using SCCM 2012 beta 2 in a LAB - Part 2. Configuration

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In Part 1. of this series we Installed vNext, now we will start to configure it.

 

In Configuration Manager 2012, a boundary is a network location that can contain one or more devices that you want to manage. Boundaries can be an IP subnet, Active Directory site name, IPv6 Prefix, or an IP address range, and it can include any combination of these elements. To use a boundary you must add the boundary to one or more boundary groups. Boundary groups are collections of boundaries and they allow clients to find an assigned site and to locate content when they need to install software, such as applications, software updates, and operating system images.

 

Boundaries are no longer site-specific. Instead, you define them one time only for the hierarchy and they are available for all sites in the hierarchy. Each boundary must be a member of a boundary group before a device on that boundary can identify an assigned site or locate content on a distribution point. Each boundary represents a network location in Configuration Manager 2012 and it is available from every site in your hierarchy. A boundary does not enable you to manage clients at the network location. To manage a client, the boundary must be a member of a boundary group.

 

Content Location

 

You can associate one or more distribution points with each boundary group. You can also associate a distribution point with multiple boundary groups. When a client requests content for a deployment, Configuration Manager sends the client a list of distribution points that have the content and that are associated with a boundary group that includes the current network location of the client.

 

Configuration Manager 2012 supports overlapping boundary configurations for content location. When a client requests content and the client network location belongs to multiple boundary groups, Configuration Manager sends the client a list of all distribution points that have the content. This behavior enables the client to select the nearest server from which to download the content.

 

You can configure the network connection speed of each distribution point in a boundary group. Clients use this value when they connect to the distribution point. By default, the network connection speed is configured as Fast, but it can also be configured as Slow. The network connection speed and the deployment configuration determine whether a client can download content from a distribution point when the client is on an associated boundary.

 

 

Step 1. Creating Boundaries and Boundary Groups

 

Perform the following on the vNext server as SMSadmin

 

Click on the Administration workspace

 

 

In the navigation pane expand Site Hierarchy and then Boundaries, we havn't created any yet so nothing will appear, click on Create Boundary in the ribbon on top.

 

 

In the Create Boundary dialogue box, enter the following details, for Type box, choose IP address range from the drop down menu, and input 192.168.3.10 for the starting address and 192.168.3.100 for the ending address.

 

 

Click ok and your newly created boundary should appear.

 

 

Boundaries in SCCM 2012 do nothing unless they are assigned to a Boundary Group so click on Boundary Groups, nothing appears as we havn't configured any Boundary Groups yet. In order to assign clients to our site through discovery and for clients to access content from distribution points we need to create a Boundary Group with suitable boundaries.

 

Click on Create Boundary Group in the ribbon.

 

 

for Name type P01 Clients and click on Add to add our previously created boundary

 

 

when the Add boundaries dialogue box appears, select our previously created boundary and click ok.

 

 

Next click the References tab and select Use this boundary group for site assignment.

 

Note: Important, failure to place that checkmark will mean your Management Point won't work properly for this site.

 

 

Click on Add to Add site systems (distribution points and State Migration Poins) to our Boundary Group, select our vnext server listed and click ok.

 

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Step 2. Create an Active Directory Site

 

Complete this task on your Active Directory computer as Domain Admin.

 

Start up Active Directory sites and Services and click on Sites, the default site name of Default-First-Site-Name is listed.

 

 

We will create a custom AD site which is unique from other AD sites in our heirarchy. Right click on sites and choose New Site, when the New Sites wizard appears give it a name windows-noob-AD-site, select the DEFAULTIPSITELINK and click ok.

 

 

Note the message after creating the new AD Site

 

 

Right Click on Subnets, choose New Subnet

 

 

In the prefix box type 192.168.3.0/24 and select the windows-noob-AD-site

 

 

We have now assigned the 192.168.3.0/24 subnet to our newly created site, now lets move our Domain Controller (AD1) to the new AD site.

 

expand Default-First-Site-Name until you see AD1 listed. Right click on AD1 and choose Move

 

 

when prompted where to move the server, select the windows-noob-AD-site and click ok.

 

 

We have now moved our DC out of the Default AD site and to our custom AD site.

 

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Step 3. Enable Active Directory Forest Discovery

 

 

Active Directory Forest Discovery can discover Active Directory sites and subnets, and then create Configuration Manager boundaries for each site and subnet from the forests that you have configured for discovery. It supports a user-defined account to discover resources for each forest. It can publish to the Active Directory of a forest when publishing to that forest is enabled, and the specified account has permissions to that forest.

 

In the console click on Discovery Methods.

 

 

Double click on Active Directory Forest Discovery, note that this is a new feature in SCCM 2012. Select the following options

 

 

• Enable Active Directory Forest Discovery
  
• Automatically create Active Directory site boundaries when they are discovered
  

 

and click ok.

 

 

The discovery will be run every week by default, but we want to trigger it now, so click on Run Full Discovery now in the ribbon.

 

 

answer Yes when prompted

 

 

Click on Boundaries and click on the refresh icon to the right (refresh "boundaries"), after some moments the discovery has run and our Active Directory Site Boundary is listed under our previously created Boundary.

 

 

This discovery will create a new boundary for each Active Directory site that is discovered in the site servers forest. Remember that boundaries in SCCM 2012 do nothing unless added to a Boundary Group.

 

Right click our newly discovered Active Directory site (windows-noob-AD-site) and choose add selected items to existing Boundary Groups

 

 

place a checkmark in P01 Clients and click OK.

 

 

our newly discovered AD site is now added to an existing Boundary Group

 

[uid0]

Great guide, there isn't much out there explaining the SCCM 2012 install, after 3 days of struggling this guide saved me. FYI - Don't try to install this on a server that has been hardened with a strict GPO, talk about a nightmare.

[sripathy]

Nial continue ur great work and do post rest of ur efforts in beta2 OSD , packages .asset intelligence .applications and more features in beta2 . thanks for ur post

[Saiprasad Shetty]

I am using the default one

is it necessary to create a AD site cant is use the default one.

 

Step 2. Create an Active Directory Site

 

Complete this task on your Active Directory computer as Domain Admin.

[Peter van der Woude]

You can use whatever AD Site you want...

[vrkumar01]

Great guide as usual & you are the man for all the new babies who want to test SCCM 2012. Awesome

[n00blar]

Great guide!

 

The only thing different I did was, in step 2 - I went with the default AD site (Default-First-Site-Name). I wanted to keep my lab environment as close as I could to my production environment, and so far seems to be okay.

[GOZIEERIC]

Hello,

can i get a quick one on how to deply windows updates using SCCM2012?