Using Systems Management Server to Deploy Windows 2000

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Systems Management Server Version 2.0
Introduction
Using Systems Management Server to Distribute Software
Packaging Windows 2000 for Systems Management Server
Distributing the Windows 2000 Packages
Advertising the Windows 2000 Packages
Using Systems Management Server to Ease Domain Consolidation and Migration
Examining Differences Between Systems Management Server 1.2 and Systems Management Server 2.0
For More Information

Systems Management Server Version 2.0

Scalable Management for Windows® Based Systems

Abstract

This paper explains a systematic approach to deploying the Microsoft® Windows® 2000 operating system using Microsoft Systems Management Server, including package preparation, package distribution, advertising, and monitoring.

Introduction

Microsoft® Systems Management Server (SMS) provides a variety of tools to help you deploy the Microsoft Windows® 2000 Server or Windows 2000 Professional operating systems in an enterprise environment. Project leaders and analysts, Windows 2000 technical analysts, and SMS administrators involved in this process should become familiar with the recommended configurations and procedures described in this technical paper. Although these recommendations also work for smaller organizations, the focus is on organizations with at least 2,500 personal computers.

You do not need to be familiar with Systems Management Server version 2.0 to understand the information in this technical paper. However, you need someone with SMS expertise to perform your Windows 2000 deployment. It is presumed that your SMS infrastructure is in place or that you will put an SMS infrastructure in place prior to deploying Windows 2000. Important differences between SMS 2.0 and Systems Management Server version 1.2 are also presented in this technical paper.

Note: An earlier version of this technical paper was published as Chapter 14, "Using Systems Management Server to Deploy Windows 2000," in the Windows 2000 Deployment Planning Guide available at https://www.microsoft.com/windows2000/library/resources/reskit/dpg/default.asp.This paper has been updated with details not available at the time of the publication of that book. Most notable of the updates are the details that clarify the Windows 2000 unattended setup answer file. Therefore, this paper should be used in preference to that chapter. This paper also presumes that Service Pack 2 has been applied to SMS 2.0.

Using Systems Management Server to Distribute Software

Deploying Windows 2000 on a large scale is much simpler when you use automated installation. However, there are still many tasks involved when you apply automated procedures to multiple servers and client computers throughout your organization. These tasks include:

• Selecting computers that are equipped for Windows 2000 and that you are ready to support.

• Distributing Windows 2000 source files to all sites, including remote sites and sites without technical support staff.

• Monitoring the distribution to all sites.

• Securely providing enough operating system rights to do the upgrade.

• Automatically initiating the installation of the software package with the possibility of allowing the user to control the timing.

• Resolving problems related to the distributions or installations.

• Reporting on the rate and success of deployment.

Systems Management Server can help you with all these tasks. The primary tasks involved in deploying Windows 2000 with SMS are illustrated in Figure 1.

Figure 1: Deploying Windows 2000 with SMS

SMS provides tools for upgrading your current computers but not for the installation of new computers that do not have an operating system already installed. To use SMS software distribution, you must install SMS client components on the destination computers. These SMS components require that the computer has a properly configured operating system.

Note: The phrase "SMS client" refers to all destination computers regardless of their function. They might be Windows servers or clients.

However, you can use your current SMS clients to initiate the installation of Windows 2000 into a new directory hierarchy or disk partition. In this situation, the Windows 2000 installation is a clean installation rather than an upgrade.

Note: You can also use SMS to help you with other Windows 2000 deployment activities. For more information about using SMS in your Windows 2000 deployment, see "Using Systems Management Server to Analyze Your Network Infrastructure" in the Windows 2000 Deployment Planning Guide at https://www.microsoft.com/windows2000/library/resources/reskit/dpg/default.asp.

Software Distribution with Systems Management Server 2.0

Systems Management Server software distribution is based on multiple components and tasks which allow you to completely control the process.

SMS Packages

SMS software distribution starts with an SMS package. The package, the basic unit of software distribution, contains the source files for the program and the details that direct the software distribution process.

Each package contains at least one SMS program, which is a command line that runs on each targeted computer to control the execution of the package. Programs can direct the installation of software or contain any other command line to be run at each targeted computer. Most packages also contain package source files, such as software installation files, that are used by the program when it runs.

Some software applications provide extensive installation options. Other packages and tools do not. If the program you want to distribute does not provide appropriate setup options, such as unattended operation, you can use SMS Installer to prepare your program for software distribution. SMS Installer can generate attended and unattended installation scripts that you can customize. This kind of scripting is not appropriate for the Windows 2000 upgrade. However, it might be useful for packages that are sent prior to the Windows 2000 upgrade to prepare the computer, or for packages that are sent after the upgrade to finalize the configuration. For more information about SMS Installer, see "Creating Self-Extracting Files with SMS Installer 2.0" in the Microsoft Systems Management Server Administrator's Guide.

You can create a package by using Packages in the SMS Administrator console, or you can create or obtain a package definition file and use the Create Package from Definition Wizard. A package definition file is an alternative, non-interactive way to create a package. It is a formatted file that contains all the information necessary to create the package. A package definition file for Windows 2000 is included with SMS 2.0. You can use SMS tools and wizards to create packages from package definition files without user interaction. When a package has been created, use the SMS Manage Distribution Points Wizard to choose the distribution points.

Distribution

Packages also contain information about software distribution, such as the directory for the package source files. Distribution Points are shares on site systems where the package source files are copied for access by client computers. Packages also include information about how and when to update distribution points. For ease of administration, you can group distribution points into Distribution Point Groups.

When package files need to be propagated to other sites, SMS compresses these files for sending between sites. You can also create and use a compressed copy of the package source files within the originating site.

You can control the distribution of a package by using Distribution Points, which is under the definition of the package under Packages in the SMS Administrator console.

Advertising

After you create the Windows 2000 package, you advertise one or more of the package's programs to your users by creating an advertisement. An advertisement specifies what program is available to client computers, which computers will receive the advertisement, and when the program will be scheduled for installation. Figure 2 shows the software distribution process.

When an advertisement is received at an SMS client, the user can still have some control over the scheduling of the SMS program. The advertisement can be run in a special privileged mode so that you need not give privileges to users. You can also run the advertisement so that it operates without any intervention from the user.

You create an advertisement by using Advertisements in the SMS Administrator console.

Figure 2: SMS 2.0 Software Distribution Process

For more information about SMS software distribution, see the Systems Management Server Administrator's Guide.

SMS Software Distribution Best Practices

With large software distributions, such as Windows 2000, it is important to note the two phases of Systems Management Server 2.0 software distribution: distribution and advertising. Distribution gets the software close to the computers you want to upgrade. Advertising advices the clients that the upgrade is available. With a package as large as Windows 2000, the distribution phase consumes a great deal of resources, and problems could arise due to lack of disk space. Therefore, make sure to plan and monitor the distribution phase carefully. After you have successfully completed the distribution phase, begin the advertising phase.

Test your distribution by first distributing Windows 2000 to only one site. The initial advertisement of the package should also be sent only to clients at that site. This allows you to test your SMS infrastructure and procedures on a limited scale. As your confidence increases and as capacity allows, you can distribute the package to more sites and increase the scope of the advertisement to include more clients and sites until you eventually include your entire organization.

Additional best practices are included in the following discussions of the software distribution process.

How SMS Can Help with Windows 2000 Deployment

Systems Management Server can be particularly helpful for deploying Windows 2000 in the following ways:

Sending Windows 2000 Source Files Out to All Sites

SMS has senders that can send files over a wide variety of network protocols and over virtually any kind of network link. Senders provide several benefits over traditional file transfer methods. They can:

• Use only a fraction of the network bandwidth, allowing other business functions to continue at the same time.

