Part 4 - Setting up Microsoft Endpoint Configuration Manager
04-13-2020 11:25 AM
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I've gathered some useful links below, that I've been using during creation of this blog post. I seriously recommend that you read the below Microsoft docs before installing SQL and Configuration Manager.
In my previous blog post Part 3 we completed the domain controller (DC) installation including DHCP and DNS configuration. In Part 4, I will walk you through the basic installation of Microsoft Endpoint Configuration Manager (CM) including the SQL, Distribution Point and Management Point configuration.
Since I've already prepared the Virtual Machine for my CM server and completed the OS installation, let's get started with the Windows Server configuration
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Oh, there is actually one thing during creation of the Virtual Machine I should share with you, and that is that I've created additional Virtual Hard Disks, but more about that during the prerequisites step.
Configuration Manager - Preparations
The very first thing I like to do after a Windows Server 2019 installation and before adding server roles, is renaming the server and configure the network settings.
Step 1. Okay, so as mentioned above, I've already completed the installation and I should be able to log into the Windows Server 2019 for the first time by using a local Administrator account.
Configuration Manager - Preparations
Step 2. Click "Yes" to the "Networks" dialog box and close the Server Manager.
Configuration Manager - Preparations
Step 3. Type "About" in the search line next to the start button, and click "About your PC"
Configuration Manager - Preparations
Step 4. In the middle of the "About" page, click "Rename this PC", give it a new name and click "Next". You don't have to reboot at this point, because we will reboot the CM server after after running the Windows Update step.
Configuration Manager - Preparations
Step 5. In the search line, type "View network" and click "View network status and tasks"
Configuration Manager - Preparations
Step 6. Click "Ethernet"
Configuration Manager - Preparations
Step 7. Click "Properties" and select "Properties" for "Internet Protocol Version 4 (TCP/IPv4)", add the IP address for the CM server and DNS address from the DC server. Click "OK" to complete the configuration.
Give it a default gateway, subnet mask and a static IP address from the private IP range we created in Part 2 during the Hyper-V configuration.
Configuration Manager - Preparations
Step 8. Open the "Server Manager", select the "Local Server" tab and click on "WORKGROUP"
Configuration Manager - Preparations
Step 9. Click "Change" in the System Properties window. Select "Domain", enter your domain and click "OK". You don't have to reboot at this point, because we will reboot the CM server after running the Windows Update step.
Configuration Manager - Preparations
So now that we have completed the above Windows Server configuration, I like to run a Windows Update scan before rebooting the server and continuing with the prerequisites step.
Step 1. Type "Windows Update" in the search line next to the start button, and click "Windows Update settings"
Configuration Manager - Preparations
Step 2. Click "Check for updates" and wait.
Configuration Manager - Preparations
Configuration Manager - Preparations
Step 3. When it's done, reboot the CM server.
Configuration Manager - Preparations
I've decided, that since this would become a very large blog post, it would be best to split the Prerequisites and SQL step into sub-sections.
So please click on the desired step in the menu to the left, or click on the links below.
Once we have completed the Prerequisites and SQL step, we'll be ready to start the CM installation. But first we need to reboot the CM server to ensure that there is no pending reboot.
Before starting the setup wizard, I recommend running a prerequisite check utility to check that all prerequisites are installed and configured correctly. But first we'll have to mount the "Configuration Manager" media to the CM server.
Open a Command Prompt in Administrator elevated mode and follow the steps below.
Step 1. Navigate to ".\SMSSETUP\BIN\X64\" on the mounted "Configuration Manager" media and execute "Prereqchk.exe" with the parameter "/AdminUI"
D:\SMSSETUP\BIN\X64\Prereqchk.exe /AdminUI
Configuration Manager - Installation
Step 2. The Prerequisite Check should complete with success. If you are getting any errors or warnings at this step, it´s important that you read the details and fix it before proceeding with the installation.
Configuration Manager - Installation
We are now finally ready for the CM installation, so navigate to the mounted "Configuration Manager" media and follow the steps below.
