OSD Task Sequence: “There are not task sequences available for this computer”

OSD Task Sequence fails with "There are no task sequences available for this computer" if multiple machines have the same SMBIOS GUID

 

Issue: 

When attempting to deploy an operating system using OSD in System Center Configuration Manager 2007, the Task Sequence may fail with the following error:

There are no task sequences available for this computer.

If you look in the SMSTS.log you may also see the following error:

No assigned task sequence.

Setting wizard error: There are no task sequences available for this computer.

The SMSTS.log may also show the SMBIOS GUID as follows:

Setting SMBIOS GUID = 4C4C4544-0000-2010-8020-80C04F202020.

or

Setting SMBIOS GUID = 03000200-0400-0500-0006-000700080009.

Note: Analyzing the Advertisement and the Collection confirms that the target computer is in the proper Collection that the Advertisement is pointing to. Deleting the computer from the SCCM database and re-adding it back to the SCCM and the Collection via the Import Computer Information wizard using the MAC address or SMBIOS GUID does not resolve the problem.

Cause:

The issue can be caused by there being more than one computer in the environment with the same SMBIOS GUID (aka System UUID). Similar to MAC Addresses, SMBIOS GUIDs should be unique on each computer and no two computers should have the same SMBIOS GUID. The SMBIOS GUID is stored in the computer's BIOS. Do not confuse the SMBIOS GUID with the SMS GUID. These are two separate, different, and distinct items.

The problem occurs because when the SCCM database is queried for available Task Sequences that are advertised to that PC, it does so first by using the computers SMBIOS GUID. Each record in the SCCM database records the computers SMBIOS GUID under the field System UUID. If it does not match a record with the SMBIOS GUID, it then uses the MAC Address.

However, if multiple computers exist in the environment and are in the SCCM database with the same SMBIOS GUID, it may find the record for a PC other than the one where the Task Sequence is trying to be initiated. It will then query policy for that other PC, and if that other PC does not have a Task Sequence advertised to it, it will return back that there are no task sequences available for this computer.

Resolution: 

To see if this problem exists in your environment, create a query or collection in SCCM based on the suspected duplicate SMBIOS GUID. If more than one computer has the same SMBIOS GUID then the problem exists in the environment and needs to be fixed at a hardware level. You will need to contact the OEM vendor for a fix.

I Have found the following to resolve the problem (If you are doing a Build and Capture):

• Verify the Reference machine does not already exist in a computer collection (Agent was once installed, etc…)
  • If so remove it.

• Create a collection using the SMBIOS GUID located in the SMSTS.log "Setting SMBIOS GUID".
  • System Resource
  • System UUID
  • <Guid Value>

• Advertise your task sequence to "Unknown Computers" Collection.

Additional Information:  The SMBIOS GUID SMBIOS GUID (aka System UUID) can be found in the SMSTS.log in the line:

"Setting SMBIOS GUID = "

It can also be found by inspecting the SMSPXE.log as the PC tries to PXE boot. In addition, it can also be obtained by hitting the Pause/Break key on the keyboard on the affected PC at the PXE boot screen. The SMBIOS GUID should be displayed somewhere on that screen.

Getting Started with FIM 2010

The following resources are available for Getting Started with FIM 2010

• Introduction to Configuring the FIM Portal
• Introduction to the Configuration Migration Tool
• Introduction to User and Group Management
• Introduction to Security Group Management
• Introduction to Distribution Group Management
• Introduction to Workflow Management
• Introduction to Set Management
• Introduction to Password Reset
• Introduction to Management Policy Rules
• Introduction to Schema Management
• Introduction to Inbound Synchronization
• Introduction to Outbound Synchronization
• Introduction to Resource Control Display Configurations
• Introduction to Request Management
• Introduction to FIM Add-in for Outlook
• Introduction to Certificate Management
• Introduction to Certificate Management Smartcards

Task Sequence Error 0x80004005

Issue: During an Operating System Build / Capture task, you receive the following error upon the Configure Windows task.
Task Sequence:  %TaskName% has failed with the error code (0x80004005).  For more information, please contact your system administrator or helpdesk operator.

