How can you manage Linux based clients in System Center 2012 R2 Configuration Manager ?

Posted on October 27, 2013 by ncbrady

Introduction

 

System Center 2012 R2 Configuration Manager supports a wide variety of operating systems including alternative operating systems such as the following:-

 

Mac Client:

 

  • Mac OS X 10.6 (Snow Leopard)
  • Mac OS X 10.7 (Lion)
  • Mac OS X 10.8 (Mountain Lion)

UNIX/Linux Client:

 

  • AIX Version 7.1, 6.1, 5.3
  • Solaris Version 11, 10, 9
  • HP-UX Version 11iv2 , 11iv3
  • RHEL Version 6 , 5, 4
  • SLES Version 11, 10, 9
  • CentOS Version 6, 5
  • Debian Version 6, 5
  • Ubuntu Version 12.4 LTS, 10.4 LTS
  • Oracle Linux 6, 5

 

 

In this post I will show you how to install the Linux client on a popular Linux operating system (Centos 6.4) and do some basic actions like hardware and software inventory in System Center 2012 R2 Configuration Manager. This guide assumes you have already installed your Linux server and are ready for the next step. If you have not installed it yet just download the Live CD from here and boot from it, choose the option to Install to hard drive once the os has booted to the desktop.

 

Step 1. Download the Alternative Client files

 

When you started the System Center 2012 R2 Configuration Manager installation you probably didn’t notice that there was a link to download alternative clients on the splash screen highlighted in the screenshot below

 

 

 

Download clients for additional operating systems.png

 

 

 

If you did click on the link it would bring you here

 

 

 

so go ahead and download those client files.

 

 

 

Step 2. Extract the Linux client files on a Windows computer

 

On the computer you downloaded the alternative client files, locate the Linux client exe file and extract the contents somewhere local by double clicking on the ConfigMgr Clients for Linux.exe file.

 

 

 

downloaded client files.png

 

 

 

extract the files to somewhere useful.

 

 

 

ConfigMgr Clients for Linux.png

 

 

 

the files are extracted..

 

 

 

extracted files.png

 

 

 

Step 3. Copy the linux client files to your linux server

Logon as a testuser on the Centos server, click on the Computer icon, and click on File, then Connect to server

 

 

 

connect to Server.png

 

 

 

enter the details required to connect to a server that has the client files downloaded from Step 1 above and click on connect (notice I chose windows shares in the service type drop down menu) then click on Connect

 

 

 

connect.png

 

 

 

you may be prompted for a password, enter it

 

 

 

enter password.png

 

 

 

Locate the extracted files and copy them to your desktop

 

 

 

linux clients copied to the desktop.png

 

 

Step 4. Install the Linux client

 

To install the client we need the right permission, and the permission needed is that of root. We will install the Linux client using the command line. Start a terminal by clicking on Applications, System tools and choosing Terminal.

 

 

 

terminal.png

 

 

 

become root (the Linux equivalent of Administrator) by typing

 

su -

 

This will prompt you for a password, enter the password for root.

 

 

 

become root.png

 

 

 

change directory (cd) to the directory that holds the client installation files. Linux is case sensitive so keep that in mind.

 

 

 

cd to the client install files.png

 

 

 

make the installer executable by typing the following

 

chmod +x install

 

chmod plus x.png

 

 

 

and then install the client using the following command (for an X64 server os, use the corresponding X86 file if it’s 32 bit). Change the management point FQDN and sitecode to match your infrastructure.

 

./install -mp sccm.server2008r2.lab.local-sitecode P01 ccm.Universalx64.1.0.0.4580.tar

 

After some moments you’ll see Installation Complete.

 

 

 

installation complete.png

 

 

 

You can review what’s happening realtime via the log file using the following command

 

tail -F /var/opt/microsoft/scxcm.log

 

linux log file.png

 

 

 

 

 

Step 5. Change logging options

 

 

 

Logging for the Linux based client is pretty much all done in one log file called scxcm.log contained in /var/opt/microsoft/. How that log file gets written to is governed by the following configuration file /opt/microsoft/configmgr/etc/scxcm.conf.

 

 

 

Below is what the conf file looks like by default:-

 

 

 

FILE (
PATH: /var/opt/microsoft/scxcm.log
MODULE: WARNING
MODULE: scx.client WARNING
)

 

 

 

using vi or your favorite text editor in Linux, change it so that it now reads as follows

 

 

 

FILE (
PATH: /var/opt/microsoft/scxcm.log
MODULE: TRACE
MODULE: scx.client TRACE
)

 

scxcm.conf in vi.png

 

 

 

save the changes and stop and then start (or simply restart) the Linux client

 

 

 

 

 

To start the client:

 

/etc/init.d/ccmexecd start

 

To stop the client:

 

/etc/init.d/ccmexecd stop

 

start linux client.png

 

 

 

Tip: The default logging mode for the scxcm.log file is WARNING which Indicates possible problems for the client operations. TRACE mode logs verbosely. As the log file is not trimmed in any way, when you are finished doing your diagnosis it is recommended to change it back to WARNING mode and restart the client daemon.

 

 

 

Step 6. Approve the Linux client

 

In the Configuration Manager console, locate the new linux client in Devices, and right click choose Approve.

 

Approve.png

 

 

answer yes when prompted

 

 

answer yes when prompted.png

 

 

the client is now listed as Approved in the console

 

 

client is approved.png

 

 

 

 

 

Step 7. Request a machine Policy

 

 

as root issue the following command

 

/opt/microsoft/configmgr/bin/ccmexec -rs policy

 

policy requested.png

 

in the log file above you can see the word TRACE repeated over and over, this confirms that our change to the logging options were indeed processed and it’s now in Trace mode.

 

 

 

Step 8. Perform a hardware inventory

 

 

 

as root issue the following command

 

/opt/microsoft/configmgr/bin/ccmexec -rs hinv

 

perform a hinv.png

 

 

 

on your Configuration Manager server, you can check the MP_HINV.log and look for the HINV details from our Centos computer coming in…

 

 

 

mp_hinv log file.png

 

 

 

now’s a good time to start Resource Explorer in the console to see what info it has got

 

 

 

start resource explorer.png

 

 

 

and here is what the installed applications look like

 

 

 

resource explorer details of installed applications.png

 

 

 

and that’s it, you’ve installed the Alternative client on our Centos server and performed a Hardware Inventory and got the information uploaded to your Primary server. You can even install RPM packages using Packages (and programs). I’ll deal with that in a separate post.

 

 

 

until then, adios

 

niall.

 

 

 

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