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Service Manager PowerShell Extensions – SCSMPx

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Recently a colleague of mine Rob Plank brought some new CMDLets for Service Manager to my attention. These are a part of a PowerShell module that can be installed on your Service Manager server. They are the System Center Service Manager PowerShell Extensions also known as SCSMPx. Here is the official description for them:

“The ScsmPx module facilitates automation with Microsoft System Center Service Manager by auto-loading the native modules are included as part of that product and enabling automatic discovery of the commands that are contained within the native modules. It also includes dozens of complementary commands that are not available out of the box to allow you to do much more with your PowerShell automation efforts using the platform.”

This module contains hundreds of new commands for Service Manager.

The module was built by Kirk Munro (@Poshoholic) and sponsored by Provance.

The System Center Service Manager PowerShell Extensions ( SCSMPx) module can be found here: https://github.com/KirkMunro/ScsmPx.

The module requires:

  • PowerShell 3.0
  • SnippetPx module

The module is very easy to install and can be done so by running this syntax from PowerShell on a Service Manager management server:

& ([scriptblock]::Create((iwr -uri http://tinyurl.com/Install-GitHubHostedModule).Content)) -ModuleName ScsmPx,SnippetPx

Running that will download and install the SCSMPx and SnippetPx modules. This is for all users and requires being run from an elevated PowerShell console. This module will auto-load (PowerShell 3.0 and above) so there is no need to run Import-Module to load it.

Once this module is installed on a management server it also enables auto-loading of the native Service Manager CMDlets for Service Manager 2012 and later.

The commands included in the module are:

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Webinar: Understand what it takes for a successful Private Cloud project

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Learn what you can do to ensure a successful Private Cloud project. Attend one of my webinars this week. Details about the webinars include:

-“Service Management’s role in the Private Cloud“- hosted by Microsoft MVP Steve Buchanan. The webinars will be co-hosted by Savision’s co-founder and VP of Product Management, Dennis Rietvink.

 

SMRoleInPrivateCloudWebinar

 

During these webinars you will find out the right tools that IT professionals and management need to provide clean and mature processes that will enable them to become more agile and move down the path of realizing the benefits of Private Cloud. The webinars will also define the Private Cloud, the layers of the Private Cloud, and those layers within which service management operates.

The webinars will be held on two different dates, so register now for the one that will be more convenient for you:

Register for the US webinar: Wednesday, February 25th, 2015 | 2 PM EST / 8PM CET
Register for the EU webinar: Thursday, February 26th, 2015 | 9 AM EST / 3 PM CET

P.S. If you still haven’t, download the Service Management’s role in the Private Cloud whitepaper here.

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PowerShell script for Windows Server Activation

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I recently was helping a client that needed to activate over 50+ servers after an OS upgrade. I did not want to do this one by one and they did not have a KMS. PowerShell to the rescue. I was able to put together a script that loops through an OU in Active Directory and activate all computers in that OU. This script will find only computers with “Windows Server” in the name. This script could be modified to find client operating systems instead.

When you run this script it will prompt you for the domain name, organizational unit, and Windows Server product key. I was able to use this in my new lab build as well. Here is the script:

<#
Name: ActivateWinComputersfrAD.ps1
Author: System Center MVP – Steve Buchanan
Date: 2/15/2015
Version: 1.0
Website: www.buchatech.com

Description:
This script can be used to loop through an OU in Active Directory and activate all computers in that OU.
This script will find only computers with “Windows Server” in the name.
Run this script using: powershell.exe -executionpolicy unrestricted -command .\ActivateWinComputersfrAD.ps1
#>

# Load the Active Directory PowerShell module
Import-Module -Name ActiveDirectory

# Prompt script runner for information to create variables
$domain = Read-host ‘Enter domain to be used. Format as such (DOMAINNAME)’
$computersou = Read-host ‘Enter the name of the OU to be searched.’
$Productkey = Read-host ‘Enter product key. Format as such (XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX)’

# Create a variable that holds all of the computers from Active Directory
$results = (Get-ADComputer -LDAPFilter “(OperatingSystem=*Windows Server*)” -SearchBase “OU=$computersou,DC=$domain,DC=com”)

# Loop through the results variable and activate all computers in that variable.
# NOTE: Dont forget to replace the $key variable with your own Windows key.

