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Introduction: I use Hyper-V in my LAB and that's what all these virtual machines will be running on. In my lab, I have Windows Server 2012 Datacenter installed as the server OS on the host machine. All other virtual machines will be running Windows Server 2012 Standard edition, with the graphical user interface (GUI). My hardware consists of the following: Intel Xeon E5-2620 Asus P90X79 WS 64 GB G.Skill Ripjaws Z Series 2 x 256 GB / 1 x 512 GB Samsung 840 Pro Series SSD High Level Plan Here is a high level of what we are going to complete in this initial part of the series. Create the Lab Environment Install the Operating System Install Active Directory Domain Services Install SQL Server Install System Center Service Manager So now let’s start with the first part, system requirements and creating the lab environment. System Requirements Note: The following TechNet articles describe the Hardware and Software requirements for deploying Service Manager. This is the largest deployment (as far as VMs go) even in a lab. This is because we cannot deploy Service Manager on a single server, even in a lab/POC environment. In fact, even Microsoft’s single computer scenario, actually tells you to install it on a physical host with a VM for the warehouse! And that doesn’t even take into account the SharePoint server needed for the self-service portal. So in our lab example, we will have 3 VMs. The first VM will have the Service Manager Management Server, Service Manager Database, and Service Manager Console. The second VM will have the Data Warehouse Management Server and the Data Warehouse Database. The third VM will be for SharePoint and the self-service portal. Service Manager Management Server 4-Core 2.66 GHz CPU 8 GB of RAM 10 GB of available disk space ADO.NET Data Services Update for .NET Framework 3.5 SP1 for Windows Server 2008 R2 SQL Server 2008 R2 Native Client or SQL Server 2012 Native client Microsoft Report Viewer Redistributable Service Manager Database 8-core 2.66 gigahertz (GHz) CPU 8 gigabytes (GB) of RAM for 20,000 users, 32 GB of RAM for 50,000 users 80 GB of available disk space RAID Level 1 or Level 10 drive SQL Server Reporting Services (SSRS) The SQL Server and Analysis Services collation settings must be the same for the computers hosting the Service Manager database, data warehouse database, analysis services database, and Reporting Services database. For Service Manager in System Center 2012 SP1 and and System Center 2012 R2 Service Manager: SQL Server 2012 Analysis Management Objects, which are part of the SQL Server 2012 Feature Pack, are required regardless of the SQL Server version that you use Service Manager Console 2-core 2.0 GHz CPU 4 GB of RAM 10 GB of available disk space Microsoft Report Viewer Redistributable You must have Microsoft Excel 2007 or later installed in order view OLAP data cubes on the computer running the Service Manager console. ADO.NET Data Services Update for .NET Framework 3.5 SP1 for Windows Server 2008 R2 For Service Manager in System Center 2012 SP1 and System Center 2012 R2 Service Manager: SQL Server 2012 Analysis Management Objects are required regardless of the SQL Server version that you use Data Warehouse Management Server 4-Core 2.66 GHz CPU 8 GB of RAM When a data warehouse management group and SQL Server Analysis Services are hosted on a single server, it should contain at least 16 GB RAM. 10 GB of available disk space SQL Server 2008 R2 Native Client or SQL Server 2012 Native client Data Warehouse Databases 8-core 2.66 GHz CPU 8 GB of RAM for 20,000 users, 32 GB of RAM for 50,000 users 400 GB of available disk space RAID Level 1 or Level (1+0) drive SQL Server Reporting Services (SSRS) The SQL Server and Analysis Services collation settings must be the same for the computers hosting the Service Manager database, data warehouse database, analysis services database, and Reporting Services database. For Service Manager in System Center 2012 SP1 and and System Center 2012 R2 Service Manager: SQL Server 2012 Analysis Management Objects, which are part of the SQL Server 2012 Feature Pack, are required regardless of the SQL Server version that you use Self-Service Portal: Web Content Server with SharePoint Web Parts 8-Core 2.66 GHz CPU 8-core, 64-bit CPU for medium deployments 16 GB of RAM for 20,000 users, 32 GB of RAM for 50,000 users 80 GB of available hard disk space Microsoft Internet Information Services (IIS) 7 with IIS 6 metabase compatibility A Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) certificate can be used on the IIS server that hosts the Self-Service Portal For Service Manager in System Center 2012 SP1 and System Center 2012 R2 Service Manager: SQL Server 2012 Analysis Management Objects are required regardless of the SQL Server version that you use Create the Lab Environment: Hyper-V Configuration As mentioned, my environment uses Hyper-V. So, we’re going to start by configuring Hyper-V for our needs, and creating the Virtual Machines (VMs) required for our lab. The first thing we need to do is setup a Virtual Switch for the VMs to connect through. Launch Server Manager, click on Tools, and select Hyper-V Manager. When Hyper-V loads, it will have nothing in it. Even if we were to create a VM, it wouldn’t have a network connection to use. So we’ll start with creating a Virtual Switch. As you can from my screenshot, I have 2 LAN ports on my host. One of them has a connection to my home network and the Internet. In the Hyper-V Manager, click the Virtual Switch Manager from the Actions pane. Now, click on the Create Virtual Switch button. From here, you now need to configure the virtual switch that your VMs will use. Give it a name to clearly identify it (in my case I called it ‘External Network’), and choose the connection type. For more information about virtual networks, see the following TechNet article: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc816585(v=ws.10).aspx. Here is an excerpt from the article: External virtual networks. Use this type when you want to provide virtual machines with access to a physical network to communicate with externally located servers and clients. This type of virtual network also allows virtual machines on the same virtualization server to communicate with each other. This type of network may also be available for use by the management operating system, depending on how you configure the networking. (The management operating system runs the Hyper-V role.) For more information, see “A closer look at external virtual networks” later in this topic. Internal virtual networks. Use this type when you want to allow communication between virtual machines on the same virtualization server and between virtual machines and the management operating system. This type of virtual network is commonly used to build a test environment in which you need to connect to the virtual machines from the management operating system. An internal virtual network is not bound to a physical network adapter. As a result, an internal virtual network is isolated from all external network traffic. Private virtual networks. Use this type when you want to allow communication only between virtual machines on the same virtualization server. A private virtual network is not bound to a physical network adapter. A private virtual network is isolated from all external network traffic on the virtualization server, as well any network traffic between the management operating system and the external network. This type of network is useful when you need to create an isolated networking environment, such as an isolated test domain. For our demonstration, we are going to use an External Network so that the VMs can communicate with the Host system. Make all the appropriate selections and so forth, and then press OK. You may encounter the following warning message. This is because we are remotely connecting to the Host machine using the same network connection that we are about to setup as a Virtual Switch (hence selecting the ‘Allow management operating system to share this network adapter’ checkbox). Press ‘Yes’ to the dialog. Now that we have the virtual switch setup, we can start creating VMs for our lab. Create the Virtual Machines Let’s now create the VM’s we will need for the lab, specifically one for Active Directory, and 3 for Service Manager (since we can’t install all roles on the same server). In Hyper-V Manager, from the Actions pane, click on New and choose Virtual Machine. On the New Virtual Machine wizard beginning screen, click read the information presented and then click Next. Enter a name for the VM. Note that this is NOT the name the VM will have within the Operating System (unless you name it the same), but rather, used as an identifier in Hyper-V Manager. After you have entered a name, click Next. Now assign the amount of memory you want your VM to have, and then press Next. This is the screen where you connect your VM to the network that we created, then press Next. This is the screen where you configure how large a hard drive the VM will have. Make the appropriate customizations and click Next. For the Installation Options, choose if you will install an OS later, or if you want to use an ISO, then click Next. On the Summary screen, review your selections and entries, and click Finish. Once the VM is created, it will appear in the Hyper-V Manager. If you want to configure further settings, like the number of CPUs and mounting an OS ISO, right click on the VM and choose Settings or click on Settings from the Actions pane. Repeat these steps for each VM you need to create, in our case one for Active Directory and 3 for Service Manager. Here are the settings I have used for each of the VM’s: Active Directory: Virtual Machine Name: AD Memory: 2048 MBNOTE: Active Directory doesn’t need 2 GB of RAM, it will run fine with 512 MB. I just increased the RAM so that the OS would install/respond faster during setup. CPUs: 2 OS: Windows Server 2012 SCSM Management Server: Virtual Machine Name: SCSM-MS Memory: 8192 MBNOTE: You may need to increase the amount of RAM this VM has, depending on performance. CPUs: 4 HDD: 80 GB OS: Windows Server 2012 SCSM Warehouse Server: Virtual Machine Name: SCSM-WS Memory: 8192 MBNOTE: You may need to increase the amount of RAM this VM has, depending on performance. CPUs: 4 HDD: 80 GB OS: Windows Server 2012 SCSM SharePoint Server: Virtual Machine Name: SCSM-SP Memory: 8192 MBNOTE: You may need to increase the amount of RAM this VM has, depending on performance. CPUs: 4 HDD: 80 GB OS: Windows Server 2012