Resolution: This might be the product activation code for Windows Vista/Win7. Try once without any activation code and if that works add the activation code to the file \source\pid.txt

Kernel-Processor-Power EventID 37

On some of our HP DL360G6 servers, the following warning (event id 37) showed up in the event log of Windows 2008 R2

Log Name:      System
Source:        Microsoft-Windows-Kernel-Processor-Power
Date:          <date>
Event ID:      37
Task Category: (7)
Level:         Warning
Keywords:     
User:          SYSTEM
Computer:      <servername>
Description:
The speed of processor 0 in group 0 is being limited by system firmware. The processor has been in this reduced performance state for 2139 seconds since the last report.”

To solve this error, do the following:

1. In Windows, check your Power Options. Make sure that your Power Scheme is set to High Performance, and check that every option is set to “Always On”.
2. Make sure you have installed all latest drivers and firmware, especially for your motherboard and CPU.
3. Reboot your computer and go to your BIOS settings. Make sure that your power settings are set to maximum. This differs from computer to computer.

In case the error occurs on a HP server, you should set in the Minimum Processor Idle Power State “No C-states”:

1. Enter BIOS by pressing F9 on POST
2. Navigate to “Power Management Options” => “Advanced Power Management Options” => “Minimum Processor Idle Power State”
3. Choose “No C-States

OCS - Changing Component UNCs, URLs, etc.

How To Change OCS 2007 Meeting, ABS, Distribution Expansion… URLs and UNC paths

Let me see if this sounds familiar. You decide to configure or reconfigure the UNC paths or URLs for Meeting download location, ABS, Distribution List expansion urls…. However you cannot edit these fields within the GUI. So what now? Well this is where the wbemtest.exe tool comes into play.

This article will provide the procedure for changing the Meeting Content and Metadata UNC paths. The procedure for changing other settings such as URLs for these resources will be similar with respect to using wbemtest.exe however other provisions will have to follow for IIS modifications.

The location for the meeting content folder and the meeting metadata folder are specified during setup and cannot be changed using Office Communications Server 2007. However, those locations can be changed after Office Communications Server is deployed by using the manual steps described in the following sections.

Manually changing the folder location for meeting content and metadata requires completing the following four steps:

1. Creating and configuring the file folders and file shares for meeting content and metadata.

2. Changing WMI settings for meeting content and meeting content metadata folders.

3. Changing the IIS virtual directory to the presentation folder.

4. Restarting the Communications Server Web Conferencing service.

Note: First stop the Web Conferencing service before performing the following steps

To Configure shares for meeting content and metadata

1. If not already created, create the shares for meeting content .

Content Share: \\ServerName\Content

· Standard Edition: Permissions for folders (<contentShare> > Properties > Security)

User Group	Access Permissions
RTC Component Local Group	Read/Write
Users (Local Group)	Read-Only

· Enterprise Edition: Permissions for folders (<ContentShare> > Properties > Security)

User Group	Access Permissions
RTCUniversalGuestAccessGroup	Read Read and Execute List Folder Contents
RTCComponentUniversalServices	Read Read and Execute Modify Write

Metadata Share: \\ServerName\Metadata

· Standard Edition: Permissions for folders (<MetadataShare> > Properties > Security)

User Group	Access Permissions
RTC Component Local Group	Read/Write

· Enterprise Edition: Permissions for folders (<MetadataShare> > Properties > Security)

User Group	Access Permissions
RTCComponentUniversalServices	Read Read and Execute Modify Write

Change WMI Setting for Meeting Content and Meeting Content Metadata folders

1. Logon to the Standard Edition or Enterprise Pool server with an account that is a member of the RTCUniversalServerAdmins group

2. From a command prompt run wbemtest.exe

3. In the Windows Management Instrumentation tester window and click Connect.

4. In the Connect dialog box, in Namespace, type root\cimv2, and then click Connect

5. In the Windows Management Instrumentation Tester dialog box, click Query button.

6. Enter the following query

a. Standard Edition Server:
In the Query dialog box, type the query, such as:

Select * from MSFT_SIPDataMCUCapabilitySetting where Backend = “(local)file://///rtc”

b. Enterprise Pool:
In the Query dialog box, type the query, such as:

Select * from MSFT_SIPDataMCUCapabilitySetting where Backend = ”BackendServerName\\DatabaseInstanceName”.

