Note |
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The information in this topic applies only to System Center 2012 R2 Configuration Manager. |
Use the following sections to review information about significant changes in System Center 2012 R2 Configuration Manager since System Center 2012 Configuration Manager SP1:
- Site Installation and the
Configuration Manager Console
- Sites and
Hierarchies
- Migration
- Client Deployment and
Operations
- Software
Deployment and Content Management
- Monitoring and
Reporting
One of the most significant changes is support for Windows 8.1 and Windows Server 2012 R2.
For more information about the supported operating system versions and editions that System Center 2012 R2 Configuration Manager supports, see Supported Configurations for Configuration Manager.
Site Installation and the Configuration Manager Console
The following sections contain information about Setup and site installation changes in System Center 2012 R2 Configuration Manager.
Site Installation
The following options in Setup for site installation are new or have changed for System Center 2012 R2 Configuration Manager:
- When you run Setup to install a new primary
site or central administration site, you can select non-default
locations for the site database files. The option to specify
non-default file locations is not available when you specify a
SQL Server cluster.
For more information, see the Install Sites and Create a Hierarchy for Configuration Manager topic in the Site Administration for System Center 2012 Configuration Manager guide.
Sites and Hierarchies
The following sections contain information about site and hierarchy changes in System Center 2012 R2 Configuration Manager.
Note |
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The Active Directory schema extensions for System Center 2012 R2 Configuration Manager are unchanged from those used by System Center 2012 Configuration Manager SP1. If you extended the schema for Configuration Manager 2007 or the release version or service pack version of System Center 2012 Configuration Manager, you do not need to extend the schema again for System Center 2012 R2 Configuration Manager. |
Site System Roles
The following are new for site system roles in System Center 2012 R2 Configuration Manager:
- There is a new site system role, the
certificate registration point. This new site system role requires
IIS and works in conjunction with a policy module add-on for the
Network Device Enrollment Service server role for Active Directory
Domain Services that runs on Windows Server 2012 R2. This
solution provides certificate enrollment for devices that
Configuration Manager manages.
For more information, see Introduction to Certificate Profiles in Configuration Manager in the Assets and Compliance in System Center 2012 Configuration Manager guide.
Migration
The following items are new or have changed for migration in System Center 2012 R2 Configuration Manager:
- Some UI labels and descriptions are updated
to reflect the functionality of migrating, not upgrading,
distribution points between hierarchies that run the same version
of System Center 2012 R2 Configuration Manager.
- When you use the Reassign Shared Distribution
Points Wizard, you have the same options as when you deploy a new
distribution point, including options make the distribution point a
pull-distribution point and to add it to boundary groups in the
destination hierarchy.
For more information about migration, see the Introduction to Migration in System Center 2012 Configuration Manager topic in the Migrating Hierarchies in System Center 2012 Configuration Manager guide.
Client Deployment and Operations
The following sections contain information about client deployment and client operations changes in System Center 2012 R2 Configuration Manager.
Client Deployment
The following items are new or have changed for client deployment in System Center 2012 R2 Configuration Manager:
- You can now install the client certificate
and enroll Mac computers by using the new enrollment wizard for the
Mac client as an alternative to using the CMEnroll tool
command-line tool.
- You can now use the renew certificate wizard
to renew the Mac client certificate.
- You can now select Resultant Client
Settings from the Configuration Manager console to view the
effective client settings that will be applied to the selected
device. The resultant client setting accounts for the
prioritization or combination of attributes where multiple client
settings have been deployed to the same device.
- Configuration Manager now supports the
Unified Write Filter available in certain Windows Embedded
operating systems.
- If you use wake-up proxy, you no longer have
to manually configure Windows Firewall on clients to allow TCP/IP
ping commands when you specify the Power Management client
setting, Firewall exception for wake-up proxy.
- A new property has been added for
Ccmsetup.exe, /ExcludeFeatures:<feature>. This
property prevents the specified feature from installing the client
installation. For this release, the only supported feature is
ClientUI, which prevents the Software Center from installing
on the client. For more information, see
CCMSetup.exe Command-Line Properties.