• Forward packages only during specified hours, such as when most users are not using the network.

• Check the files as they are transferred so that if the network link fails, the transfer resumes at the latest checkpoint rather than at the beginning of the transfer.

• Choose an alternate route to the destination.

• Use the SMS hierarchy to get the packages to the sites, rather than sending the packages to all sites directly from the originating site.

Using senders can be beneficial when your sites are remote, particularly if they have no technical support staff. In such cases, you can reliably distribute Windows 2000 software to all sites without interfering with other business functions.

Monitoring the Distribution to All Sites

SMS automatically sends a status message as each step is completed, and you can easily monitor these messages using the SMS status subsystem.

Selecting Computers

Because deploying Windows 2000 upgrades is a large, complex, high-profile process, you need to deploy it in phases. This spreads out both the network activity and required support. Also, all your computers might not be ready to receive the package at the same time; for example, some computers might not have enough memory or disk space. SMS collects inventory details about your computers and allows you to create queries that select appropriate computers. You can increase the size of the selections as your confidence in the process increases.

Collections of inventory details can automatically include any additional computers that now meet the selection criteria. For example, consider a collection that is defined to include computers with 64 megabytes (MB) of memory or more. If you added 32 MB to an SMS client computer that had 32 MB, it would then qualify to receive the Windows 2000 upgrade and be included in the collection automatically.

Securely Providing Enough Operating System Rights

Operating system upgrades affect all aspects of a computer and, therefore, require that end users have broad access rights. You might be hesitant to give such broad permissions to users who do not have an in-depth knowledge of computers or of important company policies and procedures. SMS does have special privileges and can run the upgrade in that context.

Automatically Initiating the Installation

Upgrades can be either automatically initiated or initiated by users. You can set up the process so that even when users are involved, they do not have to choose between complex options. You can give users the option to control the timing so that the upgrade can occur when their computers are not in use.

Resolving Problems

If the upgrade to Windows 2000 causes problems on a particular computer, SMS has features that help you solve them. The status and inventory information that SMS provides can supply many details about the computer from a central, convenient source — the SMS Administrator console. You can also use SMS remote tools to remotely control the computer, transfer files, or manipulate the computer in other ways (as long as the SMS client is functional). If the user has an incompatible application or an application that might benefit from being reinstalled, you can use SMS software distribution to automatically update or remove it.

Reporting Status

SMS status messages are generated not only for the distribution of the package but also for the advertisements and the installation on user computers. You can use these status messages to report on the rate and success of deployment.

The steps required to take advantage of these SMS features are described in the procedures that follow. The details for enabling the relevant SMS subsystems and using them effectively are included the SMS documentation.

Packaging Windows 2000 for Systems Management Server

When you use Systems Management Server to deploy Windows 2000, you must put the Windows 2000 files into an SMS package. You need to create separate packages for Windows 2000 Server and Windows 2000 Professional. SMS 2.0 includes predefined package definitions for Windows 2000 Server and Professional. These can be used as the starting point to create your Windows 2000 packages.

For each SMS program, SMS obtains the files from a distribution folder. For more information about structuring distribution folders, see "Automating Server Installation and Upgrade" in the Windows 2000 Deployment Planning Guide at https://www.microsoft.com/windows2000/library/resources/reskit/dpg/default.asp(part of the Windows 2000 Resource Kit). You must structure the distribution folder as described in that chapter, and include all the auxiliary files required to complete the upgrade, such as the Plug and Play device drivers and answer files. You can even include standard applications, language packs, and service packs. For typical Windows 2000 deployments, the details provided in this paper should be sufficient, but the "Automating Server Installation and Upgrade" chapter will be useful if you have special requirements.

Each Windows 2000 SMS package definition also contains SMS programs. Each program is a different combination of options that you create for installing the Windows 2000 package. For example, your default program might be to install Windows 2000 with no user intervention. If you want to allow power users to choose options, they need a different program. All these SMS programs must be compatible with the set of files for the package available at the distribution folder.

Preparing the Windows 2000 Server Upgrade Package

The following procedure describes how to set up a typical upgrade package for Windows 2000 Server. The first step is to set up the location of the package source files for distributing Windows 2000 Server.

To set up a location for the Windows 2000 Server SMS package source files

1. Create a directory on a disk with at least 650 MB of available disk space.

2. If the directory in step 1 was not created on the SMS site server then make the directory available as a share.

3. Copy the entire directory tree from the i386 directory of the Windows 2000 Server CD-ROM to the directory created in step 1. Be sure to preserve the directory hierarchy.

The options available for setting up a Windows 2000 source location are described in detail in the chapter "Automating Server Installation and Upgrade" in the Windows 2000 Deployment Planning Guide.To create a Windows 2000 Server SMS package

1. Set up a location for the SMS package source files, as per the previous procedure.

2. In the SMS Administrator console, select Packages. On the Action menu, point to New, and then click Package From Definition as shown in Figure 3.

   

   Figure 3: Initiating the Create Package from Definition Wizard

3. On the Welcome page, click Next. In the Package definition list, click Windows 2000 Server.

4. On the Source Files page, click Create a compressed version of the source, and then click Next. In the Source directory box, enter the path to the package source files (see step 1). Click Next, and then click Finish.

   If the site server is extremely tight for disk space, you can choose Always obtains files from a source directory from the Source Files page. However, this slows future distributions of the software, and you must ensure that the source directory is always available.

5. When the wizard finishes, click Programs under your new package. In the results pane (the right side of the console), double-click Automated upgrade from NTS 3.51/4.0 (x86). Then verify that the predefined Command line is the correct setup command for your needs. Repeat this step for the other programs that you use.

   Caution: If you set up the location for the Windows 2000 Server SMS package source files (step 1) using the previous procedure, then you must remove i386\ from the Command line – your source location will not include an i386 directory. The inclusion of i386 would be appropriate if you are distributing the entire contents of the CD-ROM to your distribution points, but for most situations this would include files that are not needed, and therefore waste disk space and network capacity.

   To verify that the predefined Command line meets your needs, see "Examining the Windows 2000 Server Package Definition" later in this technical paper.

   Consider specifying an answer file in the program command line, which can allow you to specify a large number of configuration options. For more information about answer files, see "Automating Server Installation and Upgrade" in the Windows 2000 Planning and Deployment Guide.

   In the Comment box, enter a comment for each of the programs that you will use.

   The user can see your comments, so be sure they are descriptive. Give your users contact information, such as the name, phone number, or e-mail address of someone that they can contact for more information or report problems to.

6. On the Requirements tab for each program, adjust (if necessary) the Estimated disk space and Estimated run time to values that are appropriate for the upgrade you are doing. These values are information for your users.

7. On the Environment tab for each program, verify that Program can run is set to Whether or not a user is logged on.

   This setting ensures that the program is run with administrative rights, which is necessary for Microsoft Windows NT® Server upgrades.

8. Click OK to close the Program Properties dialog box.

9. If you want to ensure that users do not upgrade their computers before you are ready to deploy Windows 2000, select Access Accounts under your new package, and in the results pane, delete the Guests and Users access accounts.

Note that SMS does hide the software distribution shares and that users would require administrative rights on the computers (or the computers would have to be running Microsoft Windows 95 or Microsoft Windows 98) for them to take advantage of the Windows 2000 setup files.

