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Mastering System Center Configuration Manager
Mastering System Center Configuration Manager

Mastering System Center Configuration Manager: Master how to configure, back up, and secure access to System Center Configuration Manager with this practical guide

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Mastering System Center Configuration Manager

Chapter 2. Assets and Compliance

The Asset Intelligence section of System Center Configuration Manager 2012 R2 gives you the ability to build inventories of your software licenses and also lets you manage them. It gives you an overview of the software installed on your infrastructure by keeping an Asset Intelligence catalog. Asset Intelligence uses Windows Management Instrumentation (WMI) to extract more detailed information from the hardware and software that is being used. SCCM 2012 R2 gives the users more than 60 different reports about the gathered asset information and displays them in a format that is easy to read. Most reports lead to more specific reports, where you can create custom queries to get detailed information. You can add custom information, such as custom software categories, software families, software labels, and hardware requirements, to the Asset Intelligence catalog.

SCCM 2012 R2 delivers an integrated, intelligent, and comprehensive overview of your company...

The benefits of centralized system management

System Center Configuration Manager 2012 R2 provides various means to manage and deliver different types of user experience, which might be based on identity, connectivity, and types of devices, all of this without having to give up control over protecting your assets. The following are the benefits of implementing System Center Configuration Manager 2012 R2:

  • Workstation management: Online System Center offers a solution to the challenge of consumerization by enabling the management and monitoring of workstations and mobile devices, irrespective of whether they belong to the employer or the employee, regardless of their location. Device management is based on Microsoft System Center 2012 Configuration Manager using clients that can be installed from the management portal. Management features include asset inventory, software distribution, patch management, and deployment of images. In addition to these, Online System Center offers a comprehensive...

Managing compliance

Compliance settings provide you with the ability to define, monitor, enforce, and report a configuration's compliance. Compliance settings can handle the following scenarios, which all IT organizations have to deal with:

  • Regulatory compliance: Regulatory compliance is a key scenario in many IT organizations. Regulatory compliance requires IT organizations to specify the security and privacy policies for corporate and user data as well as for IT systems. The difficult part for IT is to enforce and report on the enforcement of the set standards. Some IT companies find it difficult to enforce these policies and rely on scripts and tools that provide results on demand.
  • Change verification: This scenario is used to verify a system's configuration before and after the planned changes have occurred. It allows you to confirm whether you are applying the changes to the specified systems.
  • Configuration drift: This scenario is very common and known to IT personnel, but most...

Compliance authoring

Configuration Manager is responsible for creating, organizing, editing, and deploying compliance settings. The biggest challenge is when you have to translate business requirements into Configuration Manager items.

Organization

The organization of configuration items in configuration baselines is very important, just as in the case of organizing individual policies within Group Policy Objects. Actually, you don't need any organization. If you put all the settings in one configuration item and baseline, you are done. However, the problem is when something goes wrong and you have to troubleshoot an issue. Organize similar settings into a single configuration item; for example, put all the settings for Internet Explorer into one configuration item. For more isolation, you can create a baseline with just one configuration item.

Although this is a good practice and creates isolation, it creates a lot of configuration items and more overhead for administration. Think of...

Endpoint Protection

Configuration Manager 2007 provided Endpoint Protection as an add-on. In the newest release of Configuration Manager 2012 and 2012 R2, this is a built-in feature. Endpoint Protection allows IT administrators to monitor and control the security state of the client workstations from one console and perform easy administration tasks.

Integrating client management and client security in one console cuts down costs. IT administrators now focus on end-to-end security tasks and manage, report, and react to issues with clients from a common console. The best features of Endpoint Protection are as follows:

  • Licensing: To implement Endpoint Protection, you need to have a license to use it. The license is called Core Client Access License or CAL.
  • Customizable: You can create custom client settings and target different device collections. You can find preconfigured malware policies to speed up the deployment process.
  • Separate client: Endpoint Protection uses a different client from the...

Configuring custom client device settings for Endpoint Protection

As a best practice, it is recommended that you create custom settings and not use the default settings. This is because default client settings apply to all the clients in the hierarchy. Any modification of the default settings will apply to all the clients. So, it is better to create custom client device settings for target device collections. Custom client settings always have a greater priority than the default client settings. To configure custom client device settings, do the following:

  1. Go to the Administration section of the console.
  2. In the navigation tree on the left, go to Overview | Client Settings.
  3. Right click on it and select Create Custom Client Device Settings.
  4. In the Create Custom Client Device Settings wizard, give the settings a name and select Endpoint Protection from the settings list.
  5. Select Endpoint Protection on the left-hand side of the window, and on the right-hand side, configure the options as appropriate...