For more information, see the Introduction to Client Deployment in Configuration Manager topic in the Deploying Clients for System Center 2012 Configuration Manager guide.
Client Assignment
The following items are new or have changed for client assignment in System Center 2012 R2 Configuration Manager:
- You can now reassign Configuration Manager
clients, including managed mobile devices, to another primary site
in the hierarchy. Clients can be reassigned individually or can be
multi-selected and reassigned in bulk to a new site.
For more information, see the How to Assign Clients to a Site in Configuration Manager topic in the Deploying Clients for System Center 2012 Configuration Manager guide.
Mobile Devices
The following items are new for mobile device management in System Center 2012 R2 Configuration Manager:
- Users can enroll Android devices by using the
company portal app which will be available on Google Play. The
company portal app is supported on Android devices as of Android
4.0. When users download the company portal app the installation
includes the management agent. The management agent gives you the
following management capabilities.
- You can manage compliance settings which
include password, camera, and encryption settings.
- When you deploy apps to Android devices, you
now have the option to install the apps directly to the device.
- Users are prompted to take required actions,
such as app installations or updating device passcodes by using
Android notifications.
- You can manage compliance settings which
include password, camera, and encryption settings.
- Users can enroll iOS devices by using the iOS
company portal app which will be available in the App store. The
company portal app can be installed on iOS devices as of iOS 6. The
company portal app will allow users to perform the following
actions:
- Change or reset passwords.
- Download and install company apps.
- Enroll, unenroll, or wipe company content
from their devices.
- Change or reset passwords.
- Devices that run Windows RT, iOS and Android
now support a deployment purpose of Required. This allows
you to deploy apps to devices according to a configured
schedule.
- Wipe and retire functions now include the
option to only remove company content from devices, see the table
in Device
Life-cycle Management for information about what company
content is removed.
- You can configure enrolled devices as
company-owned or personal-owned. Company-owned allows you to get
software inventory on on all mobile devices. You can configure
devices as personal-owned or company-owned by using the Change
ownership action. Change ownership is only available for
devices that are not domain-joined and do not have the
Configuration Manager client installed.All mobile devices will
report software inventory on company content when they are
personal-owned or company-owned. iOS and Android will report a full
software inventory on the device if they are set as
Company-owned.
- You can use Windows Intune to manage
Windows 8.1 devices that are not joined to the domain and do not
have the Configuration Manager client installed.
- Extensions for Windows Intune allow you
to integrate new mobile device management capabilities into the
Configuration Manager console. For example, email profiles allow
you to provision devices with settings to connect to corporate
email. For more information about extensions for
Windows Intune, see Planning to Use
Extensions in Configuration Manager.
For more information, see the Deploying the Configuration Manager Client to Mobile Devices section in the Introduction to Client Deployment in Configuration Manager topic in the Deploying Clients for System Center 2012 Configuration Manager guide.
Collections
The following items are new or have changed for collections in System Center 2012 R2 Configuration Manager:
- A new management option allows you to
configure maintenance windows to apply to task sequences only,
software updates only, or to all deployments.
For more information, see How to Create Collections in Configuration Manager.
Compliance Settings
The following items are new or have changed for compliance settings in System Center 2012 R2 Configuration Manager:
- New mobile device settings and mobile device
setting groups have been added. These can be found on the Mobile
Device Settings page of the Create Configuration Item
Wizard.
- New iOS 7 settings have been added as part of
an extension. For more information, see Compliance Settings for
Mobile Devices in Configuration Manager.
For more information, see the Introduction to Compliance Settings in Configuration Manager topic in the Assets and Compliance in System Center 2012 Configuration Manager guide.
Remote Connection Profiles
Remote connection profiles are new in System Center 2012 R2 Configuration Manager. They provide the following capabilities and have some dependent configurations:
- Deployment of remote connection profiles that
allow users to remotely connect to work computers from the company
portal, when they are not connected to the domain or if they are
connected over the Internet.
For more information, see the Introduction to Remote Connection Profiles in Configuration Manager topic in the Assets and Compliance in System Center 2012 Configuration Manager guide.
