I have been setting SCCM up in different scenarios since Beta 2 was released almost a year ago. This will be a sizable post but it should be enough to get setup and get you started. I’ll try to be concise as possible. This example is setting up a primary server, there is a CAS piece with SCCM 2012 which is like a parents server used for reporting the activities of each Primary Server in your domain. If you setup CAS, you will notice you cannot actual interact with any client machines, this is not use for deploying software, updates etc. It is merely for keeping track of all your primary servers. If you are doing a large Enterprise Deployment, you can set the CAS up first, which is very straight forward and this most still applies, only you pick CAS rather than Primary. Once CAS is setup though you can only create a boundary on your Forest Level to find the SCCM Primary Servers. Again, my below post can be a guideline for the CAS but has more of a focus on Primary Server Setup.
Configure your Server\Install your pre-requisites
On your SCCM Server you should Add the following roles: Windows Desktop Services, .Net Framework, WSUS, Remote Differential Compression, IIS, BITS and ADDS Snap-in Tools.
Performance
Static Content Compression
Health and Diagnostics
HTTP logging
Tracing
Request Monitor
Common HTTP Features
HTTP Errors
HTTP Redirection
Basic Authentication
Windows Authentication
Static Content
Default Document
Request Filtering
Directory Browsing
HTTP Errors
HTTP Redirection
IP and Domain Restrictions
Security
Management Tools
IIS Management Console
IIS Management Scripts and Tools
Management Service
IIS 6 Management Compatibilty
IIS 6 Metabase Compatibility
IIS 6 WMI Compatibility
IIS 6 Scripting Tools
IIS 6 Management Console
Application Development
ASP.NET
.NET Extensibility
ASP
ISAPI Extensions
ISAPI Filters
On the server in question. If you use Windows Firewall you will need to set exception for port 1433 and 4022 as these are used by SCCM
You need to browse to ASDI Edit which should be on your server now. You need to connect to your SCCM server. You need to create a container called System Management. Navigate to the System Container and then create the System Management Container within. Next modify the security properties on the System container and ensure the SCCM Server itself has Full Control.
You can manage Windows Updates using SCCM 2012 but to do this you will need to ensure you have WSUS 3.0 installed on the SCCM Server. Which you can find HERE
Next you need to extend the Active Directory. You can do this by running the extadsch.exe as an Administrator. This can be found on the SCCM 2012 DVD under SMSSetup\x64\bin.
Ensure you have a SQL Server setup and ready as SCCM stores reporting information in this database. Your SQL Server must be SQL Server 2008 SP2 or later. SQL Server 2012 as of yet is not supported. But I have not had issue with it, I setup SQL Server 2012 for my most recent setup of SCCM 2012. I set it up as default and then went into the Configuration Center after install and modified the services to use the Local System account as their service account. This seemed to meet SCCM 2012’s requirements.
Also no matter what version of SQL you use you will need to go into SQL Management Studio and modify the settings to modify the maximum memory setting. I modified mine to 3500. You must also ensure TCP\IP is enabled.
SCCM 2012 Setup
Configuring the SCCM 2012 pre-requisites actually takes more effort the installation itself.
Click Install to begin the installation.
Hit Next on Information Screen
For this example I am setting up as a Primary Server. This is where you would pick CAS, if you are setting up a CAS first to track your primary servers.
Insert your product key and hit Next
Select all and hit Next
Select a folder to allow SCCM to download it’s files to to complete the installation
Select your language(s) and hit Next
Select your language(s) and hit Next
Enter in a 3 character Site Code and also just a Display Name to describe your environment e.g. Site Code: RMN Site Name: Rorymons SCCM Site
Enter the fully qualified server name that includes your domain.
Type in your SQL Server Name, an Instance name if you setup as an Instance or leave it blank for default and a Database Name. Leave the port as default as this is the port we set a firewall exception for earlier.
Enter the fully qualified server name again and hit Next
Select configure the communication method on each site system role and hit Next
Ensure your servers fully qualified names are entered in and hit Next
This is usually a no, but it’s up to you. Then Hit Next
On this Summary page hit Next
If you completed the pre-reqs as above then you should not receive any errors. If you receive warnings you can still proceed but it’s suggested that you adhere to the advice they provide. Hit Next and the installation should hopefully complete.
The install could take up to an hour.
Deploy SCCM Client
To deploy the SCCM Client to a machine in your domain. You need to do the following:
Setup a boundary using Active Directory and select the default site.
Then go to Discovery Methods and use the AD Discovery Method and point it to your AD.
Then you can create a Device collection and/or deploy the agent using Install Client and Client settings
You can use the default client setting or modify these as you see fit. To do a quick test you are best to select one of your machines found in AD once they are listed then choose Install Client up on the Ribbon menu.
That should be that. Your client should now push to your domain computer and SCCM is ready for you to customize and work with.
