Install SCCM 2012 prerequisites with PowerShell

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Here is a little help to install all required Windows Features for running System Center Configuration Manager 2012 on a Windows Server 2012 Machine

This needs to turn on a elevated PowerShell (RunAs Administrator)

Get-Module servermanager
Install-WindowsFeature Web-Windows-Auth
Install-WindowsFeature Web-ISAPI-Ext
Install-WindowsFeature Web-Metabase
Install-WindowsFeature Web-WMI
Install-WindowsFeature BITS
Install-WindowsFeature RDC
Install-WindowsFeature NET-Framework-Features
Install-WindowsFeature Web-Asp-Net
Install-WindowsFeature Web-Asp-Net45
Install-WindowsFeature NET-HTTP-Activation
Install-WindowsFeature NET-Non-HTTP-Activ

There is a bug in the .NET framework 3.5
You need your Windows Installation media to do this.
dism /online /enable-feature /featurename:NetFX3 /all /Source:d:\sources\sxs /LimitAccess

Build, Capture and deploy Windows 7 and Windows 8 in SCCM 2012 SP1

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Operating System Deployment is one of the most utilized features of Microsoft System Center Configuration Manager 2012(SCCM). Many companies are now planning to upgrade their machines from Windows XP to Windows 7 or Windows 8 and will be using SCCM to do so. In the SP1 version of SCCM 2012 there are some minor issues which cause the OSD to fail.

This blog will describe the right steps to deploy Windows 7 and also Windows 8. This because there are no differences between deploying them
In the steps taken below we presume this is a clean install and you don’t have an Windows 7 image file.

First install hotfix http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2801987 on the Site Servers. This is required to do a successful PXE boot.

1. Enable the Network Access Account

The “Network Access Account” is needed during deployment in WinPE. The account is uses to access the content on the network. Often forgotten so we start with it..

  1. In the Configuration Manager console, navigate to Administration, choose  Site Configuration, right-click on the Primary site, and select Configure Components, Software Distribution.
  2. In the Network Access Account tab, click the Specifiy the account that access network locations, choose Set and Add the network access account and provide it with a password choose OK to finish the config

 

1. Enable PXE support and boot

  1. In the Configuration Manager console, navigate to Administration, choose  Site Configuration, and choose Servers and Site System Roles, and select the server which hosts you’re distribution point.
  2. In the results pane, double click the Distribution Point role and select the PXE tab, place a checkmark on Enable PXE support for Clients, answer Yes for the firewall port question.
  3. Check the Allow this distribution point to respond to incoming PXE requests and Enable unknown computer support also I’ve removed the password option but this is not required.
    PXE Update
  4. Click OK and the SCCM machine will distribute the settings.
  5. Next step is to distribute the Boot Images to the distribution points
  6. In the Configuration Manager console, navigate to Software Library, Operating Systems, Boot Images. Right click the X64 boot image and choose Distributed Content, Click Next and click Add, Distribution Point choose you’re distribution point.
  7. Continue through the wizard to complete the distribution
  8. DON’T Forget to repeat this step for the X86 image

 

2. Enable the PXE boot image

  1. In the Configuration Manager console, navigate to Software Library, Operating Systems, Boot Images. Right click the X64 boot image and choose Properties
  2. In the results pane, click Data Source, and enable the  Deploy this boot image from the PXE service point.
    Distribution Point Settings
  3. Select OK and the distribution point will be updated
  4. DON’T Forget to repeat this step for the X86 image.

 

3. Add the Windows 7 Operating System

Here’s where it get’s a bit tricky, SP1 doesn’t support the old Operating System Installers so a little change in SP1.

  1.  First of all I created the following structure to get a structured collection of Operating System Deployments.
    ScreenHunter_258 Feb. 18 15.52
  2.  Second I extracted the Windows 7 ISO and copied it to \\demo-sccm01\Sources\OSD\OSD Uploads\Windows7_x64_NLD folder.
  3. In the Configuration Manager console, navigate to Software Library, Operating Systems, Operating System Images, Right click and choose Add Operating System ImageAdd OS Image
  4. Browse to the to the Windows 7\Sources directory and select the install.wim like ”\\demo-sccm01\Sources\OSD\OSD Uploads\Windows7_x64_NLD\Sources\install.wim“
  5. Choose Next and finish the import of the WIM file
    Add the WIM File
  6. In the Configuration Manager console, navigate to Software Library, Operating Systems Images,  Right click the Image, choose Distribute Content,  Click Next and click Add, Distribution Point and choose you’re distribution point.