Certificate Profiles
Certificate profiles are new in System Center 2012 R2 Configuration Manager. They provide the following capabilities and have some dependent configurations:
- Deployment of user and device certificates
for managed devices by using the Simple Certificate Enrollment
Protocol (SCEP). These certificates can be used to support Wi-Fi
and VPN connections.
- Supported devices include those that run iOS,
Windows 8.1 and Windows RT 8.1, and Android.
- Deployment of root certification authority
(CA) certificates and intermediate CA certificates, so that devices
can create a chain of trust when they use server authentication for
network connections.
- A certificate registration point must be
deployed in the central administration site or a primary site and
the Configuration Manager Policy Module must be installed on a
server that is running Windows Server 2012 R2 with
Active Directory Certificate Services and the Network Device
Enrollment Service role. This server must be accessible from the
Internet and communicate with an enterprise CA to issue the
certificates. For more information about the changes in the Network
Device Enrollment Service to support this scenario, see What's New in Certificate Services in
Windows Server 2012 R2.
For more information, see the Introduction to Certificate Profiles in Configuration Manager topic in the Assets and Compliance in System Center 2012 Configuration Manager guide.
VPN Profiles
VPN profiles are new in System Center 2012 R2 Configuration Manager. They provide the following capabilities and have some dependent configurations:
- Deployment of VPN profiles that provision
devices with the settings and certificates that they need to access
corporate networks.
- Supported devices include those that run iOS,
Windows 8.1, Windows RT and Windows RT 8.1.
For more information, see the Introduction to VPN Profiles in Configuration Manager topic in the Assets and Compliance in System Center 2012 Configuration Manager guide.
Wi-Fi Profiles
Wi-Fi profiles are new in System Center 2012 R2 Configuration Manager. They provide the following capabilities and have some dependent configurations:
- Deployment of Wi-Fi profiles that provision
devices with the settings and certificates that they need to access
corporate Wi-Fi hotspots.
- Supported devices include those that run iOS,
Windows 8.1, and Windows RT 8.1, and Android.
For more information, see the Introduction to Wi-Fi Profiles in Configuration Manager topic in the Assets and Compliance in System Center 2012 Configuration Manager guide.
Email Profiles
Email profiles are a new extension for Windows Intune in System Center 2012 R2 Configuration Manager. They provide the following capabilities and have some dependent configurations
- Deployment of email profiles that provision
devices with email profiles and restrictions by using Exchange
ActiveSync.
- Supported devices include those that run iOS,
and Windows Phone 8.
For more information, see the Introduction to Email Profiles in Configuration Manager topic in the Assets and Compliance in System Center 2012 Configuration Manager guide.
Software Deployment and Content Management
The following sections contain information about changes for software updates, software distribution, operating system deployment and task sequences in System Center 2012 R2 Configuration Manager.
Software Updates
The following items are new or have changed for software updates in System Center 2012 R2 Configuration Manager:
- New maintenance window dedicated for software
updates installation. This lets you configure a general maintenance
window and a different maintenance window for software updates.
When a general maintenance window and software updates maintenance
window are both configured, clients install software updates only
during the software updates maintenance window. For more
information about maintenance windows, see How to Use Maintenance
Windows in Configuration Manager.
- You can now change the deployment package for
an existing automatic deployment rule. New software updates are
added to the specified deployment package every time an automatic
deployment rule is run. Deployment packages can become very large
over time and might impact replication scenarios, particularly when
a new distribution point is added to your hierarchy or when a
distribution point is added to a distribution point group. You can
now change the deployment package periodically to keep the size of
the deployment package from getting too large. For more information
about automatic deployment rules, see the
Automatic Deployment of Software Updates section in this
topic.
- You can now preview software updates that
meet the property filters and search criteria that you define in an
automatic deployment rule. Software updates preview lets you review
the software updates before you create the deployment. The
Preview button is located on the Software Updates
page in the Automatic Deployment Wizard and on the Software
Updates tab in the properties for the automatic deployment
rule.
For more information, see the Introduction to Software Updates in Configuration Manager topic in the Deploying Software and Operating Systems in System Center 2012 Configuration Manager guide.