Example (If default instance): Select * from MSFT_SIPDataMCUCapabilitySetting where Backend = "SQLServer"

Note: When entering the sql statement make sure to have a carriage return following the command.

7. In the Query dialog box, click Apply.

8. In the Query Result dialog box, double-click MSFT_SIPDataMCUCapabilitySetting

9. In the Properties box select the property that you wish to change (i.e. MeetingMetadataLocation and MeetingContentLocation), edit the values and enter the correct UNC path and save property.

10. Click Save Object, and then click Close.

11. Click Exit

 

Change WMI Setting for Distribution List Expansion

1. Logon to the Standard Edition or Enterprise Pool server with an account that is a member of the RTCUniversalServerAdmins group.

2. From a command prompt run wbemtest.exe

3. In the Windows Management Instrumentation tester window and click Connect

4. In the Connect dialog box, in Namespace, type root\cimv2, and then click Connect

5. In the Windows Management Instrumentation Tester dialog box, click Query button

1. Enter the following query

a. Standard Edition Server:
In the Query dialog box, type the query, such as:

Select * from MSFT_SIPGroupExpansionSetting where backend="(local)\\rtc"”

b. Enterprise Pool:
In the Query dialog box, type the query, such as:

Select * from MSFT_SIPGroupExpansionSetting where backend = ”BackendServerName\\DatabaseInstanceName”.

7. In the query results box double-click the results.

8. Select value you wish to edit. Example(ExternalDLExpansionWebURL), and then click Edit Property.

9. In the Property Editor dialog box, click to select the NOT NULL option.

10. In the Value box, type the external Web Farm URL in the following format, and then click Save Property and Save.
https://externalURL.domain.com/abs/Ext/Handler

11. Click Save Object and then click Close.

Change WMI Setting for Address Book Service URL

1. Logon to the Standard Edition or Enterprise Pool server with an account that is a member of the RTCUniversalServerAdmins group.

2. From a command prompt run wbemtest.exe

3. In the Windows Management Instrumentation tester window and click Connect

4. In the Connect dialog box, in Namespace, type root\cimv2, and then click Connect

5. In the Windows Management Instrumentation Tester dialog box, click Query button

1. Enter the following query

a. Standard Edition Server:
In the Query dialog box, type the query, such as:

Select * from MSFT_SIPAddressBookSetting where backend="(local)\\rtc"”

b. Enterprise Pool:
In the Query dialog box, type the query, such as:

Select * from MSFT_SIPAddressBookSetting where backend = ”BackendServerName\\DatabaseInstanceName”.

7. In the query results box double-click the results.

8. Select value you wish to edit. Example(ExternalURL), and then click Edit Property.

9. In the Property Editor dialog box, click to select the NOT NULL option.

10. In the Value box, type the external Web Farm URL in the following format, and then click Save Property and Save.
https://externalURL.domain.com/abs/Ext/Handler

11. Click Save Object and then click Close.

12. Click Exit.

 

To change the IIS virtual directory to the presentation folder

1. Log on to a server with Web Components installed as a member of the Administrators group or a group with equivalent user rights.

2. Open IIS Manager. Click Start, point to All Programs, point to Administrative Tools, and then click Internet Information Services (IIS) Manager.

3. Expand the computer name, expand Web Sites, expand Default Web Site, expand Etc, expand Place, expand Null, right-click FileTree, and then click Properties

4. On the Virtual Directory tab, do one of the following:

· If the content for this resource is on the local computer, click A directory located on this computer, and then type the path to the meeting content folder that you created in the Local path box.

If the content for this resource is not on the local computer, click A share located on another computer, and then type the path to the meeting content folder that you created in the Network directory box

Exchange 2007 SP1 – Rollup 5 installation Issue (OWA)

There have been quite a few incidents reported out there regarding installation issues with application of Rollup 5 (and other versions) to Exchange 2007.  Granted many incidents have been reported with the Rollup 5 install for Exchange 2007 RTM; however there are also incidents with Exchange 2007 SP1 as well.  Below I will provide a brief overview of a incident I have experienced and action taken to remediate.

