SCCM / SMS Interview Questions

Can you change a secondary site to a primary site?
No. A secondary site is always a secondary site. It cannot be upgraded, moved, or changed without deleting it and reinstalling it. If you delete and reinstall, you lose all secondary site data.

Can you distribute a package to a computer without making it a member of a collection?

No. To distribute software you must have a package, a program and an advertisement. Advertisements can only be sent to collections, not to computers. If you want to distribute a package to a single computer, you must create a collection for that computer.

What is Secondary Site?

Four Main characteristics:

• A Secondary Site does not have access to a Microsoft SQL Database
• Secondary Sites are ALWAYS a Child Site of a Primary Site and can only be administered via a Primary Site
• Secondary Sites cannot have Child Sites of their own
• Clients cannot be assigned directly to the Site

What is CENTRAL SITE?

A Central Site is a Configuration Manager Primary Site that resides at the top of the Configuration Manager hierarchy. All Database information rolls from the child to the parent and is collected by the Central Site’s Configuration Manager Database. The Central Site can administer any site below it in the hierarchy and can send data down to those sites as well.
What is PRIMARY SITE?

Four main characteristics:

• The Site has access to a Microsoft SQL Server Database
• Can administer or be administered via the Configuration Manager Console
• It can be a child of other Primary Sites and can have Child Sites of its own
• Clients can be assigned directly to the Site

How do you install and configure Secondary site server

http://exchangeserverinfo.com/2008/05/02/installation-and-configuration-of-secondary-site-server.aspx

How do you create a package for Adobe?

the command line  msiexec.exe /q ALLUSERS=2 /m MSIHPSJR /i "AcroRead.msi" TRANSFORMS=mytransform.mst

How do you distribute a package?

• create a package in SCCM, pointing it to the installation sources, and in the package create an install program (you may have already done this?)
• assign Distribution Points to your package so the contents get synched. 
• create a Collection containing the objects (users/computers) that are allowed to receive the package. 
• create an Advertisement for the distribution, linking the package you created to the collection, decide whether the Adverisement is mandatory (installation enforced) or not (users have to go to the "Run Advertised Programs" dialog in Windows and select to install the program) 

How SCCM download the patches?

You need to add the Software Update Point site role to the site, configure the software update point as active, configure the products, classifications, sync settings, etc. in the Software Update Point properties.  THEN, you can go to the Update Repository node and run the Run Synchronization action from the central primary site.  Once synchronization completes, you will see the metadata in the Configuration Manager console.

How do you confiure the SUP? 

In the Configuration Manager console, navigate to System CenterConfiguration Manager / Site Database /Site Management / &lt;site code> - <site name> / Site Settings / Site Systems

Right-click the site system server name, and then click New Roles.

Select Software update point, and then click Next.

Specify whether the site server will use a proxy server when connecting to the software update point, and then clickNext.

Select Use this server as the active software update point, and then specify the port settings configured for the WSUS Web site on this site system.

Specify the synchronization source for the active software update point using one of the following settings: like Synchronize from Microsoft Update or Synchronize from an upstream update server

Keep the default setting Do not create WSUS reporting events, and then click Next

Specify whether to synchronize software updates on a schedule by selecting Enable synchronization on a schedule

Specify the update classifications for which the software updates will be synchronized, and then click Next.

Specify the products for which the software updates will be synchronized, and then click Next.

Open SUPSetup.log in <InstallationPath>\Logs to monitor the installation progress for the software update point. When the installation completes, Installation was successful is written to the log file.

Open WCM.log in <InstallationPath>\Logs to verify that the connection to the WSUS server was successful. 

How do you Backup SCCM Server?  

To create a scheduled backup task, expand the Site Settings node and expand the Site Maintenance node, click on Tasks.

For Manual backup - Start SMS_SITE_BACKUP service

What are the client deployments methods?  

Client Push Installion, Software update point based installation, Group Policy Installation, Logon Script Installation, Manual Installation, Upgrade Installation(software Distribution)

Can you discover clients those are in different AD forest? 

yes. 
Internet-based client management, which supports the following site systems installed in a separate forest to the site server:
Management point
Distribution point
Software update point
Fallback status point 

What are the prerequisite for Software Update Point?  

