Feb. 20, 2008
MCPmag.com News
http://MCPmag.com
MCPmag.com: SCEing on WSUS; Exams -- Easier or Harder?
TechMentor; More
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IN THIS ISSUE:
- Greg's Weekly quickTIP: SCEing on WSUS
- Redmond Radio: Vista SP1; Patch Tuesday; Yahoo vs.
Microsoft; More
- IT Events: Office Developer Conference; Emerging Tech;
TechMentor
- Web Poll: Exams -- Easier or Harder?
- Special Offers: TechMentor San Francisco; Real-Time
Testing
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GREG'S WEEKLY QUICKTIP: SCEing on WSUS
By Greg Shields
Last time, I concluded my four-part series on Systems Center
Essentials, lovingly pronounced "ski" in certain
circles. In ending
that series, I remembered that there was one major component
of SCE
that I felt didn't get hammered home well enough. That
component is
SCE's reliance on WSUS for much of its deployment and
management components.
WSUS, and specifically the Windows Update Agent that is its
client
component, is a remarkable piece of software. WUA is to
software and
patch deployment what Windows Installer was to the world of
software
installation. WUA represents a wholesale integration of all
the
previously segregated installation toolsets into a single,
unified
mechanism. That WUA mechanism, in the case of WSUS, can be
used to
install patches through the WSUS console.
Or, in the case of SCE, WUA can also be used to install
software and
handle some components of agent management. From the
perspective of
your administration, the Group Policy you use to manage your
WSUS
configuration will impact how SCE deploys its software as
well. If
you've dialed down the amount of time WUA clients wait to
check their
WSUS server, doing that will impact the speed that SCE
software is
installed as well. If you've configured WSUS to not reboot
clients
after an installation, that lack of reboot happens with
software
installs too.
On the client side, if you're having problems getting SCE to
talk
with its agents, you can use the same command-line tools to
speed
up the process here as well. The twin commands
"gpupdate /force"
will refresh any Group Policies, combined with the WUA
command
line "wuauclt /resetauthorization /detectnow" will
instruct the
client to refresh its configuration with the server. Another
command "wuauclt /reportnow" will instruct the
client to report
its status immediately.
If you're having problems getting SCE clients to register
with the
server, you can troubleshoot the problem by checking the WUA
log at
C:WindowsWindowsUpdate.log.
Comment: http://mcpmag.com/columns/article.aspx?editorialsid
=2512#post
Greg Shields, MCSE: Security, CCEA, is an independent
author, instructor,
and consultant based in Denver, Colo. A contributing editor
to Redmond
magazine, MCPmag.com and a popular speaker at TechMentor
events,
Greg?s recent book, "Windows Server 2008: What's
New/What's Changed,"
is now available at SapienPress.com. gshields redmondmag.com
Check out MCPmag.com's column archive for more savvy tips
and tricks
from Jeff, Greg Shields, Chris Wolf and other frequent
contributors.
http://mcpmag.com/columns/
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REDMOND RADIO FOR FEB. 19, 2008
Hosted by Michael Domingo
Take a quick listen to what made news last week in the world
of
Redmond and IT:
* Microsoft releases Vista SP1 early to technical customers
* Six patches released in February
* Yahoo looks for another acquisition partner
Plus, listen to find out how to enter the weekly Redmond
T-Shirt Giveaway.
And don't miss this: Find out how to enter the upcoming
TechMentor
All-Access Pass Giveaway, exclusive only to Redmond Radio
listeners:
http://mcpmag.com/webcasts/mcpradio/radio.asp?id=279
iTunes/iPodder listeners: Download the show automatically by
pointing
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s/podcasts/.
Problems listening to the podcast? Write to mdomingo1105media.com
and describe the problem to get help. We want you to listen
if you
want to hear it!
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IT EVENTS OF INTEREST TO MCPMAG.COM READERS
Would you like to list an event here? Send it to Michael
Domingo at
mdomingo1105media.com.
* March 7-13: O'Reilly Emerging Technology Conference
San Diego: Deep-think conference on topics ranging from
robotics,
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* March 30-April 3: TechMentor San Francisco
Tenth anniversary of IT event includes more than 140
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Windows Powershell, Windows 2008 server, security and
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advice on managing Windows-based networks.
http://techmento
revents.com/2008/sf/
* April 27-May 2: Interop
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and
networking experts. http://www.interop.com/
* April 28-May 2: Microsoft Management Summit
Las Vegas: Features a deep look at the Systems Center suite.
https://www
.mms-2008.com/public/home.aspx
* June 3-6/10-13: Tech Ed
Orlando, Fla.: Bill Gates keynotes the developer confab; Bob
Muglia
heads up IT portion that follows.
http://www.microsoft.com/events/teched2008/default.mspx
* July 7-10: Worldwide Partner Conference
Houston: Steve Ballmer slated to speak on impact of
Software+Services
on Microsoft's global partner community.
http://www.microsoft.com/partner/events/w
wpartnerconference/default.htm
For more events, go to http://mcpmag.com/events/.
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MCPMAG.COM WEB POLL
Do you believe Microsoft has made it harder to pass exams
for the
new-generation certs?
- Yes, exams are harder to pass unless you have hand's on
experience
with the software.
- Somewhat harder, but still passable even with no hands-on
experience.
- No, still as easy to read a book and then pass an exam.
- Exams have always been easy to pass. I haven't seen a
change.
- I haven't taken exams in quite some time, so I can't say.
Voting ends today, Feb. 20. Vote now at http://mcpmag.com/polls
Results of the last poll: Which news is the most important
to your
company? (37 votes)
40.5% -- Vista SP1 is released to manufacturing.
27.0% -- Windows 2008 is RTM'd
2.7% -- SQL Server 2008 is delayed
2.7% -- Certification exams for Windows 2008 are almost
generally available
27.0% -- Microsoft has extended its Exam Second-Shot offer
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