Hello everyone, if you have been following along with my guides, you should now have Orchestrator installed. Orchestrator includes over 41 built-in workflow standard activities that perform a wide variety of functions. You can expand Orchestrator’s functionality and ability to integrate with other Microsoft and third-party platforms and products by installing integration packs. Integration packs for Orchestrator contain additional activities that extend the functionality of Orchestrator. For this lab example, we will download and install the System Center Integration Packs, which will enable Orchestrator to integrate with all the other System Center products. Download Integration PacksTo start, open a browser and navigate to the following URL: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/hh295851.aspx, and click on the last link in the page labelled “Integration Packs for System Center”. On the Integration Packs for System Center page, you can choose either the 2007 or 2012 Integration Packs. For this lab example, we will use the 2012 packs. Click on the link for each System Center product, which will bring you to another webpage. Look for the link under the ‘Downloading the Integration Pack’ section. This will bring you to the download page. Click the Download button, and select all 3 items to download. Note, you do not need to download and install the Best Practice Analyzer, or the Integration Toolkit, but they are useful to have. After the files are downloaded transfer them to the Orchestrator server (if you didn’t download them directly). Install Integration PacksStart by running the System_Center_2012_Orchestrator_Integration_Packs.exe. You will receive the following prompt to extract the files. Either accept the default or change it to another directory, then press OK. When the extraction is complete, you will receive the following prompt. Press OK. If you open the directory where the files were extracted to, you will see a bunch of files ending in .oip file extensions. These are the Orchestrator Integration Packs. Now open the Deployment Manager. Before we can use the Integration Packs, we need to Register and Deploy them. We have to start with registering the packs. Right-click on the Integration Packs folder and choose ‘Register IP with the Orchestrator Management Server’. This will launch the Integration Pack Registration Wizard. Register Integration PacksWhen you choose ‘Register IP with the Orchestrator Management Server’ from the Deployment Manager, this wizard will launch. Click Next. On the Selection screen, click the Add button to find the Integration Pack(s) you want to register. In the Open dialog, browse to where the .OIP files were extracted to, and select the Integration Pack you want to register. Note that you can only select one at a time, and are not able to multi-select. You can, however, register more than one at once. If you want to register more than one Integration Pack at once, just click the Add button again and select another .oip file. Once you have the file(s) selected click Next. The next screen will list everything the wizard finds. Click Finish to start the registration. You will encounter an End-User License Agreement for every Integration Pack (meaning if you are importing 5 packs at the same time, you will have 5 agreement prompts). Read the information presented and press Accept. Once the registration is complete, the Integration Packs will now be present under the Integration Packs directory. Deploy Integration PacksNow that the packs are registered with the Orchestrator server, we can now deploy them. In the Deployment Manager, right-click the Integration Packs directory and choose ‘Deploy IP to Runbook Server or Runbook Designer’. The Integration Pack Deployment Wizard will launch. Click Next. Now select the Integration Packs that you want to deploy. On this dialog you can select multiple packs, but only the packs that have been registered will appear for selection. Make your selection and then click Next. Next you need to supply the computer(s) that you want to deploy to. If you recall from the context menu, this is either to a Runbook Server or a Runbook Designer. So this can be the Runbook Server (in our lab example, the same server running all the other Orchestrator elements), or the Runbook Designer (which can be installed on an Administrator workstation). Add the various computer names, and then click Next. You can schedule the installation for the future (i.e. after-hours in Production), or install the packs immediately with the wizard. You also have control on how the installation will affect the system (i.e. stopping the Runbooks or not). Make the applicable selections and click Next. Review the information on this final screen and click Finish. The wizard will deploy the Integration Packs. Once the Integration Packs have been deployed, in the Runbook Designer you will see the additions (in this example the System Center packs) on the right in the Activities pane. Now we need to connect the pack(s) to the corresponding system. Configure Connection SettingsNow that we have the Integration Packs registered and deployed, we still need to provide connection information so that Orchestrator will be able to communicate and operation with these other systems. Open Runbook Designer, select Options from the menu, and select the system you want to configure connection settings for. In this example, we will use ‘SC 2012 Configuration Manager’. When the Connections dialog appears, click the Add button. On the Connection Entry screen, provide a name (to identify the connection), and fill in the Server, Username, and Password to use for the connection. In a Production environment, a dedicated Service Account would be created/used for each product connection. Don’t forget to test the connection to ensure it can communicate with the system you are integrating. Then press OK. The newly added connection will be shown. Click Finish. If you have more than one Integration Pack, you will have to configure the connections for each of them.

We are now finally ready to install SCORCH. Install Prerequisites To start, before we will actually be able to install SCORCH, we have to install a few prerequisites. .NET Framework 3.5 SP1 .NET Framework 4.0 IIS (Web Server role) Install System Center Orchestrator Start by either extracting the DVD contents, or mounting the ISO (the TechNet ISO is currently labelled as en_system_center_2012_orchestrator_with_sp1_x86_dvd_1345499). Start by running the SetupOrchestrator.exe. On the splash screen click the Install link. On the Product Registration screen, fill in the Name, Organization and Product Key fields, and click Next. Read and accept the License Terms, and then click Next. On the Select Features screen, select what you want to install. In this lab example, we are installing all features onto the same server. Next you need to provide a Service Account for running the Runbooks, and accessing remote systems. Note that the account must have “Log on as a service” rights. Enter the account details, and then click the Test button. Once the credentials have been tested successfully, you will be able to click Next. Now you need to configure the database. Provide the server and instance, and click the Test Database Connection button. Only once the database connection has been successfully tested will you be able to click the Next button. Now you can also specify the database name. In this lab example we will accept the defaults and click Next. Now we need to configure the Orchestrator User Group. This group will have Administrative access to Orchestrator. You can locate and use an existing Security Group from Active Directory. Specify a User Group and click Next. On the Web Services screen, you have the opportunity to change the ports used. For this lab example we will accept the defaults and click Next. You can also change the installation location. For example, if you have a dedicated drive in the server for the Operating System, and a second drive for the middleware. Make the appropriate modifications if applicable, and then click Next. New to System Center 2012, you can use Microsoft Update to find updates for the product. In a Production environment, you would probably not want to do this, since there will more than likely be Change Management controls around updating/patching. In this lab example, I am not going to enable Microsoft Updates for the product, so that in the future I will be able to document the update/upgrade process in detail. Next, you can choose if you want to participate in the CEIP program. In a Production environment, this will probably not be accepted, as there may be some concern over private/personal data. In a lab/non-production environment though, I would personally choose to be a part of the program, because the information collected by Microsoft aids them in improving the product. If no one was willing to participate, then there would be no improvements. Finally, review the information on the Summary screen, and click Install. Once the installation is complete, you can select/de-select any of the listed checkboxes, and then click Close. Congratulations, you have now successfully installed System Center Orchestrator. It’s fairly simple/straight forward. But after installation you now need to work with Integration Packs, and Runbooks.