Step 1. Execute the "splash.hta" located in the root of the mounted "Configuration Manager" media.
Configuration Manager - Installation
Step 2. Click "Install"
Configuration Manager - Installation
Step 3. Click "Next"
Configuration Manager - Installation
Step 4. Select "Install a Configuration Manager primary site" and click "Next"
Configuration Manager - Installation
Step 5. Enter a product key or select the "Evaluation" edition which will expire after 180 days. Click "Next"
Configuration Manager - Installation
Step 6. Check the "I accept these License Terms and Privacy Statement" and "I accept these License Terms" box and click "Next"
Configuration Manager - Installation
Step 7. Select "Download required files" and specify a location where to download the files to. Click "Next"
Configuration Manager - Installation
Configuration Manager - Installation
Step 8. Select the server languages that Configuration Manager displays in the console and reports.
Configuration Manager - Installation
Step 9. Select the client languages for Configuration Manager to support.
Configuration Manager - Installation
Step 10. Provide the site code that we specified during the database creation, which in this case is "PS1". Give the site a name e.g. "Test Site" and change the drive letter of the installation path to "E:\" which is the ConfigMgr drive. Click "Next"
Configuration Manager - Installation
Step 11. Select "Install the primary site as a stand-alone site" and click "Next"
Configuration Manager - Installation
Step 12. Click "Yes"
Configuration Manager - Installation
Step 13. Verify that the information is correct. The database name has to match the database we created earlier and click "Next"
Configuration Manager - Installation
Step 14. Ensure that the database and log file path is the same as specified during the SQL installation. Click "Next"
Configuration Manager - Installation
Step 15. Leave everything default and click "Next"
Configuration Manager - Installation
Step 16. Select "Configure the communication method on each site system role" and click "Next"
Configuration Manager - Installation
Step 17. Leave everything default and click "Next"
Configuration Manager - Installation
Step 18. Click "Next"
Configuration Manager - Installation
Step 19. Leave everything default and click "Next"
Configuration Manager - Installation
Step 20. Verify that the selected settings is correct and click "Next"
Configuration Manager - Installation
Step 21. The Prerequisite Check completed with two warnings, which is weird because I ran it with success before starting the setup wizard.
I can verify, that the computer account does have full permissions to the "System Management" container in the Active Directory, so I can ignore that warning! The "SQL Server security mode" warning disappeared after running the check again. I guess it might be an bug
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Configuration Manager - Installation
Configuration Manager - Installation
If you want to follow the Prerequisite Check or Core Setup progress in the background you can navigate to ".\SMSSETUP\TOOLS\" on the mounted "Configuration Manager" media and copy the log viewer "CMTrace.exe" to e.g. "C:\Temp\" run it and make it the default log viewer.
Open "C:\ConfigMgrPrereq.log" to follow the Prerequisite Check or "C:\ConfigMgrSetup.log" to follow the Core Setup progress.
Step 22. Click "Begin Install"
Configuration Manager - Installation
Step 23. The installation progress will take between 15 and 30 minutes. Even though the core setup has completed there's still a few things happening in the background, but you should be able to open the Configuration Manger Console.
If you want to monitor what's happening in the background you can open the log file "sitecomp.log" from the following path ".\Program Files\Microsoft Configuration Manager\Logs\"
Click "Close" when the core setup is done.
Configuration Manager - Installation
Step 24. Type "Configuration" in the search line next to the start button, and click "Configuration Manager Console"
Configuration Manager - Installation
Step 25. Navigate to "Monitoring", expand "System Status" and verify that site systems and component status is "OK"
Configuration Manager - Installation
Configuration Manager - Installation
Step 26. Navigate to "Administration", expand "Updates and Servicing" and upgrade to the latest version
Configuration Manager - Installation
Awesome! This should conclude the basic installation of Microsoft Endpoint Configuration Manager including the SQL, Distribution Point and Management Point configuration. In Part 5 I'll be setting up the discovery methods and boundaries.
If you have any questions regarding this topic, feel free to reach out to me. I am most active on Twitter!
Last modified 2yr ago