using vNext in a LAB - Part 1. Installation

[anyweb]

This guide is for a beta product, namely vNext Beta 1. You might be wondering why I'm installing it from scratch and not using the VHD provided by Microsoft, the reason why is because I want to experience everything that is required to get vNext running in my Lab from installation, configuration and management. If you follow my steps you too will have a working vNext LAB.

 

This is Part 1 of a vNext series in which I'll cover installation, configuration, usage and more of vNext.

 

 

Get your Lab Ready.

 

My vNext Lab is hosted in a brand new HyperV environment hosted on Server 2008 R2, I'm currently using a laptop with 4gb ram (yes I want more...), 325 GB hdd. There are two servers used in this Lab, AD1 (AD1 -active directory, dns, dhcp) and vNext (joined to our AD1 domain).

 

 

I chose to install Windows Server 2008 R2 standard as the server OS for vNext. Once done I joined it to my newly created domain (2k8r2), verified DNS was working correctly via nslookup and was ready to begin the steps below.

 

Create AD users:

 

In addition I created some accounts in AD, namely:

 

• SMSadmin, a domain user,
  
• Testuser, a domain user,
  
• DomJoin, a domain user,(for joining to the domain)
  
• ReportsUser, a domain user for reporting services.
  
• ClientInstall, a domain admin user for installing the Vnext Client.
  

 

Create Local Administrator accounts:

 

On the vNext server I added the vNext site server computer account (vnext$) as a member of the Local Administrators Group. In addition, add the SMSadmin user to the Local Administrators group.

 

 

 

Step 1. Download and uncompress vNext

 

You can Download it from Microsoft Connect here or indeed download vNext beta 1 from here.

 

Once downloaded, double click on the ConfigMgr_vNext_Beta_ENU_7469.exe file to uncompress it.

 

 

Perform the following on the Active Directory Domain Controller as a Domain Administrator

 

 

Step 2. Create The System ManageMent Container

 

Open ADSI Edit, click on Action, Connect To and click Ok

 

 

Double Click on Default Naming Contextand the DC= that appears below it

 

 

Click on the + and scroll down to CN=System.

 

Right Click on CN=System and choose New, Object

 

 

Choose Container from the options, click Next and enter System Management as the value. Click Next and Finish. Press F5 to refresh ADSI Edit and you should now see the new System Management Container.

 

 

Close ADSI Edit.

 

 

Step 3. Delegate Permission to the System Management Container.

 

Open Active Directory Users and Computers. Click on view, select Advanced Features.

 

Select the System Management Container, and right click it, choose Delegate Control.

 

 

When the Welcome to Delegation of Control Wizard appears click next, then click Add. click on Object Types, select Computers. Type in your vNext server name and click on Check Names, it should resolve.

 

 

Click Ok, then Next. Choose Create a Custom Task to Delegate.

 

 

click next, make sure This folder, existing objects in this folder and creation of new objects in this folder is selected

 

 

click next, select the 3 permissions General, Property-Specific and Creation-deletion of specific child objects are selected then place a check mark in FULL CONTROL, and click next then Finish.

 

 

Failure to do the above will mean that the System Management Container in AD will NOT POPULATE with vNext specific info and you will see many errors in your site status.

 

 

Step 4. Extend the Active Directory schema for Configuration Manager

 

Browse to where you uncompressed vNext and find \SMSSetup\Bin\x64\Extadsch.exe double click on Extadsch.exe.

 

A command prompt window will appear briefly as the schema is extended, check in c:\ for a log file called ExtADSch.log it should look similar to this

 

 

<09-02-2010 06:42:11> Modifying Active Directory Schema - with SMS extensions.

<09-02-2010 06:42:11> DS Root:CN=Schema,CN=Configuration,DC=2k8r2,DC=lab,DC=local

<09-02-2010 06:42:14> Defined attribute cn=MS-SMS-Site-Code.

<09-02-2010 06:42:15> Defined attribute cn=mS-SMS-Assignment-Site-Code.

