If the SMS Provider in a site resides in a different domain from the remote Configuration Manager 2007 console that is attempting to connect to it, you must configure trust relationships or pass-through authentication so that the account in the remote domain has sufficient privileges to perform Configuration Manager 2007 administration.

You can install as many sessions of the Configuration Manager 2007 as you need to support your management operations, though the more console sessions you install, the more resources you are consuming on the site server and the site database server. Each session of the Configuration Manager 2007 console saves its own state, so if a user named Bob last uses Software Updates, the console opens to that section, while a user named Alice reopens to Operating System Deployment if that is what she used last. If Bob deletes an object in his session, Alice won't see that change until she refreshes the console. If she tries to administer the object that Bob deleted, she will get an error message.

If you have multiple Configuration Manager 2007 sites in your hierarchy, you can perform almost all the administration for the hierarchy by connecting to the central site. All child primary and secondary sites are displayed under the Site Management node, and you can change the site settings on the Configuration Manager 2007 child sites. If you create packages, collections, and advertisements at the parent site, they flow down to all child sites as read-only objects. If you want to create objects at a primary child site but not at the parent, you can connect the console directly to that site's database. A single MMC console can connect to multiple Configuration Manager 2007 sites simultaneously.

If you have both Systems Management Server (SMS) 2003 primary sites and Configuration Manager 2007 sites in your organization, you must install an SMS 2003 Administrator console to manage the SMS 2003 sites and a Configuration Manager 2007 console to manage the Configuration Manager 2007 sites. You can install both the SMS 2003 and the Configuration Manager 2007 consoles on the same computer, however there are certain considerations.

• You cannot install the SMS 2003 console on a computer that already has the Configuration Manager 2007 console installed. You must install the SMS 2003 console first.
  
  
• After both versions of the console are installed on the same computer, you cannot uninstall either version of the console without also uninstalling the other version. You must uninstall both versions at the same time.
  
  
• After both versions of the console are installed, you cannot upgrade the SMS 2003 version of the console as subsequent service packs are released.
  
  

If you have an SMS 2003 secondary site that is managed by a Configuration Manager 2007 primary parent site, you can use the parent site to administer everything except the password settings for accounts in the SMS secondary site.

The following table shows which settings can be changed on an SMS 2003 secondary site from the primary Configuration Manager 2007 parent site.

If you need to change accounts or passwords on an SMS 2003 secondary site, use the Manage Site Accounts Tool in the Systems Management Server 2003 Administration Feature Pack, which is available on the Microsoft Download Center Web site (http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkID=59811). The SMS 2003 Administration Feature Pack Manage Site Accounts Tool must be installed and run on a computer with the SMS 2003 Service Pack 1 (SP1) or SMS 2003 Service Pack 2 (SP2) Administrator console installed.

Note
The SMS 2003 Manage Site Accounts Tool cannot change the Client Push Installation account. There is no supported way to change this account for an SMS 2003 secondary site.

Issues with the Console when Upgrading the Secondary Site

If you install the SMS Administrator console on an SMS 2003 secondary site and then upgrade the secondary site to Configuration Manager 2007, you cannot uninstall the SMS 2003 Administrator console. The SMS Administrator console continues to work and can be upgraded but cannot be removed.

Important
A Configuration Manager console should not be installed on an SMS 2003 secondary site server computer. If the Configuration Manager console has been installed on an SMS 2003 secondary site server computer, the secondary site cannot be upgraded to Configuration Manager 2007.

Concepts

Other Resources