Microsoft System Center 2012 Unleashed

Chris Amaris, MCITP, MCTS, CISSP/ISSAP, CHS III, is the chief technology officer and cofounder of Convergent Computing. He has more than 20 years experience consulting for Fortune 500 companies, leading companies in the technology selection, design, planning, and implementation of complex information technology projects. Chris has worked with Microsoft System Center products, such as Operations Manager and Configuration Manager, since their original releases in 2000 and 1994. He specializes in messaging, security, performance tuning, systems management, and migration. Receiving his first Microsoft technologies certification in 1993, Chris is a current Microsoft Certified IT Professional (MCITP) with multiple Microsoft Certified Technology Specialist designations (MCTS) in System Center technologies, a Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP) with an Information System Security Architecture Professional (ISSAP) concentration, Certified Homeland Security (CHS III), a Novell CNE, a Banyan CBE, and a Certified Project Manager. Chris is also an author, writer, and technical editor for a number of IT books, including Network Security for Government and Corporate Executives, Exchange 2010 Unleashed, and Microsoft Windows Server 2008 R2 Unleashed.

Rand Morimoto, Ph.D., MVP, MCITP, CISSP, has been in the computer industry for over 30 years and has authored, coauthored, or been a contributing writer for dozens of books on Windows, Security, Exchange, BizTalk, and Remote and Mobile Computing. Rand is the president of Convergent Computing, an IT-consulting firm in the San Francisco Bay area that has been one of the key early adopter program partners with Microsoft, implementing the latest Microsoft technologies, including Microsoft Windows Server 2008 R2, System Center 2012, Windows 7, Exchange Server 2010, Windows Server 2012, and SharePoint 2010 in production environments over 18 months before the initial product releases.

Pete Handley, MCITP, CISSP, has more than 15 years of experience in IT, including extensive knowledge of Active Directory, Microsoft Exchange, Windows Server 2008, and the System Center suite of products. He has been a contributing author for the Sams books Microsoft Exchange 2003 Unleashed and Windows PowerShell Unleashed. Pete specializes in Visual Basic and PowerShell scripting and is a subject matter expert on the integration and migration of Novell technologies to Microsoft technologies. Pete holds the Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer 2003 (MCSE) certification, the Microsoft Certified Information Technology Professional (MCITP) certification, the Novell Certified Directory Engineer (CDE) certification, and the Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP) certification.

David E. Ross, MCITP, VCP, CCEA, CCSP, has over 13 years of experience in IT consulting, the majority of which have been spent playing the lead architect role on network design and implementation projects throughout the San Francisco Bay area. David is currently acting as a principal engineer for Convergent Computing, and is frequently involved in creating hybrid solutions involving multiple vendor technologies for organizations of all sizes. Specialties for David include Active Directory, Exchange, System Center, Lync, Citrix XenApp and XenDesktop design, virtualization solutions using VMware vSphere and Microsoft Hyper-V, and Cisco routing, switching, and security technologies.

