How to create correct partitions to deploy a Windows image to a UEFI based device

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We have recently come across an issue when trying to deploy a test virtual machine using Hyper-V (Generation 2 – UEFI) that once you have selected your task sequence, you get an error and the task sequence bombs out. This is because we had not setup the correct drive partitions to be able to deploy … Read more

Restart a service on multiple devices using Powershell

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We recently had a requirement to restart a single service on multiple devices across a single network. At first, it was going to be the job of the helpdesk to logon to each device and manually restart this service. However, as usual, there is always a way of using Powershell to speed up such tasks. … Read more

SCCM – Create a device collection based on Exchange Server role

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Following on from our recent posts for Configuration Manager collection queries, we have another one here for all devices that are Microsoft Exchange servers. Go ahead and create a new device collection and then use this query: select * from SMS_R_System inner join SMS_G_System_SERVICE on SMS_G_System_SERVICE.ResourceId = SMS_R_System.ResourceId where SMS_G_System_SERVICE.Name like “Microsoft Exchange%” Save the … Read more

Enable Windows Remote Desktop Protocol and Set Firewall Rules using PowerShell

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If you are using Windows Server 2012 or newer, or if you are just using Windows Server Core, then this Powershell script will help you out by enabling Remote Desktop and setting the correct firewall inbound rules. Simply open up an elevated Powershell command box, or use Powershell ISE and use the two scripts below, … Read more

SCCM – Create a device collection based on Domain Controller role

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We have another WQL query here for you today to enable you to create a Configuration Manager collection based on whether a device is used as a domain controller. Go ahead and create a new device collection and then use this query: Save the query and you should now see a collection of all your … Read more

SCCM – Hardware and Client Version SQL Query

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If you are looking for a SQL query to pull back hardware inventory information and the SCCM client version, then you can use the below to pull all this information together. SELECT S.Name0 as Name, S.Client_Version0 as [Cient Version], OS.Caption0 as [Operating System], CS.Manufacturer0 as Manufacturer, CS.Model0 as Model, PB.SMBIOSBIOSVersion0 as BIOS, PR.Name0 as CPU, … Read more

SCCM – Differences between Add Remove Programs Database Tables

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We had seen a few posts around the internet where people are asking the differences between the various Add_Remove_Programs data within the System Center Configuration Manager database. So we thought we would post a quick reference here to confirm which table of data means what. There are five different tables of data available to you … Read more