This is intended for my lab and not a production deployment. I would probably do a few things different depending on what my SQL Admins want in a production scenario. Firstly, I wanted a single application for all my regularly used components in my lab. For my detection logic I used the Windows Installer Product Code for the SQL Server 2014 Database Engine Services. In addition to the database engine, I install reporting services and the SQL tools. Depending on your environment, you might want to separate these into different applications, but a lab one application is fine. I also cleanup the directories that are left behind after an uninstall with my application’s uninstall. This directory structure could include information that you might want to hang onto in a production environment. I skipped the pending reboot check in SQL setup. I also included service account passwords in my configuration file that you might not want on a production installation.

There are a couple of options for unattended/scripted installations of SQL 2014 available. You can use a configuration file or the setup.exe command prompt options. See technical references below for details. To show both options, I’ll use a configuration file to install and remove with the command line options. If you’d like to see start with a configuration file, SQL setup will create one for you when you use the GUI mode setup. Setup.exe will launch SQL Server Installation Center. You can then click “New SQL Server stand-alone installation or add features to an existing installation” on the Installation tab. After you walk through setup and specify your setup options, you’ll see that SQL gives you the path to the Configuration File that you have generated:

There are a few items that you’ll have to adjust from the GUI mode setup for unattended install if you want to use this ConfigurationFile.ini:

• Remove or comment out UIMODE="Normal"
• Modify QUIT value to QUIET="False"
• Add IACCEPTSQLSERVERLICENSETERMS="True"
• Add SQLSVCPASSWORD and RSSVCPASSWORD options for your SQL service accounts if you specified them during setup
• Ensure you have given the appropriate groups rights during the setup wizard and they are shown with the SQLSYSADMINACCOUNTS option
• I also added SKIPRULES="RebootRequiredCheck" for simplified testing in the lab

I'm attaching an example of a ConfigurationFile.ini to this post. Note that you’ll have to update the information for the two service accounts.

As with the creation of any ConfigMgr application, you should test the installation and uninstall syntax from a command line. To validate that it is being run just as CM would run it, you can test it as the local system using psexec. For more information see my Package Preparation Guide Post. 

Using the example ConfigurationFile.ini, you should now be able to validate that your package works by adding it to the package source and using the following syntax:

Setup.exe /ConfigurationFile=ConfigurationFile.ini

As I noted above, for my uninstall I wanted to remove using the command line option and also clean up the install directories. To do so, I created RemoveSQL2014.bat with the following two lines:

Setup.exe /SKIPRULES=RebootRequiredCheck /Action=Uninstall /Q /FEATURES=SQL,AS,RS,IS,Tools /INSTANCENAME=MSSQLSERVER
RMDIR /S /Q "%programfiles%\Microsoft SQL Server"

Once these to installations have been validated, we can move to the Configuration Manager Console to create the application by clicking Create Application under Software Library. When the wizard starts, we’ll select the “Manually specify the application information” option.

Complete general information:

Tip: Check the “Allow this application to be installed……task sequence…” option if you want to create a task sequence to fully deploy CM site in your lab.

The defaults for the Application Catalog can be accepted and then click Add on the Deployment Types page. On the create deployment type wizard, select “Manually specify the deployment type information”. Supply a name like “SQL 2014” on the general information tab and click next.

The SQL installation media should be copied to a package source for use with the application. The configurationfile.ini and the RemoveSQL2014.bat described above should be in the root of your package source. On the Content Tab of the wizard, you should specify the following:

Click next to move to the Detection Method. For the detection method in my lab, I used the Windows Installer product code for SQL 2014 database engine {17531BCD-C627-46A2-9F1E-7CC920E0E94A}:

As noted at the top of this post, you could get more granular than this.

Tip: You can browse to an MSI to get a product code. You can also check the registry “HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall”.

On the User Experience, select “Install for system” as the installation behavior and "Whether or not a user is logged on" for the Logon requirement. On the Requirements tab you can specify any Hardware and Software Requirements for Installing SQL Server 2014. For example, supported OS versions:

On the Dependencies tab, select any dependent applications that SQL 2014 requires. Click next and complete the creation of your deployment type. Then click next and complete the creation of your application. 

Once the application is created, you can distribute the content and deploy it to make it available to your clients. As always, it is good to deploy to a test collection for validation first. To do so, right click the application and select deploy. On the general tab, select your collection. Next select your content targets. For deployment settings, leave it as available so we can install and uninstall in software center. Complete the wizard.

Once it is available on your target machine, you can validate the install and uninstall behavior.

Hope this helps!

Ryan

Technical References:

Install SQL Server 2014 Using a Configuration File

Install SQL Server 2014 from the Command Prompt

Hardware and Software Requirements for Installing SQL Server 2014

Introduction to Application Management in Configuration Manager

ConfigurationFile.ini

This presentation covers the troubleshooting of Client Push Installation in ConfigMgr 2012. We walk through the logs to look at on both the server and client side. We also look at the server side inboxes and client installation locations, most common failures, and the requirements for a client push installation.

