anyweb

Introduction You now have the ability to develop your own applications and then deploy them to new exciting operating systems thanks to the recent releases of the following products: System Center 2012 R2 Configuration Manager Visual Studio 2013 Windows 8.1 Server 2012 R2 In this post I'll show you how to create a quick modern style (formally Metro) test application using Visual Studio 2013 and then add that application into System Center 2012 R2 Configuration Manager and finally deploy it to a Windows 8.1 computer. Note: Windows 8 Store apps can be installed from the Store or from a distribution point using a process known as sideloading. You can get details about sideloading keys required for those apps here. You can also install LOB Windows Store apps that are not signed by the Windows Store. The apps must be cryptographically signed and can only be installed on a computer that trusts the signing certificate. I assume you've already downloaded and installed Visual Studio 2013 on Server 2012 R2, you could install it on a Windows 8.1 computer if you wish, in fact that is a necessary minimum operating system level if you want to develop for Windows 8.1. For your reference I used en_visual_studio_ultimate_2013_x86_dvd_3009107.iso available on MSDN. Note: I'm not a developer, I'm doing this to give you some ideas about using modern style apps in Configuration Manager 2012 R2. Step 1. Download and extract the Windows 8.1 app samples Microsoft provides a whole bunch of example code/applications that you can use to create your first masterpiece. Download them from here and extract them locally. I downloaded the full zip package and extracted it to D:\Windows 8.1 app samples like in the screenshot below Step 2. Import an Application into Visual Studio Start Visual Studio 2013, if this is your first time it may be a bit overwhelming, don't worry you'll soon get some action. I'd recommend a high resolution monitor for this type of work. I've already signed in with my Microsoft Live account so you can see my name in the top right corner. Click on file and choose Open, Project/Solution select a sample app from the list of 250 or so apps, I've selected Lock screen apps sample below and select the C# folder within and then select the .csproj file within that folder (LockScreenApps.csproj) and click on Open If you don't have one already, you will be prompted to get a Developers License (it's free). So go ahead and get one. and after signing in to your live account you'll get the license... Your first project is loaded and you've got a developers license ! Step 3. Build and then Create app packages We've got the code, let's build it. Click on Solution Explorer to the right to expand that menu if it isn't already expanded. Right click on your app listed in Solution Explorer and choose Build (or rebuild if trying again....) any messages about the build will be reflected in the output window Now that it has built the code, right click the application and choose Store, then Create App packages. select No when asked do you want to upload to the Store (Windows store), we are only testing after all... leave the output location as default and click on Create, note that you can change the version number of the application here, cool :-) and if all goes well you'll be informed that it's done Step 4. Create a GPO for Deploying Windows 8.1 apps In Active Directory start up Group Policy management (gpedit.msc) and choose to create a new Group Policy Object give it a suitable name and once done right click and choose Edit In order to deploy an appx app (modern style app) via Software Center certain requirements must be met on the client, and these can be done via Group Policy. So expand Computer Configuration, Policies, Windows Settings, Security Settings, Public Key Policies,Trusted People right click and choose import to import the needed certificate for each app you want to deploy, browse to the CER file located in the AppPackages directory that you just built the app in (see screenshot below) make sure you are placing it in the Trusted People Certificate Store, click your way through the wizard The certificate appears, note the expiration date, when it expires you'll no longer be able to deploy the app with that certificate. Next, set the following setting in the GPO Computer Configuration, Administrative Templates, Windows Components, App Package Deployment, Allow all trusted apps to install (Enable) If you don't have that setting then you'll need to import it by logging on to a Windows 8 computer, copy the admx file from Windows 8 to %logonserver%, Logoff Active Directory, Logon AD, run gpedit.msc and the new templates are there. the finished GPO should look like this Step 5. Copy the new app to your Configuration Manager server Copy the new application to your sources share on the Configuration Manager server. Step 6. Create and deploy the application in Configuration Manager 2012 R2 In the Configmgr Console expand Software Library and Applications, choose Create Application. select Windows app package (*.appx, *.appxbundle) from the drop down menu point to the appx file in the files we copied in Step 5 above continue through the wizard until completion. I won't go into details about Deploying the app as it's the same process as any application, just right click and choose deploy, go through that wizard... make sure to to Deploy it to a Device collection that contains our Windows 8.1 computer, make it an available (optional) deployment. and to distribute it to your distribution points. Step 7. Test the new app on a Windows 8.1 computer Logon to a Windows 8.1 computer and open software center, you should see our new app, click Install. after a few moments if it fails with The software change returned error code 0x800B0109 like in the screenshot below, then make sure to update Group Policy like so... gpupdate /force then try again. This time it will work :-) and there it is on the Start screen ! click on it to see what happens cool or what ! until next time, adios ! Related Reading How can I install System Center 2012 R2 Configuration Manager ? - http://www.windows-noob.com/forums/index.php?/topic/8451-how-can-i-install-system-center-2012-r2-configuration-manager/ Deploying enterprise apps - http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/windows/apps/jj657971.aspx Windows 8.1 app samples - http://code.msdn.microsoft.com/windowsapps/Windows-8-Modern-Style-App-Samples Get a Developers License - http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/windows/apps/hh696646(v=vs.110).aspx Planning to Deploy Windows 8 Apps in Configuration Manager - http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/jj822984.aspx What is a Windows Store App - http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=264710 How to Add and Remove Apps - http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/hh852635.aspx For more information about how to sign an app and using certificates, see App Packaging Tools.