 

4. Next is build and capture the new image

Now we are going to build a new WIM file. This will be an template file which SCCM uses to rollout new Operating System Deployments

  1. In the Configuration Manager console, navigate to Administration, choose  Software library, Operating Systems, Task Sequences, Create a folder called Windows 7 x64, right click the folder and select Create Task Sequence
    1
  2. At the Create new task sequence choose Build and Capture a reference operating system image, Next
    2
  3. In the Task Sequence Information, give the task sequence a logical name like “Build and Capture – Windows 7 Pro x64 – NLD” , choose the “Boot Image (x64)…” and click Next
    3
  4. Choose the Operating System Image we imported (OSD Media – Windows 7 x64 Pro – NLD) in the previous step and choose Next
    4
  5. Choose the Image file, Optional license key and administrator password. I filled in the password to login in the reference machine after the build and capture. If the license key is also not necessary both settings can be set in the Deploy Sequence afterwards.
    6
  6. In the Configure Network choose the workgroup option. This because Sysprep will not work when you join the machine to a domain.
    7
  7. In the Install Configuration Manager Client section leave this default (installation properties can be blank, we will change this in the actual deployment.) Next.
    8
  8. At the Include Updates we checked Do not install any software updates, choose Next
    9
  9. Choose Next at the Install Applications
    10
  10. Choose Next at the System Preparation Section
    11
  11. Fill in the details on the Image Properties and choose Next
    12
  12. At the Save As dialog box, choose the created  \\demo-sccm01\Sources\OSD\OSD\Captures\ folder and give the image a proper name.
    13
  13. Choose Save, Next and Finish the task sequence
    15
  14. Right click the newly created task sequence and choose Edit
    16
  15. Click on the last partition task, choose Add, General, Set Task Sequence Variable
    This is to assign the C:\ as boot drive. Otherwise the sequence will install Windows on D:\.
    17
  16. Name tab type Assign C:\ to Boot drive, at the task Sequence Variable type OSDPreserveDriveLetter with the value false place the task behind the partition tasks
    18
  17. Choose OK to apply the task sequence changes.
  18. Now we are going to distribute the task sequence to the distribution point; right-click the newly build task sequence and choose deploy
    19
  19. I’ve chosen the collection All Unknown Computers, this results that the capture is available for everyone. In a test environment this is not issue but in production it’s not recommended, choose Next
    20
  20. In the Make available to the following choose Only Media and PXE, Next
    21
  21. Just next, next finish to the configuration; no additional changes are required.
    26
  22. OK now it’s get exiting; if everything went well you now can startup you’re client machine to boot with F12 and rollout a package!
  23. At the task Sequence Wizard, choose the Build and Capture – Windows 7 Pro x64 – NLD
    28
  24. The capture begins, the sequence finishes some steps to build the new WIM file
    29
    30 31 32
  25. In these steps you will see that the new WIM file is build in de Captures directory
    33

 

5. Deploy the captured image in a task sequence

Next we going to create the deploy sequence to rollout the WIM image to the clients.

  1. In the Configuration Manager console, navigate to Administration, choose  Software library, Operating Systems, Task Sequences, Create a folder called Windows 7 x64, right click the folder and select Create Task Sequence
    -1
  2. At the Create new task sequence choose Install an existing image package, Next
    -2
  3. In the Task Sequence Information, give the task sequence a logical name like “Deploy – Windows 7 Pro x64 – NLD“, choose the “Boot image (x64) 6….” boot image and click Next
    -3
  4. Choose the Operating System Image we created  (OSD Captued – Windows 7 x64 Pro – NLD nl-NL) in the previous step and choose Next
    -4
  5. Choose the Image file, Optional (if no KMS used) license key and set the administrator password to random and select the 2-2 image (the other one is the 100 MB partition).-5
  6. In the Configure Network choose the Join a Domain option. Fill in the domain, Domain OU and account (this is a test environment but please do not use administrator)-6
  7. In the Install Configuration Manager Client section and set the installation properties to SMSMP=Demo-SCCM01.demo.local
    Next.
    -7
  8. At the state migration we deselect all check boxes because we do not use this in the lab., choose Next
    -8
  9. At the Include Updates we checked Do not install any software updates, choose Next
    -9
  10. Choose Next at the Install Applications and finish the wizard.-10
  11. Right click the newly created task sequence and choose Edit-11
  12. Choose Add, General, Set task Sequence Variable.-12
  13. Name tab type Assign C:\ to Boot drive, at the task Sequence Variable type OSDPreserveDriveLetter with the value false place the task behind the partition task-13
  14. Choose OK to apply the task sequence changes.
  15. Now we are going to distribute the task sequence to the distribution point; right-click the newly build task sequence and choose deploy
    -14
  16. I’ve chosen the collection All Unknown Computers, this results that the deployment is available for everyone.
    -15
  17. In the Make available to the following choose Only Media and PXE, Next-16
  18. Just next, next finish to the configuration; no additional changes are required.
  19. OK now it’s get exiting; if everything went well you now can startup you’re client machine to boot with F12 and rollout a package!
    Boot with F12
  20. Choose the new created task sequence!
    Choose the Deploy image
  21. That’s it! The deployment will run successfully!!