Application Management
The following items are new or have changed for application management in System Center 2012 R2 Configuration Manager:
- Web applications in System Center 2012 R2
Configuration Manager are a new deployment type that allows you to
deploy a shortcut to a web-based app on users’ devices.
- Windows 8.1 introduces the app bundle (or
.appxbundle package) to help optimize the packaging and
distribution of Windows Store apps and resource packages.
Configuration Manager extends the existing Windows app
package deployment type to recognize .appxbundle package
files.
- The create application wizard includes a new
option that allows you to configure featured applications. These
applications are displayed prominently in the company portal.
- You can specify a privacy link for each
application that users can review before they install the
application.
- You can configure an application to
automatically open a VPN connection if a VPN profile has been
configured. For more information, see VPN Profiles in
Configuration Manager.
For more information, see How to Create Applications in Configuration Manager and How to Create Deployment Types in Configuration Manager.
Operating System Deployment
The following items are new or have changed for operation system deployment in System Center 2012 R2 Configuration Manager:
- Support for Windows Server 2012 R2 and
Windows 8.1. For more information about supported operating
system versions, see Prerequisites For
Deploying Operating Systems in Configuration Manager.
- Support for boot images created by using the
Windows Automated Installation Kit (Windows AIK) for
Windows 7 SP1 and based on Windows PE 3.1. For more
information about customizing and adding boot images to
Configuration Manager, see How to Customize WinPE Boot Images to
Use in Configuration Manager.
- Added support for PXE boot of IA32 UEFI
computers. For more information about operating system requirement
for a PXE-enabled distribution point, see the
Operating System Requirements for Typical Site System Roles
section of the Supported Configurations
for Configuration Manager topic.
- Ability to create prestaged content files for
task sequence content. The Create Prestaged Content action creates
a compressed, prestaged content file that contains the files and
associated metadata for the content in the task sequence. By
default, Configuration Manager detects and adds the dependencies
associated with the task sequence to the prestaged content file.
You can then manually import the content at a site server,
secondary site, or distribution point. For more information about
prestaged content, see the
Determine Whether To Prestage Content section in the Planning for Content
Management in Configuration Manager topic.
- Added virtual hard disk management from the
Configuration Manager console. You can create and modify virtual
hard disks, and upload them to Virtual Machine Manager.
- New task sequence steps:
- Run PowerShell Script: This task
sequence step runs the specified Windows PowerShell script on the
target computer.
- Check Readiness: This task sequence
step verifies that the target computer meets the specified
deployment prerequisite conditions.
- Set Dynamic Variables: This task
sequence step gathers information and sets specific task sequence
variables with the information. Then, it evaluates defined rules
and sets task sequence variables based on the variables and values
configured for rules that evaluate to true.
Note For more information about task sequence steps, see Task Sequence Steps in Configuration Manager. - Run PowerShell Script: This task
sequence step runs the specified Windows PowerShell script on the
target computer.
- New task sequence built-in variables:
- SMSTSDownloadRetryCount: Use this
variable to specify the number of times that Configuration Manager
attempts to download content from a distribution point.
- SMSTSDownloadRetryDelay: Use this
variable to specify the number of seconds that Configuration
Manager waits before it retries to download content from a
distribution point.
- TSErrorOnWarning: Use this variable to
specify whether the task sequence engine treats the requirements
not met warning from an application as a fatal error. You can
set this variable to True or False. False is the
default behavior.
- SMSTSMPListRequestTimeout: Use this
variable to specify how much time a task sequence waits before it
retries to install an application after it fails to retrieve the
management point list from location services. By default, the task
sequence waits one minute before it retries the step. This variable
is applicable only to the Install Application task sequence
step.
- _TSAppInstallStatus: The task sequence
sets the _TSAppInstallStatus variable with the installation status
for the application during the Install Application task sequence
step. The task sequence sets the variable with one of the following
values:
- Undefined: Set when the Install
Application task sequence step has not been run.
- Error: Set when at least one
application failed because of an error during the Install
Application task sequence step.
