moderator

2021-06-02T16:17:56.887+00:00

"Can" and "should" are two different things.

That's when we get access denied to the folder \<site server name>\SMS_<site code>\Client\

Correct. As noted, that expected and by design. You should copy the necessary files to another common location for best results.

Also note that using /mp for this scenario makes no sense as there's no reason to download the client files from the MP if you have them accessible from a share. /mp is not the same as using the SMSMP property and does not configure the MP for the client to use initially.

Answer 1

HanyunZhu-MSFT 1,846 Microsoft External Staff

Sure, it works to copy the files from cd.latest folder.

For the problem we're facing, the files may were deleted accidentally. To know who and when the files are deleted in future, we may enable file auditing.
For more details of enabling auditing, please refer this article:
https://www.manageengine.com/products/active-directory-audit/kb/how-to/how-to-enable-file-and-folder-access-auditing-in-windows-server.html
Note: This is not from MS, just for your reference.

If the response is helpful, please click "Accept Answer"and upvote it.
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M Tran 491 Reputation points

2021-06-01T11:58:04.16+00:00

Thank you so much!
HanyunZhu-MSFT 1,846 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff

2021-06-04T06:44:59.723+00:00

Thanks for marking the answer. If you have any questions in future, we warmly welcome you to post in Microsoft Q&A forum again.

Have a nice day!

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Client folder empty on SCCM Site Server

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