You will have to give access to users who are authorized to upgrade to Windows 2000 at a later time.

Also, do not adjust the distribution points or create an advertisement at this time.

Caution: If you want to use security to control who can adjust or deploy the package, see the chapter "Distributing Software" in the Systems Management Server 2.0 Administrator's Guide.

If you require multiple Windows 2000 upgrade answer files to accommodate variations in your upgrades, you must create additional programs for the package in the SMS Administrator console. Each program will specify a different answer file for the winnt32 /unattend switch. Separate answer files allow different groups of computers to be upgraded in different ways while still using just a single package.

Systems Management Server 2.0 includes a variety of sophisticated options for packages and their programs. For example, you can specify that the Windows 2000 files be made available with a specific share name at your distribution points. This way they can easily be used by people performing manual upgrades as well as by SMS. The SMS documentation includes complete details on these options.

Allowing User Input During the Upgrade

Most SMS administrators consider it good practice not to allow user input during package installations. When users buy and install software by themselves, the Setup program generally prompts them for responses, such as which disk to install the software on or what options to install. Every user interaction introduces the opportunity for error that can cause problems. Users might not understand the implications of the answers they provide. If even a small percentage of users makes mistakes, the number of help desk calls can be overwhelming at a time when you are upgrading thousands of computers.

Another reason to eliminate user input during upgrade is to allow the installation to occur while no one is present at the computer so that you minimize the inconvenience to users.

Finally, providing all the answers in an answer file ensures that you maintain configuration standards. When you follow those standards, you simplify future computer maintenance and support by reducing the number of variables that could be relevant to a problem.

Providing an answer file with all the details required for the upgrade prevents the Windows 2000 Setup program from asking for user input. If some details are not provided (and the UnattendMode line in the answer file allows it) or if the /unattend command-line switch is not specified, the program prompts the user for the details. An answer file for a server upgrade might look like the following (you must change the ProductID value):

; Microsoft Windows 2000 Professional, Server, Advanced Server and Datacenter
; (c) 1994 - 1999 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.
;
; Sample Unattended Setup Answer File
;
; This file contains information about how to automate the installation
; or upgrade of Windows 2000 Professional and Windows 2000 Server so the
; Setup program runs without requiring user input.
[Unattended]
Unattendmode = FullUnattended
Filesystem = LeaveAlone
NTUpgrade=Yes
[UserData]
ProductID="<Valid Product key>"

Note: You must specify the answer file by using the command winnt32 /unattend:<answer.file>. The command winnt32 /unattend performs an unattended upgrade, but it gets the information it needs from the current configuration. It will prompt the user for a product ID. You can also include /batch on the command line if you like.

Examining the Windows 2000 Server Package Definition

The Windows 2000 Server package definition that comes with Systems Management Server 2.0 includes predefined programs. Review these programs to understand how the upgrades are performed.

The Windows 2000 Server upgrade from Windows NT Server includes the switches /unattend30 and /batch. The first switch, /unattend30, means that you are going to do an unattended upgrade and that all the required information is to be taken from the current installation. The computer will restart 30 seconds after the Setup program completes its first phase, which is when the files are copied to your computer. An answer file is not used.

The /batch switch specifies that Setup not display any error messages. This is appropriate when you are sending the package to users you do not want involved in the setup or if you are running the upgrade when no one is at the computer. However, if there are problems with the upgrade, such as a lack of disk space or an incorrect Start in directory, then this will not be readily apparent, because no error messages will appear. However, you can find error information in the SMS status messages generated as a result of the operation, and also in the log files in the Winnt directory on the client. If you encounter problems in your testing and the status messages are insufficient, remove the /batch switch to allow errors to be displayed during package testing. Also, with the /batch switch, if the user clicks on the Cancel button during the first phase of the Windows 2000 Setup, the user will not be asked to confirm that they want to stop the setup.

By default, the Command line directory for the package is specified as i386. This is appropriate if the source for the package includes an i386 directory, mirroring the Windows 2000 CD-ROM. However, if the source for the package only includes the files in and below the i386 directory on the CD-ROM, it is not necessary to specify a directory in Command line.

The estimated disk space and run time values included in the SMS 2.0 package are estimates that might not be realistic for your environment. You might want to increase them. These values are informational only and for the benefit of the user.

Notice on the Environment tab that the program is run with administrative rights securely provided by SMS. This is an important benefit when you are upgrading clients that run Microsoft Windows NT Workstation to Windows 2000 Professional. This feature means that you do not have to give administrative privileges to end users. It can also be important when servers are owned by business units and when central administrators have rights on the servers only through SMS.

If you include an answer file in the command line of the package program, it allows you to specify many of the options for your upgrade. For example, you can specify which disk Windows 2000 is to be installed on, or whether an upgrade or new installation needs to be done.

Preparing the Windows 2000 Professional Upgrade Package

To upgrade user computers to run Windows 2000 Professional by using SMS, you must first create a Windows 2000 Professional package. You prepare and use this package in much the same way as the Windows 2000 Server package. Begin by following the procedure to create a Windows 2000 Server package, but be sure to specify that this is a Windows 2000 Professional package. Because there are special issues for Windows 95 and Windows 98 upgrades to Windows 2000, you must create a new package, as outlined in the following section.

Note: Make sure to also create a separate package when you use SMS to distribute Windows 2000 Advanced Server. Although many files and setup details in this program are the same as those in Windows 2000 Server, there are enough differences to require each version to have its own package. You can use the basic Windows 2000 Server package definition as a starting point when creating packages to distribute other Windows 2000 server versions.

Windows 95 and Windows 98 Upgrades

In addition to the differences in the source files, a significant difference between the Windows 2000 Server and Windows 2000 Professional upgrades is in the answer file when upgrading Windows 95 or Windows 98 clients to Windows 2000 Professional. Computers running Windows 95 or Windows 98 have not been members of a domain (even if the users using them have been logging on to a domain), and have not had local accounts (although they have had local profiles and password list files). Also, the SMS client must be upgraded before it can run successfully on Windows 2000. Therefore, relevant details must be specified in the answer file, such as the following (you must change the JoinDomain, DomainAdmin, DomainAdminPassword, and ProductID values):

; Microsoft Windows 2000 Professional, Server, Advanced Server and Datacenter
; (c) 1994 - 1999 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.
;
; Sample Unattended Setup Answer File
;
; This file contains information about how to automate the installation
; or upgrade of Windows 2000 Professional and Windows 2000 Server so the
; Setup program runs without requiring user input.
[Unattended]
Unattendmode = FullUnattended
;the following line is needed to get UpdateSMSClient.bat copied to the client
OemPreinstall = Yes
Filesystem = ConvertNTFS
Win9xUpgrade=Yes
[GuiUnattended]
; Sets the Admin Password
AdminPassword = temporary
;the following two lines are needed because we used OemPreinstall
OemSkipWelcome=1
OemSkipRegional=1
[GuiRunOnce]
; List the programs that you want to lauch when the machine is logged into for the first time.
; This batch file will use the logon point that the user logged on to to run SMSLS.BAT. This will
; ensure the SMS client becomes functional again as soon as possible.
; You could also run another program (written in C or another language) to set the local
; administrator password to a value that is hidden in the executable.
C:\UpdateSMSClient.BAT
[Identification]
JoinDomain=RED1DOM
; minimize the privileges of the following account
DomainAdmin=JoinComputers
DomainAdminPassword=secret
[UserData]
ProductID="<Valid Product key>"

Note: You must specify the answer file by using the command winnt32 /unattend:<answer.file>. The command winnt32 /unattend performs an unattended upgrade, but it gets the information it needs from the current configuration.