- Warning: Set when no errors occur
during the Install Application task sequence step, but one or more
applications, or a required dependency, did not install because a
requirement was not met.
- Success: Set when there are no errors
or warning detected during the Install Application task sequence
step.
Note For more information about built-in task sequence variables, see Task Sequence Built-in Variables in Configuration Manager. - Undefined: Set when the Install
Application task sequence step has not been run.
- SMSTSDownloadRetryCount: Use this
variable to specify the number of times that Configuration Manager
attempts to download content from a distribution point.
For more information, see the Introduction to Operating System Deployment in Configuration Manager topic in the Deploying Software and Operating Systems in System Center 2012 Configuration Manager guide.
Content Management
The following items are new or have changed for content management in System Center 2012 R2 Configuration Manager:
- The following changes are introduced for
pull-distribution points:
- Pull-distribution points support the
prioritization of their source distribution points. A priority can
be assigned to one or more source distribution points, and the
pull-distribution point attempts to locate content from a
distribution point assigned to the lowest numbered priority before
attempting to contact a distribution point associated with the next
higher numbered priority.
- Pull-distribution points push status for
completed actions to the site server. This replaces the requirement
to have Distribution Manager (distmgr) on the site server poll each
pull-distribution point periodically to obtain this status, and
helps to reduce the overall processing load for distmgr on the site
server.
- Pull-distribution points support the
prioritization of their source distribution points. A priority can
be assigned to one or more source distribution points, and the
pull-distribution point attempts to locate content from a
distribution point assigned to the lowest numbered priority before
attempting to contact a distribution point associated with the next
higher numbered priority.
- From the Distribution Status node in the
Monitoring workspace of the Configuration Manager console,
you can cancel distributions that are in progress to a distribution
point, and redistribute distributions that have failed.
For more information see the Content Status Monitoring section in the Operations and Maintenance for Content Management in Configuration Manager topic.
- You can use the new built-in report named
Distribution point usage summary to view details about how
individual distribution points are utilized, including how many
unique clients access the distribution point, and how much data
transfers from the distribution point.
- You can configure multiple Network Access
Accounts at each site. For more information, see Configuring Site
Components in Configuration Manager.
- Clients that use Windows BranchCache to
download content and that have a download interrupted now resume
the download where it left off, without having to restart the
download from the beginning.
- The following additional optimizations are
introduced to improve performance during deployment of content:
- Each time Configuration Manager transfers
content to a distribution point, it calculates the speed of the
transfer. During subsequent content deployment, this information is
used to prioritize which distribution points receive content first.
This is done to maximize the number of distribution points that
receive content in the shortest period of time.
For more information see the Plan for Distribution Point Priority section in the Planning for Content Management in Configuration Manager topic.
- To improve concurrent distributions, when
Configuration Manager validates content on distribution points, it
validates up to 50 files during each WMI call to a distribution
point. Prior to this version, Configuration Manager used a single
WMI call to a distribution point to validate each individual
file.
- Each time Configuration Manager transfers
content to a distribution point, it calculates the speed of the
transfer. During subsequent content deployment, this information is
used to prioritize which distribution points receive content first.
This is done to maximize the number of distribution points that
receive content in the shortest period of time.
For more information, see the Introduction to Content Management in Configuration Manager topic in the Deploying Software and Operating Systems in System Center 2012 Configuration Manager guide.
Monitoring and Reporting
The following sections contain information about changes for monitoring and reporting in System Center 2012 R2 Configuration Manager.
Reporting
The following items are new or have changed for reporting in System Center 2012 R2 Configuration Manager:
- Configuration Manager reports are now fully
enabled for role-based administration. The data for all reports
included with Configuration Manager is filtered based on the
permissions of the administrative user who runs the report.
Administrative users with specific roles can only view information
defined for their roles. For more information, see the
Planning for Role-Based Administration for Reports section in
the Planning for
Reporting in Configuration Manager topic.
For more information, see the Introduction to Reporting in Configuration Manager topic in the Site Administration for System Center 2012 Configuration Manager guide.
See Also
For additional information, see Information and Support for Configuration Manager.
To contact the documentation team, email SMSdocs@microsoft.com.