it works fine for me but i'm using the SXS folder from the Windows 8.1 media, cheers niall

sure you can do it that way, use the Include rule. not every customer will want all their servers updated the same way or time however hence having different ADR's can be beneficial (for reporting too...)

have you tried ipconfig /flushdns ?

whats not working exactly, you need to say exactly what is failing and where cheers niall

have you seen this ? so could it be the 'assign c: to ... in your task sequence ? have you tried making the os volume active using diskpart ?

what version is your client ? and how did you install it and windows 8.1 ?

did you allow WSUS to store updates locally, normally this error occurs because it cannot download the license terms...

thanks, it's a requirement because Operating System Deployment requires it for the boot images needed to deploy both Windows 8.1 and Server 2012 R2 operating systems, in addition migration of data between those operating systems needs the newer version of USMT, Configuration Manager 2012 SP1 also required ADK 8.0 for the same reasons (support Windows 8/Server 2012)

ah ok, in my imaging of these devices I use a USB hub with a USB nic connected... thereby no need for the above, but interesting none the less

after the time/date change did you confirm all servers have changed time ? have you tried rebooting them ?

i don't get it, what is the purpose of this joindomain.exe program that cannot be solved with the Configure network settings step as in this example ? you don't actually explain why you are using this 'exe' and what its' function is. If you think it's necessary then explain exactly why

what time does it say on the hyperv host ?

it's not available, if you want all the bitlocker actions then import the one i linked to above your post, it's all in that task sequence just remove the bits you don't need.

ok the problem has been identified apparently (on a separate list) and here's what they said so i guess a hotfix is coming cheers niall

have you tried uninstalling PXE on the dp, uninstalling WADK 8.1, reinstalling WADK 8.1 (make sure it's the newest version), re-enabling PXE on the dp ?

have you added any connection capability in your boot wim ? you need to add the optional component (Winpe-mdac) ?

I wonder if there is any update available for your vmware server solution ? can you tell us what version you are running ?