In our last post, we installed Active Directory. Now we will install SQL Server. Install SQL Server At this point, since we will be installing SQL Server on the same server that we will be installing Orchestrator, it is expected that you have the VM created, the OS is installed, the appropriate networking has been configured, and it is joined to your lab domain. To avoid a specific installation error (see the end of the Install SQL Server section), you have to install the .NET Framework 3.5. So we’re going to complete this first before we start the installation of SQL. .NET Framework Installation To install the specific version of .NET that we require (version 3.5 in this case), start by launching the Server Manager, and selecting Manager > Add Roles and Features. On the Add Roles and Features Wizard, read the information on the Before You Begin screen, and then click Next. On the Installation Type screen, select ‘Role-based or feature-based installation’, and click Next. On the Server Selection screen, since we are installing SQL on the same server as Orchestrator, ensure that it is selected, and then click Next. On the Server Roles screen, we are not installing a Role, but rather a Feature, so just click Next. On the Features screen, select .NET Framework 3.5 Features, and click Next. Since in Windows Server 2012 the .NET Framework 4.x is the main framework, the OS installation does not contain the source files for this installation. Therefore, you will need to click on the ‘Specify an alternate source path’ link at the bottom of the dialog. You will need to provide the path to where the source files are. This is found within the installation media of Windows Server 2012. If you insert a DVD or mount an ISO, specify the path to the SxS folder (i.e. D:\Sources\SxS), and then press OK. Click Install, and once it has completed, click Close. SQL Installation Start by either extracting or mounting the SQL Server ISO, and run the setup.exe. In this example, we are installing SQL Server 2012 SP1. On the main installation screen, click on the Installation link on the left pane. From the Installation screen, click the ‘New SQL Server stand-along installation or add features to an existing installation’ link. This is initiate the installation. First, the Setup Support Rules will check for any issues. As long as there isn’t any ‘Failed’ issues, click OK to continue with the installation. Next, enter your product key or select the evaluation copy to install, and press Next. Accept the License Terms and choose if you will send usage data to Microsoft, then press Next. If you have an Internet connection, the installer will check if there are any applicable updates to the installation, and will download the updates to use during the install. Click Next. The Setup will perform another Setup Support Rules check. As long as there are no Failures, you can click Next. Next is the Setup Role. For our needs, we will choose ‘SQL Server Feature Installation’, then press Next. For the Feature Selection, select the following, and then press Next. § Database Engine Services § Management Tools – Basic and Complete (for running queries and configuring SQL services) The Installation Rules will run to determine if anything will block the SQL installation. If there are no Failures, click Next. Next we will configure the instance. You can choose either to use a Default instance, or a Named instance. In this example, I will use a named instance, so as to not get this installation of SQL mixed up with any other I will have in my lab. Make your applicable choice, and click Next. The setup will check and confirm there is enough space on the drive for the installation. If everything is reported as OK, click Next. You next have to configure the server, which includes the Service Accounts and Collation. In Production, it is best practice to have a separate account for each of the services. In our lab, we will leave everything at defaults, with the exception of changing the ‘SQL Server Agent’ startup type from ‘Manual’ to ‘Automatic’. After you have completed this, don’t click Next, but rather click on the Collation tab. On the Collation tab, you will need to click the Customize button to be able to change it appropriately. On the Customize dialog, select ‘SQL collation, used for backwards compatibility’. Within the list, find ‘SQL_Latin1_General_CP1_CI_AS’ and select it, then click OK. You will be back on the Server Configuration dialog, click Next. On the Database Engine Configuration screen, leave the Authentication Mode at ‘Windows authentication mode’. What do have to change is to add SQL Server Administrators. Click the Add button. On the next dialog, you will need to add either the user(s) or security group(s) you want to have administrator access to SQL. At a bare minimum, add the current user account, so that you can log into SQL Server. Add the user(s)/security group(s), and click OK. You will be back on the Database Engine Configuration screen, and your accounts will now be present. In my example, I have an Active Directory Security Group I specifically created for SQL Administrators. Then click Next. You can choose to send Error Reporting information to Microsoft. Make your choice, and click Next. The setup will now re-check the configuration rules, based on the selections and information that has been supplied. If it passes, click Next. Review the information on the Ready To Install screen, and then click Install. Note: during the installation, you may encounter the following error message. This is due to not having the .NET Framework 3.5 installed prior to attempting to install SQL Server. If you encounter this, cancel the SQL server installation, and install the .NET Framework 3.5 (which is an available feature within Roles and Features). You may have to wait a while for the Installation Progress to complete. On the Complete screen, click Close. Congratulations, you now have SQL Server installed and are finally ready to install System Center Orchestrator (SCORCH).

