SCCM 2007 installation in Windows Server 2008

you have first setup Windows Server 2008 and configured it for Active Directory, with DHCP. If you want to deploy operating systems within SCCM you will then also need the Windows Deployment Services installed.
You must have installed and configured IIS (for SCCM) and installed SQL Server 2005 SP2 (or SQL Server 2008 with this hotfix) and WSUS (you can install WSUS later if you want, it's only required for the SUP role).

 Run the prerequisite checker and fix the warnings/errors.

When the menu appears, click on Run the prerequisite checker, we'll do this to see if our Windows Server 2008 needs any additional tasks performed prior to installing SCCM 2007 sp1.

 

enter your servername as below (leave OUT the instance name or you may get errors explained in the Final Note)

 

this gave me two prerequisites which needed looking at, the AD Schema extensions, Microsoft Remote Differential compression.

 

If you want to get more details of the problems identified, then check c:\ConfigMgrPrereq.log (and c:\ConfigMgrSetup.log) or double click each warning/error in turn to get a short description (scrollable) of the problem.

Quote

<08-22-2008 10:33:16> WIN-2SDX7MZCDA7; Schema extensions; Warning; Configuration Manager Active Directory schema extensions are not required, for site server installation, but are recommended to fully support the use of all Configuration Manager features.

My first problem was that I needed to extend the Active directory schema, to do so I followed this guide.

Once I had extended the active directory schema, I ran the prerequisite checker again,

That left me with the RDC error,

Quote

The Microsoft Remote Differential Compression (RDC) library must be registered for Configuration Manager site server installation

That led me here and that in turn had this info

Quote

Site servers and branch distribution points require Remote Differential Compression (RDC) to generate package signatures and perform signature comparison. RDC is not installed by default on computers running Windows Server 2008 and is not installed automatically during Configuration Manager Setup. For information about installing RDC on Windows Server 2008 computers, see How to Configure Windows Server 2008 for Site System Roles.

Site servers and branch distribution points require Remote Differential Compression (RDC) to generate package signatures and perform signature comparison. RDC is not installed by default on computers running Windows Server 2008.

To add Remote Differential Compression to site servers and branch distribution points

In Server Manager, on the Features node, start the Add Features Wizard.



On the Select Features page, select Remote Differential Compression, and then click Next.



Complete the rest of the wizard by clicking install then close.




Now run the prerequisite checker again and the RDC error should be gone

 

Once you have no warnings or errors, please proceed to Part 2.







Final Note: if you entered the instance name at the start of this guide, you may get an error which states

Quote

Either the user account running Configuration Manager Setup does not have sysadmin SQL Server role permissions on the SQL Server instance targeted for site database installation or the SQL Server instance could not be contacted to verify permissions. Setup cannot continue.

The Technet page for Setup Prerequisite checks states:-

Quote

A SQL Server best practice is to remove the Builtin\Administrators group from the sysadmin role on installed SQL Server instances. If the Builtin\Administrators group has been removed from the sysadmin role, the user account running Configuration Manager Setup must be granted sysadmin role permissions for setup to succeed.

Part 2. Install it !

Start the SCCM 2007 SP1 DVD and click on Configuration Manager 2007 SP1 under Install

 

review the welcome screen

 

Choose the first option, Install a Configuration Manager site server

 

accept the license...

 

Next we get to choose the type of installation, as we want to see all the options, choose Custom

 

For Site Type, stick with the default (primary site)

 

decide if you want to participate in CEIP

 

Specify your key

 

where to install it

 

enter your Site Settings and Site Code name

 

For the mode type, choose mixed mode (it is easier to setup and we can always migrate to Native mode in the future).

 

specify your client agent settings...

 

enter your Database server details

 

specify your SMS provider settings

 

Note: The SMS Provider can be installed on the site database server computer, site server computer, or another server class computer  (during setup at this point). The SMS Provider is used by the Configuration Manager  console, Resource Explorer, tools and custom scripts used by Configuration Manager Admins to access site information stored in the site database.

specify the management point

 

decide your TCP port settings

 

check for updates 

 

create a local folder to store these updates if necessary

 

updates will be downloaded...

 

once done, click ok to review your settings summary

 

and click Next to start the prerequisite check (final)

as everything is ok, you can click on Begin Install

 

After a long wait you should see this

 

lets launch the configuration manager after closing

 

and click on Finish to finish the installation.

Congratulations, SCCM 2007 SP1 is now installed ! 

Note: At this point REBOOT your server.

Prerequisites for Installing Configuration Manager

Before installing Configuration Manager 2007 or implementing new features, ensure that you have verified that your computing environment meets the following prerequisites:

• General site system prerequisites
  
• Configuration Manager primary site server prerequisites
  
• Site database server prerequisites
  
• SMS Provider prerequisites
  
• Configuration Manager secondary site server prerequisites
  
• Configuration Manager console
  
• Configuration Manager feature prerequisites

General Site System Prerequisites

All site servers must be a member of an Active Directory domain.

