About Configuration Manager Console Folders

Article
05/03/2011

Applies To: System Center Configuration Manager 2007, System Center Configuration Manager 2007 R2, System Center Configuration Manager 2007 R3, System Center Configuration Manager 2007 SP1, System Center Configuration Manager 2007 SP2

The Microsoft System Center Configuration Manager 2007 console arranges Configuration Manager 2007 objects into Microsoft Management Console (MMC) console folders. Certain Configuration Manager objects can be further organized into a directory of folders that contain items referencing Configuration Manager objects. This is useful for administrators who need more meaningful organization of their Configuration Manager objects. For example, an administrator can group reports into folders based on their report category.

Because it would be tedious to use the Configuration Manager console to manage large numbers of folders and objects, the console folder Configuration Manager classes are provided to allow automated management of folder content.

The console folders and console items provide a view into the content they contain. Operations that are performed on console folders and items, such as item deletion, have no effect on the Configuration Manager object that they reference. For example, when a console item is deleted, it is removed from its console folder. However, the Configuration Manager object that it references is not deleted and appears in the root folder.

The following Configuration Manager objects can be managed as console folders:

SMS_Package

SMS_Advertisement

SMS_Query

SMS_Report

SMS_MeteredProductRule

SMS_OperatingSystemInstallPackage

SMS_StateMigration

SMS_ImagePackage

SMS_BootImagePackage

SMS_TaskSequencePackage

SMS_DeviceSettingPackage

SMS_DriverPackage

SMS_Driver

SMS_SoftwareUpdate

SMS_ConfigurationItem (Configuration items and baselines).

The following Configuration Manager classes are available for console folder management:

Class	Description
SMS_ObjectContainerNode Server WMI Class	Contains information about console folders and includes a method to move a folder from one location to another.
SMS_ObjectContainerItem Server WMI Class	Contains information about console items and includes a method to move items from one folder to another.

Search Folders

Configuration Manager introduces folders that can search for Configuration Manager objects based on a number of criteria. For example, you can search for packages with a specific package identifier.

The results of a search can be viewed from, but are not stored in, the search folder. Search folders are virtual folders that contain views of objects that exist in the tree.

You define the search criteria by using XML in the SMS_ObjectContainerNode object SearchString property. For more information about the search folder XML, see Configuration Manager Search Folder XML.

To see an example of its usage, see How to Create a Configuration Manager Console Search Folder.

Note

If you are using the managed provider console classes, you can use the SearchFolderDescription class.

The following example defines a search for a package with a package identifier of JBS00004:

<SearchFolderDescription xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance" xmlns:xsd="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema" Name="SMS_Package">
    <SearchFolderDescriptionItems>
        <SearchFolderDescriptionItem PropertyName="PackageID">
            <SearchStrings>
                 <string>JBS00004</string>
            </SearchStrings>   
        </SearchFolderDescriptionItem>
    </SearchFolderDescriptionItems>
</SearchFolderDescription>

About Configuration Manager Console Folders

Search Folders

See Also

Concepts

Additional resources