To set up a location for the Windows 2000 Professional SMS package source files needed for upgrade from Windows 95 or Windows 98

1. Create a directory on a disk with at least 650 MB of available disk space.

2. If the directory in step 1 was not created on the SMS site server then make the directory available as a share.

3. Copy the entire directory tree from the i386 directory of the Windows 2000 Professional CD-ROM to the directory created in step 1. Be sure to preserve the directory hierarchy.

4. Create an unattended setup answer file in the directory created in step 1. Alternately, edit the sample Unattend.txt file in that directory. Additional details about the answer file are provided later in this paper.

5. Create a $OEM$ directory in the directory created in step 1. Create a C (the letter C, only) directory in the $OEM$ directory.

6. Create a batch file called UpdateSMSClient.bat in the $OEM$\C directory. The batch file must include the line "%LOGONSERVER%\NETLOGON\SMSLS.BAT".

The options available for setting up a Windows 2000 source are described in greater detail in the chapter "Automating Server Installation and Upgrade" in the Windows 2000 Deployment Planning Guide at https://www.microsoft.com/windows2000/library/resources/reskit/dpg/default.aspSteps 4 to 7 are optional. They ensure that the client reruns the SMS client setup procedures as soon as possible, so that files that Windows 95 and Windows 98-specific SMS client components are replaced with Windows 2000 and Windows NT-specific SMS client components. However, if you normally have SMS logon scripts enabled, or if you intend to manually run the SMS client setup procedures after the computer is upgraded, then this solution is not required. If you don't use steps 4 to 7, then you also won't need the GuiRunOnce section in the answer file, or the OemPreinstall, OemSkipWelcome, or OemSkipRegional lines.

When you have set up the location for Windows 2000 Professional SMS, you can then follow the same procedure for creating a Windows 2000 Server upgrade package. However, in step 3 of the procedure to create a Windows 2000 Server SMS package, import the Windows 2000 Professional package definition, rather than the Windows 2000 Server package definition. Also, in step 5 create a new program, modeled on the predefined program, rather than modifying the current program. You cannot change the name of SMS programs, but you will want a program name that clearly indicates that this is an automated upgrade from Windows 95 or Windows 98 ("Win9x") only. (Upgrading from Windows NT Workstation is described in the next section.)

A computer that is upgraded from Windows 95 or Windows 98 to Windows 2000 is given a local Administrator account. This account requires a password; you can specify that password in the GUIUnattended section of the answer file or let the user be prompted for it at the end of the upgrade. This password can be read from the answer file by anyone that can access the SMS package share, which is commonly most users. This is not an immediate security risk because the Windows 95 and Windows 98 computers were not secure before the upgrade, due to the non-secure nature of those operating systems.

You might want to set the administrator account password to a secure value and begin enforcing limited user privileges. You can do this after the upgrade by running a program that changes the password from the temporary value specified in the answer file (and which could be seen by unauthorized people) to a value shared only with authorized staff. The password is compiled within the program and is not available to unauthorized staff. You can easily create such programs by using common programming languages or scripting tools, such as SMS Installer. The program can be distributed with SMS, or it can be invoked at the end of the Windows 2000 upgrade by specifying appropriate values in the answer file. Another alternative is to use the Cusrmgr.exe utility from the Windows 2000 Resource Kit to change the password to a random (and unknown) value. In that case you must be sure to first add Domain Admins or a similar group to the local Administrator group so that someone can still manage that computer.

Although computers that run Windows 95 and Windows 98 are not members of domains, computers that run Windows 2000 must be. Therefore, you need to include the JoinDomain line in the answer file to indicate which domain the computer needs to join, along with an administrative account and password with the right to join computers to that domain.

Caution: Answer files can be read by unauthorized staff so you need to consider security issues when you create them. However, it is unlikely that people would access the files from an SMS distribution point because the distribution points are hidden and they must know where to look for these details. An appropriate precaution, however, is to use an administrative account whose only right is Add workstations to domain. Another precaution is to add the computers upgraded in this manner to a dedicated resource domain. In that case the administrative account only needs to have rights in that domain, and therefore cannot cause problems in other domains in which you might have account domain controllers or other sensitive computers.

The answer file must also specify that you want to upgrade the computers that are running Windows 95 or Windows 98. Do this by including the following line in the answer file:

Win9xUpgrade=Yes

Without this line, you do a clean install of Windows 2000 rather than an upgrade.

During the Windows 95 or Windows 98 upgrade to Windows 2000, the Windows 2000 Setup program eliminates programs that it suspects might be incompatible with Windows 2000. This occurs for some of the SMS 2.0 client components. This is why you must run SMSls.bat or SMSMan.exe on each client after upgrading it.

Windows NT Workstation Upgrade

Upgrading from Windows NT Workstation to Windows 2000 is quite simple compared to upgrading from Windows 95 or Windows 98. This is because Windows NT Workstation has much more in common with Windows 2000 Professional. For this reason, you can upgrade the Windows NT Workstation using a minimal answer file. In fact, a copy of the answer file used for the Windows NT Server upgrade can be used (except that the product ID must be changed to a valid Windows 2000 Professional product ID).

It is important to set the Environment properties of the SMS program so that it runs with administrative rights, unless users will be logged on and have administrative rights when the package is initiated at client computers.

The package and package source location set up for the Windows 95 or Windows 98 upgrade to Windows 2000 Professional can be used for the Windows NT Workstation upgrade as well. The $OEM$ file and directories are not required, but they will be ignored, since the answer file does not reference them. Using the same package (as opposed to a new one) is preferable in order to avoid duplicating the disk space and network usage of distributing another package. The answer files for Windows 95 (and Windows 98), and Windows NT Workstation can be included in the same package. Their file names should clearly identify which is which.

You must create a new SMS program in the Windows 2000 Professional package for the Windows NT Workstation upgrade. This is set up much the same as the Windows NT Server or Windows 95 (or Windows 98) upgrade programs. By creating a new program you can give it a new name that clearly identifies this as a program for upgrading Windows NT Workstations (only). The program must use the appropriate answer file.

Distributing the Windows 2000 Packages

You need to distribute the SMS package files for Windows 2000 to all sites where you anticipate upgrading computers. Distribution is involved even if you have just one site. Distribution consists of sending the package files to the site, and then getting the files to the SMS distribution points within the site.

Preparing to Distribute the Packages

Before you distribute the Windows 2000 packages, there are several tasks you must perform to ensure that your SMS hierarchy is ready to receive them.

Check the Status of Site Servers and Distribution Points

Windows 2000 is a large operating system requiring considerable disk space. Not only are copies of Windows 2000 required for computers to be upgraded, but SMS also needs copies as it moves the package between servers. Therefore, you must review your site servers and distribution points to ensure that they have enough disk space. The easiest way to do this is to go to System Status in the SMS Administrator console, select Site Status, and then for each site, click Site System Status as shown in Figure 4. The results pane displays the distribution points and their free disk space.

Figure 4: Site Status with Distribution Points and Their Free Space

Ensure Each Site Has an Adequate Number of Distribution Points

You might want to limit the number of Windows 2000 upgrades that you perform concurrently at each site. Upgrades can impose a heavy load on the local network and the distribution points. Before you upgrade, you need to experiment in a lab or run a pilot. When you test, use servers that are typical of your distribution points and a typical network. This will allow you to judge how many clients you can comfortably upgrade at one time.