Windows Server Update Services (WSUS) 3.0, WSUS 3.0 Administration Console, Windows Update Agent (WUA) 3.0,Site server communication to the active software update point,Network Load Balancing (NLB),Background Intelligent Transfer Server (BITS) 2.5,Windows Installer 

What is SMS Provider?

The SMS Provider is a WMI provider that allows both read and write access to the Configuration Manager 2007 site database. The SMS Provider is used by the Configuration Manager console
The SMS Provider can be installed on the site database server computer, site server computer or another server class third computer during Configuration Manager 2007 Setup. After setup has completed, the current installed location of the SMS Provider is displayed on the site properties general tab

What is ITMU?

SMS 2003 Inventory Tool for Microsoft Updates

What is the use of WSUS (Windows Server Update Service)?

It enables administrators to deploy the latest Microsoft product updates to computers that are running the Windows operating system. 

Difference between SMS 2003 and SCCM 2007

What is WMI (indows Management Instrumentation)?
You can write WMI scripts or applications to automate administrative tasks on remote computers

What is SUP ( Software Update Point)?

This is required component of software updates, and after it is installed, the SUP is displayed as a site system role in the Configuration Manager console. The software update point site system role must be created on a site system server that has Windows Server Update Services (WSUS) 3.0 installed.
You want specific users\groups to run specific custom reports. What should you do?
Navigate to “System Center Configuration Manager – Site Database – Security Rights – Users” 
Right click on “Users” and select “Manage ConfigMgr Users” 
Navigate to the “SCCM Support” group you created earlier 

1. For “Collection” – “(All Instances)” add the following: 
   - “Delete resource” 
   - “Modify resource” 
   - “Read” 
   - “Read resource” 
   - “Use remote tools”
2. For “Report” – “(All Instances)” add the following: 
   - “Read”
3. For “Computer association” – “(All Instances)” add the following: 
   - “Create” 
   - “Delete” 
   - “Read” 
   - “Recover user state”
4. Click “Next”
5. Click “Next”
6. Click “Close”

You have been provided with permissions on the SCCM console to create, distribute, modify and delete packages? However, when distributing a package there is no Distribution points listed in the Distribution Point Wizard. What should you do? 
To designate a distribution point on a new server or server share

1. In the Configuration Manager console, navigate to System CenterConfiguration Manager / Site Database / Site Management / <site name> / Site Settings.
2. Right-click Site Systems, point to New, and then click Server or Server Share, depending on which you want to create.
3. If you are creating a new server, use the New Site System Server Wizard to create the site system server, and select the Distribution Point check box from the Available Roles on the System Role Selection page to designate this server as a distribution point. 

What are the required ports used by Configuration Manager?
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb632618.aspx

You distributed a software application to some systems in your environment and few are failed, how do u troubleshoot the failure? what steps you will follow on client side and site server side? How SCCM clients come to know that they have to use SCCM WSUS?

How certificates created in SCCM and what they called?
How SCCM Communicate securely between sites? And where do you define that setting?  what you will keep in mind before configuring SCCM server to manage clients.  
What are the causes for a slow Configuration Manager Console connection and what would you do to make your Configuration Manager Console users' experience better?

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Microsoft Exchange Server Interview Questions 2007/2010

What's the difference between online and offline defrag?
Online:
Exchange database online defragmentation occurs automatically as part of the database maintenance process. Online defragmentation detects and removes database objects that are no longer being used
Offline:

you must defragment the Exchange database offline to reduce the physical size of the Exchange database.

eseutil /d Database_Name [options]

What are resource mailboxes? When would you use them?

SCR:

SCR enables a separation of high availability (comprised of service and data availability) and site resilience.

What is CCR (Cluster Continuous Replication)?

It is a high availability feature of Exchange 2007. It keeps a copy of storage group on another server and sinking the log files both. Also, it removes the need of SAN and low cost. No single point of failure

What is LCR (Local Continuous Replication)?

The LCR feature makes it possible to create and maintain an exact copy (replica) of databases in a storage group on an Exchange 2007 Server to a second set of disks in the server or to a NAS/SAN

What are the Exchange 2007/2010 server roles?
Edge Transport , Hub Transport, Client access, Mailbox, unified messaging

What's a Recovery Storage Group?

