Michael Griswold's SCCM Tips and Tricks

Things I have learned and want to share

What was old is new again

The time has come for me to change blog platforms.  I have tried to clone over many of my more...

Author: Mike Griswold Date: 11/20/2018

Don't forget the provider!!!

I have seen across the internet where folks have been frustrated, unable to remove a site system...

Author: Mike Griswold Date: 10/19/2018

Where are those files going?

When working with System Center Configuration Manager (a.k.a. SCCM or ConfigMgr) you see a lot of...

Author: Mike Griswold Date: 05/15/2018

Time for a Tune-up

Back in the day when I went on site to help SCCM customers all the time I kept a compiled list of...

Author: Mike Griswold Date: 01/22/2018

Dropping some FSP

(My post title is a nod to a Blues Traveler Song) As much as I know about the System Center...

Author: Mike Griswold Date: 06/01/2017

Quick provider overview

Nothing new in this post per se but I wanted to get something up and I recently became aware that...

Author: Mike Griswold Date: 04/20/2017

WSUS in Azure

Recently I assisted in brining a new person into my team, Matt Garton.  He comes from the world of...

Author: Mike Griswold Date: 04/06/2017

Me... in two places!

Hi all, Sorry this blog has been quiet lately.  I was asked to help get blogging restarted in my new...

Author: Mike Griswold Date: 03/27/2017

Why are old AD records still being discovered

Sometimes SCCM can be sneaky.  For those that have been using Configuration Manager for a while now...

Author: Mike Griswold Date: 09/26/2016

Closer to the action

This blog may be quiet for a little bit.  For those who follow it you know I was a Premier Field...

Author: Mike Griswold Date: 07/21/2016

What release was that in?

In the past I have seen blogs on version numbers matching to ConfigMgr release names and such and...

Author: Mike Griswold Date: 06/06/2016

Content not lost

Several months back during some winter storm a power outage hit the building where I keep all my lab...

Author: Mike Griswold Date: 04/18/2016

Status message based collection

Long ago as part of a different post I provided a query to make collections based on status...

Author: Mike Griswold Date: 03/11/2016

A simple trick to make CMTrace even more handy

Part of why I enjoy my job is that working with new people and their different backgrounds and...

Author: Mike Griswold Date: 01/28/2016

So many site systems!

Here is another little trick that I recently became aware that many folks don't know. If you run...

Author: Mike Griswold Date: 12/10/2015

Pre-download content before application installation

This is one of those tricks that many of the experienced ConfigMgr/SCCM admins out there already...

Author: Mike Griswold Date: 10/01/2015

WQL to SQL

If you want to do any deep troubleshooting with System Center 2012 Configuration Manager...

Author: Mike Griswold Date: 08/26/2015

PowerShell failing in a task sequence

I recently worked on an issue with a customer that might affect more of you out there. They were...

Author: Mike Griswold Date: 07/27/2015

Marked for reinstallation, it will not be started at this time

A few weeks ago my customer hit a situation where their clients were failing to communicate with...

Author: Mike Griswold Date: 06/12/2015

ConfigMgr 2012 SP2 and R2SP1 - From here to there

With the recent announcement of the latest service pack release for the System Center 2012...

Author: Mike Griswold Date: 05/14/2015

Collection creation based on state messages

Back in my System Center Configuration Manager (SCCM) 2007 days I wrote up a blog post about...

Author: Mike Griswold Date: 05/04/2015

Export that collection membership

Hi folks. Today's post is on the topic of one of those "so obvious it hurts" topics. I...

Author: Mike Griswold Date: 03/10/2015

Fallback DP = no DP

There is a point of confusion currently in the System Center 2012 Configuration Manager product, and...

Author: Mike Griswold Date: 01/27/2015

Search through everything!!!!!

With Configuration Manager 2012 came a new UI. It took some getting used to but I, for one, have...

Author: Mike Griswold Date: 12/16/2014

Get more from your queries

Every SCCM admin has figured out how to create a collection with a query rule to dynamically update...

