Henk's blog: ConfigMgr 2012 Component add-ons and Extensions

Last week I installed ConfigMgr 2012 and SCEP again at customer location. It's true that ConfigMgr 2012 has a lot of build-in functionality, but it can be even better. In this blogpost I will mention a few additional Component add-ons and Extensions. Here they are:

ConfigMgr Console Extensions
The ConfigMgr Console Extensions (formerly Right Click Tools) are a set of freeware right-click tools for the Microsoft ConfigMgr 2007/2012 console designed to help make our SCCM administration lives a little easier. The following tools are added to both collections and systems:

Collections:

Trigger Client Action (10x ConfigMgr Policy update)
ConfigMgr Client Tools (ConfigMgr Client management)
System Tools (Ping, Wake-On-Lan, Reboot, Shutdown, Schedule reboot/shutdown)

Systems:

Trigger Client Action (10x ConfigMgr Policy update)
ConfigMgr Client Tools (ConfigMgr Client management)
System Tools (Manage Computer, Ping, Wake-On-Lan, RDP to Console, Remote CMD, Connect to C$, System detail, Reboot, Shutdown, Schedule reboot/shutdown)

Nice feature is that Wake-On-Lan (WOL) also support unicast, subnet-directed broadcast, and additional ports now!

Package Conversion Manager (PCM)
The Microsoft System Center 2012 Configuration Manager Package Conversion Manager allows for converting packages and programs into applications and deployment types in System Center Configuration Manager 2012. There is a migration feature which will be released with the Configuration Manager 2012 that allows packages to be migrated from 2007 to 2012.

Once you have migrated your package objects and installed PCM then it is just a matter analyzing your packages in order to determine which readiness state each are in, and then converting those packages that are in the appropriate readiness state.

System Center 2012 Configuration Manager Toolkit
The Microsoft System Center 2012 Configuration Manager Toolkit contains nine downloadable tools to help you manage and troubleshoot Microsoft System Center 2012 Configuration Manager. The following list provides specific information about each tool in the toolkit.

Client Spy - A tool that helps you troubleshoot issues related to software distribution, inventory, and software metering on ConfigMgr 2012 clients.

Policy Spy - A policy viewer that helps you review and troubleshoot the policy system on ConfigMgr 2012 clients.

Security Configuration Wizard Template - The Security Configuration Wizard (SCW) is an attack-surface reduction tool for the Microsoft Windows Server 2008 R2 operating system. Security Configuration Wizard determines the minimum functionality required for a server's role or roles, and disables functionality that is not required.

Send Schedule Tool - A tool used to trigger a schedule on a client or trigger the evaluation of a specified DCM Baseline. You can trigger a schedule either locally or remotely.

Power Viewer Tool – A tool to view the status of power management feature on ConfigMgr 2012 clients.

Deployment Monitoring Tool - The Deployment Monitoring Tool is a graphical user interface designed help troubleshoot Applications, Updates, and Baseline deployments on ConfigMgr 2012 clients.

Run Metering Summarization Tool - The purpose of this tool is to run the metering summarization task to analyze raw metering data

Role-based Administration Modeling and Auditing Tool – This tool helps administrators to model and audit RBA configurations.

License Tracking PowerShell Cmdlets - The PowerShell cmdlet “Get-ConfigMgrAccessLicense” is used to get license usage information for all the servers and clients within scope of ConfigMgr 2012. The cmdlet returns a list of licensable features and a list of unique users and devices per unique licensable feature.