In our last post we installed the Operating System on our VM's. Now, we will install Active Directory. Install Active Directory Domain Services Now that we have the VMs created, and the OS installed on both, we need to first install/setup Active Directory (AD). When you log into a new installation of Server 2012, Server Manager will auto launch. From Server Manager, click on Manage, and choose ‘Add Roles and Features’. On the Add Roles and Features Wizard, read the information on the Before You Begin dialog, and then click Next. On the Installation Type screen, select ‘Role-based on feature-based installation’ and then click Next. On the ‘Server Selection’ screen, since we are installed Active Directory on this local system, ensure that it is selected, and click Next. Side note: Windows Server 2012 has a new feature that allows you to remotely install Roles and Features on other systems. On the Server Roles screen, select ‘Active Directory Domain Services’. When you select ‘Active Directory Domain Services’, immediately you will be presented with the following dialog. Click Add Features. On the Features screen, accept what has already been selected by default, and click Next. On the AD DS screen, read the information presented, and click Next. On the Confirmation screen, check the ‘Restart the destination server automatically if required’ checkbox, and then click Install. Note: You are not required to check the ‘restart’ checkbox, however, you’re going to have to restart the system anyways after the installation, so you might as well let the system do it for you. Note: When you check off the ‘Restart the destination server automatically if required’ checkbox, you will immediately be prompted with the following dialog. Click Yes. On the Results screen, click Close. After the system restarts, and Server Manager launches, you will have to promote the server as a domain controller. This is because Active Directory has been installed, but that process does not automatically promote the server. Click on the ‘Promote this server to a domain controller’ link. On the Deployment Configuration screen, select ‘Add a new forest’ since this is the first domain controller in our lab. Then enter a root domain name, and click Next. In my example I am using “SC.LAB” for System Center Lab (since I will be installing all other System Center products in my lab eventually). For the Domain Controller Options, select the appropriate Forest functional level, and Domain functional level. This is more applicable if you already have an existing domain and are adding a new domain controller. But since this is the first domain controller in our new domain, then we’ll use the highest level, that of Windows Server 2012. Also, don’t forget to create the Directory Service Restore Mode password. Then press Next. On the DNS Options screen, you can ignore this warning message and click Next. On the Additional Options screen, click Next. On the Paths screen, normally you would change the location for the database, log files, and SYSVOL, but since we are just in a lab environment, we’ll leave it at the defaults and click Next. On the Review Options scree, review what you have entered/selected, and click Next. The Prerequisites Check screen will check and confirm that everything passes before promoting the system as a domain controller. You will notice in my screenshot, that I have 1 warning because I didn’t set a static IP for the server yet. After installation completes, the system will automatically restart. You will then be presented with the login screen. Something to note here, that because we were originally logged in with a local account, the first time you want to log on using a domain account you will have to type the domain\username; in my example SC\Administrator. When you login, you will then see in the Server Manager, that AD DS is now listed, along with DNS. Now all that you need to do is assign a static IP to your domain controller. To do this, in Server Manager, select Local Server from the panel on the left. From there, click on the Ethernet link labelled ‘IPv4 address assigned by DHCP, IPv6 enabled’. This will cause the Networks Connections explorer to open. From here, right click on the Ethernet network that is displayed. This is in fact the network connection that we configured when we first created the VM. On the Ethernet Properties dialog, select ‘Internet Protocol Version 4 (TCP/IPv4)’ and click the Properties button. Within the Internet Protocol Version 4 (TCP/IPv4) Properties dialog, enter a static IP, gateway, and DNS that is applicable to your network. Once all the items have been entered, click OK. You will also have to click Close on the Ethernet Properties dialog as well. Congratulations, you now have a domain setup in your lab environment. Add Systems to Your Domain Now that you have your domain setup, you need to add your other VM (the one that we will use for Orchestrator) to the domain before being able to install Orchestrator. Log into the system you want to add to the domain. To do this in Server 2012, launch Server Manager, and click on Local Server. Then click on the computer name. This will launch the System Properties dialog. From this dialog, click the Change button. From this dialog, select the Domain option for ‘Member of’, and enter the domain name you want to join and press OK. After pressing OK, you are immediately presented with a Windows Security dialog, in which you need to enter the credentials of an account that has Domain Admin rights. Enter the credentials and click OK. Once the system is successfully joined to the domain, you will receive the following Welcome message. Press OK. After you press OK to the Welcome message, you will receive a second prompt, indicating that you need to restart the system for the changes to take effect. You will be back on the System Properties dialog. Press Close. When you press Close, you will receive yet another prompt about restarting the system. You can choose to Restart Now or Restart Later, but you won’t be able to install Orchestrator without the VM being added to the domain. After the system restarts, you will then be presented with the login screen. Something to note here, that because we were originally logged in with a local account, the first time you want to log on using a domain account you will have to type the domain\username; in my example SC\Administrator. Now we have our Active Directory server setup and ready, and the VM we will be installing Orchestrator on is joined to the domain. Now we can move onto installing SQL Server.

In our last post, we initially setup the VM's required for our lab. Now we'll focus on the OS. Install the Operating System Now that we have created the VMs for our lab, we can install the Operating System (OS). Start by connecting to one of the VMs, either by double clicking on the VM in Hyper-V Manager, right click the VM and choose Connect, or click on Connect from the Action pane/menu. When you have the VM connection up, and an ISO mounted, power the VM on. On the Windows Setup screen, select the Language, Time/Currency Format, and Keyboard Method appropriate, and click Next. All you have to do now is click Install Now. Next you have to choose the Operating System and version you want to install. In our lab example, I will choose Windows Server 2012 Standard (Server with a GUI). Make your selection and then click Next. You will have to accept the license terms, and then click Next. For the Installation Type, since we don’t already have an OS installed, we will choose the ‘Custom: Install Windows only (advanced)’ option. Now select the hard drive that you want to install the OS to. Since we only created one hard drive when setting up the VM, we only have one to choose from. Select it, and click Next. Now all you have to do is wait for the installation to finish. Once the installation is complete, you will be prompted to enter a password for the local administrator account. This is different from a domain-based local administrator account. Enter a password and click Finish. After some final quick configuration, you will then be presented with the login screen. Now repeat these steps for the other VMs in the lab. NOTE: After you install an OS, you will need to rename the computer within the OS. To do this in Server 2012, launch Server Manager, and click on Local Server. Then click on the computer name. This will launch the System Properties dialog. From this dialog, click the Change button. From this dialog, enter the name you want to call the computer. In my lab, I called the Active Directory computer “AD”, and the Orchestrator computer “SCORCH”. Press OK after entering the name. You will encounter the following prompt. Click OK. Then click Close on the System Properties dialog. You can choose to either Restart Now or Restart Later, but the name change will not take effect until you do so. In the next part of our guide, we will install Active Directory Domain Services, so stay tuned.