If you find that your network is not a bottleneck for the upgrades but that your distribution points are, consider adding more distribution points at the site. For more information about how to add distribution points, see "Distributing Software" in the Systems Management Server Administrator's Guide.

Use Distribution Point Groups

Because the Windows 2000 package is quite large and you will use it extensively, make certain that you dedicate distribution points for this package. You can refer to these distribution points as a group. You can create a distribution point group for your Windows 2000 distribution points to reduce the number of administrative tasks.

You can create distribution point groups (and add or remove distribution points from the groups), when you are creating or adjusting distribution points. Then, during distribution, you can specify the distribution point groups at the same places that you specify distribution points.

Ensure Sender Controls Are in Place

If the Windows 2000 package is sent to any site that does not have adequate sender controls in place, it can overload the network link at a time when it interferes with other business functions. Therefore, check the sender controls to be sure they are properly set.

The SMS Administrator console includes SMS address definitions for each site. SMS addresses include the SMS site server name, security details for accessing that site, and network transport details (if required). The addresses also include a schedule to specify when high, medium, and low priority transfers can be executed, and how much of the network link can be used at any time of the day.

Ensure Fan-out Distribution Will Work

Systems Management Server 2.0 has a feature called fan-out distribution that allows child sites to distribute software to lower sites. This reduces the workload on the site that you use to initiate the software distribution because the software does not then have to be distributed from the initiating site to all sites. This also reduces the workload on the network link between the initiating site and the rest of the sites, which is often the most significant issue. When you are distributing to many sites, copying Windows 2000 over the network many times from any site can cause an unacceptably heavy load. Figure 5 illustrates the difference between software distribution with fan-out and without fan-out distribution.

Figure 5: Two Types of Software Distribution

Fan-out distribution occurs automatically if the initiating site does not have an SMS address for the destination site. Therefore, you must use the SMS Administrator console to review the SMS addresses and ensure that the only SMS site with an address to a site is its parent.

Select a Test Site

To ensure that your plan is complete, distribute the Windows 2000 package to a test site or a small number of sites before sending it to your entire organization. This will enable you to quickly correct problems and to minimize their impact.

The test site or sites should be as typical as possible, but at least one site should also represent a high-risk scenario. Examples of such a scenario include deploying with a site server or distribution points that have very little disk space to spare, or having a network link that is particularly slow or unreliable.

A best practice for this level of testing is to start with small sites that do not have complex requirements. An ideal test site has technical support specialists who are readily available and users who are sympathetic to your goals. At such sites, you can identify solutions for any problems that you might not have built into your contingency plans during deployment planning. As your confidence in your procedures increases, expand your testing to sites that are larger, more complex, or more difficult to support.

During the distribution phase, your Windows 2000 deployment needs to be transparent to your users because you have not yet run the upgrades on their computers. Caution is appropriate now but is more critical later in the deployment process.

For more information about the tasks presented in this section, see the Systems Management Server Administrator's Guide.

Distributing the Packages to Sites and Distribution Points

The basic procedure for distributing packages is presented as follows. When you perform this task, note that all distribution points for all sites are listed, so you can select all the intended distribution points at one time. However, make sure that you first distribute the package to a small number of sites so that you can test your SMS infrastructure and procedures. As your confidence increases and capacity allows, you can include additional distribution points at other sites. For more information about this procedure, see "Distributing Software" in the Systems Management Server Administrator's Guide.

To distribute a Windows 2000 Server SMS Package

1. In the SMS Administrator console, click Packages, click the Windows 2000 package, and then click Distribution Points.

2. From the Action menu, point to New, and then click Distribution Points.

3. The New Distribution Points Wizard appears.

4. Click Next to continue past the Welcome page, and select the distribution points you want to use.

   If this is a test distribution, select the distribution points that you decided on. Also, if you are using distribution point groups, select them now. Note that all distribution points for all sites are listed, so you can select all the intended distribution points now. However, you might do a limited number of distribution points at one time to better manage network traffic.

5. Click Finish to start the distribution.

Caution: As soon as you click Finish, the distribution process begins. You might notice a short delay, due to system processing, package priorities, or sender schedules; however, be prepared for immediate SMS activity.

For more information about the flow of a package after you initiate distribution, see "Software Distribution Flowcharts" in the Microsoft Systems Management Server 2.0 Resource Guide (part of the Microsoft BackOffice 4.5 Resource Kit available at https://www.microsoft.com/mspress/). The Windows 2000 files are compressed into a single file which is then sent to child sites. At each site, the package might then be sent to other child sites, if they have distribution points for this package.

Testing the Distribution

As the Windows 2000 packages are distributed, verify that they are properly deploying to the distribution points. The section "Monitoring the Distribution," which follows later in this technical paper, describes how you can verify that the packages have arrived at all distribution points and how you can quickly identify any problems. However, you also need to test the distributions to ensure that they are complete and that the directory trees are properly laid out. You do not need to test all distribution points at this level, but make sure to spot-check a few distribution points to confirm that the production distribution is working as you intended.

Expanding the Distribution

When the first distribution of the package has been completed successfully, you can distribute the package to additional sites and distribution points. The procedure is exactly the same, except that you might want to send to more distribution points at a greater frequency and with less monitoring. You must be sure to distribute the package to sites before advertising the package to clients at those sites. SMS does not make the advertisement available to the clients until a distribution point is available.

Distributing by Means of the Courier Sender

Network links to some of your sites might be slow or unreliable, or they might already be fully utilized by other traffic. Therefore, sending a large package like Windows 2000 over the network links might not be acceptable. SMS 2.0 includes an alternate sender, called the Courier Sender, that can be used to provide all the benefits of SMS software distribution but without the network overhead normally involved in getting packages to sites.

With the Courier Sender, the SMS package is copied to CD-ROM or similar media and then sent through mail or by courier to your sites. At the sites, someone puts the CD-ROM into the site server and runs a simple program. From this point on, the software distribution carries on as it normally would. The advertisements, status information, and other information will flow over the network at the times you specify; however, this traffic is small relative to the traffic that the package itself would require.

Monitoring the Distribution

Distributing Windows 2000 in an organization with many sites takes some time to complete. Some sites will take longer than others due to the speed of the wide area network (WAN) links, the reliability of those links, sender scheduling, and so forth. There is also the possibility that, despite good preparations, some sites or distribution points might have inadequate disk space by the time the package arrives. For these reasons, it is important to give the Windows 2000 distribution adequate time to complete. Monitor it closely to determine if there are any issues to resolve and make sure that the distribution is complete at all sites.

System Status Subsystem

SMS 2.0 includes a powerful System Status subsystem for monitoring the distribution. The SMS Administrator console includes a System Status node where you can obtain summary and detailed results from the System Status subsystem. You can also obtain the status of the package distribution from the Package Status subnode.

Note: When you create a package, the definition of that package is immediately distributed to all child sites; however, the actual files for that package, if any, are not distributed at that time. The same package definition is re-sent when the package definition is updated. Status information for the package definition distribution is then available. Therefore, when reviewing package status, make certain you distinguish between the distribution of the package definition and the package files.

Software distribution status is summarized at several levels, as follows.

Package Status for All Packages

When you select Package Status under the System Status, you can see, as shown in Figure 6, how many distribution points have been targeted for each package and how many have been installed, are retrying, or have failed. This level is useful to identify how many distribution points, if any, might need intervention. Note the size difference between the original package and the compressed package. The package identification number might also be useful for other purposes, such as troubleshooting.

Figure 6: The Status of All Packages

At this level there are no status messages to query.

