The following table lists the minimum and recommended hardware requirements for Configuration Manager 2007 computer clients. For information about device client requirements, see the "Mobile Device Client" section later in this section.

Supported Configuration Manager 2007 client installation requires at least Windows 2000 Professional SP4.

The following table lists the minimum Configuration Manager 2007 supported client operating systems.

Note

Microsoft provides support for the current service pack and, in some cases, the immediately preceding service pack. To find the support timelines for your product, visit the Lifecycle Supported Service Packs Web site at http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=31975. For additional information about Microsoft’s support lifecycle policy, visit the Microsoft Support Lifecycle Support Policy FAQ Web site at http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=31976.

¹Datacenter releases are supported but not certified for Configuration Manager 2007. Hotfix support is not offered for issues specific to Windows Datacenter Server edition.

²Windows 2000 clients cannot run in Configuration Manager 2007 native mode.

³Configuration Manager 2007 SP1 support for x64 and Itanium-based systems is through 32-bit code running on 64-bit operating systems.

⁴Windows XP Embedded is supported; however, for information about known limitations, see Known Limitations in Configuration Manager Support for Windows XP Embedded.

The Mobile Device Client requires 0.78 MB of storage space to install. In addition, mobile device management logging on the mobile device can require 256 KB of storage space. The mobile device client is supported on the following platforms:

• Windows Mobile for Pocket PC 2003
  
• Windows Mobile for Pocket PC 2003 Second Edition
  
• Windows Mobile for Pocket PC Phone Edition 2003
  
• Windows Mobile for Pocket PC Phone Edition 2003 Second Edition
  
• Windows Mobile Smartphone 2003
  

  Note
  Password management is not supported for Windows Mobile Smartphone 2003.

• Windows Mobile for Pocket PC 5.0
  
• Windows Mobile for Pocket PC Phone Edition 5.0
  
• Windows Mobile 5.0 Smartphone
  
• Windows CE 4.2 (ARM processor only)
  
• Windows CE 5.0 (ARM and x86 processors)
  
• Windows Mobile 6 Standard
  
• Windows Mobile 6 Professional
  
• Windows Mobile 6 Classic
  

  Note
  Password management on Windows Mobile for Pocket PC 5.0, Windows Mobile for Pocket PC Phone Edition 5.0, and Windows Mobile 5.0 Smartphone requires the Messaging and Security Feature Pack (MSPF). For more information, see the Windows Mobile Messaging and Security Feature Pack Web page (http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=80392).

Some Configuration Manager 2007 client features, such as operating system deployment, are not supported for the mobile device client. For more information about managing devices with Configuration Manager, see Overview of Mobile Device Management.

The following table lists the minimum and recommended hardware requirements for Configuration Manager 2007 site systems.

Supported Configuration Manager 2007 site system role installation, for roles other than the branch distribution point and Configuration Manager console, requires at least Windows Server 2003 SP1. Configuration Manager 2007 does not support site system role installation on servers running Windows 2000 Server or Windows 2003 Server with no service pack installed.

The following table lists the minimum operating systems required to support the various Configuration Manager 2007 site system roles.

Note

Microsoft provides support for the current service pack and, in some cases the immediately preceding service pack. To find the support timelines for your product, visit the Lifecycle Supported Service Packs Web site at http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=31975. For additional information about Microsoft’s support lifecycle policy, visit the Microsoft Support Lifecycle Support Policy FAQ Web site at http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=31976.

¹Only the branch distribution point role is supported for this operating system.

²It is not supported to install the Configuration Manager 2007 console on computers running any site system role except the site server.

³To use graphs in reports, Office Web Components (Microsoft Office 2000 SP2, Microsoft Office XP, or Microsoft Office 2003) must be installed. However, Office Web Components is not supported on 64-bit operating systems. If you want to use graphs in reports, use 32-bit operating systems for your reporting points.

Note
It is supported to host the site database on both 32-bit and 64-bit versions of SQL Server 2005 SP2 Standard and Enterprise editions. However, installing the site database on Itanium 64-bit platforms is not supported.

The Configuration Manager client is not supported on any operating system prior to Windows 2000 SP4. Installing the Configuration Manager client is explicitly not supported on the following operating system versions:

• Windows 95
  
• Windows 98
  
• Windows Millennium Edition
  
• Windows XP Media Center Edition
  
• Windows XP Starter Edition
  
• Windows XP Home Edition
  
• Windows XP Professional, with less than SP2 applied
  
• Windows Vista Starter Edition
  
• Windows Vista Home Basic Edition
  
• Windows Vista Home Premium Edition
  
• Windows Vista Starter Edition SP1
  
• Windows Vista Home Basic Edition SP1
  
• Windows Vista Home Premium Edition SP1
  
• Windows NT Workstation 4.0
  
• Windows NT Server 4.0
  
• Windows 2000 Server SP3 and earlier
  
• Windows 2003 Server, with no service pack installed
  
• Windows CE 3.0
  
• Windows Mobile Pocket PC 2002
  
• Windows Mobile SmartPhone 2002
  

Configuration Manager 2007 site server roles are not supported on any operating system prior to Windows Server 2003 SP1. Configuration Manager 2007 site roles are explicitly not supported on the following operating system versions:

• Windows NT 4.0 Server
  
• Windows 2000 Server
  
• Windows 2003 Server, with no service pack installed
  
• Windows Server 2008, with the exception of the System Health Validator
  
• Windows Server 2008 server core installation option
  

Configuration Manager 2007 Active Directory schema extensions provide many benefits for Configuration Manager 2007 sites, but they are not required. If you have extended your Active Directory schema for SMS 2003, you should update your schema extensions for Configuration Manager 2007. For more information about extending the Active Directory schema for Configuration Manager 2007, see How to Extend the Active Directory Schema for Configuration Manager.