Author: Mike Griswold Date: 10/17/2014

Disabling RBAC during custom report creation

A much anticipated feature of System Center Configuration Manager 2012 (SCCM) was RBA (Role Based...

Author: Mike Griswold Date: 09/17/2014

Which Prestart command will I get?

For those of you doing OS deployments with System Center Configuration Manager 2012 (I bet the same...

Author: Mike Griswold Date: 07/29/2014

How to manually clean your SCCM server roles off the box

Occasionally it becomes necessary to manually clean off a server of SCCM components. When that...

Author: Mike Griswold Date: 05/16/2014

How to get clients to avoid one of your management points

The other week I had a customer asking me how they could keep clients from using a Management Point,...

Author: Mike Griswold Date: 04/22/2014

Getting started with RBA in System Center Configuration Manager 2012

RBAC, or Role Based Administration, is new with the SCCM 2012 product. Many customers I encounter...

Author: Mike Griswold Date: 03/11/2014

Basic content deployment troubleshooting in SCCM 2012

I was recently asked to pull together a general starting point guideline on how to troubleshoot...

Author: Mike Griswold Date: 02/07/2014

The easy way to test SQL connectivity

While I can’t say I have to do it all that often, there are occasional times when I need to test...

Author: Mike Griswold Date: 01/06/2014

Are your new clients working?

I have setup many SCCM installations in my time and once I have all the server side pieces in place...

Author: Mike Griswold Date: 11/26/2013

System discovery of an untrusted forest fails with 0x8007052E

I got a question from one of my customers the other day that was an easy, but not obvious,...

Author: Mike Griswold Date: 10/11/2013

So you think you can be me (a.k.a Job opening in PFE)?

I have all kinds of quotes running through my head today. “To every season, turn, turn,...

Author: Mike Griswold Date: 09/10/2013

Testing software deployment for a Linux machine

I was recently working with a customer to setup management of their Mac and Linux machines with...

Author: Mike Griswold Date: 09/02/2013

Quick tips to improve the accuracy of your metrics for deployments

One of the topics that comes up with a lot of my SCCM customers is how their management is looking...

Author: Mike Griswold Date: 07/01/2013

Configuration Management for the non SCCM admin

DCM was a feature in SCCM 2007 that got renamed to Configuration Management in System Center 2012...

Author: Mike Griswold Date: 05/29/2013

SCCM, Intune, and you

With System Center 2012 Configuration Manager Service pack 1 came new ways to manage new OS types....

Author: Mike Griswold Date: 05/03/2013

KB2775511 deployment for the SCCM Admin

This week Microsoft rolled out a BIG hotfix (90 hotfixes) rollup for Windows 7 SP1 and Windows...

Author: Mike Griswold Date: 03/13/2013

The best group is a DP group!

There are all kinds of new features in System Center 2012 Configuration Manager (SCCM 2012) and you...

Author: Mike Griswold Date: 03/08/2013

“Dial Me In Baby” and the other magical files of Configuration Manager

10/22/14 update - Added archive_reports.sms section Back in the SMS 2.0 days I was doing phone...

Author: Mike Griswold Date: 02/06/2013

Manual removal of the SCCM client

As much as I love it, it may occasionally be necessary to remove the System Center Configuration...

Author: Mike Griswold Date: 01/02/2013

Permissions to Create a collection

I had a customer doing some custom permission setting in System Center 2012 Configuration Manager...

Author: Mike Griswold Date: 11/19/2012

DP converts, but content fails

I hit an odd issue with a customer recently that was not easy to figure out or troubleshoot so I...

Author: Mike Griswold Date: 10/23/2012

404 for Driver packages, can’t find content.

Driver management has never been a fun aspect of Configuration Manager.  It is one of those...

Author: Mike Griswold Date: 09/19/2012

An easier way to create packages and programs

Today’s tip is one which many folks already know, but surprisingly many folks, even those who have...

Author: Mike Griswold Date: 09/06/2012

Fast policy evaluation only for new machines

10/13/14 - updated to add restart info Many of my customers are in similar situations where they do...

Author: Mike Griswold Date: 08/02/2012

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