Package Status for a Specific Package

Below the package status for all packages, you can select each package. At this level you can see, as shown in Figure 7, which sites should or should not have the package, and which ones might need intervention. You can also verify that all sites have the same package version, as indicated by the Source Version column.

Figure 7: The Status of the Windows 2000 Package at All Sites

At this level you can click the Action menu and click Show Messages, All to see all the status messages for the package from all sites and distribution points. This can be a lot of messages; and therefore, it is better to review the messages at each site individually.

Package Status at the Sites

Below the package status for a specific package you can select each site. This level of status checking allows you to see, as shown in Figure 8, which specific distribution points within a site might be having problems with the distribution.

Figure 8: The Status of the Windows 2000 Package at a Specific Site

At this level, you can click the Action menu and click Show Messages, All to see all the status messages for the package from this site and all its distribution points. The following sequence of messages is typical (the distribution point-specific messages are listed in the next section):

• 30000 or 300001 — package created or modified

• 30003 — program created

• 2300, 2310, and 2311 — distribution manager preparing package

• 2339 — distribution manager initiating schedule and sender to send the package information (not the package files)

• 30009 — distribution point assigned

• 2333 — preparing to send compressed image of package

• 2335 — distribution manager initiated scheduler and sender to send the package files to the sites

• 2315 — distribution manager deleted the compressed image of the package

When reviewing status messages, notice that each sequence of Distribution Manager activities ends with the message 2301, which indicates that the sequence was successful. This message appears whenever Distribution Manager completes any activities. Distribution Manager is the SMS component that distributes packages from the site server to the SMS distribution points and that initiates the sending of the package to other sites.

Package Status at a Distribution Point

At the package status at each site, you can select each distribution point. At this level, you can click the Action menu and click Show Messages, All to see all the status messages for the package at this distribution point. The following sequence of messages is typical:

• 2317 — distribution manager is refreshing package on distribution point (not seen the first time the package is sent to the distribution point)

• 2342 — distribution manager is starting to distribute package to distribution point

• 2322 — distribution manager decompressed package to temporary directory (if applicable)

• 2329 — distribution manager copied package from temporary directory or package source to distribution point

• 2330 — distribution manager successfully distributed package to distribution point

Note: The Systems Management Server Resource Guide includes a chapter, "Status Messages," that lists all status messages and their complete message text.

Reporting Package Distribution Status

You might want to produce a report of the package distribution status, either for easy reference or to address your own specific requirements. You can perform queries of the package distribution status classes and incorporate the responses in the reporting tool of your choice as is done with other SMS reporting tools. Table 1 lists the relevant classes and the category of status information that you can find in each.

Table 1 Package Distribution Status Classes

Class	Status Information
SMS_PackageStatus	Overall summary information about the status of packages on the distribution points.
SMS_PackageStatus RootSummarizer	Information about the status of a given package. Maps to Package Status in the SMS Administrator console.
SMS_PackageStatus DetailsSummarizer	Detailed information about the status of a given package by site code. Maps to the package console tree beneath Package Status in the SMS Administrator console.
SMS_PackageStatus DistPointsSummarizer	Detailed information about the status of a given package at a given site. Maps to the site code under the package console tree beneath Package Status in the SMS Administrator console.

Troubleshooting the Distributions

Monitoring the software distributions can indicate whether a software distribution has encountered problems at some point. Typically, this is due to lack of disk space, network link difficulties, or server problems. The status message text indicates such problems.

Isolating the problem is the first step in solving any technical problem. When you know which component failed, you can concentrate your efforts on the appropriate issues. Using the monitoring techniques described earlier will help you to isolate the problem. Also, the chapter on "Software Distribution Flowcharts" in the Systems Management Server Resource Guide includes graphics that show the typical flow of the software distribution process. If you find indications that your software distribution did not make it to a certain point in the flow, there is a good chance that the failure occurred at the previous point in the flowchart.

After you have isolated the particular component, understanding how it works can provide clues why it failed. The flowcharts also help with this. In addition, the log files can show what is happening with the component at a very low level; and therefore, what might not be working. The logs are enabled using the SMS Service Manager.

The chapter "Software Distribution Flowcharts" in the Systems Management Server 2.0 Resource Guide also includes troubleshooting tips for software distribution.

Advertising the Windows 2000 Packages

Users can upgrade to Windows 2000 when they receive an advertisement. The advertisements give descriptive information about the package to end users, and they include the details necessary for SMS to run the programs. The advertisements can even be assigned to run at specific times so that the user cannot block the upgrade or so that the upgrade can occur while the user is away from the computer.

Selecting Computers to Upgrade

An advertisement tells SMS to make available to an SMS collection a specific program within a package. A collection is a very flexible definition of computers, users, or user groups. In the case of a Windows 2000 software distribution, you would initially use collections that are a small number of computers used for testing purposes. Later, you would use collections that are all computers that are ready for Windows 2000. You might subdivide the collection by site or organizational unit.

Collections have the additional benefit of being dynamic; as time goes on, you can add computers to a collection, and the advertisements that are available to that collection automatically become available to those additional computers. If the collection is based on the memory capacity of computers, for example, computers are added to the collection as their hardware is upgraded for Windows 2000. If you install additional memory in a computer, the SMS hardware inventory detects this and records it within SMS. This computer is automatically included in the collection; therefore, the Windows 2000 upgrade is made available to the computer. Other than physically adding the memory to the computer, this is all automatic.

For more information about determining which computers in your organization are ready to upgrade, see "Using Systems Management Server to Analyze Your Network Infrastructure" in the Windows 2000 Deployment Planning Guide. This includes defining queries to select the computers from the inventory that SMS maintains. You can use these queries to create collections, as described in the following procedure. SMS also provides a sample report, "Windows 2000 Upgrade Candidates by Site and Roles," which might help with this process.

To create a collection of computers ready for Windows 2000

1. In the SMS Administrator console, click Collections.

2. On the Action menu, point to New, and then click Collection.

3. In the Collection Properties dialog box, enter a name for the collection.

4. On the Membership Rules tab, click the New Query Rule button.

5. In the Query Rule Properties box, click the Browse button and select the appropriate query.

   For example, use a query that you have made to report on the computers that are available to be upgraded to Windows 2000. (For help developing such a query, see the chapter "Using Systems Management Server to Analyze Your Network Infrastructure" in the Windows 2000 Deployment Planning Guide). You might have other queries that you prefer to use, such as All Windows 95 Systems or queries that you have defined to include all computers at specific sites.

6. Add query rules and direct membership rules as necessary.

Alternatively, at step 4 you might prefer to click the New Direct Rule button and then use the Create Direct Membership Rule Wizard to specify the computers that you want to upgrade. This choice might be your best option during testing, especially if you have a small number of arbitrarily chosen computers that you want to run the package on.

An issue to consider is that SMS 2.0 allows collections to include computers, users, or user groups. Including users or user groups in Windows 2000 might not be appropriate, because users can often log on to different computers. Therefore, each computer that a user logs on to could be upgraded, especially if the advertisement is assigned and runs whether or not the user chooses it. However, the computers that they log on to might not be ready for the upgrade, or the users that usually use the computer might not be trained to use Windows 2000.

Caution: For more information about using security to control who can adjust or use the advertisement, see "Distributing Software" in the Systems Management Server Administrator's Guide.

Preparing Clients to Receive the Advertisements

The computers to which you are going to advertise need to be ready for the advertisement. During the Windows 2000 upgrade, the computer needs to restart several times. If this can occur automatically, the entire upgrade can be accomplished without input from users.