[View:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DQtX7sE4wug:0:0]

Related TechNet Resources:

Introduction to Client Deployment in Configuration Manager

How to Install Clients on Windows-Based Computers in Configuration Manager

Prerequisites for Windows Client Deployment in Configuration Manager

Planning for Client Deployment in Configuration Manager

Let me know if this is useful.

Enjoy!

Ryan

Open Report builder.

                You can right click a report and go to edit to open

Click top left button and select New

Select Table or Matrix Wizard

Create a dataset, Next

Data Source connection should already be selected, Next:

When prompted, you can connect with the current windows user

On the Design a query, select “Edit as Text”, paste your query, and click next

Drag all available fields to the values box and ensure they are in the order that you want and click Next

Click next through the layouts and it’ll finish

Once back in report builder you can add a title and clean up the column names and width as needed

Once complete, click save it to your SRS site (Under ConfigMgr_XXX)

You can create a Custom folder or select an existing folder that makes sense like “Operating System” or “Site – Client Information”

Enjoy!

Ryan

I wanted to take a moment and run through a few issues that you might run into while sideloading Win8 Apps in Configmgr.

For starters, here is the TechNet documentation on the topic:

Planning to Deploy Windows 8 Apps in Configuration Manager

https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/jj822984.aspx

You’ll create the application using your appx by selecting the appx application type in the creat application wizard:

When skipping the requirements noted in the TechNet doc above, you’ll hit a few issues.

After initial deployment, it failed with the following error:

The software change returned error code 0x800B0109(-2146762487).

If you look up 0x800B0109, It is “A certificate chain processed, but terminated in a root certificate which is not trusted by the trust provider”

I had to add the signing certificate used for my test app as a trusted root CA. You can do this via local certificates mmc or via GPO.

After doing that, I got the following:

The software change returned error code 0x80073CFF(-2147009281).

If you look up 0x80073CFF, It is “To install this application you need either a Windows developer license or a sideloading-enabled system”

This is because the system needs to have sideloading enabled.

Add the key to enable sideloading per the technet doc:

On computers that run enterprise versions of Windows 8 Enterprise, use this registry setting: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\Appx\AllowAllTrustedApps = 1

Note that I’m testing on Windows 8 Enterprise, so I added the first entry. It didn’t specify in the document, but the value must be a string value.

The app should install after these steps.

Enjoy!

Ryan

https://blogs.technet.com/b/configmgrteam/archive/2014/03/28/now-available-cu1-for-system-center-2012-r2-configmgr.aspx

Issues are addressed in the following components:

Administrator Console
Mobile Device Management
Reporting
Application Virtualization
Internet-based clients
Software Center
Operating system deployment
Endpoint Protection
Application management
Supported operating systems
Site systems
Windows PowerShell
Wake-up proxy

To download the update and see more information on the specific fixes included, see the following:

https://support.microsoft.com/kb/2938441

Cheers!

Ryan

This documentation hadn’t been updated for ConfigMgr 2012 until a few months ago. You can now find it here:

Creating Custom Reports by Using SQL Server Views in System Center 2012 Configuration Manager

https://technet.microsoft.com/en-ca/library/dn581954.aspx

This will be very useful to those of you creating custom reports in Configuration Manager 2012.

Enjoy!

Ryan

OneNote now on Mac, free everywhere, and service powered

https://blogs.office.com/2014/03/17/onenote-now-on-mac-free-everywhere-and-service-powered

Enjoy!

Ryan

You'll first install the hotfix on your site server. I’ll use KB2905002 as an example in this post. This applies to SCCM2007 and SCCM2012. The only different between 2007 and 2012 is that you’ll have to manually copy the hotfix files into the client’s package source.

After you install the hotfix, you’ll need to copy the following folder:
=======================================================
< Install Directory>\hotfix\KB2905002\Client\i386\configmgr2012ac-r2-kb2905002-i386.msp
To:
< Install Directory>\Client\i386\hotfix\KB2905002\configmgr2012ac-r2-kb2905002-i386.msp

And:
< Install Directory>\hotfix\KB2905002\Client\x64\configmgr2012ac-r2-kb2905002-x64.msp
To:
< Install Directory>\Client\x64\Hotfix\configmgr2012ac-r2-kb2905002-x64.msp
=======================================================

Then, “Update Distribution Points” on your “Configuration Manager Client Package”.

To install any patches during the initial client installation, you’ll use the PATCH=
Please refer to the following KB for full details:
KB907423: How to include an update in the initial installation of Systems Management Server 2003 Advanced Client
https://support.microsoft.com/kb/907423

To install any client patches during the "Setup windows and ConfigMgr" task of an SCCM OSD Task Sequence, include the following line in the "Installation properties" box of the "Setup windows and ConfigMgr" task:
PATCH="C:\_SMSTaskSequence\OSD\<Package_ID>\i386\hotfix\<KB_Folder>\<KB_MSP_File>.msp"

Where:
< Package_ID> is the package ID of the ConfigMgr client installation package specified in the "Setup windows and ConfigMgr" task
< KB_Folder> is the folder that contains the KB hotfix and MSP file in the Client Installation folder
< KB_MSP_File> is the file name of the MSP file in the <KB_Folder>

Make sure to include quotes as part of the path.