Event ID 7000 : not a valid Win32 application during WSUS installation on SCCM 2012 SP1

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Issue
Today after installing another fancy Windows 2012 SCCM Server I noticed that when I tried to configure WSUS and WDS the service crashed with the following error:
The WSUS Service failed to start due the following error: WSUS Service is not a valid Win32 application.
Event ID 7000.

Reason:
About a hour ago I also had an error on File Name Warning:
There is a file or folder on your computer called “C:\program” which could cause certain applications to not function correctly. Renaming it to “C:\program2″ would solve this issue.
program error
I made a note of it but did not rename it because the message wasn’t wrong, there IS a file called program (no extension) on my Systemdrive. But why?
program
After a deep dive in my server configuration I discovered the distmgr.log of ConfigMgr is missing quotations while saving the log file. This could be an solution; after some more digging It looks like if the “” (quotation marks) were missing in the command line for the logfile path. Windows would then go and interpret the logfile as “C:Program”.

Program2
So this looks like a bug in the installation of the SCCM 2012 Distribution Manager installation.
To be sure I opened the program file with notepad and noticed that it’s indeed a text file.
program3

Resolution:
Rename or delete the c:\program file and the issue is solved.

Install SCVMM 2012 SP1 on Windows 2012 with SQL 2012

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Today a blog post on how to install SCVMM 2012 SP1 on Windows 2012 with SQL 2012

First of all the requirements for SCVMM 2012 SP1 on Windows server 2012
See http://technet.microsoft.com/library/gg610669.aspx for more information.

- SQL Server 2012 Enterprise, Standard (64-bit), SQL 2008 R2 (64-bit), SQL Server 2008 (64-bit) (Express is no longer supported)
- Domain account for SCVMM with local administrator rights on the SCVMM Server
- SQL Admin account to create the SCVMM Database
- Windows Assessment and Deployment Kit for Windows 8
- Minimal 2048 MB of RAM required

1. On the SCVMM Server – Install the WADK (Windows Assessment and Deployment Kit)
In Windows 2012 you no longer use WAIK, we’re now on WADK for Windows 8.
- Go to http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkID=252874 and download the ADK Setup.
- Run the ADKSetup.exe as an administrator

- I left the path’s default and choose Next
- Choose if you want to join CEIP and choose Next
- Accept the Licence Agreement and choose Accept
- Check Deployment Tools and Windows Preinstallation Environment (Windows PE)
SCCM 2012 SP1
- Choose Next and install the Software

2. Optional – On the AD Server -
By default, VMM encrypts some data in the VMM database (for example Run As account credentials and passwords in guest operating system profiles) by using the Windows Data Protection API (DPAPI). The encryption of this data is tied to the specific computer on which VMM is installed and the service account used by VMM. Therefore, if you need to move your VMM installation to another computer, the encrypted data will not be retained.
Distributed key management, however, stores the encryption keys in AD DS. Therefore, if you need to move your VMM installation to another computer, the encrypted data will be retained, because the other computer will have access to the encryption keys in AD DS.
If you want to use this look at http://technet.microsoft.com/en-US/library/gg697604.aspx

3. On the SCVMM Server – Install IIS Requirements
- Open Server Manager
- Select Add Roles and features, click Next
- Choose Role Based or Feature based installation
- Select the local server, Next
- Open Web Server (IIS) and ADD select the following features

