Preparing your environment for System Center 2012 R2 App Controller
Updated: May 13, 2016
Applies To: System Center 2012 R2 App Controller
Here are the system requirements and considerations to keep in mind before you deploy System Center 2012 R2 App Controller.
If you’re evaluating your environment, see System Requirements for System Center 2012 R2
Server
This section provides information about system requirements and supported operating systems for installing and running System Center 2012 R2 App Controller.
Hardware
For a list of the supported hardware for App Controller, see Hardware.
Software
The following software must be installed before installing App Controller.
| Software Requirement | Notes |
|---|---|
| A supported operating system | For more information, see Supported Operating Systems in this topic. |
| Microsoft .NET Framework 4.5 | If .NET Framework 4.5 is not installed (it is not installed by default), the App Controller setup wizard will install it. Note that WCF data services will be configured as part of enabling .NET Framework 4.5. |
| Web Server (IIS) | If the Web Server (IIS) role and the following Web Server (IIS) features are not installed, the App Controller setup wizard will install them: - Static Content - Default Document - Directory Browsing - HTTP Errors - ASP.NET - .NET Extensibility - ISAPI Extensions - ISAPI Filters - HTTP Logging - Request Monitor - Tracing - Basic Authentication - Windows Authentication - Request Filtering - Static Content Compression - IIS Management Console |
| The VMM console feature in System Center 2012 R2 | Only the VMM console feature is required for App Controller. |
| A supported version of SQL Server | For more information about supported versions of SQL Server, see Database Requirements in this topic. |
Operating Systems
For a list of the supported operating systems for each feature, see Server Operating Systems in System Center 2012 R2.
Running System Center 2012 R2 App Controller on Microsoft Azure virtual machines
App Controller runs on Azure just as it does on physical computers. App Controller can be deployed into Azure as part of product evaluation if you do not have sufficient capacity on-premises.
App Controller was tested by Microsoft by installing and using it in an Azure virtual machine. The testing concluded that App Controller was fully functional and operated exactly the same as it does on physical hardware.
Requirements to run App Controller in Microsoft Azure:
The App Controller virtual machine must be connected to your corporate network; for example, by using a Site to Site VPN..
The App Controller virtual machine must have connectivity to your Active Directory domain controller. This domain controller can be but is not required to be deployed in Azure.
The App Controller virtual machine must have connectivity to your Virtual Machine Manager server.
The App Controller virtual machine must have connectivity to a SQL Server database. This cannot be a SQL Azure database.
The App Controller virtual machine must be domain joined.
Users must be on the corporate network to access App Controller.
When deploying into an Azure virtual machine, the minimum virtual machine size is “Small” and the recommended virtual machine size is “Medium.”
Database
App Controller supports the following versions of Microsoft SQL Server for hosting the App Controller database.
For better performance, we recommend that you use an instance of SQL Server installed on a different computer for the System Center 2012 R2 App Controller database.
| Supported SQL Server Edition | Service Pack | System Architecture |
|---|---|---|
| SQL Server 2008 R2 Datacenter | Service Pack 2 | x86 and x64 |
| SQL Server 2008 R2 Enterprise | Service Pack 2 | x86 and x64 |
| SQL Server 2008 R2 Standard | Service Pack 2 | x86 and x64 |
| SQL Server 2012 Standard | None | x86 and x64 |
| SQL Server 2012 Enterprise | None | x86 and x64 |
| SQL Server 2012 Standard | Service Pack 1 | x86 and x64 |
| SQL Server 2012 Enterprise | Service Pack 1 | x86 and x64 |
Performance and Scale
The items below are the supported scale limits for App Controller.
| Measure | Value |
|---|---|
| Maximum number of objects in a Windows Azure storage directory | 900 |
| Maximum number of VMM management servers | 5 |
| Maximum number of Windows Azure subscriptions per user | 20 |
| Maximum number of concurrent users | 75 |
| Maximum number of jobs that can be run in a 24-hour interval | 10,000 |
Additional Information
The computer on which you are installing the App Controller server must be a member of an Active Directory domain.
For better performance, we recommend that you install the App Controller server on a separate computer from the VMM management server.
Client
This section provides information about requirements for running the App Controller client console in a browser on a computer that is not the App Controller management server.
The following software must be installed before installing the System Center 2012 R2 App Controller web console.
| Requirement | Supported by App Controller client console |
|---|---|
| Operating system | Windows Server 2008 Windows Server 2008 R2 Windows Server 2012 Windows 8 Windows 7 Windows Vista |
| Browser | Internet Explorer 8 Internet Explorer 9 Internet Explorer 10 A 32-bit browser Silverlight 5 support |
Windows PowerShell Module
This section provides information about system requirements and supported operating systems for installing and running the Windows PowerShell Module for App Controller.
Software
The following software must be installed before installing the Windows PowerShell Module for App Controller.
| Software Requirement | Notes |
|---|---|
| A supported operating system | For more information, see Supported Operating Systems in this topic. |
| Microsoft .NET Framework 3.5.1 | If .NET Framework 3.5.1 is not installed (it is not installed by default), the App Controller setup wizard will enable it for Windows Server 2008 R2 and Windows 7 only. For all other supported operating systems, you must install .NET Framework 3.5.1 manually. |
| Windows PowerShell 3.0 | Installed by default with Windows Server 2012 and Windows 8. For Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1, Windows Server 2008 SP2, and Windows 7 SP1 it must be installed manually. For more information, see KB968929 on the Microsoft Support website. |
Operating Systems
| Operating System | Edition | Service Pack | System Architecture |
|---|---|---|---|
| Windows Server 2012 R2 | Standard, Datacenter, Core | None | X64 |
| Windows Server 2012 | Standard, Datacenter | None | X64 |
| Windows 8 | basic, Pro, and Enterprise | None | x86 and x64 |
| Windows Server 2008 R2 (full installation) | Standard, Enterprise, and Datacenter | Service Pack 1 | x64 |
| Windows Server 2008 (full installation) | Standard, Enterprise, and Datacenter | Service Pack 2 | x86 and x64 |
| Windows 7 | Professional, Enterprise and Ultimate | Service Pack 1 | x86 and x64 |
Windows Safe Mode
App Controller does not operate and the services used by App Controller do not start if Windows is running in safe mode. If you attempt to start the App Controller services manually while in safe mode, the services fail to start and an error is written into the event log.
Preparing for Highly Available Deployments of App Controller
App Controller can be made highly available using the following methods:
Making the database highly available by installing the database on a clustered installation of SQL Server
Making the App Controller server highly available by either:
Installing multiple App Controller servers behind a load balancer
Installing App Controller servers on a highly available virtual machine
If you are installing multiple App Controller servers behind a load balancer you will be required to configure an encryption key that is shared between the servers. After installing the first App Controller server you will need to export the encryption key by using the Export-SCACAesKey cmdlet and then provide it when installing subsequent servers. For more information, see Installing App Controller.
See Also