24 May 2008

Reinstall OpsMgr SP1 Reporting Server - Part II

This post is actually an extension of what I want to share on my previous posting on Reinstall OpsMgr SP1 Reporting Server. The scenario which I am going to share on this post is to reinstall OpsMgr SP1 Reporting Server WITHOUT reinstalling SQL Server Reporting Services (SSRS). The steps are pretty similar with what I have shared in my earlier post but there are few steps needs to be done before we can reinstall OpsMgr SP1 Reporting Server.
  1. Open OpsMgr Console, export Default Management Pack
  2. Edit the exported xml file to remove reference to Microsoft.Datawarehouse.Internal and also any Overrides as well
  3. Remove the Default Management Pack
  4. Remove the Microsoft.Datawarehouse.Internal MP and also Microsoft ODR MP
  5. Re-import the Default Management Pack from the xml file that you have edited earlier
  6. Remove Reporting Server via Add/Remove Programs
  7. Run ResetSRS tool (this tool is available in your Installation CD\Support Tools) to reset
    • Run it via Command Prompt: ResetSRS
  8. Reconfigure SSRS by going to Reporting Services Configuration Tool. Click on Web Service Identity (which should yield an error symbol) and Click Apply.
  9. Reinstall OpsMgr SP1 Reporting Server
  10. Add OpsMgr SDK account as a member of Windows Authorization Access Group.
  11. Wait for a while ( 20 minutes ) and the reports will start to list one by one

15 May 2008

Reinstall OpsMgr SP1 Reporting Server

I came to learn it the hard way of not toying with IIS configuration. What started with just running a simple command to switch IIS to run on Win32 Application pool eventually messed up my Reporting Server and even repairing of Reporting Server SP1 couldn't do the trick. Frantic search over the internet didn't help much and so I am left with no choice but to reinstall Reporting Server. Installation went well but then reports can't be generated and so looks like reinstalling of SQL Server Reporting Services (SSRS) is my only choice now. This is what I did along the way on my OpsMgr server;
  1. Open OpsMgr Console, export Default Management Pack
  2. Edit the exported xml file to remove reference to Microsoft.Datawarehouse.Internal and also any Overrides as well
  3. Remove the Default Management Pack
  4. Remove the Microsoft.Datawarehouse.Internal MP and also Microsoft ODR MP
  5. Re-import the Default Management Pack from the xml file that you have edited earlier
  6. Remove Reporting Server via Add/Remove Programs
  7. Remove SSRS via Add/Remove Programs
  8. Remove the necessary Application Pools within IIS (Report Manager and Report Server)
  9. Log on to SQL Server Management Studio and Remove the following Database
    • OperationManagerDW
    • ReportServer
    • ReportServerTempDB
  10. Install SSRS and Upgrade to SP2
  11. Run Reporting Service Config Tool and ensure that you have configured
    • SSRS Virtual Directory
    • Reporting Server DB
    • Encryption Keys
    • Web Service
  12. Install OpsMgr Reporting SP1
  13. Wait a second, how come the reports list doesn't flow in ? For this, I did something extra. I went to my DC to add my SDK account as a member of Windows Authorization Access Group group.
  14. Wait for a while ( 20 minutes ) and the reports will start to list one by one
  15. Give the reports a few tests and that should do the trick.

03 May 2008

ConfigMgrSP1 Lab: PreReq & Installation

Started building my ConfigMgr SP1 lab on the recently released RC version. Few things I would like to share out.
One being the preRequisites checker. Though this is a minor thing, but it can save you alot of time if you do things right at the first time. Get all the things prepared before you start installing else you will waste a lot of time finding/requesting them.
The other would be a trick (which I tried) which is to reuse the preReq components that was downloaded for the RTM version on SP1, again this might be a small thing to take note but it can save you alot of time if you get this ready as well.

Pre-Req for Installation of ConfigMgrSP1:
  • .NET Framework 2.0
    • Standard preReq
  • SQL Server 2005 Standard SP2
    • Standard preReq
  • MS XML 6.0 Core Services Installed
    • Standard preReq
  • Software Update KB 932303 (http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=93927)
    • The WMI service may stop responding on Configuration Manager site systems with the .NET 2.0 framework installed.) IIS installed (with BITs and WebDAV installed and enabled
  • WSUS 3.0 SP1 Installed (http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkID=79477)
    • Required for Software Update Point
  • Windows Remote Management v1.1 (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/KB936059)
    • Required for Out Of Band console and must be installed on the primary site
  • Windows 2003-based schannel hotfix
  • MMC Update for ConfigMgr (Software Update)
    • This software update addresses several MMC errors that may occur when running the Configuration Manager console. This update should be applied if any of the following occur: Configuration Manager console stops responding when the host computer is low on available memory, context menu errors on console home pages, or inconsistent display after drag-and-drop operations do not succeed.
    • NOTE: * You need to request for this hotfix as it is not released for public download yet. Kindly visit : (http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=98349) to request for the hotfix

Tips & Tricks

Question: Can I use the previous pre-Requisite Components that was downloaded into my local directory (e.g. C:\Downloads) and just download the updated copy ?

Answer: Yes you can, just rename the existing ConfigMgr.Manifest.cab file and re-initiate download. ConfigMgr will go and download the latest ConfigMgr.Manifest.cab file and you only have 4 files to be downloaded from internet compared to 89 files altogether which are:
      • WindowsUpdateAgent30-x86.exe
      • WindowsUpdateAgent30-x64.exe
      • WindowsUpdateAgent30-ia64.exe
      • ccmsetup.cab

That's it for now ...

01 May 2008

OpsMgr: Monitoring Domain Controllers

Encountered this issue a number of times.
When you install an agent to Domain Controllers (DC), you might notice that the color of
state of the agent is "gray" though it is indicating that it is healthy all the time.

New Bitmap Image

CAUSE:
The System Center Operations Manager 2007 agent uses the Run As Profile that is named Privileged Monitoring Account to process Health Service configuration. By default, the Privileged Monitoring Account profile uses the Local System account.

When you configure the agent to use a domain user as the Default Action Account on a domain controller, the Health Service Lockdown Tool (HSLockdown.exe) is automatically run at installation. The Health Service Lockdown Tool denies Health Service access to the NT AUTHORITY\SYSTEM security principal.

In this scenario, only the NT AUTHORITY\Authenticated Users security principal is allowed access to the Health Service. But when the Active Directory is hardened, or the agent is misconfigured, the Local System account cannot authenticate through the Authenticated Users security principal. Therefore, the agent cannot process Health Service configuration information.
TROUBLESHOOT:
  • Take a look at your DC, go to Command Prompt and open your OpsMgr folder
  • Type "hslockdown /L" to list the Accounts Permission for your Management Group. The result should look like this:

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  • As you can see, NT AUTHORITY\SYSTEM account is being denied.

RESOLUTION:

  • To resolve this, we have to remove NT AUTHORITY\SYSTEM from the Denied list.
  • In the command prompt, type hslockdown "{Management Group Name}" /R "NT AUTHORITY\SYSTEM"
  • Restart your Health Service for your DC
  • Repeat the steps above for every DC's that you are monitoring.
  • That should do the trick !

Untitled

NOTE: Some of you might ask, what does hslockdown.exe being used for ? How come I didn't come to know about it? Some information for you.

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb309542.aspx

Happy Learning ...