Scenario:

   Server State Pre-Installation of Exchange 2007 SP1 Rollup 5: 

• Exchange 2007 SP1 (w/ Rollup 3 applied). 
• No interim hotfixes for Exchange 2007 applied.
• Antivirus services stopped
• Backend servers have applied the rollup successfully

Problem(s):

• Installation of Rollup 5 takes LONG time (30-60 min) – Hangs on .NET assemblies portion of installation
• Exchange related services are left in a “DISABLED” state following installation as well as Reboot.
• Exchange related service will not start up.
• Users accessing OWA images are not displayed properly and pageNotFound for reading pane, etc…..

Symptoms:

• Visible Symptoms:
  • MSExchangeOWAAppPool does not exist for Rollup 5 version.  (MSExchangeOWAAppPool > OWA 8.1.336.0)
    Problem Server
    
    
    Good Server
    
    
    
    
• OWA does not display correctly when accessed.  Images are replaced with a “X”.
• *exe.config (C:\<drive>\Microsoft\Exchange Servers\Bin files have not been “recreated/updated” (reflecting Rollup application date)
  

Solution:

The installation of the rollup issue was not consistent across the board with the Client Access Servers.  Some servers installed successfully and other did not.  So the root cause was not determined; however the fix was the same across the board for problem servers.  

1. If stopped > Start IISAdmin
2. Modify the properties of the OWA 8.1.336 virtual Directory (Default Web Site > OWA > OWA 8.1.336) and assign Application Name and Application Pool (MSExchangeOWAAppPool)
3. Start Exchange Related Services
4. If services do not start, Verify *exe.config file contents for the following files.
5. Start Exchange Related Services
6. Verify OWA Authentication and set accordingly
7. Verify OWA Connectivity

Start IISAdmin (if stopped/disabled)

1.  Open command Exchange Management Shell.

If Disabled Type:  Set-Service “IISAdmin” –startupType Automatic
If Stopped Type:  Start-Service “IISAdmin”

Note:  Verify W3SVC and HTTPSSL service as well.

Verify MSExchangeOWAAppPool virtual Directory for Rollup 5 (owa 8.1.336)

1.  Open IIS Manager > ServerName > Application Pools >




MSExchangeOWAAppPool > owa/<RollupVersion>   (ex.  <default web site>/owa/8.1.336)

2. If version does not exist that matches the rollup version (Rollup 5 for Exchange 2007 SP1 = 8.1.336), navigate down to the Web Sites > Default Web Site > OWA > <rollup version>. 

3.  Right click the virtual directory that matches the rollup version, select Properties > Application Name click “Create”.  Enter “owa” text.  and then for Application Pool select MSExchangeOWAAppPool.

4.  Select OK and verify that the MSExchangeOWAAppPool > owa/<rollupVersion> exists.  (Procedure in Step 1.)

5. From command prompt, run:    IISRESET /NoForce

If Exchange Services do not startup normally or hang.   Verify the Exchange   *.exe.config File Content of the following files:

Reference Article:  http://msexchangeteam.com/archive/2008/07/08/449159.aspx

**Advise following the reference article for procedure.  However the gist of it is listed below.

1.  Check to see if the configuration files within the <Drive>\Microsoft\Exchange Server\bin directory contain the following key entry.  If not backup the existing files and either create or modify existing files.  List of files is below as well.

<configuration>




  <runtime>








          <generatePublisherEvidence enabled="false"/>








  </runtime>








</configuration>

*.exe.config files:  (exe.config versions of these files; so EdgeTransport.exe will have a EdgeTransport.exe.config file)