Some users put a boot password on their computer. This password is required by the computer itself; and therefore, cannot be circumvented by software. Until this password is entered, the computer will not restart, and the Windows 2000 upgrade cannot continue. Therefore, make sure to advise users to temporarily disable their boot passwords. If this is not possible, someone must be present during the upgrade. The same issue holds true if the computer stops for confirmation during restart because of hardware configuration changes or other issues.

Give users advance notice of the upgrade so that they can be sure to close all documents. If users know that the upgrade is imminent, they will also be more inclined to get any training they require, perform backups, and prepare any programs they are responsible for.

If you are advertising the package with an assignment to run overnight or over a weekend, any Windows 95 or Windows 98 client computers need a user logged on in order for the advertisement to start automatically. These users might want to use a secure screen saver to prevent others from using their computer while they are away. Windows NT client computers do not have to have a user logged on for the advertisements to start.

Advertising the Packages to Computers

You now have a Windows 2000 package ready to distribute, you have the right computers selected, and you have the computers ready for the upgrade. The next step is to initiate the process. Do this by creating an advertisement as shown in the following procedure.

To create an advertisement for Windows 2000

1. In the SMS Administrator console, click Advertisements.

2. On the Action menu, point to New, and then click Advertisement.

3. In the Package list, click Microsoft Windows 2000 Server English.

4. In the Program list, click Automated upgrade from NTS 3.51/4.0 (x86).

5. Click Browse, and then select the collection that you are advertising the program to.

6. To set the advertisement to run at a specific time, click the Schedule tab. To add assignment schedules, click the New button.

Caution: Assigned advertisements run only once for each client they are advertised to. If the advertisement fails at the client computer, the client does not attempt to automatically run it again. This ensures that computers are not caught in an infinite loop of trying to run an assigned advertisement, failing, restarting, and then trying again. Therefore, in step 6, you might also want to select Allow users to run the program independently of assignments. This allows users to run the program ahead of schedule or to run it afterwards if the program fails the first time. Alternatively, you can create a new advertisement at a later time for the computers that failed to upgrade.

As with the previous phases of Windows 2000 software distribution, start the advertising on a limited scale and expand as it proves successful. This is especially true now, because end users are definitely affected by the software distribution. You can expand the advertising by creating additional advertisements, each aimed at different collections, or by adjusting the collection that the advertisement is based on so that it includes more and more computers. Separate advertisements might be necessary to advertise different programs to appropriate collections. For example, the Windows 95 upgrade program should be advertised only to the computers in the Windows 95 collection.

Expanding Security on Distribution Points

If you restricted access to the package on the distribution points when you created the package, you must now open that access. Do this by using the following procedure. If you are using SMS to run the program using administrative privileges, add the client network connection accounts used in the SMS site as your package access accounts.

To open security for the Windows 2000 package

1. In the SMS Administrator console, click Packages.

2. Click the Windows 2000 package, and then click Access Accounts.

3. On the Action menu, point to New, and then click Windows NT Access Account.

4. In the Access Account Properties dialog box, click Set.

5. In the Windows NT Account dialog box, enter the domain and user or group, and specify the Account Type. Click OK to close the dialog box.

6. In the Access Account Properties dialog box, verify that the Permissions are Read.

Repeat this procedure as necessary to add additional users or groups.

Upgrading Computers

When you have Windows 2000 on a distribution point in the same site as the computers to be upgraded, and the advertisement is available at the computers, you can do the following:

• Schedule the upgrade for a time that is convenient for the user.

• Report the status of the upgrade.

Executing the Advertisement at Each Computer

Distribution to all users can be done by means of SMS at a time that you believe is convenient. However, you can give users the option to adjust the date and time, as shown in Figure 9, to coincide with a time when they are not using their computers. You can also make the upgrade mandatory at a certain date and time so that users cannot postpone the upgrade indefinitely.

Figure 9: Users Can Schedule the Upgrade for a Convenient Time

The distribution that you initiate to users also includes appropriate command-line parameters to indicate which auto-answer file to use and other options, so that the setup is done according to the standards that you have determined.

Many organizations do not give their end users full privileges on client computers. This helps to minimize problems that are caused by users making uninformed or unintentional computer changes. However, this lack of privileges would normally stop users from initiating a Windows 2000 upgrade for their computers. SMS avoids this problem by doing the Windows 2000 upgrade in the context of a special SMS security account.

Status of the Upgrade at Each Computer

When the first and final phases of the Windows 2000 upgrade are completed at the computer, Systems Management Server produces status files that are propagated up the SMS hierarchy. This information can be used to report on the overall progress of the upgrade project or to investigate the status of an individual computer, as discussed in the next section.

Customized status files can be produced to indicate specific details relating to the status of the upgrade, if desired. The programs that create these status files are invoked as part of the package execution; and therefore, must be included in its definition. For example, you might want to include such status files if you have the Windows 2000 Setup program initiate post-upgrade tasks.

Monitoring the Advertisements

The SMS status message that reports the progress of the upgrade at each computer can also be used to report the progress of the Windows 2000 deployment as a whole. The number of computers ready to be upgraded, those successfully upgraded, and the locations of failures can all be reported. You can then intervene where any problems have occurred.

The System Status Subsystem

SMS 2.0 includes a powerful System Status subsystem that allows you to readily monitor the distribution. The SMS Administrator console includes a System Status node where you can obtain summary and detailed results from the System Status subsystem. There is an Advertisement Status subnode that allows you to obtain the status of the advertisements.

Status for All Advertisements

When you select Advertisement Status under System Status in the SMS Administrator console, you can view the following:

• How many systems have received the advertisement

• How many systems have experienced general failures processing the advertisement

• How many times the advertised program has been started

• How many times the program has run to completion or failed

• Various advertisement details

An example of this information is shown in Figure 10. At this level there are no status messages to be queried.

Figure 10: The Status of All Advertisements

Status for a Specific Advertisement

Below the advertisement status for all advertisements you can select each advertisement. At this level, you can view the following:

• Which sites have clients that have received the advertisement

• Which sites contain clients that experienced a general failure processing the advertisement

• How many times the advertised program has run at each site

• How many times it ran to completion or failed

Figure 11 shows this type of status. At this level, there are no status messages to be queried.

Figure 11: The Status of the Windows 2000 Advertisement

Status at a Site

At the advertisement status level, you can select each site. On the Action menu, point to Show Messages, and then click All to see the status messages for the advertisement at this site. The following sequence of messages is typical:

• 30006 — advertisement created

• 3900 — advertisement processed within a site (distributed to client access points, and so forth)

• 10002 — advertisement received at a client

• 10005 — program started

• 10007 — program failed

  The message indicates why this has occurred. Common reasons are that the user cancelled the program or otherwise forced it to stop, or the client computer did not have enough disk space.

• 10009 — program completed successfully

  At this point the SMS part of the upgrade is done. This corresponds with the end of the first phase of the Windows 2000 Setup (the file upgrade phase).

• 13126 — upgrade completed (will be reported as 10009 if SMS 2.0 SP2 or later is in place)

  At this point the Windows 2000 Setup is complete. The last two phases (text mode and GUI setup) have ended, and the computer is ready for the user to log on.

Reporting Advertisement Status

You might want to produce a report of the advertisement status, either for easy reference or to address your own specific requirements. You can perform queries of the SMS advertisement status subsystem and incorporate the responses in the reporting tool of your choice, as is done with other SMS reporting functions. Table 2 lists the relevant class and the category of status information that can be found in the class.