Internet Information Services (IIS) 6.0 or later is required if the system will perform any of the following site system roles:

Background Intelligent Transfer Service (BITS)-enabled distribution point. This role requires BITS server extensions and Web Distributed Authoring and Versioning (WebDAV) extensions. IIS is not required if the distribution point will not be BITS-enabled.

Management point. This role requires BITS server IIS extensions and WebDAV IIS extensions.

Reporting point. This role requires Active Server pages.

Fallback status point. This role requires BITS server IIS extensions.

Software update point

Server locator point

• All Configuration Manager distribution point systems using BITS bandwidth throttling require BITS 2.0 or later.
  
• Management points and server locator points configured to be part of a Network Load Balancing (NLB) cluster are supported.
  
• All site servers require Internet Explorer 5.0 or later.
  
• Windows Server 2008 is the only supported operating system for hosting the System Health Validator point site system role.
  
• Site servers and branch distribution points require Remote Differential Compression (RDC) to generate package signatures and perform signature comparison. 

Configuration Manager Primary Site Server Prerequisites

The following software must be installed before running Setup on a server to support the primary site server role:

• Microsoft Management Console (MMC) 3.0. MMC 3.0 is available for download athttp://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkID=55423.
  
• .NET Framework 2.0. .NET Framework 2.0 is available for download at http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkID=56407.
  
• If applicable, the following update should also be applied to the system before running Setup:
  
  
  • MS06-030: Vulnerability in Server Message Block could allow elevation of privilege (http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=79239).
    

Site Database Server Prerequisites

Configuration Manager 2007 primary sites require access to a SQL Server database to host the site database. The site database can be hosted on a SQL Server instance installed on the same server as the primary site, on a remote computer, or on a virtual SQL Server cluster instance. The following conditions apply:

• SQL Server 2005, Service Pack 2 is the earliest version of SQL Server supported for hosting the Configuration Manager 2007 site database. For more information about the SQL Server versions that are supported to host the site database, see Configuration Manager Supported Configurations.
  
• SQL Server Express editions are not supported for hosting the Configuration Manager 2007 site database.
  
• The SQL database service is the only SQL Server component required to be installed to host the site database.
  

SMS Provider Prerequisites

Because Configuration Manager 2007 allows you to install the SMS Provider on a computer other than the site server or site database server, you should check to ensure that the computer you have identified to install the SMS Provider on meets the following prerequisites:

• The SMS Provider must be installed on a computer in the same domain as the site server and site database server site systems.
  
  

  Important
  The SMS Provider must be installed on a computer with the same operating system language as the site server's operating system language when a site contains site servers or clients with different language operating systems installed.

• The SMS Provider cannot be installed on a virtual SQL Server cluster computer or a physical computer hosting a virtual SQL Server cluster node.
  
• The SMS Provider cannot be installed on a computer already hosting the SMS Provider for another site.
  
• If applicable, the following updates should also be applied to the system before installing the SMS Provider:
  
  
  • MS06-030: Vulnerability in Server Message Block could allow elevation of privilege (http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=79239).
    
  • Availability of Windows Server 2003 Post-Service Pack 1 COM+ 1.5 Hotfix Rollup Package 6 (http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=79240).
    

Configuration Manager Secondary Site Server Prerequisites

If applicable, the following updates should be applied to the system before installing a secondary site server:

• "A custom program that uses the RegConnectRegistry function can no longer access the registry of a remote computer in Windows Server 2003 with Service Pack 1 or in an x64-based version of Windows Server 2003", described in Knowledge Base article 906570 (http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkID=60872).
  
• "MS06-030: Vulnerability in Server Message Block could allow elevation of privilege" (http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=79239).
  

Configuration Manager Console Prerequisites

Before installing the Configuration Manager console on a remote computer, you should ensure that it meets the minimum requirements outlined in the Configuration Manager supported configurations, as well as the following installation prerequisites:

• Microsoft Management Console (MMC) 3.0. MMC 3.0 can be downloaded from http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkID=55423.
  
• .NET Framework 2.0. .NET Framework 2.0 can be downloaded from http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkID=56407.
  

Configuration Manager Feature Prerequisites

Some Configuration Manager 2007 features have specific prerequisites for installation or use. Before implementing the following features, ensure that you meet their specific prerequisite requirements as described in the following topics:

• Prerequisites for Native Mode
  
• Prerequisites for Internet-Based Client Management
  
• Prerequisites for Reporting
  
• Prerequisites for Software Distribution
  
• Prerequisites for Software Updates
  
• Prerequisites for Desired Configuration Management
  
• Prerequisites for Network Access Protection
  
• Prerequisites for Wake On LAN
  
• Prerequisites for Out of Band Management 

VMware ESX Server Basics

We have 3 Node(Node = ESX Host) cluster with ISCSI SAN Storage attached.