The benefits of centralized system management


System Center Configuration Manager 2012 R2 provides various means to manage and deliver different types of user experience, which might be based on identity, connectivity, and types of devices, all of this without having to give up control over protecting your assets. The following are the benefits of implementing System Center Configuration Manager 2012 R2:

  • Workstation management: Online System Center offers a solution to the challenge of consumerization by enabling the management and monitoring of workstations and mobile devices, irrespective of whether they belong to the employer or the employee, regardless of their location. Device management is based on Microsoft System Center 2012 Configuration Manager using clients that can be installed from the management portal. Management features include asset inventory, software distribution, patch management, and deployment of images. In addition to these, Online System Center offers a comprehensive...

Managing compliance


Compliance settings provide you with the ability to define, monitor, enforce, and report a configuration's compliance. Compliance settings can handle the following scenarios, which all IT organizations have to deal with:

  • Regulatory compliance: Regulatory compliance is a key scenario in many IT organizations. Regulatory compliance requires IT organizations to specify the security and privacy policies for corporate and user data as well as for IT systems. The difficult part for IT is to enforce and report on the enforcement of the set standards. Some IT companies find it difficult to enforce these policies and rely on scripts and tools that provide results on demand.

  • Change verification: This scenario is used to verify a system's configuration before and after the planned changes have occurred. It allows you to confirm whether you are applying the changes to the specified systems.

  • Configuration drift: This scenario is very common and known to IT personnel, but most IT companies...

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Description

This book is perfect for IT administrators who are looking to enhance their skills on system and asset management. A fair understanding of the core elements and applications related to SCCM would be helpful.

What you will learn

  • Set up System Center Configuration Manager servers
  • Configure System Center Configuration Manager hierarchy components
  • Create applications and packages
  • Deploy applications and software updates
  • Generate powerful and interactive reports
  • Define Site System roles
  • Back up System Center Configuration Manager settings
  • Secure access to the System Center Configuration Manager console

Product Details

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Publication date, Length, Edition, Language, ISBN-13
Publication date : Dec 24, 2014
Length: 278 pages
Edition : 1st
Language : English
ISBN-13 : 9781782175452
Vendor :
Microsoft

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Product Details

Publication date : Dec 24, 2014
Length: 278 pages
Edition : 1st
Language : English
ISBN-13 : 9781782175452
Vendor :
Microsoft

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Table of Contents

9 Chapters
1. Introduction to System Center Configuration Manager 2012 R2 Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
2. Assets and Compliance Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
3. The Software Library Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
4. Reporting in Configuration Manager Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
5. Administration and Monitoring Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
6. Cloud Integration Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
7. Security and Backup Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
8. Troubleshooting Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
Index Chevron down icon Chevron up icon

Customer reviews

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4 star 16.7%
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Nick Corsentino May 27, 2015
Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon 5
A very well written, up front, in depth book that leads even the most entry level of administrators through a fail safe setup of SCCM and provides excellent insight to the options and available scopes which SCCM can serve an enterprise.Not only is this book an easy read, but it is an interesting read that keeps you involved, while holding a "how to" aspect to guide administrators through the setup, whether it be an upgrade, fresh install, or maintenance.
Amazon Verified review Amazon
Adam 'ONI' Jamal Apr 22, 2015
Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon 5
It's always difficult finding the right guide for System Center products, sometimes they are for the beginners of this world, sometimes for the experts. This book seemed to find a happy medium and also has a follow up which is aimed at the more advanced (http://www.amazon.com/Microsoft-Configuration-Manager-Advanced-Deployment/dp/1782172084). Highly recommend for those looking to build a good foundation of skills for SCCM.
Amazon Verified review Amazon
Randy R. Apr 13, 2015
Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon 5
Excellent SCCM walk through. Very well put together, easy to follow and a great resource..
Amazon Verified review Amazon
Charbel Nemnom Apr 06, 2015
Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon 5
If you are looking to Master System Center Configuration Manager, then this book is for you!Mastering System Center Configuration Manager explains the Configuration Manager architecture, hierarchy, and components, as well as how to use them. It also provides advanced-level content on how to set up System Center Configuration Manager and integrate it with an existing system center as well.I highly recommend this book.Thank you,
Amazon Verified review Amazon
Jatin Apr 10, 2015
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I have always been a fan of Packt enterprise. There books are written with great deep knowledge and this book is no exception. I recommend this book if you would like to Learn System Center Configuration Manager.ThanksJatin
Amazon Verified review Amazon
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