How to update ConfigMgr 2012 R2 to SP1

***Edit: So it turns out that I really didn't need the SC2012_R2_SP1_Configmgr.exe package because that is only needed if you are upgrading from 2012 SP1, not if you are already at R2.  Just ignore those parts below.  Everything else looks like it worked correctly.

If you are currently at ConfigMgr 2012 R2, all you need is the SC2012_SP2_Configmgr_SCEP.exe file to update.  If you are at ConfigMgr 2012 SP1, you will first run the SC2012_SP2_Configmgr_SCEP.exe file and then run the SC2012_R2_SP1_Configmgr.exe file to enable the R2 features.***

How I updated my ConfigMgr 2012 R2 lab to SP1:

Here are some helpful links on Planning for the update and what's new.
https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/464a3ce6-3bbf-45d8-aeaa-0040f64214c5#BKMK_UpgradeVersions
https://technet.microsoft.com/library/mt131422.aspx

System Center Configuration Manager 2012 R2 Service Pack 1 comes with Configuration Manager 2012 Service Pack 2.

SC2012_R2_SP1_Configmgr.exe

SC2012_SP2_Configmgr_SCEP.exe

When you extract these to their default locations, which is a folder on the C: drive with the same name as the file, you will need at least 1.2GBs free just for the files.

If you try to run the C:\SC2012_R2_SP1_Configmgr\SMSSETUP\X64\Configmgr2012R2SP1.msi, you get an error saying "You must have local Administrator permissions to install this software."

It seems a little odd, but to install R2 SP1, you have to run the installer for non-R2 SP2, which is the second file that you downloaded.  Open C:\SC2012_SP2_Configmgr_SCEP\SMSSETUP\BIN\X64 and run Setup.exe.  The setup will create multiple logfiles in the root of the C: drive.  The main log will be C:\ConfigMgrSetup.lo_ and ConfigMgrSetup.log.  At the bottom of the installer will be a button for View Log.  If you have CMTrace installed on your server, (why would you not have it?) you can watch the log as everything happens.

At the beginning of the installer it asks to download the latest update files or use an existing set.  I tried to point it to the SP1 folder as an existing set, but it didn't like that.  So I used the option to download files to a new location and picked a new, empty folder.

Two of the first couple of lines tell me that the installer was at least looking toward the SP1 folder. And no, there was no manifest file there but there is one in the new folder where I had the latest updates go to.  So I wonder if I was supposed to tell the installer to download the latest files to the SP1 folder.  Too late now because an uninstall of SP1 is not supported.  I will have to try that in another environment.

INFO: Downloading files to C:\SC2012_R2_SP1_Configmgr

ERROR: Manifest file C:\SC2012_R2_SP1_Configmgr\ConfigMgr.Manifest.cab not found. Verification failed.

My test lab is small with a database about 5.0GB.  The database update part took the longest by far, about 40 minutes.  The total update took about 58 minutes and was very easy and smooth.  Once it was all done I quickly scanned through the logfile to see if there were any errors to be concerned with.  I didn't see anything too concerning but I did see the following warning that you should know about.

WARN: Setup does not upgrade customized boot image package. Please update it manually.

Configuration Manager Client Package gets automatically updated.

Open the Configuration Manger console and in the About you can see the new Console and Site version numbers, which matches the Full Version and Full UI Version in the registry at HKLM\Software\Microsoft\SMS.  5.0.8239.1000

The new Client installer version in the \\ConfigMgrSrv\SMS_Site\Client folder says version 5.0.8239.1001.

But the Client on the endpoint machines show the same as the new server version, 5.0.8239.1000.

So it looks like my update was successful.  Happy installing!

Dell Warranty Tool in DCIS 4.0 Does Not Write to ConfigMgr DB

The latest version of the Dell Command Integration Suite 4.0 for System Center (link) includes the Warranty Tool similar to the previous versions.  But it does not write to the ConfigMgr DB.  This is due to a compatibility issue with the 2012 R2 DB and will hopefully be resolved in a near future version of the tool.

For now, here is a script that will help you import the results file from the Warranty Tool into your ConfigMgr 2012 DB.  This script was shared with me by a customer who has been using it.