<>

</>

<>

</>


<>

</>
<>

</>

Bin\EdgeTransport.exe Bin\ExBPA.exe Bin\ExBPACmd.exe Bin\ExTRA.exe Bin\Microsoft.Exchange.Cluster.ReplayService.exe Bin\Microsoft.Exchange.EdgeSyncSvc.exe Bin\Microsoft.Exchange.Monitoring.exe Bin\Microsoft.Exchange.Search.ExSearch.exe Bin\Microsoft.Exchange.ServiceHost.exe Bin\MSExchangeMailboxAssistants.exe Bin\MSExchangeMailSubmission.exe Bin\MSExchangeTransportLogSearch.exe ClientAccess\PopImap\Microsoft.Exchange.Imap4.Exe ClientAccess\PopImap\Microsoft.Exchange.Pop3.Exe

2.  After the configuration files have been modified.  Try to startup the Exchange services.

Verify OWA Authentication:

1.  First check to see if the authentication method is set correctly for the OWA virtual directory.

get-owavirtualdirectoy -identity "msgexsv23004\owa (default web site)" | fl *authenti*

InternalAuthenticationMethods : {Basic, Ntlm, WindowsIntegrated}
BasicAuthentication           : False
DigestAuthentication          : False
WindowsAuthentication         : False
FormsAuthentication           : False

2.  If authentication is not set correctly then set it according to your standards.  Below is an example of enabling WIndows Integrated and Basic Authentication.

Set OWA Virtual Directory authentication (Integrated and Basic):

set-owavirtualdirectoy -identity "msgexsv23004\owa (default web site)"  -WindowsAuthentication $true -BasicAuthentication $true

3. Next you will want to reset IIS.  Open a command prompt and run the following command.








 IISRESET /NOFORCE

4. Finally, verify authentication settings and open a browser and test OWA access/connectivit. (Internal and External URLS).   The command below is the same verification command issued in step 1.

get-owavirtualdirectoy -identity "msgexsv23004\owa (default web site)" | fl *authenti*

Exchange 2007 – Modify Default Managed Folders

Modify Default Managed Folders (i.e. Deleted Items)

Scenario:

  A company has elected to automate the deletion of messages within the “Deleted Items” folders based on a retention period of their choice. After the retention period for a specific message(s) with the “Deleted Items” folder, the message will be permanently deleted from that folder. However this will not apply to the Mailbox Database “Deleted Item Retention period currently enforced and users will still be able to perform the “recover deleted items” function from the client.

You can implement MRM (Message Records Management) within the organization to apply messaging policies in various scenarios. You can create managed custom folders in user mailboxes and apply MRM policies to these managed custom folders and also the default folder. You can then configure content settings for both the custom and the default e-mail folders

How to Modify Default Managed Folder (Deleted Items)

Method 1: From the Exchange Management Console

1. Run the EMC.

2. Expand the Organization Configuration node and then click Mailbox.

3. In the result pane, select the Managed Default Folders tab

4. Select the “Deleted Items” folder

5. Right Click and Select the “New Managed Content Settings”

6. Enter a name for the Managed Folder Content Settings (Ex. 2 –Day Retention All)

7. Message Type Enter “All Mailbox Content”. This refers to the type of messages that this policy will apply. In this case anything that is deleted (Contact, Notes, Messages, etc.) will be deleted from the deleted items folder after two days from the day it is placed in the Deleted Items folder.

8. Set the length of retention period (days).

9. Select when the Retention Period starts. In this case select “When item is moved to the folder”

10. Finally select the action to perform at the end of the retention period. Select “Delete and Allow Recovery”. This option will allow for users to still use the “recovery deleted items option” from the Outlook client.

11. Click “Next”

12. On the Journaling options page, do not select anything and click “Next”.

13. Finally Click “New” to create the content setting.

14. Once it is created, click “Finish”.

15. After its complete, you will see that the Deleted Items managed folder can be expanded and that new content setting is listed below.

Method 2:  Exchange Management Shell

1. Open Exchange Management Shell

2. Enter the following command line:

new-ManagedContentSettings -Name '2 - Day Retention All' -FolderName 'Deleted Items' -RetentionAction 'DeleteAndAllowRecovery' -AddressForJournaling $null -AgeLimitForRetention '2.00:00:00' -JournalingEnabled $false -MessageFormatForJournaling 'UseTnef' -RetentionEnabled $true -LabelForJournaling '' -MessageClass '*' -MoveToDestinationFolder $null -TriggerForRetention 'WhenMoved'