Table 2 Advertisement Status Class

Class	Status Information
SMS_AdvertisementStatusSummarizer	Displays detailed advertisement status information grouped by site code. Maps to the advertisement items beneath Advertisement Status in the SMS Administrator console.

For more information about writing reports based on the data SMS collects, see the Microsoft Systems Management Server web site at https://www.microsoft.com/smsmgmt

For the Windows 2000 advertisement status reporting, you will want reports such as the following:

Computers that Have Been Advertised to but Have Not Received the Advertisement

This report is a comparison of computers that are currently in the relevant collection but do not have a 10002 status message. If the program was advertised before the report, this report will indicate the computers that have not been used lately or that are not properly connected to the network or the SMS infrastructure.

Computers that Have Received the Advertisement but Have Not Started the Program

This report is a comparison of computers that have a 10002 status message but do not have a 10005 status message. If the program was assigned to run before the report, this report will indicate the computers that have not been used since the advertisement was first advertised or that have become disconnected from the network or the SMS infrastructure. If the program was not assigned, this report will also include computers where the users have chosen not to upgrade yet.

Computers Where the Program Started but Did Not Complete Successfully

This report is a comparison of computers that have 10005 status messages but not 10009 status messages. These are likely to be computers where the user has cancelled the upgrade or the computers did not have enough disk space. Parsing the 10007 message description gives more details. If either problem is common, then a report of those specific computers might be appropriate.

There is a remote possibility that some computers could fail in such a way that neither 10007 or 10009 status messages is received. To take that possibility into account, you can have a report of computers with 10005 messages but not 10008 or 10009 messages. For users who have canceled the upgrade, an e-mail reminding them of the importance of the upgrade might be sufficient to resolve the problem. Or, the program can be assigned so that it must happen at a specific time. For other problems, manual intervention might be required (using the SMS remote tools might be sufficient).

Computers Where the Program Completed Successfully but the Final Upgrade Has Not Been Received

This report is a comparison of computers that have 10009 status messages but not 13126 status messages. These are likely to be computers where the upgrade started but then stopped for some reason. If you run the report during a period of mass upgrades, such as over a weekend, this report can help you identify problems that you can manually correct before the user is aware of them. However, it usually takes an hour or more for the upgrade to progress from the time at which the 10009 message is generated to the point at which the 13126 message is generated.

Note: SMS 2.0 SP2 includes a fix to the package status reporting system so that the 13126 message is replaced with a 10009 message, which is the correct behavior. The messages are also generated more reliably, and the 10009 message has a meaningful message text, whereas the 13126 message has no text. Therefore, it is recommended that you deploy SMS 2.0 SP2 before deploying Windows 2000 with SMS. After SP2 has been deployed, the report logic will have to distinguish between the two 10009 messages using the message text.

Computers Upgraded Per Day

This report is a count of 13126 status messages spread over time. This can be useful for monitoring the status of the project overall.

Troubleshooting Advertisements

The advertisement monitoring process helps you to isolate problems, hopefully before the users report problems. Typical problems include lack of disk space, user interference, or package definition errors. The text of the status messages will indicate such problems. Also make sure to verify that the package is available on at least one distribution point at the site.

Isolating the problem is the first step in solving any technical problem. If you know which component failed, you can concentrate your efforts on the appropriate issues. Using the monitoring techniques listed previously will help you to isolate the problem. The chapter "Software Distribution Flowcharts" in the Systems Management Server Resource Guide includes graphics that show the typical flow of the software distribution process on the server side. Also in the Systems Management Server Resource Guide, the chapter "Client Features Flowcharts" includes graphics that show the flow on the client side. If you find indications that your software distribution did not make it to a certain point in the flow, then there is a good chance that the failure occurred at the previous point in the flowchart.

After you have isolated the component, understanding how it works can provide clues as to why it failed. The flowcharts also help with this. In addition, the log files can show what is happening with the component at a very low level, which can help you see what might not be working. You enable server logs using the SMS Service Manager, and client logs are always enabled.

SMS has several features that can help you resolve problems on client computers, including the following:

• Remotely control the client computer.

• Transfer files to the computer to replace files that need updating.

• Restart the computer.

• Obtain computer details, either based on the routine inventory or on real-time remote control tools. (Note that the routine inventory is available even when the client is offline.)

• Upgrade incompatible application software.

There will be situations where manual intervention is needed, such as when an upgrade makes it impossible to restart the computer or to connect a computer to the network, or when the SMS client components become inoperative.

Using Systems Management Server to Ease Domain Consolidation and Migration

In the past, larger organizations have often had multiple domains. With Windows 2000, the reasons for those domains will most likely disappear, and therefore, consolidating them will simplify computer administration. Migrating to native Windows 2000 domains allows your organization to take full advantage of Windows 2000 features.

The chapter "Determining Domain Migration Strategies" in the Windows 2000 Deployment Planning Guide discusses the issues of domain consolidation and migration in detail. It also details strategies and techniques that will ease the process of consolidation and migration. SMS can help with this process, and thus Windows 2000 deployment with SMS should be considered in conjunction with domain consolidation and migration. For example, you can use SMS to deliver scripted executions of the DCPromo portion of the upgrade process for domain controllers.

The most significant benefit of using SMS for domain consolidation and migration occurs during deployment of the upgrade to Windows 2000. By adjusting the JoinDomain value in the answer file, the computers can be put in the new, consolidated domain.

Examining Differences Between Systems Management Server 1.2 and Systems Management Server 2.0

Systems Management Server 2.0 is dramatically different from its predecessor, Systems Management Server 1.2. Both versions have similar feature sets, but each version accomplishes the features using dramatically different techniques. If you are planning to use SMS 1.2 to deploy Windows 2000, or for domain consolidation, you need to be aware that software distribution in SMS 1.2 differs from SMS 2.0 in the following ways:

• Only computers can be targeted for software distribution, and the targeting is not dynamic (new computers that meet the requirements for upgrade must be targeted with new jobs).

• Windows NT–based computers, where the logged-on user does not have administrative privileges, must be given the Package Command Manager as a Service facility. There is no charge for this addition to SMS 1.2, but you need to deploy this facility before you begin the Windows 2000 deployment.

• The status subsystem for jobs is more awkward to work with.

• The originating site for the package must keep a compressed copy of the package.

• Programs cannot force another program to run before them and cannot be disabled centrally.

• Windows 2000 computers might not be supported by SMS 1.2 as clients. Therefore as computers are upgraded to Windows 2000, they might stop functioning as SMS 1.2 clients or they might no longer be supported. For more information about SMS 1.2 support of Windows 2000 computers, see the Microsoft Systems Management Server web site at https://www.microsoft.com/smsmgmt or telephone Microsoft Product Support Services.

Other differences between the two versions are relevant to other SMS features that might benefit your Windows 2000 deployment. For more information about those features and differences, see "Using Systems Management Server to Analyze Your Network Infrastructure" in the Windows 2000 Deployment Planning Guide.

For More Information

For more information about SMS, check out Microsoft TechNet and our Web site at https://www.microsoft.com/smserver/default.mspx

Windows 2000 Resource Kit https://www.microsoft.com/windows2000/techinfo/reskit/default.mspx

Windows 2000 Deployment Planning Guide

https://www.microsoft.com/technet/prodtechnol/windows2000serv/reskit/w2rkbook/DPG.mspx?mfr=true

Microsoft BackOffice 4.5 Resource Kit https://www.microsoft.com/mspress/