When installing Configuration Manager 2007, the SQL Server site database can be installed on either the default instance or a named instance of SQL Server 2005 SP2. The instance used to host the site database can also be configured as a SQL Server failover cluster instance.

It is not supported to install Configuration Manager 2007 site servers or any site system server role other than the site database server on a Windows Server cluster instance. However, physical node computers of a Windows server cluster instance can be managed as Configuration Manager 2007 clients.

Note
SQL Server 2005 database mirroring is not supported for the Configuration Manager 2007 site database.

In SMS 2003, the mppublish.vbs script, supplied with the SMS 2003 installation files, was used to configure Microsoft SQL Server site database replication between the site database server and SQL Server site database replicas used to support management points and server locator points. Because Configuration Manager 2007 introduces new site database views and functions that are not replicated by the mppublish.vbs script, it is not supported for configuring SQL Server site database replication in Configuration Manager 2007 sites. For information about how to configure replication to support management points and server locator points, see How to Configure SQL Server Site Database Replication.

Configuration Manager 2007 clients can be assigned and report to only one site. When auto assignment is used to assign clients to a site during client installation and more than one site has the same boundary configured, the actual site assignment of a client cannot be predicted. If boundaries overlap across multiple Configuration Manager 2007 or SMS 2003 site hierarchies, clients might not get assigned to the correct site hierarchy or might not even get assigned to a site at all.

Note
Physical node computers of a Windows server cluster instance can be managed as Configuration Manager 2007 clients.

This section describes storage technologies that are supported, or not supported, in Configuration Manager 2007.

Storage Area Network Support

Single Instance Storage Support

Configuring distribution point package and signature folders to be configured on a Single Instance Storage (SIS)-enabled volume is not supported. It is also not supported for a Configuration Manager 2007 client's cache to be configured on a SIS-enabled volume.

Note
Single Instance Storage (SIS) is a feature of the Windows Storage Server 2003 R2 operating system.

Removable Disk Drive Support

All site systems must be members of an Active Directory domain. This requirement includes site systems that support Internet-based client management in a perimeter network.

Note
It is not supported to change the domain membership or computer name of a Configuration Manager 2007 site system after it is installed.

Configuration Manager 2007 provides support for clients in workgroups. It is also supported for a client to be moved from a workgroup to a domain or from a domain to a workgroup.

To support workgroup clients, the following requirements must be met:

• During client installation, the logged-on user must possess local administrator rights on the workgroup system. The only account that Configuration Manager 2007 can use to perform activities that require local administrator privileges is the account of the user that is logged on to the computer.
  
• The Configuration Manager client must be installed from a local source on each client machine. This requirement ensures that a local source for repair and client update application will be available for the client.
  
• Workgroup clients must be able to locate a server locator point for site assignment because they cannot query Active Directory Domain Services. The server locator point can be manually published in Windows Internet Naming Service (WINS), or it can be specified in the CCMSetup.exe installation command-line parameters.
  
• Workgroup clients must use the Network Access Account to access package source files on distribution points. If a Network Access Account is not configured, clients cannot access content on the distribution point. For more information, see Example Package Access Scenarios.
  

Although workgroup computers can be Configuration Manager 2007 clients, there are inherent limitations in supporting workgroup computers, including the following:

• Workgroup clients cannot reference Configuration Manager 2007 objects published to Active Directory Domain Services. For workgroup clients to locate their default management point computer, it must be registered and accessible to workgroup clients in either WINS or DNS.
  
• Active Directory system, user, or user group discovery is not possible.
  
• User targeted advertisements are not possible.
  
• The client push installation method is not supported for workgroup client installation. For more information about installing the Configuration Manager client on workgroup computers, see How to Install Configuration Manager Clients on Workgroup Computers.
  
• Global roaming is not possible. For more information about client roaming capabilities and behavior, see About Client Roaming in Configuration Manager.
  
• Using a workgroup client as a branch distribution point is not supported. Configuration Manager 2007 requires that all site systems, including branch distribution point computers, are members of an Active Directory domain.
  

Console sessions controlled by Remote Assistance are supported, except for simultaneous use of Configuration Manager Remote Tools.

Invoking Remote Assistance from the Configuration Manager console requires that the Configuration Manager console computer and the client computer are running one of the following operating systems:

• Windows XP SP2
  
• Windows Server 2003 SP1 or later
  
• Windows Server 2003 R2
  
• Windows Server 2008)
  
• Windows Vista (supported editions)
  
• Windows Vista SP1 (supported editions)
  

Fast User Switching, which is available in Windows XP editions not joined to a domain and in Windows Vista editions, is not supported in Configuration Manager 2007.

Configuration Manager 2007 cannot manage more than one operating system on a single computer. If there is more than one operating system on a computer that must be managed, tailor the discovery and installation methods used to ensure that the Configuration Manager client is installed only on the operating system that needs to be managed.

Configuration Manager 2007 support for virtual machine guest operating systems includes all supported client operating systems running on Microsoft Virtual PC or Virtual Server 2005 R2.

Note
Configuration Manager 2007 does not support Virtual PC or Virtual Server guests running on Macintosh.

Configuration Manager 2007 cannot manage Virtual PC or Virtual Server guest operating systems unless they are running. A static Virtual PC image cannot be updated, nor can inventory be collected using the Configuration Manager client on the host computer.

No special consideration is given to virtual machines. For example, Configuration Manager 2007 might not determine that an update needs to be re-applied to a virtual machine image if it is stopped and restarted without saving the version of the image to which the update was applied.

Configuration Manager 2007 supports all site server roles running as virtual machines only on Microsoft Virtual Server 2005 R2.