Introduction System Center 2012 R2 Configuration Manager supports a wide variety of operating systems including alternative operating systems such as the following:- Mac Client: Mac OS X 10.6 (Snow Leopard) Mac OS X 10.7 (Lion) Mac OS X 10.8 (Mountain Lion) UNIX/Linux Client: AIX Version 7.1, 6.1, 5.3 Solaris Version 11, 10, 9 HP-UX Version 11iv2 , 11iv3 RHEL Version 6 , 5, 4 SLES Version 11, 10, 9 CentOS Version 6, 5 Debian Version 6, 5 Ubuntu Version 12.4 LTS, 10.4 LTS Oracle Linux 6, 5 Note: A list of supported clients is available on Technet here. In this post I will show you how to install the Linux client on a popular Linux operating system (Centos 6.4) and do some basic actions like hardware and software inventory in System Center 2012 R2 Configuration Manager. This guide assumes you have already installed your Linux server and are ready for the next step. If you have not installed it yet just download the Live CD from here and boot from it, choose the option to Install to hard drive once the os has booted to the desktop. Step 1. Download the Alternative Client files Note: The download required will be different depending on which version of Configuration Manager you are using. Download the correct version matching the version you are running, so if for example you are running the Configuration Manager 2012 R2 CU1 use these updated clients. When you started the System Center 2012 R2 Configuration Manager installation you probably didn't notice that there was a link to download alternative clients on the splash screen highlighted in the screenshot below If you did click on the link it would bring you here so go ahead and download those client files. Update: check the following link for updated supported clients and click here for R2 SP1 or Current Branch clients. Step 2. Extract the Linux client files on a Windows computer On the computer you downloaded the alternative client files, locate the Linux client exe file and extract the contents somewhere local by double clicking on the ConfigMgr Clients for Linux.exe file. extract the files to somewhere useful. the files are extracted.. Step 3. Copy the linux client files to your linux server Logon as a testuser on the Centos server, click on the Computer icon, and click on File, then Connect to server enter the details required to connect to a server that has the client files downloaded from Step 1 above and click on connect (notice I chose windows shares in the service type drop down menu) then click on Connect you may be prompted for a password, enter it Locate the extracted files and copy them to your desktop Step 4. Install the Linux client To install the client we need the right permission, and the permission needed is that of root. We will install the Linux client using the command line. Start a terminal by clicking on Applications, System tools and choosing Terminal. become root (the Linux equivalent of Administrator) by typing su - This will prompt you for a password, enter the password for root. change directory (cd) to the directory that holds the client installation files. Linux is case sensitive so keep that in mind. make the installer executable by typing the following chmod +x install and then install the client using the following command (for an X64 server os, use the corresponding X86 file if it's 32 bit). Change the management point FQDN and sitecode to match your infrastructure. ./install -mp sccm.server2008r2.lab.local -sitecode P01 ccm-Universalx64.1.0.0.4580.tar After some moments you'll see Installation Complete, if you get a "Pre-Install validator failed. Please check the version of OpenSSL with CM installation requirements" try the -ignoreSHA256validation switch as specified here. You can review what's happening realtime via the log file using the following command tail -F /var/opt/microsoft/scxcm.log Tip: to uninstall the client use /opt/microsoft/configmgr/bin/uninstall Step 5. Change logging options Logging for the Linux based client is pretty much all done in one log file called scxcm.log contained in /var/opt/microsoft/. How that log file gets written to is governed by the following configuration file /opt/microsoft/configmgr/etc/scxcm.conf. Below is what the conf file looks like by default:- FILE ( PATH: /var/opt/microsoft/scxcm.log MODULE: WARNING MODULE: scx.client WARNING ) using vi or your favorite text editor in Linux, change it so that it now reads as follows FILE ( PATH: /var/opt/microsoft/scxcm.log MODULE: TRACE MODULE: scx.client TRACE ) save the changes and stop and then start (or simply restart) the Linux client To start the client: /etc/init.d/ccmexecd start To stop the client: /etc/init.d/ccmexecd stop Tip: The default logging mode for the scxcm.log file is WARNING which Indicates possible problems for the client operations. TRACE mode logs verbosely. As the log file is not trimmed in any way, when you are finished doing your diagnosis it is recommended to change it back to WARNING mode and restart the client daemon. Step 6. Approve the Linux client In the Configuration Manager console, locate the new linux client in Devices, and right click choose Approve. answer yes when prompted the client is now listed as Approved in the console Step 7. Request a machine Policy as root issue the following command /opt/microsoft/configmgr/bin/ccmexec -rs policy in the log file above you can see the word TRACE repeated over and over, this confirms that our change to the logging options were indeed processed and it's now in Trace mode. Step 8. Perform a hardware inventory Hardware inventory on a Linux or UNIX server runs according to the schedule you configure in client settings. By default, this is every seven days. The client for Linux and UNIX supports both full inventory cycles and delta inventory cycles. You can also force the client on a Linux or UNIX server to immediately run hardware inventory. To run hardware inventory, on a client use root credentials to run the following command to start a hardware inventory cycle: /opt/microsoft/configmgr/bin/ccmexec -rs hinv as root issue the following command /opt/microsoft/configmgr/bin/ccmexec -rs hinv on your Configuration Manager server, you can check the MP_HINV.log and look for the HINV details from our Centos computer coming in... now's a good time to start Resource Explorer in the console to see what info it has got and here is what the installed applications look like and that's it, you've installed the Alternative client on our Centos server and performed a Hardware Inventory and got the information uploaded to your Primary server. You can even install RPM packages using Packages (and programs). I'll deal with that in a separate post. until then, adios niall. Related Reading How to Install Clients on Linux and UNIX Computers in Configuration Manager - http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/jj573939.aspx Microsoft System Center 2012 R2 Configuration Manager - Clients for Additional Operating Systems - http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=39360# Hardware Inventory for Linux and UNIX in Configuration Manager - http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/jj573945.aspx ConfigMgr 2012 SP1 and UNIX/Linux Clients – Part 1: Introduction and Client - http://blogs.technet.com/b/manageabilityguys/archive/2013/04/11/configmgr-2012-sp1-and-unix-linux-clients-part-1-introduction-and-client.aspx ConfigMgr 2012 SP1 and UNIX/Linux Clients - Part 2: General Operations and Inventory - http://blogs.technet.com/b/manageabilityguys/archive/2013/05/03/configmgr-2012-sp1-and-unix-linux-clients-part-2-general-operations-and-inventory.aspx Get help with Linux - http://www.linux-noob.com

great, it works because the default client settings apply to everything in the hierarchy

are all of you using vmware ? have you checked for any updates to vmware to support the newer boot images ?

change it in the Default Client settings, then update your boot image(s) to your distribution points.

ok thanks, i've filed a bug on connect and pointed to this post, thanks for your information and troubleshooting

isn't that expected behaviour ? what were you expecting to happen ?

Hi David and Topher, can you please tell me what your patch statement said and where you had it defined (client installation properties ?), did both of you have Automatic client upgrade selected ? I'm raising a bug on connect for this issue cheers niall