Installing the MOM 2005 Consoles on Windows Vista

So I thought for my first blog posting, I would discuss how to install the MOM 2005 consoles (Administrator and Operator) on a Windows Vista client.  Hmm, should be straight forward enough, no?  Well unfortunately the MOM 2005 Setup prerequisite checker will state the minimum requirements have not been met - specifically with regard to the OS.  So how do we get around this?  By referencing the MSI Package – MOMSERVER.MSI from the command-line providing specific properties to avoid the prerequisite checker and successfully installing on Windows Vista.

Minimum Requirements:  Because MOM 2005 was developed using .NET 1.1 managed code, .NET Framework 1.1 must be installed!  Remember, .NET Framework 3.0 is included with Windows Vista and you can install prior versions of .NET side-by-side.  Once you download .Net Framework redistributable package from here - https://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?familyid=262D25E3-F589-4842-8157-034D1E7CF3A3&displaylang=en install it and then you can the proceed with the installation of the MOM 2005 Consoles.

Installing the Consoles:   I recommend installing from the MOM 2005 SP1 media that is available on MSDN subscription or SA media and not the MOM 2005 RTM media.  Once you find the source media, the command-line syntax to install the consoles is the following - MSIEXEC.EXE /i MOMSERVER.MSI ADDLOCAL=”MOMXUI” MOM_SERVER =”[Computer Name that hosts the MOM Management Server] ” /qb 

For further details on the command-line properties for MOMSERVER.MSI, please review the Microsoft Operations Manager 2005 Deployment Guide found on TechNet and review the section “Deploying MOM 2005 in Advanced Environments\Deploying MOM Using the Command Line” and you will see a sub-section for “MOMSERVER.MSI.”   Use the following link - https://www.microsoft.com/technet/prodtechnol/mom/mom2005/Library/b7b0c768-64d1-486e-b9ed-7292c9e545f9.mspx?mfr=true

One note that should be mentioned, once the installation of the MOM 2005 consoles is complete and you execute one of the consoles; Vista will display a warning message indicating “known compatibility issues.”  In my experience thus far, no issues have been encountered but your mileage may vary.  The installation has been tested using MSDN and SA media on both Windows Vista x86 and x64 Ultimate SKU.  It has not been tested on the Enterprise SKU; however there is no cause for concern as the differences between the SKU’s are simply the features installed.

So there you have it folks.  Enjoy!