System Center 2012 Configuration Manager uses XML to define the nodes and their content, that you see in the Configuration Manager console. New nodes can be added anywhere in the existing node hierarchy.
The XML for a node describes the navigation pane, results pane, and action pane, and the resources that are needed by each pane to display the node.
When writing a new node, consider the following:
- The position of the node in the
hierarchy. Each node is uniquely identified by a GUID. For an
example, see How
to Create a Configuration Manager Console Node.
- The node hierarchy. The node structure
is hierarchical, and you can nest nodes as deeply as you require.
You can also use regular expressions to determine whether a node
should be displayed. For an example, see How to Create a
Configuration Manager Console Node.
- Actions. You can define actions that
the user selects in the Configuration Manager console. You can use
an action to launch forms, run programs, call methods, show
reports, and define action menus. For more information, see
Configuration
Manager Actions.
- Queries. You can define queries that
populate the navigation pane and results pane with SMS Provider
objects. You can specify regular expressions to pick the properties
that are displayed from the objects queried. For an example, see
Configuration
Manager Console RootNodes Element.
- Security. You can secure a node based
on security flags that you specify. For an example that sets
security for an action, see Configuration Manager
Conditional Actions.
- Views. You can launch views in the
Configuration Manager console at desired nodes. For more
information about views, see Configuration Manager
Console Views.
 Note |
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| The Configuration Manager SDK includes a sample XML file and GUID folder for a node that displays the available collections. The GUID folder is the namespace identifier for the tools node |
For information about node XML, see Configuration Manager Console Node XML.