Tag: System Center Service Provider Foundation

System Center 2012 R2 Update Rollup 1

The first update rollup for System Center 2012 R2 is here. Continue reading “System Center 2012 R2 Update Rollup 1” →

Working in VMM like Service Provider Foundation and Windows Azure Pack

As we know Service Provider Foundation is the API of VMM. SPF is a web service that can execute tasks against VMM server and WAP just connects to SPF to communicate with VMM so we have the following communication path VMM<->SPF<->WAP. Continue reading “Working in VMM like Service Provider Foundation and Windows Azure Pack” →

Quick Look at System Center Service Provider Foundation Management Pack

Last week the SPF MP for SCOM was released so let’s look on how to install it and configure it.

First we need to install it:

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Then we need to import in SCOM

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After it is imported we need to create account/s. According to the guide you need to create two accounts in SCOM:

  • One account that have access to the SPF database and with access to your VMM;
  • Second account with access to the VMM endpoint in SPF.

As I see it you need only read access for both accounts but in my case I will use one account that have admin rights in SPF database, admin rights in VMM and member of the group that gives permissions to the VMM endpoint.

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Set it to more secure

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Next open the properties of the account in the Distribution tab add all your SPF server(s), VMM server(s) and SQL server(s) where SPF database is:

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In the SCOM console in Profiles section you will see two profiles:

  • Service Provider Foundation Database Account
  • Service Provider Foundation VMM Web Endpoint Account

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To both accounts you need to add the account you’ve just added in SCOM. Of course if you want to go more secure and have two accounts you will add them to the corresponding profile. Also remember to distribute the accounts to the right servers. In my case I am adding to both profiles the same account:

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After that in your Service Provider Foundation State view you should see your SPF servers:

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If you have any alerts for wrong credentials you can reset the monitors and close the alerts. During the import, the creation of the accounts and setting them some alerts might be generated for wrong credentials.

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Some Tips on Upgrading System Center 2012 SP1 to R2 Preview

After covering the installation of the R2 wave for System Center 2012 I will now cover the upgrade from SC 2012 SP1 by providing some tips.

Note: Do not upgrade your production environment to R2 Preview. Only try to upgrade in lab environment.

So let’s start. With System Center we need upgrade sequence for upgrading the different components. Currently there is not such publically available but we can use the upgrade sequence for SC 2012 SP1:

1. Orchestrator

2. Service Manager

3. Data Protection Manager (DPM)

4. Operations Manager

5. Configuration Manager

6. Virtual Machine Manager (VMM)

7. App Controller

I will not be able to cover Configuration Manager, Data Protection Manager and App Controller as I do not have them in my lab. Also Service Provider Foundation is not listed in the upgrade sequence list but as it is part of Orchestrator I am putting it also on first position.

Upgrading to Orchestrator 2012 R2

In order to Upgrade to R2 you have to remove all Orchestrator 2012 SP1 roles. By removing them, retaining the database and starting the R2 installation you will be able to upgrade without data loss. Unfortunately after upgrading I’ve stumbled upon on the bug with the not working web service. Besides that bug runbook designer was working OK and all my runbooks were intact. After upgrading Orchestrator you have to upgrade your Integration Packs also to R2. You can download them from here. As my web service was not working and I couldn’t fix it even with my own workaround in the end I’ve end up on creating a new Orchestrator 2012 R2 and migrating all my data.

Upgrading to Service Provider Foundation 2012 R2

SPF 2012 R2 requires to be installed on Windows Server 2012 R2. So I’ve created a new WS 2012 R2 server hoping that I will start the installation pointing to my old database so SPF can upgrade it. Again unfortunately when I’ve done that the installation stuck on Updating Database for more than 40 minutes at which time I’ve decided to cancel the installation. Installation wasn’t responding to cancel command so I’ve ended up killing it. In the end I had to install completely new SPF server with a new database. I’ve couldn’t migrate my old data.

Upgrading to Service Manager 2012 R2

With Service Manager in most cases you will have at least one Service Manager Management Server and one Service Manager Data Warehouse. To upgrade to R2 you have to start with the Data Warehouse server first. Before upgrading it is best to stop all data warehouse jobs. I haven’t met any issues with upgrading the Data Warehouse server. After DW you can continue with the Management Server. Before upgrading it is good idea to disable all connectors. Again I was having no troubles with this upgrade also. Keep in mind that in a new installation of SCSM 2012 R2 System Center Management Service is renamed to Microsoft Monitoring Agent. This is not the case with upgrade that service stays named System Center Management. After upgrade start the DW jobs and enable the connectors. Make sure all are finished successful.

Upgrading to Operations Manager 2012 R2

Operations Manager upgrade also went flawless. The one thing I’ve done before upgrading is to brake the SCOM-SCVMM integration and remove the VMM MPs.  I’ve upgraded Management Server and Reporting server without issues. After the upgrade you need to upgrade the SCOM agents on all servers you are monitoring. If you have somewhere Service Manager Console installed (like terminal server) you will need to uninstall the console and than upgrade the agent. You may also need to update some of your MPs to the preview versions. VMM 2012 R MPs are located in a folder of the VMM 2012 R2 installation. Do not import only the Dashboard MP from there but rather download it from here. If you have data that is synchronized between SCOM and SCSM and you’ve updated some MPs in SCOM that are also imported in SCSM you will need to update them there also.

Upgrading to Virtual Machine Manager 2012 R2

VMM also does not support in-place upgrade. You have to uninstall VMM and retain the database. Before uninstalling VMM first uninstall any Update Rollup if you have such. After uninstalling VMM, ADK (Windows Assessment and Deployment Toolkit) 8.0 also have to be uninstalled. Before starting the VMM 2012 R2 installation you have to install ADK 8.1. After VMM 2012 R2 installation is easy. You have to point a few settings, the installation will detect that you want to make upgrade to existing database and after a few minutes you will be upgrade to R2. After successful upgrade you need to start the console and update your VMM agents also.

Overall the upgrading experience to R2 is good but there are few serous bugs that needs to be fixed or at least upgrade documentation to be available to help you when RTM arrives which today was announced that it will be 18th of October. Mark you calendars.

System Center 2012 R2 VHDs Download

Besides downloading ISO files you can also try System Center 2012 R2 by directly downloading VHDs that offer installed Windows Server 2012 R2 and instructions on how to enable System Center 2012 R2. Here is the full download list:

Note: The download requires registration.

Note: Links are now working.