RSGs enable you to recover data from a backup or copy of a database without disturbing user access to current data.

How do you use Exmerge in Exchange 2007/2010?
Using ExMerge we can import or export PST files. 
You can recover single mailbox

What's a Dial Tone recovery?

A dial tone recovery involves creating an empty database on a server to replace a failed database. This empty, or dial tone, database allows users to send and receive e-mail while the failed database is recovered.

What built-in tool do you have to allow you to manage Exchange store recoveries?
Exmerge / Recovery storage group

What is Isinteg?

The Information Store Integrity Checker (Isinteg.exe) finds and eliminates errors from the public folder and mailbox databases at the application level. These errors can prevent the information store from starting or prevent users from logging on and from receiving, opening, or deleting mail. Isinteg is not intended for use as a part of routine information store maintenance. It is provided to assist in disaster recovery situations and other referential integrity issues.

What is Online Mailbox Move in Exchange 2010?

That allows end-users to be online in their email accounts. On completing the move users just needs to reopen their Outlook clients.
What is the GAL?

The Global Address List or GAL is a University wide directory of Exchange users available through Outlook or OWA.

How would you modify the filter properties of one of the default address lists?
You could do this by editing the Default Global Address List object in ADSEdit. The attribute that holds the query is the purportedSearch attribute.

Where does Edge role store its settings?

The Edge Transport server uses Active Directory Application Mode (ADAM) to store the required Active Directory data, which is data such as Accepted Domains, Recipients, Safe Senders, Send Connectors and a Hub Transport server list.

What's Edge synchronization?

The process that the Microsoft Exchange EdgeSync service performs to propagate data from Active Directory to the subscribed Edge Transport server. Configuration data is synchronized one time each hour. Recipient data is synchronized one time every four hours.

 You can use the Start-EdgeSynchronization cmdlet in the Exchange Management Shell to start immediate synchronization.

How do you enable Edge subscription?

Open the Exchange Management Shell on the Edge Transport server, and enter this command:
New-EdgeSubscription –file "C:\subscription.xml"
Answer “Y”
Transfer EdgeSubscription.xml to the Hub Transport server
Open Exchange Management Console
In the left tree choose “Organization Configuration” and then “Hub Transport”
In the Actions pane click “New Edge Subscription”
Choose active directory site, if you have multiple sites though, then you should make the Edge Transport server a member of the site that has the fastest (or most reliable) network connectivity to the perimeter network.
Use the Browse button to browse for and select the subscription.xml file.
Verify that the Automatically Create A Send Connector for this Edge Subscription checkbox is selected, then click the New button to import the XML file and create the Edge Subscription.

What's the default replication interval for Edge sync?
By default, configuration data is synchronized to AD LDS once every hour , and recipient data is synchronized to AD LDS once every four hours . You can change these intervals using the Set-EdgeSyncService cmdlet.

What's Edge subscription?

The Edge Subscription is the record of an Edge Transport server that has been subscribed to an Exchange organization. The ADAM directory service on a subscribed Edge Transport server is updated with information from Active Directory by the Microsoft Exchange EdgeSync service.

What is Eseutil?
It is a tool that you can use to verify, modify, and repair an Exchange database file. When a database is corrupt or damaged, you can restore data from backup or repair it using Eseutil.

Where does Exchange store its configuration settings?
At configuration partition in the active directory

How would you verify that the schema is updated?

You can verify that you are ready to start installing Exchange 2007 by looking for the following.
The Microsoft Exchange Systems Objects container contains a global group called Exchange 12 Domain Servers
The ESUG has the Exchange 12 Domain Servers global group as a member.
The ESUG will have permissions to the Manage Auditing and Security Log settings on all DCs in all domains that the commands were run against

What are the different Exchange Recipient types?
http://www.scripts4it.com/interview-questions/exchange-2007-2010/what-are-the-different-exchange-recipient-types

How many storage groups Exchange 2007 supports?

