Bug in SCCM 1606

While updating the SCCM 1606 with hotfixes(KB3186654 and KB3202796), I experienced an issue. Latest SCCM 1606 hotfixes appeared in the SCCM console and I initiated download. Initially it showed 'downloading' but it remained keep in same state in next day also.

I started checking why still shows the state as 'downloading' just for a hotfix. I checked dmpdowloader.log and found error Failed to call Initialize. error = [error code: -2147467261, error message: Invalid pointer]. Finally I check the SMS_DMP_DOWNLOADER component and found that it is stopped. I tried to start it but failed. 

While digging more on this issue, I found that the SMS_DMP_Connector registry key was removed automatically. I cross checked in a test lab where SCCM 1606 as well as its hotfixes are not installed and found that registry key SMS_DMP_Connector(HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\SMS\SMS_DMP_CONNECTOR) is intact with values ProxyUserName and ProxyUserPassword. I recreated SMS_DMP_CONNECTOR key in my problematic server and created both the values i.e. ProxyUserName and ProxyUserPassword(kept the value empty). 

Thats it !! Issue is solved. I experienced that the SMS_DMP_CONNECTOR key must present in the SCCM server where Service Connection Point(SCP) is configured. 

I think this is a SCCM 1606 bug and I hope the Microsoft SCCM developer team will fix it permanently. 

Hope you like this blog post. Happy reading !!

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SCCM error - Call to HttpSendRequestSync failed for port 443 with status code 500

During my recent activity at SCCM server, I found below error in the mpcontrol.log :

Call to HttpSendRequestSync failed for port 443 with status code 500, text: Internal Server Error

I'll share you how I solved this issue. Once I got the issue in the mpcontrol.log, I tried to open the default webpage in the IIS installed in the same server. I found below error:

HTTP Error 500.19 - Internal Server Error

Detailed Error Information:

Module	DynamicCompressionModule
Notification	SendResponse
Handler	ExtensionlessUrlHandler-Integrated-4.0
Error Code	0x8007007e

This IIS error means(by checking the module), I understood that the Windows Server Update Services(WSUS) server that installed on the server,enabled 64-bit compression that caused any 32-bit applications running in IIS to fail. 

To fix the issue, I disabled WSUS compression by running below command at command prompt(elevated permission) : 

%windir%\system32\inetsrv\appcmd.exe set config -section:system.webServer/httpCompression /-[name='xpress']

After this, I reset the IIS , rebooted the server and checked the mpcontrol.log. Guess what ?? Error gone and MP functionality came back to normal.

I suggest all administrator to first check the IIS health status and permission before thinking of removing Management Piont(MP) and reinstalling it because simply removing and reinstalling the MP will not always fix the problem unless you understand the meaning of error in the mpcontrol.log and check the IIS health status and permission. 

In case of any reason, if we want to enable the compression, you can run below command to revert the change:

%windir%\system32\inetsrv\appcmd.exe set config -section:system.webServer/httpCompression /+[name=’xpress’,doStaticCompression=’false’,dll=’%windir%\system32\inetsrv\suscomp.dll’]

Hope someone may find it useful. 

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SCCM 1602 New Features

Microsoft announced release of System Center Configuration Manager 1602 on 11th March 2016 and made it public on 24th March 2016. Company called it as first update to the SCCM Current Branch(CB) which is under new concept called SCCM as a Service.

Lets have a quick look at the new features of SCCM 1602 :

Now, let me brief each of these new feature under each category.

1) Site Infrastructure

a) In-place upgrade the operating system of site servers that run Windows Server 2008 R2:

This is cool feature. If you have SCCM 1602 or later version, you can upgrade the Site Server Operating System Version. If your site server is running with Windows Server 2008 R2, then you can easily upgrade the OS to Windows 2012 R2.

However you have uninstall WSUS 3.2 before you upgrade the OS to Windows Server 2012 R2 from SCCM 1602 console.

Please follow these official links from Microsoft before you proceed:

Windows Server Update Services Overview : https://technet.microsoft.com/library/hh852345.aspx
Upgrade Options for Windows Server 2012 R2 : https://technet.microsoft.com/library/dn303416.aspx

b) SQL Server AlwaysOn availability groups :

We can use SQL Server AlwaysOn Availability Groups to host the site database at primary sites and the central administration site as a high-availability and disaster-recovery solution. The availability group can be hosted on-premises or in Microsoft Azure.

2) Operating system deployment

There are new added features in Windows 10 servicing

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