SCCM2007: Install Tip - Client Bits Downloaded During Setup

If you follow Jeff Gilberts blog then you probably saw his post about the importance of reading release notes any time you're installing something new, but I want to bring your attention to one specific issue addressed in the release notes for System Center Configuration Manager 2007.

The Configuration Manager Setup Wizard has a page in the RTM version which did not previously exist. Since we were so close to shipping, the Docs were locked and only a relnote was possible.  What is happening is SCCM is going to download client bits at the time of the Primary Site Servers installation.  These client bits can be downloaded live or downloaded prior to installation and made available on the local network or server, such as when the site server has no Internet Connection, however this is not totally clear when you're doing the actual install itself. Should there be proxy issues or anything else that may interfere with Internet connectivity then you may run into problems. To give you an example of this, I've seen an issue where the link worked fine in IE, but failed during setup. To fix it we had to turn on “Automatically detect settings” in Internet Explorer options to allow the content to download.

UPDATE (9/4/2007): The fix above where we had to enable “Automatically detect settings” in Internet Explorer options to allow the content to download looks to be fixed in the final code.

Its perhaps not entirely clear that you must have access to these client bits either directly, or by previous download, during setup.  So what does this mean?  It means that you either need to have Internet access on the Site Server during installation of the site, or you need to have already downloaded and provisioned those files where the Site Server can find them.

Here is the section from the RTM Relnotes:

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Automatic Downloading of Client Deployment Prerequisites

When you run Setup, you must tell Configuration Manager 2007 how to obtain the prerequisite components that must be installed on client computers prior to running the client Setup (CCMSetup). During site server Setup, Configuration Manager 2007 copies these files from the location you specify to a location on the site server. When a management point is installed, Configuration Manager 2007 copies the files from the location on the site server to the management point, so that CCMSetup can download and install them automatically on the client. For more information about the prerequisites, see the topic "Prerequisites for Configuration Manager Client Deployment" in the Configuration Manager Documentation Library.

If your site server has a connection to the Internet, Configuration Manager 2007 can check for updated versions of prerequisite files, download them to a location of your choice, and install them prior to installing Configuration Manager 2007. If your site server does not have a connection to the Internet, run Setup /download <path> on a computer with Internet connectivity, you must download the newest versions to a path accessible by the site server, and specify the alternate path when prompted. After you have downloaded the files, subsequent installations of Configuration Manager 2007 can copy the prerequisites from the same path.

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Now I know what you're thinking: "Why must I download all this content in the first place? I surely don’t need Alpha (or x64, etc.) client content in my organization."   Well maybe you do and maybe you don't but the process is ensuring that you have all the possible bits provisioned in case you decide at some point in the future to push a client out to an alpha system (or x64, etc.).

Like I said at the beginning, this is just one issue documented in the release notes so be sure and read them before beginning.  Also be sure to keep an eye on Jeff's blog and keep an eye on this blog.  If anything comes up, chances are you'll read about it from Jeff or on here first.

- J.C. Hornbeck