For example, if the ConfigMgr client package ID was XXX00002 and the KB2905002 hotfix patch needs to be installed during the initial ConfigMgr client installation, the cmd line should read the following:
For x64:
PATCH="C:\_SMSTaskSequence\OSD\XXX00002\x64\hotfix\KB2905002\Configmgr2012ac-r2-kb2905002-x64.msp"
For x86:
PATCH="C:\_SMSTaskSequence\OSD\XXX00002\i386\hotfix\KB2905002\Configmgr2012ac-r2-kb2905002-i386.msp"

PLEASE NOTE: The drive letter C: needs to be hard coded into the path for the PATCH= option. A variable cannot be used (for example %SystemDrive% or %DeploySystemDrive%). This is because the "Setup windows and ConfigMgr" task is usually run while in WinPE, and not while in the Windows OS being deployed. This may cause the variable to be improperly resolved because it will either resolve to the value is in WinPE (in the case of %SystemDrive%, usually X: instead of C:) or the drive letter as it has been enumerated in WinPE (in the case of %DeploySystemDrive%, usually E: instead of C:). This should usually not be a problem except for the rare case that the Windows OS resides in a driver letter other than C:.

Hope this helps!

Ryan

All Servers:

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 on SMS_G_System_SYSTEM.ResourceId = SMS_R_System.ResourceId where SMS_G_System_SYSTEM.SystemRole = "Server"

All Workstations:

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 on SMS_G_System_SYSTEM.ResourceId = SMS_R_System.ResourceId where SMS_G_System_SYSTEM.SystemRole = "Workstation"

All Branch Distribution Points (SCCM 2007):

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_distributionpointinfo on SMS_r_system.name = SMS_distributionpointinfo.servername where ispeerdp = 1 and SMS_R_SYSTEM.Active=1

Is Service1 present and running:

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_SERVICE on SMS_G_System_SERVICE.ResourceID = SMS_R_System.ResourceId where SMS_G_System_SERVICE.Name = "Service1" and SMS_G_System_SERVICE.State = "Running"

All Domain Controllers:

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 SMS_R_System.PrimaryGroupID = "516"

Software Updates Last Scan Completion Greater than 30

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_SUP_SCAN_TOOL on SMS_G_System_SUP_SCAN_TOOL.ResourceId = SMS_R_System.ResourceId where SMS_G_System_SUP_SCAN_TOOL.LastCompletionTime <= DATEADD(dd,-30,GetDate())

6/14/2014: Adding Collection by AD Security Group:

Members of ADSecurityGroup1 (remember to update both domain the domain name, and the security group name):

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 SMS_R_System.SystemGroupName = "Domain\\ADSecurityGroup1"

Clients from a particular hardware manufacturer. The following would pull Dell 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.Manufacturer like "Dell%"

You can create a report to see what values you need to consider in your criteria with the following SQL Query:

SELECT Manufacturer0, Model0, Count(Model0) AS 'Count'

FROM dbo.v_GS_COMPUTER_SYSTEM

GROUP BY Manufacturer0,Model0

ORDER BY Model0

You can run this in SQL Management Studio or create a report using the following post:

Creating a ConfigMgr Report from a SQL Query

For example, HP also uses Hewlett-Packard:

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.Manufacturer like "HP%" or SMS_G_System_COMPUTER_SYSTEM.Manufacturer like "Hewlett-Packard%"

7/10/2014: Adding OU Queries:

Specific OU:

SELECT
   ResourceId,
   SystemOUName,
   ResourceType,
   Name,
   SMSUniqueIdentifier,
   ResourceDomainORWorkgroup,
   Client
FROM  
   SMS_R_System
WHERE  SystemOUName = "DOMAIN.COM/LEVEL1OU" 

Specific OU Excluding SubOU:

SELECT
   ResourceId,
   SystemOUName,
   ResourceType,
   Name,
   SMSUniqueIdentifier,
   ResourceDomainORWorkgroup,
   Client
FROM  
   SMS_R_System
WHERE  SystemOUName = "DOMAIN.COM/LEVEL1OU"
       AND ResourceId NOT IN (SELECT
                                resourceID
                              FROM  
                                SMS_R_System
                              WHERE 
                                SystemOUName LIKE "DOMAIN.COM/LEVEL1OU/%")

I’ll post more as I find them. I seem to keep finding notes all over the place. Might as well keep a copy here!

Enjoy!

Ryan

I get questions on the topic fairly frequently. It also isn’t as daunting of a topic as some may think, so I thought it’d be a good topic to cover. I created a YouTube channel here:

https://www.youtube.com/RyanAndersonSCCM

I cover best practices, report builder, and demo the modification of a built-in report.

Here is the presentation:

***Updated the link to video without blurry section at the end.

[View:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KuRKw798v6E:0:0]

Please let me know if you find this useful and I’ll cover more topics.

Enjoy!

Ryan