Tag Archives: #System Center

SCOM 2022: GA Hooray!

The latest and dare I say greatest version of SCOM has just been released. Lets unpack some of the exciting new features, a full list and details are available here!

Overall this is a fantastic update and really shows the investment in SCOM that Microsoft is making.

Enhanced Operations Manager RBAC

This one is a great improvement which has been a long time coming, the addition of a Read-only Administrator role makes it much easier for say auditors to view the environment without any risk. It’s also now possible to create Custom User Roles so it’s now possible to give someone access to just install agents.

Improved Alert closure experience

One of the more controversial changes in SCOM 2019 was that alerts could not be closed unless the underlying monitor was in a healthy state. While this does have some benefits you now have the option to open out back to the old alert experience.

Support for GMSA from the word go

It’s now possible to use GMSA account right in the installer from SCOM 2022 RTM

Native Teams Notifications
We now have the ability to send notifications directly to Teams natively which opens up some really interesting ways to use notifications to handle our alert lifecycle.

Many Quality of Life updates

Specific registry keys will be retained during UR updates
Custom installed agent paths will be retained during upgrade
.Net 4.8 support
A new column in the alert view to show if the source is a monitor or rule
Change tracking reports have their own folder
Source (FQDN) is now viewable in the management pack tuning view.
Support for newer browsers
Support for newer Linux versions
Certificate now get encrypted with SHA256
Install on Always On without the need for post configuration changes

That’s it for now, happy monitoring!

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System Center 1801 has been released

Just announced here the new System Center Semi-Annual Channel release now available!

Xpost of new features below:

What’s in System Center, version 1801?

System Center, version 1801 focuses on enhancements and features for System Center Operations Manager, Virtual Machine Manager, and Data Protection Manager. Additionally, security and bug fixes, as well as support for TLS 1.2, are available for all System Center components including Orchestrator, Service Management Automation, and Service Manager.

I am pleased to share the capabilities included in this release:

  • Support for additional Windows Server features in Virtual Machine Manager: Customers can now setup nested virtualizationsoftware load balancer configuration, and storage QoS configuration and policy, as well as migrate VMware UEFI VM to Hyper-V VM. In addition to supporting Windows Server, version 1709, we have added support for host monitoring, host management, fall back HGS, configuration of encrypted SDN virtual networkShielded Linux VMs on Hyper-V management, and backup capabilities.
  • Linux monitoring in Operations Manager: Linux monitoring has been significantly improved with the addition of a customizable FluentD-based Linux agent. Linux log file monitoring is now on par with that of Windows Server (Yes, we heard you! Kick the tires, it really works).
  • Improved web console experience in Operations Manager: The System Center Operations Manager web console is now built on HTML5 for a better experience and support across browsers.
  • Updates and recommendations for third-party Management Packs: System Center Operations Manager has been extended to support the discovery and update of third-party MPs.
  • Faster, cost-effective VMware backup: Using our Modern Backup Storage technology in Data Protection Manager, customers can backup VMware VMs faster and cut storage costs by up to 50%.
  • And much more including Linux Kerberos support and improved UI responsiveness when dealing with many management packs in Operations Manager. In Virtual Machine Manager, we have enabled SLB guest cluster floating IP support, added Storage QoS at VMM cloud, added Storage QoS extended to SAN storage, enabled Remote to VMs in Enhanced Session mode, added seamless update of non-domain host agent, and made host Refresher up to 10X faster.

As well as consistent evaluation and license experiences across components.

Customers should consider supplementing System Center with Azure security & management capabilities for enhanced on-premises management and for the management of Azure resources. We have included the following updates in System Center, version 1801:

  • Service Map integration with Operations Manager: Using the Distributed Application Diagram function in SCOM, you can automatically see application, server, and network dependencies deduced from Service Map. This deeper endpoint monitoring from SCOM is surfaced in the diagram view for better diagnostics workflows.
  • Manage Azure ARM VMs and special regions: Using a Virtual Machine Manager add-in, you can now manage Azure ARM VMs, Azure Active Directory, and more regions (China, US Government, and Germany).
  • Service Manager integration with Azure: Using the Azure ITSM integration with Azure Action Groups you can set up rules to create incidents automatically in System Center Service Manager for alerts fired on Azure and non-Azure resources.

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System Center: First preview, version 1711 now available

The first preview of the new semi-annual channel for System Center is now available you can get it here.

Here are some of the new features that you can experience

In Operations Manager:

  • Improvements to Linux MPs
  • Linux Kerberos support
  • Improvements to Windows Server OS MP
  • One setup for all languages
  • Improved UI responsiveness with large number MPs
  • Visual Studio 2017 support in VSAE

In Virtual Machine Manager:

  • SLB Guest cluster floating IP support
  • Storage QoS at VMM Cloud
  • Storage QoS extended to SAN storage
  • Remote to VMs in Enhanced Session mode
  • Seamless update of non-domain host agent
  • Support for fallback HGS for Shielded VM
  • Host Refresher made up to 10X faster

For more information check out the MS Cloud Platform Blog

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System Center: Technical Preview

With the upcoming news about Windows 10 Microsoft also released news of the new System Center Technical Preview.

The announcement is available here.

Please note that to evaluate System Center Technical Preview, you need to be running Windows Server Technical Preview and Microsoft SQL Server 2014.

Not many features have been revealed yet so watch this space.

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SCOM 2012: Survival Guide

I came across a great article on TechNet which is essentially a compilation of useful SCOM information, it includes everything from the basics and key concepts, to deployment guidelines and information on how to configure and use different features.

This is definitely one to keep in your favorites

Go here for the full article

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System Center: Update Rollup 1 for System Center 2012 R2

The first update for System Center 2012 R2 has been released, Update Rollup 1 is avaibile here

This update contains 10 fixes for System Center 2012 Operations Manager  and adds support for Oracle Solaris 11 aswell as fixing 8 issues with UNIX and Linux Monitoring.

It’s nice to see the release of an update so soon after the initial launch.

Update: Kevin Holman has written a great step by step article for applying this update, there are some thing to e aware of.

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