<09-02-2010 06:42:15> Defined attribute cn=MS-SMS-Site-Boundaries.

<09-02-2010 06:42:15> Defined attribute cn=MS-SMS-Roaming-Boundaries.

<09-02-2010 06:42:15> Defined attribute cn=MS-SMS-Default-MP.

<09-02-2010 06:42:15> Defined attribute cn=mS-SMS-Device-Management-Point.

<09-02-2010 06:42:15> Defined attribute cn=MS-SMS-MP-Name.

<09-02-2010 06:42:15> Defined attribute cn=MS-SMS-MP-Address.

<09-02-2010 06:42:15> Defined attribute cn=mS-SMS-Health-State.

<09-02-2010 06:42:15> Defined attribute cn=mS-SMS-Source-Forest.

<09-02-2010 06:42:15> Defined attribute cn=MS-SMS-Ranged-IP-Low.

<09-02-2010 06:42:15> Defined attribute cn=MS-SMS-Ranged-IP-High.

<09-02-2010 06:42:15> Defined attribute cn=mS-SMS-Version.

<09-02-2010 06:42:15> Defined attribute cn=mS-SMS-Capabilities.

<09-02-2010 06:42:19> Defined class cn=MS-SMS-Management-Point.

<09-02-2010 06:42:20> Defined class cn=MS-SMS-Server-Locator-Point.

<09-02-2010 06:42:21> Defined class cn=MS-SMS-Site.

<09-02-2010 06:42:21> Defined class cn=MS-SMS-Roaming-Boundary-Range.

<09-02-2010 06:42:22> Successfully extended the Active Directory schema.

 

<09-02-2010 06:42:22> Please refer to the SMS documentation for instructions on the manual

<09-02-2010 06:42:22> configuration of access rights in active directory which may still

<09-02-2010 06:42:22> need to be performed. (Although the AD schema has now be extended,

<09-02-2010 06:42:22> AD must be configured to allow each SMS Site security rights to

<09-02-2010 06:42:22> publish in each of their domains.)

 

 

 

 

 

Perform the following on the vNext server as SMSadmin

 

Step 1. Install .NET 3.5.1 and WCF Activation

 

In Server Manager select Features, Add Features, Select .NET Framework 3.5.1, also select WCF Activation and when prompted answer Add Required Features

 

 

then select Next and Install

 

 

 

 

Step 2. Download and install .net4

 

Download .net 4 from here. Double click the file.

 

 

click on Install when the wizard appears.

 

 

After a while it will complete, Click Finish when done

 

 

click on Restart Now

 

 

 

Step 3. Install SQL Server 2008

 

Start installing SQL Server 2008 as per this guide, however you may be prompted about upgrading it to SP1 later, ignore the warnings as we will install SQL 2008 sp1 after this. I chose to Install SQL server 2008 to D:\Program Files...

 

 

Once SQL Server 2008 is installed, click on close

 

 

Step 4. Upgrade SQL Server 2008 to SP1 CU6

 

Locate your update files and run it en_sql_server_2008_sp1_x64 then once upgraded reboot

 

 

After the reboot, install the Cumulative Update 6 (CU6)

 

 

Step 5. Install the remaining vNext Pre-requisites

 

We need to install IIS, BITS, Remote differential compression so please startup Server Manager and select Features.

 

 

Select the following Features:

 

* Remote Differential Compression

* BackGround Intelligent Transfer Service (BITS)

 

Note that when you select BITS it will prompt you to install IIS dependancies, choose Add Required Role Services

 

 

click next when ready

 

 

click next at the IIS Introduction

 

 

and verify the following IIS components are installed in addition to the ones preselected by the wizard.