SCORCH 2012 SP1 in a LAB – Installation (Part A – Create The Lab Environment) Introduction: I use Hyper-V in my LAB and that's what all these virtual machines will be running on. In my lab, I have Windows Server 2012 Datacenter installed as the server OS on the host machine. All other virtual machines will be running Windows Server 2012 Standard edition, with the graphical user interface (GUI). My hardware consists of the following: Intel Xeon E5-2620 Asus P90X79 WS 64 GB G.Skill Ripjaws Z Series 2 x 256 GB / 1 x 512 GB Samsung 840 Pro Series SSD High Level Plan Here is a high level of what we are going to complete in this initial part of the series. Create the Lab Environment Install the Operating System Install Active Directory Domain Services Install SQL Server Install System Center Orchestrator So now let’s start with the first part, system requirements and creating the lab environment. System Requirements Note: The following page on TechNet describes the requirements for deploying Orchestator. Management Server OS: Windows Server 2008 R2 or Windows Server 2012 CPU: Dual-core Intel microprocessor, 2.1 gigahertz (GHz) or better RAM: 1 gigabyte (GB) of RAM minimum, 2 GB or more recommended HDD: 200 megabyte (MB) of available hard disk space Software:Microsoft SQL Server 2008 R2 or Microsoft SQL Server 2012:Database Engine Service SQL_Latin1_General_CP1_CI_AS collation Microsoft .NET Framework 3.5 Service Pack 1 Runbook Server OS: Windows Server 2008 R2 or Windows Server 2012 CPU: Dual-core Intel microprocessor, 2.1 gigahertz (GHz) or better RAM: 1 gigabyte (GB) of RAM minimum, 2 GB or more recommended HDD: 200 megabyte (MB) of available hard disk space Software:A functional Orchestrator management server and database Orchestrator Web Service OS: Windows Server 2008 R2 or Windows Server 2012 CPU: Dual-core Intel microprocessor, 2.1 gigahertz (GHz) or better RAM: 1 gigabyte (GB) of RAM minimum, 2 GB or more recommended HDD: 200 megabyte (MB) of available hard disk space Software:A functional Orchestrator management server and database Internet Information Services (IIS) 7.0 Microsoft .NET Framework 3.5 Service Pack 1 Microsoft .NET Framework 4.5 (which further requires HTTP Activation) WCF HTTP Activation Runbook Designer OS: Windows Server 2008 R2, Windows Server 2012, or Windows 7 (32-bit or 64-bit) CPU: Dual-core Intel microprocessor, 2.1 gigahertz (GHz) or better RAM: 1 gigabyte (GB) of RAM minimum, 2 GB or more recommended HDD: 200 megabyte (MB) of available hard disk space Software:A functional Orchestrator management server and database Microsoft .NET Framework 3.5 Service Pack 1 Create the Lab Environment: Hyper-V Configuration As mentioned, my environment uses Hyper-V. So, we’re going to start by configuring Hyper-V for our needs, and creating the Virtual Machines (VMs) required for our lab. The first thing we need to do is setup a Virtual Switch for the VMs to connect through. Launch Server Manager, click on Tools, and select Hyper-V Manager. When Hyper-V loads, it will have nothing in it. Even if we were to create a VM, it wouldn’t have a network connection to use. So we’ll start with creating a Virtual Switch. As you can from my screenshot, I have 2 LAN ports on my host. One of them has a connection to my home network and the Internet. In the Hyper-V Manager, click the Virtual Switch Manager from the Actions pane. Now, click on the Create Virtual Switch button. From here, you now need to configure the virtual switch that your VMs will use. Give it a name to clearly identify it (in my case I called it ‘External Network’), and choose the connection type. For more information about virtual networks, see the following TechNet article: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc816585(v=ws.10).aspx. Here is an excerpt from the article: External virtual networks. Use this type when you want to provide virtual machines with access to a physical network to communicate with externally located servers and clients. This type of virtual network also allows virtual machines on the same virtualization server to communicate with each other. This type of network may also be available for use by the management operating system, depending on how you configure the networking. (The management operating system runs the Hyper-V role.) For more information, see “A closer look at external virtual networks” later in this topic. Internal virtual networks. Use this type when you want to allow communication between virtual machines on the same virtualization server and between virtual machines and the management operating system. This type of virtual network is commonly used to build a test environment in which you need to connect to the virtual machines from the management operating system. An internal virtual network is not bound to a physical network adapter. As a result, an internal virtual network is isolated from all external network traffic. Private virtual networks. Use this type when you want to allow communication only between virtual machines on the same virtualization server. A private virtual network is not bound to a physical network adapter. A private virtual network is isolated from all external network traffic on the virtualization server, as well any network traffic between the management operating system and the external network. This type of network is useful when you need to create an isolated networking environment, such as an isolated test domain. For our demonstration, we are going to use an External Network so that the VMs can communicate with the Host system. Make all the appropriate selections and so forth, and then press OK. You may encounter the following warning message. This is because we are remotely connecting to the Host machine using the same network connection that we are about to setup as a Virtual Switch (hence selecting the ‘Allow management operating system to share this network adapter’ checkbox). Press ‘Yes’ to the dialog. Now that we have the virtual switch setup, we can start creating VMs for our lab. Create the Virtual Machines Let’s now create the VM’s we will need for the lab, specifically one for Active Directory, and another for Orchestrator (since we are install all roles within the same server). In Hyper-V Manager, from the Actions pane, click on New and choose Virtual Machine. On the New Virtual Machine wizard beginning screen, click read the information presented and then click Next. Enter a name for the VM. Note that this is NOT the name the VM will have within the Operating System (unless you name it the same), but rather, used as an identifier in Hyper-V Manager. After you have entered a name, click Next. Now assign the amount of memory you want your VM to have, and then press Next. This is the screen where you connect your VM to the network that we created, then press Next. This is the screen where you configure how large a hard drive the VM will have. Make the appropriate customizations and click Next. For the Installation Options, choose if you will install an OS later, or if you want to use an ISO, then click Next. On the Summary screen, review your selections and entries, and click Finish. Once the VM is created, it will appear in the Hyper-V Manager. If you want to configure further settings, like the number of CPUs and mounting an OS ISO, right click on the VM and choose Settings or click on Settings from the Actions pane. Repeat these steps for each VM you need to create, in our case one for Active Directory and another for Orchestrator. Here are the settings I have used for each of the VM’s: Active Directory: Virtual Machine Name: AD Memory: 2048 MBNOTE: Active Directory doesn’t need 2 GB of RAM, it will run fine with 512 MB. I just increased the RAM so that the OS would install/respond faster during setup. CPUs: 2 OS: Windows Server 2012 SCORCH: Virtual Machine Name: SCORCH Memory: 4096 MBNOTE: You may need to increase the amount of RAM this VM has, depending on performance. CPUs: 2 OS: Windows Server 2012

In our last post we finished installing SQL Server. We are now finally ready to install SCVMM. Install Prerequisites To start, before we will actually be able to install SCVMM, we have to install a few prerequisites. Windows Assessment and Deployment Kit for Windows 8Deployment Tools Windows Preinstallation Environment (Windows PE) WADK Install SCVMM requires the Windows Assessment and Deployment Kit to be installed prior to installing SCVMM itself. Start by downloading the WADK from Microsoft: http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=30652 Once you have downloaded the WADK, copy it to your SCVMM system. Now run the ADKSetup.exe. You will first be presented with a dialog to specify the location for the install. You will also notice that there is an option to install the ADK or to download the files to install on a different system. If you system does not have an Internet connection then you are going to have to run the ADK installing on a system that does, and choose the ‘Download the Assessment and Deployment Kit for installation on a separate computer’. This will download all of the files required, and you will have a different ADKSetup.exe to run for “offline” installation. Make your appropriate selection and click Next. You can then choose to join the CEIP program or not. Make your selection and click Next. Read the License Agreement, and click Accept to proceed with the installation. On the Features screen, the only features you need to install is the ‘Deployment Tools’ and ‘Windows Preinstallation Environment (Windows PE)’. You can de-select all other options, and then click Install. If you are installing this on a system that has Internet connectivity, and you chose the first option on the initial screen, then the tool will go online and download all the files required. Note that this may take a little time for it to complete, depending on your Internet connectivity. Once the WADK finishes downloading the files required, it will automatically initiate the installation. When the installation is complete, click Close. Now we have everything that we need installed, and are ready to install SCVMM. Install SCVMM Start by either extracting the DVD contents, or mounting the ISO (the TechNet ISO is currently labelled as mu_system_center_2012_virtual_machine_manager_with_sp1_x64_dvd_1348927). Start by running the setup.exe. On the splash screen click the Install link. On the Select Features screen, select the feature you want to install. In our example, we are installing all features on the same server, so we will select all of them and click Next. You may notice that there is no Reporting option in comparison to other System Center product installations. This is because the reporting for SCVMM is actually integrated into the reporting feature of System Center Operations Manager (SCOM). We will go through various configuration steps after the installation is complete. If you are performing this installation in Production, you may want to provide Registration information for your organization along with a valid Product Key. Since this example is in a lab, I am not providing any information. Make applicable entries, and then click Next. Next read the License Agreement, check the applicable checkbox, and then click Next. Now you can choose if you want to be a part of the CEIP program. Make an applicable choice and then click Next. You can choose if you want to find updates for the product by using Microsoft Updates. Depending on your patching/upgrading policies/procedures, make an appropriate choice and then click Next. Next you need to provide an Installation Location. Ensure there is sufficient space and then click Next. You will now be asked to supply the Database Connection information. Enter the applicable information for your environment and then click Next. On this next screen you can specify the Service Account to use, and if you want to use Active Directory for your encryption keys. In a Production environment, this would be more applicable, but for our lab it doesn't matter. If you want to walk through the process/uses of this, then choose to enable the option and then click Next. On the Port Configuration screen, you can change the ports that SCVMM uses. Depending on your environment, you may have to make some modifications, but for our lab example, we will use the defaults. Next you need to specify the location for the SCVMM Library. This is the location that will contain all of your ISO’s, VHDs, etc. Be sure to provide sufficient space. Microsoft recommends 150 GB if you’re running a local version of SQL. In my lab example, since I am running out of space on my SSD drive, I opted to create a second VHD drive attached to the VM strictly for installing SCVMM, SQL, and the Library Share. Setup your environment accordingly, and click Next. Review the information presented on the Summary screen, and click Install. The installation may take some time, so be patient. Once it is complete, you can choose to check for the latest updates and open the console if you wish. Click Close. When SCVMM launches for the first time, you will have to provide a server name to connect to. You can choose to check off the ‘Automatically connect with these settings’ checkbox so that you don’t have to continue to enter the server name. Enter your server information and click Connect. The SCVMM console will launch. Navigate around the various areas. Congratulations, you have now successfully installed SCVMM. But if you look, something is missing; i.e. Reporting. Let’s configure that next.