In the standard edition of Exchange 2007, you can have up to 5 databases spread over 5 storage groups. With enterprise edition, you can have 50 databases spread over 50 storage groups


More questions @http://www.petri.co.il/mcse-system-administrator-exchange-server-2007-2010-interview-questions.htm

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HP server Automation - Opsware - HPSA Interview Questions

How to create a Package
How do you Export and Import data to Software Repository
How do you Download Patches
How to  build server Image
How to provision  a Server

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Click here Batch Script ABCs (Basics)

Batch Script Basics
1) http://www.computerhope.com/batch.htm#01
2) http://www.csie.ntu.edu.tw/~r92092/ref/win32/win32scripting.html

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Click the above link for Converting DOS Batch Files to Shell Scripts
http://tldp.org/LDP/abs/html/dosbatch.html

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Download Links

VMware Workstation 7 0 1 Build 227600 keygen only
http://www.filestube.com/f80948957358604b03ea,g/VMware-Workstation-7-0-1-Build-227600-keygen-only.html

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SQLCMD Syntax

sqlcmd
  [-U login id] [-P password] [-S server] [-H hostname] 
  [-E trusted connection] [-d use database name] [-l login timeout]
  [-N encrypt connection] [-C trust the server certificate]
  [-t query timeout] [-h headers] [-s colseparator] [-w screen width]
  [-a packetsize] [-e echo input] [-I Enable Quoted Identifiers]
  [-c cmdend] [-L[c] list servers[clean output]] [-q "cmdline query"]
  [-Q "cmdline query" and exit] [-m errorlevel] [-V severitylevel]
  [-W remove trailing spaces] [-u unicode output]
  [-r[0|1] msgs to stderr] [-i inputfile] [-o outputfile]
  [-f  | i:[,o:]]
  [-k[1|2] remove[replace] control characters]
  [-y variable length type display width]
  [-Y fixed length type display width]
  [-p[1] print statistics[colon format]]
  [-R use client regional setting] [-b On error batch abort]
  [-v var = "value"...]
  [-X[1] disable commands[and exit with warning]]
  [-? show syntax summary]

Click here for SQLCMD Utility 

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Click here for DOS commands with XP

Click above link for DOS commands with XP

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Create a Folder Using Batch Script

ECHO Starts Creating Folder
Set FDate=%Date:~-10,10%
Set Fdate=%FDate:/=-%
MD C:\test\%FDate%
Move C:\test\DATA\*.* C:\test\%FDate%

Copy above code in Notepad and save as ".BAT" Extension.

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Upgrading ESX server (Virtual Infrastructure) 3.5 to vSphere 4.0

If you have only one ESX server put ESX server in Maintenance Mode


• First upgrade vCenter server
• Next upgrade vSphere client to 4.0
• Next upgrade vCenter updage manager
• Next go to plugins click on VMware update manager extension click on download and install
• After installation of Plugins click on update manager from the Home page
• /or you can directly click on vSphere Host update utility 4.0 and add the hosts which you want to upgrade.
• Click on browse and select the ISO image for ESX4.0 and then click next
• Provide user name and password to connect the Host server
• Select the Disk and if you want you can increase the size of the disk
• Try to reboot the host and roll back the upgrade incase of failure
• you can see the log information that update signature is completed
• Click on Attach Baseline group and check the check box ESX4.0 Host upgrade click on attach.
• click on Remediation Selection and select Update Baseline click next and select task name
• Click immediately to complete the upgrade of ESX Host.
• Again click on update manager
• Select Baselines and groups and click on VMs/VAs
• Click on Create and give Name to the New Baseline group
• Select Virtual Machines and Virtual Appliances Baseline group.
• Select VM Hardware Update to Match Host.
• Click finish.
• Upgrade the virtual Hardware to all the VM's

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What is a server farm in Citrix

A Server farm is a group of network servers that are housed in one location. A server farm provides bulk computing for specific applications such as Web site hosting, whereas while a datacenter has many servers, it also has people. In a server farm, you would generally only see a person when an installation or repair was performed, while in the datacenter, operators would be sitting at consoles, putting paper in printers and possibly moving disks and tapes from one place to another. A server farm is typically a room with dozens, hundreds or even thousands of rack-mounted servers humming away. They might all run the same operating system and applications and use load balancing to distribute the workload between them

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HPSA - HP server Automation - Opsware

HP Server Automation is a software delivers automated server management for both your physical and virtual servers. It provides server lifecycle management from discovery to provisioning, patching to configuration management, script execution to compliance assurance. It automates operations and processes across disparate IT teams and systems and provides a single view of your enterprise application environment.

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