Installing the System Center 2012 R2 Configuration Manager Client on Linux – Part 2
In Part 1 of this post, we went through getting the Linux machine setup for ConfigMgr client installation(https://blogs.msdn.com/b/teju_shyamsundar/archive/2014/05/22/installing-the-system-center-2012-r2-configuration-manager-client-on-linux-part-1.aspx)
In this post, we will go through getting the ConfigMgr 2012 R2 client for Linux installed, as well as commands that can be run via Terminal to manage the machine.
The installation files for the Linux client can be found here –
SCCM 2012 SP1: https://www.microsoft.com/en-in/download/details.aspx?id=36212
SCCM 2012 R2: https://www.microsoft.com/en-in/download/details.aspx?id=39360
You will need to download these files onto a Windows machine, and extract the contents. These contents then need to be copied onto the Linux machine.
- Open up Terminal
- Switch to root(required to install client)
sudo su
3. To use root credentials to run the install script as a program, type
Chmod +x install
4. ./install –mp fc-cm01.fourthcoffee.local –sitecode FCH ccm-Universalx64.1.0.0.458.tar
--MP = management point FQDN
--sitecode = SCCM Site Code that machine will report to
The installed client will run with root credentials, root credentials are required to collect HW/SW Inventory and perform software deployment
5. Linux clients also support a Fallback Status Point
-FSP <FQDN of FSP>
6. At this point, you will see the client start to install
The screenshot below (right) shows that the installation has successfully completed.
Log Files
Scxcm.log
By default, this log file is created in the following location: /var/opt/microsoft/scxcm.log
To change the location of the log file, edit /opt/microsoft/configmgr/etc/scxcm.conf and change the PATH field. You do not need to restart the client computer or service for the change to take effect.
You can set the log level to one of four different settings:
- ERROR: Indicates problems that require attention.
- WARNING: Indicates possible problems for the client operations.
- INFO: More detailed logging that indicates the status of various events on the client.
- TRACE: Verbose logging that is typically used to diagnose problems.
To change the log level, edit /opt/microsoft/configmgr/etc/scxcm.conf and change each instance of the tag MODULE to the desired log level.
Scxcmprovider.log
This is the log file for the CIM service of the Configuration Manager client for Linux and UNIX (omiserver.bin). This log file contains information about the ongoing operations of nwserver.bin.
By default, this log is created in the following location: /var/opt/microsoft/configmgr/scxcmprovider.log
To change the location of the log file, edit /opt/microsoft/omi/etc/scxcmprovider.conf and change the PATH field. You do not need to restart the client computer or service for the change to take effect.
You can set the log level to one of three different settings:
- ERROR: Indicates problems that require attention.
- WARNING: Indicates possible problems for the client
operations. - INFO: More detailed logging that indicates the status
of various events on the client.
To change the log level, edit /opt/microsoft/omi/etc/scxcmprovider.conf and change each instance of the tag MODULE to the desired log level.
Command Line Operations for Linux
- Return the client version - /opt/microsoft/configmgr/bin/ccmexec –v
- Force Policy Refresh - /opt/microsoft/configmgr/bin/ccmexec –rs policy
- Force Hardware Inventory - /opt/microsoft/configmgr/bin/ccmexec –rs hinv
- Force Software Inventory - /opt/microsoft/configmgr/bin/ccmexec –rs sinv
- Tail ConfigMgr Client Install Log - tail –f /var/opt/microsoft/scxcm.log
- Query Specific Inventory Data
Example - SCXCM Inventory Class
/opt/microsoft/nanowbem/bin/nwcli ei root/cimv2 SCXCM_ComputerSystem
7. Uninstall the Client - /opt/microsoft/configmgr/bin/uninstall
SUPPORTED |
UNSUPPORTED |
Hardware Inventory |
OSD |
Software Distribution (packages & programs) |
Client Push |
Creating collections & Queries |
Software Inventory |
Maintenance Windows |
Software Updates1 |
Reporting |
Remote Control |
Custom Client Settings |
Compliance Settings (including Power Management) |
Computer Policy |
Client Health Check |
Certificate Management |
IBCM |
System Center Endpoint Protection |
|
- Software Updates
i. SCCM will not sync updates for Linux distros in the console - to update a Linux machine, you will need to download the updates outside of SCCM, then create a software distribution package with the update files included, and deploy to the Linux Clients
ii. Lumension provides the option to deploy Linux software updates directly
https://www.lumension.com/system-center.aspx
Supported Hardware Inventory Classes for Linux
- Win32_BIOS
- Win32_ComputerSystem
- Win32_DiskDrive
- Win32_DiskPartition
- Win32_NetworkAdapter
- Win32_NetworkAdapterConfiguration
- Win32_OperatingSystem
- Win32_Process
- Win32_Service
- Win32Reg_AddRemovePrograms
- SMS_LogicalDisk
- SMS_Processor
Software Distribution
Note that all software distribution for Linux must be machine based, SCCM 2012 does not support user based deployments for Linux/UNIX machines
-
- Supported Methods of Software Distribution
i. New software deploymen
ii. Software updates for programs already on the compute
iii. Operating system patche
iv. You can run native Linux and UNIX commands, and run scripts that are located on Linux and UNIX servers
v. You can limit deployment to the operating systems that you specify when you select the program option Only on specified client platforms
vi. You can use maintenance windows to control when software installs
vii. You can use deployment status messages to monitor deployments
viii. The client can throttle network usage when downloading software from a distribution point
- Supported Methods of Software Distribution
b. Prerequisite
i. Use configurations intended for machine based deployments only
ii. Configure programs to download software from the DP and run programs from the client ccm cache
iii. Configure Network Access Acount for DP access(because Linux machines are treated as WORKGROUP machines)
Linux Software Distribution Details - <https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/jj573943.aspx>
Operating System Deployment
Although it is not supported to use SCCM OSD to deploy any Linux
distro, it can potentially be done as outlined here -
https://blogs.msdn.com/b/steverac/archive/2014/01/02/osd-for-linux-imaging-yes-really.aspx
Note that this is not supported in either SCCM 2012 SP1 or SCCM 2012
R2
Additional Information
Introduction to the Linux/UNIX Client - https://blogs.technet.com/b/manageabilityguys/archive/2013/04/11/configmgr-2012-sp1-and-unix-linux-clients-part-1-introduction-and-client.aspx
General Operations & Inventory - https://blogs.technet.com/b/manageabilityguys/archive/2013/05/03/configmgr-2012-sp1-and-unix-linux-clients-part-2-general-operations-and-inventory.aspx
-Teju Shyamsundar
Comments
Anonymous
March 01, 2015
Very useful this article. I follow step by step and everything is fine. But only thing is my doubt I hope can you help me. My server linux actually have status = no results still my hardware inventory is OK. Do you have any idea? I can do report about my server Linux and find it OK, only this quetion about my status = no results instead = Passed is my difficult. Thanks.Anonymous
March 31, 2015
Hi Caio, sorry for the delayed response - were you able to fix this issue?