In our last post, we installed Active Directory, now we need to install SQL. At this point, since we will be installing SQL Server on the same server that we will be installing SCVMM, it is expected that you have the VM created, the OS is installed, the appropriate networking has been configured, and it is joined to your lab domain. To avoid a specific installation error (see the end of the Install SQL Server section), you have to install the .NET Framework 3.5. So we’re going to complete this first before we start the installation of SQL. .NET Framework Installation To install the specific version of .NET that we require (version 3.5 in this case), start by launching the Server Manager, and selecting Manager > Add Roles and Features. On the Add Roles and Features Wizard, read the information on the Before You Begin screen, and then click Next. On the Installation Type screen, select ‘Role-based or feature-based installation’, and click Next. On the Server Selection screen, since we are installing SQL on the same server as SCVMM, ensure that it is selected, and then click Next. On the Server Roles screen, we are not installing a Role, but rather a Feature, so just click Next. On the Features screen, select .NET Framework 3.5 Features, and click Next. Since in Windows Server 2012 the .NET Framework 4.x is the main framework, the OS installation does not contain the source files for this installation. Therefore, you will need to click on the ‘Specify an alternate source path’ link at the bottom of the dialog. You will need to provide the path to where the source files are. This is found within the installation media of Windows Server 2012. If you insert a DVD or mount an ISO, specify the path to the SxS folder (i.e. D:\Sources\SxS), and then press OK. Click Install, and once it has completed, click Close. SQL Installation Start by either extracting or mounting the SQL Server ISO, and run the setup.exe. In this example, we are installing SQL Server 2012 SP1. On the main installation screen, click on the Installation link on the left pane. From the Installation screen, click the ‘New SQL Server stand-along installation or add features to an existing installation’ link. This is initiate the installation. First, the Setup Support Rules will check for any issues. As long as there isn’t any ‘Failed’ issues, click OK to continue with the installation. Next, enter your product key or select the evaluation copy to install, and press Next. Accept the License Terms and choose if you will send usage data to Microsoft, then press Next. If you have an Internet connection, the installer will check if there are any applicable updates to the installation, and will download the updates to use during the install. Click Next. The Setup will perform another Setup Support Rules check. As long as there are no Failures, you can click Next. Next is the Setup Role. For our needs, we will choose ‘SQL Server Feature Installation’, then press Next. For the Feature Selection, select the following, and then press Next. Database Engine Services Management Tools – Basic and Complete (for running queries and configuring SQL services) The Installation Rules will run to determine if anything will block the SQL installation. If there are no Failures, click Next. Next we will configure the instance. You can choose either to use a Default instance, or a Named instance. In this example, I will use a named instance, so as to not get this installation of SQL mixed up with any other I will have in my lab. Make your applicable choice, and click Next. The setup will check and confirm there is enough space on the drive for the installation. If everything is reported as OK, click Next. You next have to configure the server, which includes the Service Accounts and Collation. In Production, it is best practice to have a separate account for each of the services. In our lab, we will leave everything at defaults, with the exception of changing the ‘SQL Server Agent’ startup type from ‘Manual’ to ‘Automatic’. After you have completed this, don’t click Next, but rather click on the Collation tab. On the Collation tab, you will need to click the Customize button to be able to change it appropriately. On the Customize dialog, select ‘SQL collation, used for backwards compatibility’. Within the list, find ‘SQL_Latin1_General_CP1_CI_AS’ and select it, then click OK. You will be back on the Server Configuration dialog, click Next. On the Database Engine Configuration screen, leave the Authentication Mode at ‘Windows authentication mode’. What do have to change is to add SQL Server Administrators. Click the Add button. On the next dialog, you will need to add either the user(s) or security group(s) you want to have administrator access to SQL. At a bare minimum, add the current user account, so that you can log into SQL Server. Add the user(s)/security group(s), and click OK. You will be back on the Database Engine Configuration screen, and your accounts will now be present. In my example, I have an Active Directory Security Group I specifically created for SQL Administrators. Then click Next. You can choose to send Error Reporting information to Microsoft. Make your choice, and click Next. The setup will now re-check the configuration rules, based on the selections and information that has been supplied. If it passes, click Next. Review the information on the Ready To Install screen, and then click Install. Note: during the installation, you may encounter the following error message. This is due to not having the .NET Framework 3.5 installed prior to attempting to install SQL Server. If you encounter this, cancel the SQL server installation, and install the .NET Framework 3.5 (which is an available feature within Roles and Features). You may have to wait a while for the Installation Progress to complete. On the Complete screen, click Close. Congratulations, you now have SQL Server installed and are finally ready to install System Center Virtual Manager (SCVMM). Now we can install SCVMM.