Common
Default Document
Directory Browsing
HTTP Errors
Static Content

Health and Diagnostics
HTTP logging
Performance
Static Content

Security
Request Filtering
Windows Authentication

Management Tools
IIS Management Console
IIS 6 Management Compatibility
IIS 6 Metabase Compatibility
IIS Management Scripts and Tools
Management Service

4. On the SCVMM Server – Install SCVMM
- Go to the SCVMM CD and startup install SCVMM
- Choose VMM Management Server and VMM Console and click Next
Setup 1 SCVMM
- Fill in the name, organization name and product key and hit Next
- Fill in the forms and hit Next for a few times :)
- Turn on the Windows Update Feature
Windows Update
- Choose the installation directory (we used D:\Program Files\Microsoft System Center 2012\Virtual Machine Manager)
- Set the Database Configuration
ScreenHunter_192 Jan. 28 12.37
- Type the SCVMM Service account and password and choose Next.
SCVMM Password
- Leave the ports default and choose Next
- On the library configuration page, leave default and also choose Next and let the installation finish

- After the installation is finished check the event logs and update the server with the latest SCVMM rollups.
- Reboot the server

After the reboot run Windows Update for the cumulative updates for SCVMM 2012 SP1.
That’s it!

 

Step by Step: Installing SCCM 2012 SP1 on Windows Server 2012 and SQL 2012 SP1

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Well, after some testing with SCCM 2012 SP1 I decided to reinstall everything in my lab to the latest software. So Windows 2012, SQL 2012 RTM and of course System Center Configuration Manager 2012 SP1.

In this blog I used my laptop:
-Intel(R) i5-2410M CPU @ 2.30GHz, 2 Core(s)
-8 Gb of internal memory
-Two SSD disk (C:\ for OS and D:\ for Hyper-V)

Lab setup:
Domain Controller: Windows 2012 Enterprise; DC, DNS and certificate server
SCCM 2012; Windows 2012 Enterprise, SQL 2012 Enterprise, IIS and SCCM components

1. SQL 2012 installation
ConfigMgr 2012 SP1 Beta supports SQL 2012 RTM with a minimum of CU 2. ConfigMgr has very strict SQL collation requirement, pretty much across the entire System Center range, essentially only SQL_Latin1_General_CP1_CI_AS collation is supported.
This has to be selected during installation if you are running a non-USA regional\system OS.

- Login as the SQL admin on the SQL Server
- Launch the SQL 2012 RTM installer
- Select Installation on the left navigation pane
- Select New SQL Server stand-alone installation or add features to an existing installation
- Ok, Next, and choose Accept the license terms, Next
We will open the Firewall later, so skip the warning
- Choose Next
- Select SQL Server Feature Installation


Select the following
- Database Engine Services
- Reporting Services – Native
- Management Tools – Basic
- Management Tools – Complete
Because I’m in a test environment I didn’t change the path’s. In production it’s recommended to choose alternative path’s
- Next, Next

- Choose the default Default instance, and change the path’s if necessary and choose Next, Next
- By default each of the services will be configured using a service-specific user account, we used NT AUTHORITY\SYSTEM

Do this for the SQL Server Agent, the SQL Server Database Engine and the SQL Server Reporting Services services
- Click Account Name, Browse, Browse locally for SYSTEM and accept
- Set the services Start-up Type to automatic
- Select the Collation tab
- Double check If SQL_Latin1_General_CP1_CI_AS is shown, otherwise Customize this, Next
- Add the current user and a domain user at this point. I add the SQL admin and the local administrator, Next
- Select Install and configure, Next
- Set Send Windows and SQL Server Error Reports to Microsoft, choose Next, Next
Alrighty then SQL is Ready, lets rock.

- Next we will run SQL 2012 SP1 (SCCM 2012 requires minimal CU2 to have an successful install)
Download link SP1 http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=35575
Download link CU1 http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2765331

Note If you do not install CU2 (or SP1) you’ll receive SQL Server Version Error in the Perquisites.

The Advanced logging says that the SQL server Version is not supported. So patch you’re SQL Server.