Introduction    1
1  Overview of the System Center Suite    5
What Is System Center?    6
Understanding System Center Configuration Manager    9
Understanding System Center Operations Manager    18
Understanding System Center Data Protection Manager    26
Understanding System Center Virtual Machine Manager    34
Understanding System Center Service Manager    40
Understanding System Center 2012 Orchestrator    45
Understanding System Center Licensing    50
Summary    51
Best Practices    52
2  Configuration Manager 2012 Design and Planning    55
What’s New in ConfigMgr 2012    56
Explaining How Configuration Manager Works    60
Understanding Content Distribution    66
Understanding Asset Management    70
Reporting from Configuration Manager    74
Configuration Manager Architecture Components    75
Securing Configuration Manager    88
Understanding Component Requirements    92
Configuration Manager Design Considerations    94
Understanding Client Schedules    105
Planning for Internet-Based Client Management    106
Putting It All Together in a Design    110
Summary    112
Best Practices    112
3  Configuration Manager 2012 Implementation and Administration    115
Sample Organization    115
Configuring Installation Prerequisites    118
Implementing the Central Administration Site    124
Deploying the Primary Sites    129
Deploying the Secondary Sites    134
Configuring the Hierarchy    138
Configuring Sites    148
Configuring Client Settings    156
Implementing Internet-Based Client Management    163
Summary    177
Best Practices    178
4  Using Configuration Manager 2012 to Distribute Applications, Updates, and Operating Systems    181
Understanding Content Distribution    181
Defining Collections    185
Understanding Application Management    189
Managing Deployments    203
Understanding Software Updates    215
Deploying Software Updates    219
Understanding Operating System Deployment    225
Deploying Operating Systems    234
Extending with Microsoft Deployment Toolkit    238
Summary    243
Best Practices    243
5  Using Configuration Manager 2012 for Asset Management and Reporting    245
Understanding Asset Data    246
Configuring Client Settings for Inventory Collection    248
Understanding Reporting    249
Customizing Hardware Inventory    261
Understanding Asset Intelligence    269
Understanding Software Metering    277
Understanding Compliance Settings    278
Monitoring the Baselines and Compliance    283
Summary    285
Best Practices    285
6  Operations Manager 2012 Design and Planning    289
What’s New With Operations Manager 2012    290
Understanding How OpsMgr Works    291
OpsMgr Architecture Components    296
Securing OpsMgr    311
Fault Tolerance and Disaster Recovery    317
Understanding OpsMgr Component Requirements    323
OpsMgr Design Considerations    328
Putting It All Together in a Design    335
Planning an Operations Manager Deployment    345
Summary    353
Best Practices    354
7  Operations Manager 2012 Implementation and Administration    355
Installing Operations Manager 2012    356
Deploying OpsMgr Agents    373
Monitoring DMZ Servers with Certificates    385
Configuring Operations Manager 2012    393
Administering Operations Manager 2012    403
Backing Up OpsMgr 2012    411
Summary    418
Best Practices    418
8  Using Operations Manager 2012 for Monitoring and Alerting    421
Using OpsMgr Consoles    422
Working with Management Packs    425
Exploring the Operations Manager Management Pack    432
Exploring the Windows Management Pack    440
Exploring the Active Directory Management Pack    451
Exploring the Exchange 2010 Management Pack    466
Exploring the SQL Server Management Pack    478
Exploring the Cross Platform Management Packs    487
Management Pack Templates    491
Custom Management Packs    503
Summary    508
Best Practices    508
9  Using Operations Manager 2012 for Operations and Security Reporting    511
Reporting from OpsMgr    512
Generating and Scheduling Reports    514
OpsMgr 2012 Maintenance Reports    532
Audit Collection Services Reporting    541
Service Level Tracking    548
OpsMgr 2012 Dashboards    554
Publishing Dashboards into SharePoint 2010    561
Summary    565
Best Practices    566
10  Data Protection Manager 2012 Design, Planning, Implementation, and Administration    567
What Is System Center Data Protection Manager?    568
Data Protection Manager Background    572
Data Protection Manager Prerequisites    578
Planning a Data Protection Manager Deployment    580
Deploying Data Protection Manager    587
Completing Required Configuration Tasks    591
Creating Protection Groups    601
Administrating Data Protection Manager    606
Summary    616
Best Practices    617
11  Using Data Protection Manager 2012 to Protect File Systems, Exchange, SQL, and SharePoint    619
Protecting File Servers    620
Protecting System State    622
Protecting Exchange Servers    624
Protecting SQL Servers    635
Protecting SharePoint Farms    643
Protecting Virtualized Environments    654
Summary    660
Best Practices    661
12  Virtual Machine Manager 2012 Design, Planning, and Implementation    663
Understanding Virtual Machine Manager    663
Virtual Machine Manager Background    673
What’s New in System Center Virtual Machine Manager 2012    677
Virtual Machine Manager Prerequisites    678
Planning a Virtual Machine Manager Deployment    682
Deploying Virtual Machine Manager    687
Summary    700
Best Practices    701
13  Managing a Hyper-V Environment with Virtual Machine Manager 2012    703
Understanding the VMM Private Cloud    704
Using the VMM Management Interfaces    707
Understanding Virtual Machine Conversions    716
Managing VMM User Roles    729
Deploying Virtual Machines    740
Migrating Virtual Machines    747
Understanding and Implementing Server App-V    753
Summary    758
Best Practices    759
14  Service Manager 2012 Design, Planning, and Implementation    761
What’s New in Service Manager 2012    762
Explaining How Service Manager Works    763
Service Manager Design Parameters    769
Putting It All Together in a Service Manager Design    775
Planning a Service Manager Deployment    783
Deploying Service Manager    791
Deploying Service Manager Connectors    805
Backing Up Service Manager 2012    814
Summary    817
Best Practices    817
15  Using Service Manager 2012 for Incident Tracking and Help Desk Support    819
Incidents and Problems    819
Configuring Incident Settings    821
Service Manager Notifications    830
Creating New Incidents    836
Working with Incidents    846
Configuring Problem Settings    856
Working with Problems    859
Incident and Problem Reports    863
Summary    869
Best Practices    870
16  Using Service Manager 2012 for Service Offerings and Change Control Management    871
Service Manager 2012 and the Infrastructure Optimization Model    871
Service Offerings and Request Offerings in SM 2012    872
Release Management in SM 2012    882
Change Requests and Activities    885
Configuring Change Settings    887
Change Management Templates and Workflows    889
Initiating Change Requests    892
Working with and Approving Change Requests    896
Implementing Change Requests    903
Managing Configuration Items    910
Working with Change, Activity, and Configuration Management Reports    914
Summary    919
Best Practices    920
17  System Center Orchestrator 2012 Design, Planning, and Implementation    921
Overview of System Center Orchestrator    921
History of System Center Orchestrator    924
System Center Orchestrator 2012 Installation Prerequisites    924
Orchestrator Security Planning    926
Installing System Center Orchestrator 2012 on a Single Server    928
Installing System Center Orchestrator 2012 on Separate Systems    933
Additional Tasks Following Orchestrator Installation    939
Getting Familiar with the Orchestrator 2012 Management Consoles    942
Installing Integration Packs    949
Designing and Using Runbooks    952
Runbook Permissions    967
Summary    967
Best Practices    968
Index    969