In our last post we installed the Operating System on our VM's. Now, we will install Active Directory. Install Active Directory Domain Services Now that we have the VMs created, and the OS installed on both, we need to first install/setup Active Directory (AD). When you log into a new installation of Server 2012, Server Manager will auto launch. From Server Manager, click on Manage, and choose ‘Add Roles and Features’. On the Add Roles and Features Wizard, read the information on the Before You Begin dialog, and then click Next. On the Installation Type screen, select ‘Role-based on feature-based installation’ and then click Next. On the ‘Server Selection’ screen, since we are installed Active Directory on this local system, ensure that it is selected, and click Next. Side note: Windows Server 2012 has a new feature that allows you to remotely install Roles and Features on other systems. On the Server Roles screen, select ‘Active Directory Domain Services’. When you select ‘Active Directory Domain Services’, immediately you will be presented with the following dialog. Click Add Features. On the Features screen, accept what has already been selected by default, and click Next. On the AD DS screen, read the information presented, and click Next. On the Confirmation screen, check the ‘Restart the destination server automatically if required’ checkbox, and then click Install. Note: You are not required to check the ‘restart’ checkbox, however, you’re going to have to restart the system anyways after the installation, so you might as well let the system do it for you. Note: When you check off the ‘Restart the destination server automatically if required’ checkbox, you will immediately be prompted with the following dialog. Click Yes. On the Results screen, click Close. After the system restarts, and Server Manager launches, you will have to promote the server as a domain controller. This is because Active Directory has been installed, but that process does not automatically promote the server. Click on the ‘Promote this server to a domain controller’ link. On the Deployment Configuration screen, select ‘Add a new forest’ since this is the first domain controller in our lab. Then enter a root domain name, and click Next. In my example I am using “SC.LAB” for System Center Lab (since I will be installing all other System Center products in my lab eventually). For the Domain Controller Options, select the appropriate Forest functional level, and Domain functional level. This is more applicable if you already have an existing domain and are adding a new domain controller. But since this is the first domain controller in our new domain, then we’ll use the highest level, that of Windows Server 2012. Also, don’t forget to create the Directory Service Restore Mode password. Then press Next. On the DNS Options screen, you can ignore this warning message and click Next. On the Additional Options screen, click Next. On the Paths screen, normally you would change the location for the database, log files, and SYSVOL, but since we are just in a lab environment, we’ll leave it at the defaults and click Next. On the Review Options scree, review what you have entered/selected, and click Next. The Prerequisites Check screen will check and confirm that everything passes before promoting the system as a domain controller. You will notice in my screenshot, that I have 1 warning because I didn’t set a static IP for the server yet. After installation completes, the system will automatically restart. You will then be presented with the login screen. Something to note here, that because we were originally logged in with a local account, the first time you want to log on using a domain account you will have to type the domain\username; in my example SC\Administrator. When you login, you will then see in the Server Manager, that AD DS is now listed, along with DNS. Now all that you need to do is assign a static IP to your domain controller. To do this, in Server Manager, select Local Server from the panel on the left. From there, click on the Ethernet link labelled ‘IPv4 address assigned by DHCP, IPv6 enabled’. This will cause the Networks Connections explorer to open. From here, right click on the Ethernet network that is displayed. This is in fact the network connection that we configured when we first created the VM. On the Ethernet Properties dialog, select ‘Internet Protocol Version 4 (TCP/IPv4)’ and click the Properties button. Within the Internet Protocol Version 4 (TCP/IPv4) Properties dialog, enter a static IP, gateway, and DNS that is applicable to your network. Once all the items have been entered, click OK. You will also have to click Close on the Ethernet Properties dialog as well. Congratulations, you now have a domain setup in your lab environment. Add Systems to Your Domain Now that you have your domain setup, you need to add your other VM (the one that we will use for SCVMM) to the domain before being able to install SCVMM. Log into the system you want to add to the domain. To do this in Server 2012, launch Server Manager, and click on Local Server. Then click on the computer name. This will launch the System Properties dialog. From this dialog, click the Change button. From this dialog, select the Domain option for ‘Member of’, and enter the domain name you want to join and press OK. After pressing OK, you are immediately presented with a Windows Security dialog, in which you need to enter the credentials of an account that has Domain Admin rights. Enter the credentials and click OK. Once the system is successfully joined to the domain, you will receive the following Welcome message. Press OK. After you press OK to the Welcome message, you will receive a second prompt, indicating that you need to restart the system for the changes to take effect. You will be back on the System Properties dialog. Press Close. When you press Close, you will receive yet another prompt about restarting the system. You can choose to Restart Now or Restart Later, but you won’t be able to install SCOM without the VM being added to the domain. After the system restarts, you will then be presented with the login screen. Something to note here, that because we were originally logged in with a local account, the first time you want to log on using a domain account you will have to type the domain\username; in my example SC\Administrator. Now we have our Active Directory server setup and ready, and the VM we will be installing SCOM on is joined to the domain. Now we can move onto installing SQL Server.

In our last post we created the VM's we require for our lab. Now we will move onto the Operating System (OS). Install the Operating System Now that we have created the VMs for our lab, we can install the Operating System (OS). Start by connecting to one of the VMs, either by double clicking on the VM in Hyper-V Manager, right click the VM and choose Connect, or click on Connect from the Action pane/menu. When you have the VM connection up, and an ISO mounted, power the VM on. On the Windows Setup screen, select the Language, Time/Currency Format, and Keyboard Method appropriate, and click Next. All you have to do now is click Install Now. Next you have to choose the Operating System and version you want to install. In our lab example, I will choose Windows Server 2012 Standard (Server with a GUI). Make your selection and then click Next. You will have to accept the license terms, and then click Next. For the Installation Type, since we don’t already have an OS installed, we will choose the ‘Custom: Install Windows only (advanced)’ option. Now select the hard drive that you want to install the OS to. Since we only created one hard drive when setting up the VM, we only have one to choose from. Select it, and click Next. Now all you have to do is wait for the installation to finish. Once the installation is complete, you will be prompted to enter a password for the local administrator account. This is different from a domain-based local administrator account. Enter a password and click Finish. After some final quick configuration, you will then be presented with the login screen. Now repeat these steps for the other VMs in the lab. NOTE: After you install an OS, you will need to rename the computer within the OS. To do this in Server 2012, launch Server Manager, and click on Local Server. Then click on the computer name. This will launch the System Properties dialog. From this dialog, click the Change button. From this dialog, enter the name you want to call the computer. In my lab, I called the Active Directory computer “AD”, and the Virtual Machine Manager computer “SCVMM”. Press OK after entering the name. You will encounter the following prompt. Click OK. Then click Close on the System Properties dialog. You can choose to either Restart Now or Restart Later, but the name change will not take effect until you do so. In our next post we will install Active Directory.

