To fully grasp and troubleshoot a site server installation, it is important to understand what modifications were made to the Windows NT/2000 Server operating system as a result of an SMS site server installation. The SMS setup program creates an SMS Program Group, directory shares, and registry entries. In addition, services are installed and enabled during the installation process.
SMS setup creates the Systems Management Server program group on the site server. This group is not installed on secondary site servers because they are usually administered from their parent site. Figure 2-8 shows the icons installed in the SMS program group.
Figure 2-8. The SMS icons in the Systems Management Server program group.
Internet Explorer 4.01 (or later) is required for the function of all *.CHM files. The SMS Administrator's Guide referred to throughout this guide provides more comprehensive details on SMS.
TIP
For easy access to all online help files, create shortcuts for all *.CHM files located in the \<winnt boot directory>\HELP\SMS\ language ID\ SMS.SRV\HTM directory.
SMS setup makes configuration changes to the site server by adding registry, shares, services, and SAM database entries. These modifications are necessary to the operation of the site server. Understanding how the site server is modified will aid you in recovering a damaged site system.
As a result of an SMS installation, registry keys are added to store SMS configuration information. As changes are made, SMS updates the site control file and the registry keys where configuration changes are stored. The site control file will be discussed later in this lesson. Figure 2-9 shows some of the registry additions made by a site server installation on Windows NT Server version 4.0.
Figure 2-9. SMS registry entries.
The majority of the SMS configuration information is placed in four locations under the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE (HKLM) subtree.
NOTE
All SMS services use the Windows NT/2000 registry to look for configuration information. To prevent unauthorized users from changing information, the registry uses security permissions and the Windows NT/2000 user accounts database to grant or deny access. To prevent configuration changes from being made accidentally, use the secure Read Only Mode option when viewing the registry.
SMS services and client agents use shares to communicate with site systems and for inter-site communications. Figure 2-10 shows the shares that are added by running custom setup to create a site server. The first and last shares listed in Figure 2-10 are commonly moved from the site server to other site systems serving the role of CAP and distribution point, respectively.
Figure 2-10. Shares created by SMS setup.
Three Windows NT/2000 users and two Windows NT/2000 groups are created by the installation of a primary site server.
The SMS Admins local group is used for WBEM security. The SMS Administrator console connects to the site database through the WBEM/SMS Provider interface. The SMS Provider grants users who are members of the SMS Admins local group access to the database. WBEM user and group access can be configured using the WBEMUSER.EXE program installed in the \<winnt boot directory>\SYSTEM32\WBEM directory.
The SMS services are the heart of SMS functions. These services consist of processes and thread components that run in the background. The SMS services, which are synonymous with processes, appear in the Services application in Control Panel. The following SMS services are installed on a primary site server:
Background services that don't appear in the Service Manager are thread components of the SMS_EXECUTIVE service. To view both SMS services and thread components, select the SMS Service Manager node in the SMS Administrator console (found under the Tools node) and choose Start the SMS Service Manager from the Action menu. The SMS Service Manager application (Figure 2-11) allows the services to be controlled from any site system in the site hierarchy. The administrator can start, stop, pause, resume, and configure logging for any SMS process or thread component.
Figure 2-11. Services and thread components as seen from the SMS Service Manager.