DECLARE     @xml XML

set   @xml =

      (

      select BulkColumn

      from  openrowset(BULK 'C:\ProgramData\Dell\CommandIntegrationSuite\WarrantyInformation_03_05.xml',SINGLE_CLOB) as x

      )

select

            T.c.value('(ServiceTag/text())[1]','Varchar(30)') as ServiceTag

            ,T.c.value('(SystemID/text())[1]','Varchar(30)') as SystemID

            ,T.c.value('(Buid/text())[1]','Varchar(30)') as Buid

            ,T.c.value('(Region/text())[1]','Varchar(30)') as Region

            ,T.c.value('(LOB/text())[1]','Varchar(30)') as LOB

            ,T.c.value('(SystemModel/text())[1]','Varchar(30)') as SystemModel

            ,T.c.value('(SystemShipDate/text())[1]','datetime') as ShipDate

            ,U.v.value('(Provider/text())[1]','Varchar(30)') as Provider

            ,U.v.value('(ServiceLevelDescription/text())[1]','Varchar(50)') as Description

            ,U.v.value('(EntitlementType/text())[1]','Varchar(30)') as EntitlementType

            ,U.v.value('(StartDate/text())[1]','datetime') as WarrantyStartDate

            ,U.v.value('(EndDate/text())[1]','datetime') as WarrantyEndDate

            ,U.v.value('(DaysLeft/text())[1]','Int') as DaysLeft

from @xml.nodes('Warranty/Asset') T(c)

cross apply T.c.nodes('Entitlement') U(v)

order by ServiceTag, WarrantyEndDate

ConfigMgr Reports & Dell Server Administrator

ConfigMgr, in this case 2012 R2, Reports is showing older version of Dell "Server Administrator" but a newer version of OpenManage Server Administrator has been installed.

1. Latest version of OMSA was installed a couple weeks ago.

2. ConfigMgr Client Hardware Inventory was run in the last 24 hours.

So the ConfigMgr database should have the latest data.  But the Report is still showing that an old version of "Server Administrator" is still present.

We looked at the Resource Manager for a client showing this issues and found that there were two instances of "Server Administrator".  One of them was for the actual OMSA and the other was for omremote.exe, which is a file that DSET installs.

So, the old version of "Server Administrator" was actually the OMRemote.exe file installed with DSET.  DSET uses OMRemote.exe to do remote server report collection.  You can opt out of installing OMRemote during DSET install if you want and DSET will still run fine on the local system.

Customer wasn't using DSET, so solution was to uninstall it, force a new ConfigMgr Hardware Inventory, and run the report again.

Update iDrac6 or iDrac7 firmware with ConfigMgr 2012

Update iDrac6 or iDrac7 firmware with ConfigMgr 2012

There are multiple ways to update iDrac firmware.  Recently I had a customer request that it be done specifically with ConfigMgr 2012 because they didn't want to install any other tools at the time.  So here is how to do it silently for iDrac6 and iDrac7.

First we have to get the iDrac firmware version from all servers by adding the class to the hardware inventory.

1. Default Client Settings, Hardware Inventory, Add, Connect, servername, wmi namespace = root\cimv2\dell, check recursive.  Check DELL_Firmware.  Press OK all the way out to save.  This will also give you the Lifecycle Controller firmware version on the servers.
2. Trigger an event or wait for the Machine Policy Update to run.
3. Trigger an event or wait for the Hardware Inventory Policy to run. 

Next, we need to create collections based on iDrac generation.  There may be other ways to do this but I like to create a folder and then inside each folder you can put the collections. You just have to change the query rule next time you are ready to update all the iDracs to whatever the latest version is at that time.

1. Create one folder called iDrac6 and one called iDrac7.
2. Create a collection called iDrac6 to show all machines with this iDrac under the folder for iDrac6.
1. Use a Query rule to look for Dell_Firmware: Name equal to iDRAC6
3. Create a collection called iDrac7 to show all machines with this iDrac under the folder for iDrac7.
4. Create a collection called iDrac7 under the iDrac7 folder.
1. Use a Query rule to look for Dell_Firmware: Name equal to iDRAC7
5. Create a collection called iDrac6 - less than latest firmware
1. Limit to iDrac6 collection
2. Use a Query rule to look for Dell_Firmware: Version not equal to whatever the latest version is.
6. Create a collection called iDrac7 - less than latest firmware
1. Limit to iDrac7 collection
2. Use a Query rule to look for Dell_Firmware: Version not equal to whatever the latest version is.

Now we create the package for each new version.

1. Download the Update Package for Windows from Dell and put it in your source location.
2. Create the iDrac6 firmware package.
1. Select to Copy the content in the package to a package share on DPs.
3. Distribute the package to the DPs.
4. Create a new program in the iDrac6 package and name it after the firmware version.
1. Will look similar to this “ESM_Firmware_G6N28_WN32_1.97_A00.EXE /s”.  The /s on  the end tells it to do a silent install.
2. Run Normal or Hidden, Whether or not a user is logged on, and Suppress program notifications.
5. Deploy the package and program to the iDrac6 – Less than latest collection created earlier.
6. Repeat the same steps for the iDrac7 package making the necessary changes.