Release Notes for System Center 2012 R2 Configuration Manager SP1

 

Updated: June 1, 2015

Applies To: System Center 2012 Configuration Manager SP2, System Center 2012 R2 Configuration Manager SP1

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Read these release notes thoroughly before you install System Center 2012 Configuration Manager SP2 or System Center 2012 R2 Configuration Manager SP1.

These release notes contain information that is required to successfully install System Center 2012 Configuration Manager SP2 and System Center 2012 R2 Configuration Manager SP1. These release notes also contain information that is not available in the product documentation.

Important

If there is a discrepancy between these release notes and other Configuration Manager documentation, the most recent version should be considered authoritative.

Note

If you use the System Center Configuration Manager Technical Preview, you can read the release notes for the Technical Preview here.

Providing Feedback

If you want to provide feedback, make a suggestion, or report an issue with System Center 2012 Configuration Manager, use the Microsoft Connect site.

Supported Configurations

For supported configuration information, see Supported Configurations for Configuration Manager.

Documentation

For documentation for System Center 2012 Configuration Manager SP2 and System Center 2012 R2 Configuration Manager SP1, see the Documentation Library for System Center 2012 Configuration Manager. If you have feedback about the documentation, send an email message to SMSDocs@Microsoft.com.

Upgrading a prerelease version of System Center 2012 Configuration Manager SP2 or System Center 2012 R2 Configuration Manager SP1 to the release versions not supported

If you have installed a prerelease version of System Center 2012 Configuration Manager, uninstall the prerelease version before you install the release version. We recommend that you also uninstall and reinstall the operating system after you uninstall earlier versions of Configuration Manager and before you install the release version of Configuration Manager.

In addition, Configuration Manager does not support the import of objects between different versions of Configuration Manager.

Upgrading from earlier versions of System Center 2012 Configuration Manager

For more information about the upgrade paths that include System Center 2012 R2 Configuration Manager SP1, see About the versions of System Center 2012 Configuration Manager.

For information about the upgrade process and any interoperability considerations, see Planning to Upgrade System Center 2012 Configuration Manager and Interoperability between Different Versions of Configuration Manager.

Migrating from Configuration Manager 2007

System Center 2012 Configuration Manager does not support an in-place upgrade from Configuration Manager 2007, but does support a side-by-side migration.

You can use System Center 2012 Configuration Manager to create migration jobs that migrate objects and content from Configuration Manager 2007 to System Center 2012 Configuration Manager. Additionally, when you migrate Configuration Manager 2007 to System Center 2012 Configuration Manager, you can upgrade a Configuration Manager 2007 distribution point to a System Center 2012 Configuration Manager distribution point. You can upgrade branch distribution points, distribution points on server shares, and standard distribution points from Configuration Manager 2007. You can also upgrade a Configuration Manager 2007 distribution point that is co-located on a secondary site server. This action uninstalls the secondary site and leaves the distribution point installed.

For information about migration, see the Migrating Hierarchies in System Center 2012 Configuration Manager guide.

Known Issues with System Center 2012 Configuration Manager SP2

This section provides the most up-to-date information about issues with System Center 2012 Configuration Manager SP2. Because System Center 2012 R2 Configuration Manager SP1 adds additional functionality on top of System Center 2012 Configuration Manager SP2, these notes also apply to System Center 2012 R2 Configuration Manager SP1. These issues do not appear in the product documentation, and, in some cases, might contradict existing product documentation. Whenever it is possible, these issues will be addressed in later releases.

After you upgrade a central administration site to System Center 2012 R2 Configuration Manager SP1, replication between sites fails

When you upgrade a central administration site from System Center 2012 R2 Configuration Manager with no service pack (R2) to System Center 2012 R2 Configuration Manager SP1 (R2 SP1), and your hierarchy contains more than 10,000 package and program deployments, replication between sites can fail.

The following two conditions must exist for this issue to apply:

  1. You upgrade a hierarchy that includes a central administration site and that runs System Center 2012 R2 Configuration Manager to System Center 2012 R2 Configuration Manager SP1 by installing System Center 2012 Configuration Manager SP2.

  2. Your hierarchy contains more than 10,000 package and program deployments.

If this problem is present after a hierarchy upgrades, the Offer Manager process on each child primary site no longer updates the Offermgr.log file.

To prevent this problem before you upgrade: Before upgrading your R2 site to R2 SP1, install cumulative update 5 for System Center 2012 R2 Configuration Manager. (Although the updates contained in cumulative update 5 are included with R2 SP1, installing the update prior to upgrading prevents this upgrade issue.)