Node1 Summary View

Physical sockets=2  , Physical CPU per socket= 1, Core Per CPU=4

So Total core:-  2x4=8 , Each core is 2.294Ghz

Total Computing power is :-  8x2.294 GHz=18.352 GHz

Here we have not enable HyperThreding so total logical Processors its showing is = 8 Logical processor

If we enable Hyperthreding then we should get double of it i. e   8x2=16 Logical processors

 but this will not increase total computing power because it is depend on your total core and not logical processors……….:)

Below figure shows that after enabling Hyperthreding in 2 sockets Node with 4 cores per sockets.

It showing 16 logical processors……………Grt

2 (sockets) x 4 (Cores per sockets) x 2 (Hyperthreding) = 16 logical Processors

But total compute capacity i.e. CPU Capacity is= 8 (total cores) X 2.393 GHz 

Below is the Virtual machine running on 3 node cluster

Now here we have given 1 vCPU and 2 GB RAM to this Virtual machine and install Windows 2008 R2 Enterprise Edition  64 Bit OS

In windows its showing Quad-Core AMD processor with 2.29 GHz and in task manager its showing 1 core of processor.

And my node is licenced with Enterprise licensed type its showing 6 cores per CPU

And with enterprise plus licensed type its gives 12 core per CPU and 8 way virtual SMP

Now when I tried to edit the Virtual processors and change it to MAX available value i.e. 8

Oh wait from where this MAX Virtual processors value came from …. My license type doesn't say anything about this then it must be the MAX total core in my node…… Yah that’s gr8 we found the link between vCPU and Physical core of the node.

Ok now I change the vCPU from 1 to MAX 8 and try to boot the Virtual machine………

Ohh no there is an error …….

It says that virtual machine has 8 virtual CPUs but host support only 4.  Oh no, then I am not able to use 8 vCPU.

I went to check where the exact problem is? Is this the guest OS limitation or my host licence?

My guest OS is Windows 2008 R2 Enterprise Edition which Supports Upto 8 CPU then it must be a problem with Host License ok let me check that as well.

Ok here is my license type Enterprise License with 2 physical CPUs and 1-6 Core per CPU

It looks good then what is the 4-Way virtual SMP ………

Here is the definition of SMP from VMware

“4-Way VMware Virtual SMP (symmetric multiprocessing). With the power of up to four physical processors available to each virtual machine”

Now we can conclude that 4-way SMP it the blocking point for us, so we can’t use more than 4 vCPU to any guest regardless of Guest OS type.

Let’s check by giving 5 vCPU to same guest………….

Yah same error 

So I give 4 vCPU and starts Virtual machine.

Ok I have one more server node of ESX having different license file.

Here its enterprise plus and 8 way SMP

And I checked here Virtual machine with windows 2008 R2 Ent. Edition having 8 vCPU

 And in windows its showing 8 processors wow gr8.

From above figure we can see how memory has been allocated to Virtual machine

Starting from bottom 512 MB and 4 GB are the default memory Tab from Operating system, as guest os is windows 2008 so recommended is 4 GB.

Now third tab is “Maximum recommended for best performance” and it’s 32GB Ohh what is that?

Its MAX memory installed on Node... Remember we have 32GB physical memory installed on Node1.

Ok then what is the fourth Tab about 255 GB RAM…ok now we can get that this is the max memory supported by that Node as per our ESX license file ……256 GB max supported in Enterprise license

And for enterprise plus there is no RAM limitation.

2.294 GHz X 4 vCPU = 9.176 GHz total computing power allocated to Virtual Machine

CPU resource allocation

Share: - Low=1, Normal=2, High=4

So in above condition when Low share selected it allocating

Share Values
Setting	CPU share values	Memory share values
High	2000 shares per virtual CPU	20 shares per megabyte of configured virtual machine memory.
Normal	1000 shares per virtual CPU	10 shares per megabyte of configured virtual machine memory.
Low	500 shares per virtual CPU	5 shares per megabyte of configured virtual machine memory.

For example, an SMP virtual machine with two virtual CPUs and 1GB RAM with CPU and memory shares set to Normal has 2x1000=2000 shares of CPU and 10x1024=10240 shares of memory.

Note

Virtual machines with more than one virtual CPU are called SMP (symmetric multiprocessing) virtual machines. ESX/ESXi supports up to eight virtual CPUs per virtual machine. This is also called eight-way SMP support.

The relative priority represented by each share changes when a new virtual machine is powered on. This affects all virtual machines in the same resource pool. All of the virtual machines have the same number of VCPUs. Consider the following examples.

■	Two CPU-bound virtual machines run on a host with 8GHz of aggregate CPU capacity. Their CPU shares are set to Normal and get 4GHz each.
■	A third CPU-bound virtual machine is powered on. Its CPU shares value is set to High, which means it should have twice as many shares as the machines set to Normal. The new virtual machine receives 4GHz and the two other machines get only 2GHz each. The same result occurs if the user specifies a custom share value of 2000 for the third virtual machine.