foreach ($i in $results)
{
$computer = gc env:computername
$service = get-wmiObject -query “select * from SoftwareLicensingService” -computername $i.Name
$service.InstallProductKey($Productkey)
$service.RefreshLicenseStatus()
}

Write-Host “The following servers have been activated:” -ForegroundColor Green
$results | Format-Table DNSHostName -HideTableHeaders

Pause

It can be downloaded here: https://gallery.technet.microsoft.com/Windows-Server-Activation-f1c534b6

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Desired State Configuration (DSC) Training

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On February 25th Microsoft will hold a free all day training on Desired State Configuration (DSC). This will be from 9AM to 5PM PST on Microsoft Virtual Academy. Here us the Course Outline: Getting Ready for DSC Performing a Push Deployment Configuring Pull Servers for Deployment​ Deploying Configurations Using a Pull Server Resource Roundup Writing … Read more

Whitepaper – Service Management’s Role in the Private Cloud

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I am happy to announce that today Savision just published a new whitepaper authored by me. It is titled:

Service Management’s Role in the Private Cloud
Dispelling the Myopic Perception

 Service-Management's-role-in-the-private-cloud-600x188

This whitepaper sets out to define Private Cloud, the layers of Private Cloud, and those layers within which service management operates.

The whitepaper also explores having ultimate visibility into your organization’s business services. Business services discussed in this paper consist of configuration items (CIs), monitoring, and application maps; they are underpinned with incident, change management, and modern day self-service. In addition, the whitepaper explores the integration between Operations Manager and Service Manager, and the role Savision Live Maps Unity plays in this area. Here is an excerpt from the whitepaper:

“Technology needs of the business are changing, often faster than can be addressed by most internal IT departments.

It is critical for IT departments to shift away from the image of black box cost centers and slow moving dinosaurs that are hard to work with and become viewed as revenue-generating centers that are agile, fast moving, and business enablers with modernized IT services.

From the perspective of internal IT, there are some key steps that can be made to prepare and deliver “modern IT services” – with service management being a critical component of those services. This whitepaper explores these key steps from a Microsoft technology perspective as it applies to System Center.”

A huge thanks to both Kerrie Meyler and Sam Erskine for doing the technical review on this whitepaper!

To download visit:

http://savision.com/resources/white-paper/free-whitepaper-mvp-steve-buchanan-service-managements-role-private-cloud?utm_source=Twitter&utm_content=Whitepaper+by+MVP+Steve+Buchanan&utm_campaign=General

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Great start For #SysCTR in 2015

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We are just 8 days into 2015 and already there has been a lot of great things happening in the space. First off DPM has just received a highly anticipated feature.

DPM now has Deduplication of the DPM Storage. The storage savings is anywhere from 50% to 90%! This is a huge improvement for DPM. Here is a blog about the announcement:

http://blogs.technet.com/b/dpm/archive/2015/01/06/deduplication-of-dpm-storage-reduce-dpm-storage-consumption.aspx

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Here is a whitepaper on the new functionality:

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dn891438.aspx

Second today Microsoft released a survey soliciting feedback on System Center. This feedback will be used to influence the future of System Center. This is a chance for the System Center community to provide feedback directly to the Microsoft product teams. The post with the survey link can be found here:

http://blogs.technet.com/b/momteam/archive/2015/01/07/have-a-say-on-the-future-of-system-center.aspx

Other great news is that one of my colleagues Lee Berg has been awarded a Microsoft System Center MVP. Congratulations Lee! Here is his blog post about it:

http://www.leealanberg.com/blog/2015/01/01/im-mvp-happy-new-years/ and here is Lee’s twitter @LeeAlanBerg . This makes a total of 6 MVP’s at Concurrency now.

The other MVP’s at Concurrency are: Nathan Lasnoski – @nlasnoski, Shannon Fritz – @MrShannonFritz, Mike Steineke – @MSteineke and Annur Sumar.

You can catch these MVP’s and other Concurrency experts blogging at http://www.concurrency.com/blog/.

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Featured on Techguy Blog

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Today Michael Seidl published an interview he did with me on his blog!       Check it out: German: http://www.techguy.at/interview-mit-steve-buchanan/ English: http://bit.ly/1xcM9bg Follow Michael on Twitter @TechGuyAT for System Center related content. Thanks Michael!