If you have upgraded and replication has failed: To confirm this issue is present, run the following SQL query on the database of the child primary site and look for a result where one or more threads of the SMS_OFFER_MANAGER is identified as stuck:

select 
s.program_name,
SUBSTRING(convert(nvarchar(max), t.text), req.statement_start_offset/2, req.statement_end_offset/2) as currentstatement
,t.text
,req.* 
from sys.dm_exec_sessions s
inner join sys.dm_exec_requests req on s.Session_id=req.session_id
cross apply sys.dm_exec_sql_text(sql_handle) t
where s.program_name='SMS_OFFER_MANAGER'

After you confirm that replication failures are due to the SMS_OFFER_MANAGER threads being stuck, do the following:

  1. Use SQL Management Studio to stop all SMS_OFFER_MANAGER threads that are stuck.

  2. On the child primary site server, open Task Manager and on the Processes tab, right-click on the smsexec.exe process and select End task. (Stopping the SMS Executive service does not resolve this issue).

  3. After you stop smsexec.exe, you can either manually restart the service, or wait for Site Component Manager to automatically restart the service within a few minutes.

For more information about the upgrade paths that include System Center 2012 R2 Configuration Manager SP1, see About the versions of System Center 2012 Configuration Manager.

Distributing content to pull-distribution points results in a false warning message for content not being on source distribution points

When you distribute content to pull-distribution points that were created using Configuration Manager Powershell cmdlets or the System Center 2012 R2 Configuration Manager SDK, a false warning message results that indicates the content is not available on source distribution points.

Workaround: Confirm that the content is present on the source distribution points. If the content is present, you can ignore the warning.

There are significant delays in processing commands to block or unblock email access for devices managed by Microsoft Intune

If the following two conditions are met, Configuration Manager might be unable to use fast channel communications to process messages to block or unblock email access, delaying these actions for several minutes:

  • The Microsoft Intune connector is installed on the site server

  • The Configuration Manager installation path on the site server includes one or more spaces. For example, the default path on the sites server contains three spaces: C:\Program Files\Microsoft Configuration Manager

To identify this condition, you can find the following error message logged in in %ConfigMgrInstallPath%\Logs\dmpdownloader.log when you install the Microsoft Intune connector or when the DMP downloader thread restarts:

ERROR: Failed to load assembly for message downloader. Exception: System.IO.DirectoryNotFoundException: Could not find a part of the path 'I:\Program%20Files\Microsoft%20Configuration%20Manager\bin\x64\MessageHandlerConfig.xml'.~~   at System.IO.__Error.WinIOError(Int32 errorCode, String maybeFullPath)~~   at System.IO.FileStream.Init(String path, FileMode mode, FileAccess access, Int32 rights, Boolean useRights, FileShare share, Int32 bufferSize, FileOptions options, SECURITY_ATTRIBUTES secAttrs, String msgPath, Boolean bFromProxy, Boolean useLongPath, Boolean checkHost)~~   at System.IO.FileStream..ctor(String path, FileMode mode, FileAccess access, FileShare share, Int32 bufferSize, FileOptions options, String msgPath, Boolean bFromProxy)~~   at System.IO.FileStream..ctor(String path, FileMode mode, FileAccess access, FileShare share, Int32 bufferSize)~~   at System.Xml.XmlUrlResolver.GetEntity(Uri absoluteUri, String role, Type ofObjectToReturn)~~   at System.Xml.XmlTextReaderImpl.OpenUrlDelegate(Object xmlResolver)~~   at System.Threading.CompressedStack.runTryCode(Object userData)~~   at System.Runtime.CompilerServices.RuntimeHelpers.ExecuteCodeWithGuaranteedCleanup(TryCode code, CleanupCode backoutCode, Object userData)~~   at System.Threading.CompressedStack.Run(CompressedStack compressedStack, ContextCallback callback, Object state)~~   at System.Xml.XmlTextReaderImpl.OpenUrl()~~   at System.Xml.XmlTextReaderImpl.Read()~~   at System.Xml.XmlLoader.Load(XmlDocument doc, XmlReader reader, Boolean preserveWhitespace)~~   at System.Xml.XmlDocument.Load(XmlReader reader)~~   at System.Xml.XmlDocument.Load(String filename)~~   at Microsoft.ConfigurationManager.DmpConnector.MessageDownload.MessageDownloader.LoadMessageHandlers()

Workaround: Uninstall the Microsoft Intune connector from the site server, and then reinstall the connector on a remote computer to a location that does not include spaces in the path.

Windows 10 client computers show inaccurate version for Endpoint Protection

On Windows 10 client computers the listing for System Center Endpoint Protection under Programs and Features of the Control Panel is wrong (4.7.213.0 for example). The version number for Windows Defender, the endpoint protection program in Windows 10, does not appear.

Workaround: To view the version of Windows Defender, hover over Help and select About in Windows Defender or view the version in the Configuration Manager administration console.