 

Common HTTP Features

Static Content

Default Document

Directory Browsing

HTTP Errors

HTTP Redirection

 

Application Development

ASP.NET

.NET Extensibility

ASP

ISAPI Extensions

ISAPI Filters

 

Health and Diagnostics

HTTP logging

Logging tools

Request Monitor

Tracing

 

Security

Basic Authentication

Windows Authentication

URL Authorization

Request Filtering

IP and Domain Restrictions

 

Performance

Static Content Compression

 

Management Tools

IIS Management Console

IIS Management Scripts and Tools

Management Service

IIS 6 Management Compatibilty

IIS 6 Metabase Compatibility

IIS 6 WMI Compatibility

IIS 6 Scripting Tools

IIS 6 Management Console

 

and yes to any additional prompts, then Click Next and Install and close when done.

 

 

[anyweb]

Step 6. Download, uncompress and Install vNext

 

Now that SQL is ready we will install vNext itself, Browse to the unzipped files and double click on Splash.hta.

 

 

Click on Install and answer Yes to the UAC prompt

 

 

Click next when the Wizard appears

 

 

As we want to decide where vNext is installed (and other options), Select Install a configuration manager primary server and click next

 

 

Accept the License Terms

 

 

choose to Check for updates and download newer versions to an alternative path (create the path first or it will complain)

 

 

the updates are downloaded from the internet

 

 

after the udpates are downloaded you'll get to choose the Site code, Site Name and installation folder

 

 

as my site is a Primary and I've no Central Administration Site (CAS), I will choose the second option which is Primary Site Will be installed as a standalone site

 

 

Choose Mixed Mode (native mode would require a PKI structure in place)

 

 

Set your Database Server options (they are auto-populated)

 

 

and the SMS Provider Settings

 

 

next we select our Site System Roles

 

 

and our Client Agent Selection (by default NAP is not selected)

 

 

As this is still a beta, requeting your feedback is mandatory (no choice !)

 

 

review the summary

 

 

review the Pre-requisites check, if there are any errors (red) resolve them before continuing, we only have some warnings which we will resolve after the installation.

 

 

Click on Begin Install when you are ready

 

 

after some time, it will be complete, verify that all the sections are Green by scrolling down

 

 

Click Finish

 

 

and Restart your vNext server

 

after the server has restarted, login and start the vNext admin console

 

 

Congratulations, you are now using vNext !!

 

 

Next > Using vNext in a LAB - Part 2. Configuration.

[Krumov]

Maybe because the product is still into "Beta 1", it has issues discovering MS SQL server on a different machine. The MS SQL server, at this time, must be installed locally on the same machine as the MSSCCM v.Next. Also ensure you have the latest versions of the required dependences pre installed on the machine.

Ivaylo

[brianleejackson]

Maybe because the product is still into "Beta 1", it has issues discovering MS SQL server on a different machine. The MS SQL server, at this time, must be installed locally on the same machine as the MSSCCM v.Next. Also ensure you have the latest versions of the required dependences pre installed on the machine.

Ivaylo

 

Thanks for the tip Krumov. I am still testing it so everything is on one machine, so I hadn't run into this issue yet. Good to know.

[SaiTech]

Hi,and thanks for the guide..

 

Does it matter what "SQL Server Collations" I set when I install SQL Server?

 

/SaiTech

[anyweb]

it might matter if you chose different settings on a different site server, unless you have a good reason i would stay with the default collation settings

[banxta]

so if i am running a Windows Server2003 R2, i cant use this deployment procedure? just asking.

 

regards

[Peter van der Woude]

For what purpose? As this is still a BETA product...

[anyweb]

as Peter says' it's a beta product so should only be used in a LAB environment to experiment with how the new version will look like, do not implement this version of ConfigMgr in a Production Environment, Microsoft does do carefully agreed upon TAP releases, if you have a customer that is interested in trialling beta software then speak to your Microsoft TAM

[Rajsekhar]

I am currently installing and configuring the Beta 2 on my lab and I must thank you for the guidence that you have provided in this blog.

I have read that Beta2 would support non-windows mobile devices (android, iphone, synbian)management. is that true?

Do you have any documents or post regaridng the same ?

 

thanks in advance,

 

Raj