Welcome. For those of you that know me from my SCOM guides, I thought I would attempt to provide a similar series of guides for SCVMM. Please note that some of the screenshots (i.e. for creating the VM, OS/AD install, joining the domain, etc.) are from my SCOM guides. I figured that it would save time on the “normal” stuff, so that I can focus on the actual SCVMM part. Introduction: I use Hyper-V in my LAB and that's what all these virtual machines will be running on. In my lab, I have Windows Server 2012 Datacenter installed as the server OS on the host machine. All other virtual machines will be running Windows Server 2012 Standard edition, with the graphical user interface (GUI). My hardware consists of the following: Intel Xeon E5-2620 Asus P90X79 WS 64 GB G.Skill Ripjaws Z Series 2 x 256 GB Samsung 840 Pro Series SSD High Level Plan Here is a high level of what we are going to complete in this initial part of the series. Create the Lab Environment Install the Operating System Install Active Directory Domain Services Install SQL Server Install System Center Virtual Machine Manager In a later posts, we will also cover reporting, adding hosts, networks, storage, create templates, etc. So now let’s start with the first part, creating the lab environment. Create the Lab Environment:Hyper-V Configuration As mentioned, my environment uses Hyper-V. So, we’re going to start by configuring Hyper-V for our needs, and creating the Virtual Machines (VMs) required for our lab. The first thing we need to do is setup a Virtual Switch for the VMs to connect through. Launch Server Manager, click on Tools, and select Hyper-V Manager. When Hyper-V loads, it will have nothing in it. Even if we were to create a VM, it wouldn't have a network connection to use. So we’ll start with creating a Virtual Switch. As you can from my screenshot, I have 2 LAN ports on my host. One of them has a connection to my home network and the Internet. In the Hyper-V Manager, click the Virtual Switch Manager from the Actions pane. Now, click on the Create Virtual Switch button. From here, you now need to configure the virtual switch that your VMs will use. Give it a name to clearly identify it (in my case I called it ‘External Network’), and choose the connection type. For more information about virtual networks, see the following TechNet article: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc816585(v=ws.10).aspx. Here is an excerpt from the article: § External virtual networks. Use this type when you want to provide virtual machines with access to a physical network to communicate with externally located servers and clients. This type of virtual network also allows virtual machines on the same virtualization server to communicate with each other. This type of network may also be available for use by the management operating system, depending on how you configure the networking. (The management operating system runs the Hyper-V role.) For more information, see “A closer look at external virtual networks” later in this topic. § Internal virtual networks. Use this type when you want to allow communication between virtual machines on the same virtualization server and between virtual machines and the management operating system. This type of virtual network is commonly used to build a test environment in which you need to connect to the virtual machines from the management operating system. An internal virtual network is not bound to a physical network adapter. As a result, an internal virtual network is isolated from all external network traffic. § Private virtual networks. Use this type when you want to allow communication only between virtual machines on the same virtualization server. A private virtual network is not bound to a physical network adapter. A private virtual network is isolated from all external network traffic on the virtualization server, as well any network traffic between the management operating system and the external network. This type of network is useful when you need to create an isolated networking environment, such as an isolated test domain. For our demonstration, we are going to use an External Network so that the VMs can communicate with the Host system. Make all the appropriate selections and so forth, and then press OK. You may encounter the following warning message. This is because we are remotely connecting to the Host machine using the same network connection that we are about to setup as a Virtual Switch (hence selecting the ‘Allow management operating system to share this network adapter’ checkbox). Press ‘Yes’ to the dialog. Now that we have the virtual switch setup, we can start creating VMs for our lab. Create the Virtual Machines Let’s now create the VM’s we will need for the lab, specifically one for Active Directory, and another for SCVMM (since we are install all roles within the same server). In Hyper-V Manager, from the Actions pane, click on New and choose Virtual Machine. On the New Virtual Machine wizard beginning screen, click read the information presented and then click Next. Enter a name for the VM. Note that this is NOT the name the VM will have within the Operating System (unless you name it the same), but rather, used as an identifier in Hyper-V Manager. After you have entered a name, click Next. Now assign the amount of memory you want your VM to have, and then press Next. This is the screen where you connect your VM to the network that we created, then press Next. This is the screen where you configure how large a hard drive the VM will have. Make the appropriate customizations and click Next. For the Installation Options, choose if you will install an OS later, or if you want to use an ISO, then click Next. On the Summary screen, review your selections and entries, and click Finish. Once the VM is created, it will appear in the Hyper-V Manager. If you want to configure further settings, like the number of CPUs and mounting an OS ISO, right click on the VM and choose Settings or click on Settings from the Actions pane. Repeat these steps for each VM you need to create, in our case one for Active Directory and another for SCVMM. Here are the settings I have used for each of the VM’s: Active Directory: Virtual Machine Name: AD Memory: 2048 MBNOTE: Active Directory doesn’t need 2 GB of RAM, it will run fine with 512 MB. I just increased the RAM so that the OS would install/respond faster. CPUs: 2 OS: Windows Server 2012 SCVMM: Virtual Machine Name: SCVMM Memory: 4096 MBNOTE: You may need to increase the amount of RAM this VM has, depending on performance. CPUs: 2 OS: Windows Server 2012 In our next post we will install the Operating System.

Installing System Center Data Protection Manager on Server 2012

In our last post, we initially setup the VM's required for our lab. Now we'll focus on the OS. Install the Operating System Now that we have created the VMs for our lab, we can install the Operating System (OS). Start by connecting to one of the VMs, either by double clicking on the VM in Hyper-V Manager, right click the VM and choose Connect, or click on Connect from the Action pane/menu. When you have the VM connection up, and an ISO mounted, power the VM on. On the Windows Setup screen, select the Language, Time/Currency Format, and Keyboard Method appropriate, and click Next. All you have to do now is click Install Now. Next you have to choose the Operating System and version you want to install. In our lab example, I will choose Windows Server 2012 Standard (Server with a GUI). Make your selection and then click Next. You will have to accept the license terms, and then click Next. For the Installation Type, since we don’t already have an OS installed, we will choose the ‘Custom: Install Windows only (advanced)’ option. Now select the hard drive that you want to install the OS to. Since we only created one hard drive when setting up the VM, we only have one to choose from. Select it, and click Next. Now all you have to do is wait for the installation to finish. Once the installation is complete, you will be prompted to enter a password for the local administrator account. This is different from a domain-based local administrator account. Enter a password and click Finish. After some final quick configuration, you will then be presented with the login screen. Now repeat these steps for the other VMs in the lab. NOTE: After you install an OS, you will need to rename the computer within the OS. To do this in Server 2012, launch Server Manager, and click on Local Server. Then click on the computer name. This will launch the System Properties dialog. From this dialog, click the Change button. From this dialog, enter the name you want to call the computer. In my lab, I called the Active Directory computer “AD”, and the Operations Manager computer “SCOM”. Press OK after entering the name. You will encounter the following prompt. Click OK. Then click Close on the System Properties dialog. You can choose to either Restart Now or Restart Later, but the name change will not take effect until you do so. In the next part of our guide, we will install Active Directory Domain Services, so stay tuned.

I have got the following problem with OSD in SCCM 2012 SP1. TS OSD works without problems on distribution points into primary or secondary sites and DP with Windows server 2008 R2 OS, the problem, however, occurs at the DP with OS Windows 2012 TS downloaded boot image and then restart in Win PE but after format drive Task Sequence has failed with error code 0x80070002, BITs are not enabled and permissions are the same yacon DP as in DPs OS 2008 R2, please any idea what could be wrong?

Got big problem with SCCM 2012 SP1. SCCM 2012 SP1 and SQL 2012 SP1 CU3 on Windows Server 2012. Installed all prereqs and got a clean install. Get these error every 30 minutes and both MP and SMP role are critical in Site Status. Already checked the SPN records. IIS and SCCM use port 80. What can be wrong? Only thing I haven't tried is removing MP and SMP and reinstallting IIS... Also got this up on technet... : http://social.technet.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/configmanagergeneral/thread/85a7974a-daa2-412b-9b82-9ae6ba716c6d ____________________________ Errors: On SMS_STATE_MIGRATION_POINT: SMP Control Manager detected SMP is not responding to HTTP requests. The http status code and text is 500, Internal Server Error. Possible cause: Internet Information Services (IIS) isn't configured to listen on the ports over which the site is configured to communicate. Solution: Verify that the designated Web Site is configured to use the same ports which the site is configured to use. Possible cause: The designated Web Site is disabled in IIS. Solution: Verify that the designated Web Site is enabled, and functioning properly. Possible cause: The MP ISAPI Application Identity does not have the requisite logon privileges. Solution: Verify that the account that the MP ISAPI is configured to run under has not been denied batch logon rights through group policy. For more information, refer to Microsoft Knowledge Base. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ************************************************************************************ ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ERROR on: SMS_MP_CONTROL_MANAGER MP Control Manager detected management point is not responding to HTTP requests. The HTTP status code and text is 500, Internal Server Error. Possible cause: Management point encountered an error when connecting to SQL Server. Solution: Verify that the SQL Server is properly configured to allow Management Point access. Verify that management point computer account or the Management Point Database Connection Account is a member of Management Point Role (msdbrole_MP) in the SQL Server database. Possible cause: The SQL Server Service Principal Names (SPNs) are not registered correctly in Active Directory Solution: Ensure SQL Server SPNs are correctly registered. Review Q829868. Possible cause: Internet Information Services (IIS) isn't configured to listen on the ports over which the site is configured to communicate. Solution: Verify that the designated Web Site is configured to use the same ports which the site is configured to use. Possible cause: The designated Web Site is disabled in IIS. Solution: Verify that the designated Web Site is enabled, and functioning properly. Possible cause: The MP ISAPI Application Identity does not have the requisite logon privileges. Solution: Verify that the account that the MP ISAPI is configured to run under has not been denied batch logon rights through group policy. For more information, refer to Microsoft Knowledge Base article 838891.