Community tools: Manage SCSM DW Jobs & SCORCH Reporting

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One of the many great things about System Center is the rich eco-system within the community. Many System Center guru’s contribute their time to making tools that improve or fill gaps within System Center and they release these to the community for FREE. Two new community tools have recently been released one for Service Manager and one for Orchestrator. I wanted to post about them today and give them some shine.

SCSM DW Jobs Management Tool

The first tool is from Sam Erskine. We have seen a lot of great stuff from Sam lately such as System Center books, speaking at conferences and now another Service Manager tool. This tool gives you a GUI to execute all the Server Manager Data Warehouse actions.

ViewJobs-executed

As of right now you cannot do this directly in the Service Manager console. You can only do this via PowerShell. This tool gives you a centralized and organized way to handle the DW jobs. This is especially helpful when upgrading Service Manager or applying update rollups.

Sam has posted a blog about the tool with more information. You can find it here:

http://itprocessed.com/2014/11/838/

You can download this tool here:

https://gallery.technet.microsoft.com/SCSM-DW-Jobs-Management-f69fb703

Orchestrator SSRS Reports

This one is from Steve Jesok. He is the man when it comes to automation. Steve has taken the time to share some very useful Orchestrator reports with the community.

summary

Orchestrator does not come with any reporting out of the box. For insight into your Orchestrator environment you have to create your own reports. Here is a blurb from the description of the reports:

“This collection of reports was put together to help me spot check the health of my servers and identify usage and failure patterns easier.  The reports are based on a number of common Orchestrator SQL queries you find used to gather different bits of information, this is simply an attempt to put more of those bits in one place.”

You can download the reports here:
https://gallery.technet.microsoft.com/Orchestrator-SSRS-Reports-ac304a7d

Thanks Sam and Steve!

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Provide feedback to Microsoft (Azure Back-up & DPM)

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Do you use DPM and or Azure back-up? Now you can provide feedback about these products directly to the Microsoft product group. The product group has added DPM and Azure back-up on user voice feedback forum on Azure. They watch this forum and now is a great time to get your requests and feedback in. … Read more

DPM 2012 R2 Reporting Improvements

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A while back I released a custom DPM report that could be loaded in SSRS. This report is community based and only offered reporting on one DPM server at a time. It was however an improvement over the out of the box DPM reporting. More about the custom DPM report here: https://www.buchatech.com/2014/04/free-dpm-backup-summary-report/ . Finally Microsoft has taken the step to improve the out of the box reporting within DPM. Hats off to the DPM team for stepping up and taking steps to improve this. Recently at TechEd Europe new DPM reporting was announced. It is not available as of now but is coming soon.

The video covering this can be found here starting at 19:43:

Cloud Integrated Data Protection with System Center Data Protection Manager and Microsoft Azure Backup

http://channel9.msdn.com/events/TechEd/Europe/2014/CDP-B334

In this blog post I will take a look at what is coming. As you can see there is some success SLA reporting, protected data source overview on specific workloads such as Exchange, SharePoint and SQL, duration summary in hours, top backup failure reasons, bandwidth, and transfer data, and even data around deduplication! The new reporting will be surfaced in SCOM. This is what the report will look like.

clip_image001

With the new reporting you can chose to use what is their out of the box or extend this further without any coding. This reporting framework will cover all of your DPM servers because it is surfaced in SCOM. The new reporting leverages the SCOM management pack and the DPM management pack. All of your DPM servers are aggregated up through SCOM and therefore will show up in reports. Below are two diagrams one that breaks down the new reporting framework and one that covers the new reporting architecture:

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To enable the reporting you will need to first have the two DPM management packs loaded in your SCOM deployment. Your DPM servers need to be discovered. You then will need to add a third DPM reporting management pack. The following screenshot shows the new DPM Reporting management pack for SCOM.

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After the new management pack is loaded the some new DPM views are added within the SCOM DW database as seen in the following screenshot. Note that the new reporting has not been released and therefore we may see more changes to the views. The new report can be accessed and used or you can build your own report based on the views using a tool like report builder.

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The new reporting is estimated to be public in January as a part of the next update rollup. Thanks DPM team for making improvements such as this to DPM. If you have specific requests or feedback about what you want to see in DPM reporting feel free to email me.

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