CCM Installation Repair

[Schikitar]

Hi all,

 

Bit of a SSCM noob here, I'm an IT Manager (or IT GP) at a school with a deploymnent of about 800 clients. Since, I believe, I updated our site to CU1 (for SCCM 2012 R2) most of my clients have been stuck in some sort of install/repair loop. I have machines sitting in front of me, checking Task Manager I can see "CCM Insttallation Repair" and "ccmsetup.exe" both running for sometime, then once these clients are done and start getting policy I start seeing some notifications from the Software Centre for various programs etc before it all dissappears and starts the repair process again.

 

I can't find anything useful in the logs (not 100% which logs to check in this instance but have been inspecting the ones most recently modified). Has anyone seen behaviour like this, how can I stop it without pulling every client in and manually uninstalling!?

 

I have disabled Client-Push Installations (clientsd are usually installed as part of Task Sequence when we image machines) and any client upgrade deployments, not sure what to try next.

 

Cheers

[anyweb]

what version of the client is running on your clients that are repairing themselves ? have you tried looking at the ccmsetup.log file on one of these clients to see what it reveals ? feel free to post it here and we can take a look

[Schikitar]

Cool, thanks for the help.

 

So, I have a machine here, it is constantly looping between installed and repairing. Currnetly it is installed and it is running 5.00.7958.1203. I've uploaded some log files from this client here - http://1drv.ms/1nfIlhY

 

I've noticed the ccmsetup.log file resets at some point, hopefully I've caught it with enough info in it. I've begun looking at things such as resetting the WMI repository etc., on a couple test machines but I don't know enough about what's going on to really hone in on the issue(s). Very frustrating as it was working nicely, now I get students coming up constantly saying that they can't get to the Software Centre. I'm depserately trying to get apps and updates deployed but there is little point if the clients aren't working properly.

 

Please let me know if there is anything else you can think of!

 

Cheers!

[anyweb]

what os are these clients running on ? in the ccmrepair log i see this

 

Performance counter registrations are missing or corrupted. Repair required.

 

 

which after a quick search leads me to this

[Schikitar]

Hi, they are all running WIndows 8.11 x64.

 

Your search turned up the same one I've been spending a bit of time on. The only thing I haven't been able to establish is whether or not CCMCLEAN.exe from the SMS Toolkit 2003 is still a valid option for 2012 R2 clients!? I have also just started testing repairing/rebuilding the WMI repository on some machines with mixed results. As the clients are constantly looping I'm finding it difficult to identify where in that process I can execute commands etc., Very frustrating, would love to wipe the slate clean and start again but I can't, have to try and undo the damage somehow!

 

Thanks for your time, appreciate it.

[anyweb]

ccmcean is not supported, use ccmsetup.exe /uninstall if you want to uninstall the ccm client for whatever reason,

wmi getting corrupted on a windows 8.1 device sounds unlikely unless you are somehow pushing some odd settings to the computer via gpo/gpp/script...

?

so starting from the beginning how are these systems imaged ? what client version do they have installed initially ? how long before they start to repair the client ?

[Schikitar]

Hi Niall,

 

Apologies for the tardy reply, have had a hell of a week with our new internet filtering server and so many other things going on (that's the problem with effectively running an IT dept in a school on your own)!

 

Anyway, I did manage to squeeze in a few more tests etc., Before I start on that I'll just cover off on your points/questions;

 

ccmcean is not supported, use ccmsetup.exe /uninstall if you want to uninstall the ccm client for whatever reason

ccmsetup.exe /uninstall in my testing didn't seem as thorough as ccmclean - however, more on this in a moment

 

wmi getting corrupted on a windows 8.1 device sounds unlikely unless you are somehow pushing some odd settings to the computer via gpo/gpp/script

I agree about WMI, although we do push a quite a few GPO's out for basic config stuff in a school environment

 

so starting from the beginning how are these systems imaged

The systems are imaged using a fairly basic task sequence that installs an unmodified (except for offline servicing) Windows 8.1 x64 image (taking the image.wim directly from our VL ISO). Through the task sequence I then layer in the drivers and applications, I've uploaded a screenshot of how the TS is structured - http://1drv.ms/1nfIlhY

 

what client version do they have installed initially ?

When I first log into a freshly imaged machine they are sitting at version 5.00.7958.1203. Without any intervention they start getting policy and software starts appearing in the Software Centre, everything looks fine. I'm assuming it's deploying from SMS_XXX, here in the "Client" folder I have a "ClientPatch" folder (for each architecture) with only the latest hotfix contained within it (kb2938441) - I'm led to believe this will then deploy the standard client (.1000) and then roll it up to .1203

 

how long before they start to repair the client ?

I haven't caught it in the act but seemingly by the next day they begin and then it's pretty regular (like every 15-30 minutes) after each repair, continually draining resources and frustrating the heck out of end users (and me!)

 

 

In the interim I have turned off Client Push Installation and Software Update-Based Client Installation, I have also disabled Automatic Client Upgrade. Even when I first posted I thought I had a manual fix, I would run ccmclean.exe (yes, I know), clear out the ccm and ccmsetup folders from c:\windows, reboot, reinstall the client from the SC console and then everything would tick along nicely for the day without further issue. However, sometime after that work day the clients started auto repairing again, my own machine just today as well as a few others.

 

I had to image a couple machines today and a separate issue with a failed Office 2013 install (that's another problem I have) from my TS led me to a search result which suddenly sounded very familiar - - it's an older artcile and I haven't dug deep enough into logs just yet but it sounds a lot like what I'm experiencing.

 

So that's where I'm at, I will update if I find anything else!