Make the nessesary Firewall Exeptions for SCCM;
- Open the settings, Control Panel, System and Security, Windows Firewall
- Choose Advanced Settings, Inbound rules
- Create a new Rule called SQL Ports,
- On Rule Type, Choose Ports, Next
- On theTCP tab 4022, 1433 and click Next
ScreenHunter_191 Jan. 25 10.08
- Choose allow the connection, Next
- On profile choose all, Next
- Fill in a name (we used SQL Ports)


2. Installing the SCCM 2012 Perquisites
- Open Server Manager
- Select Add Roles and features, click Next
- Choose Role Based or Feature based installation
- Select the local server, Next
- Open Web Server (IIS) and ADD select the following features
Common
HTTP Features
Static Content
Default Document
Directory Browsing
HTTP Errors
HTTP Redirection

Application
Development
ASP.NET
.NET Extensibility
ASP
ISAPI Extensions
ISAPI Filters

Health and Diagnostics
HTTP logging
Logging tools
Request Monitor
Tracing

Security
Basic Authentication
Windows Authentication
URL Authorization
Request Filtering
IP and Domain Restrictions

Performance
Static Content
Compression

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
- Select Windows Server Update Services, Add features
- Select Windows Deployment Services, Add Features

- Choose Background Intelligent Transfer Service (BITS), Add features
- Choose Remote Differential Compression
- Telnet Client (not necessary but it’s useful), Next
- On the WSUS section choose next.
- On the Role Services choose WSUS Services and Database, Next
- Choose Store updates and choose a location (This is a testlab, in production it is not recommended to save these files to the C:\ drive), Next

- Type the SQL Server name and choose Check connection

- Next, Next,
- Choose Deployment Server and Transport Server
- Next, Install

3. Install the WADK (Windows Assessment and Deployment Kit)
In Windows 2012 you no longer use WAIK, we’re now on WADK for Windows 8.
- Go to http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkID=252874 and download the ADK Setup.
- Run the ADKSetup.exe as an administrator

- I left the path’s default and choose Next
- Choose if you want to join CEIP and choose Next
- Accept the Licence Agreement and choose Accept
- Check Deployment Tools, Windows Preinstallation Environment (Windows PE) and User State Migration Tools (USMT)

- Choose Next and install the Software

3. Next step is to install SCCM 2012 SP1 Beta
Ok, we are now ready to install ConfigMgr 2012 SP 1 Beta
- Launch the spash.HTA from the installation media

- First check the server is ready before we get any further into the installer Select Assess server readiness

Some minor issues but no show stoppers so lets continue
- Go back to the Splash.hta screen and click Install, Choose Next
- Because we are on one demo server we choose Install a Configuration Manager Primary Site and check the Use typical installation… Choose Next.

- Choose yes and I Agree, Next
- Accept all the licence therms and choose next

- Download the files to a folder you choose and click Next

-Choose a site code, Site name and installation folder for SCCM 2012 SP1, Next

- Hit next a couple of times and then choose Begin Install

That’s it, we are now up and running.

SP1 brings a lot of nice new stuff like the cross-platform clients, Azure Cloud DP, mobile device management through Microsoft Exchange ActiveSync amongst others.
Check out what’s new in SP1 here for a list of fun things to play around with and get to know in preparation for the actual SP1 release, as well as the release notes detailing what is knowing to be in a broken state during the Beta. You can also provide feedback to Microsoft for anything quirky that you may find during the evaluation.

Have Fun!

System Center 2012 SP1 – SCOM 2012 – Evaluation (VHD)

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Microsoft launched the public VHD’s for System Center 2012 SP1.
The VHD’s enables System Center customers to jointly evaluate System Center 2012 and Windows Server 2012.
The download consists of files that you extract into a single pre-configured VHD file for this System Center component.

No MSDN or TechNet subscription is required for this download.

System Center 2012 Service Pack 1 components that ship Evaluation VHDs can be found at the following locations:

WSUS sync issues after installation of SCCM 2012 SP1; Event ID 6703 SMS_WSUS_SYNC_MANAGER

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Issue:

Today I bumped into a strange issue when upgrading SCCM 2012 to SP1. The installation went well and after checking the eventlog everything seemed to run smoothly.

After I changed the WSUS Sync setting of SCCM to every hour (because of Forefront Endpoint Protection) we noticed that the WSUS server didn’t function properly anymore. The Software Update Point gave the following error:
Log Name:      Application
Source:           SMS Server
Date:              14-1-2013 12:05:02
Event ID:         6703
Task Category: SMS_WSUS_SYNC_MANAGER
Level:              Error
Keywords:       Classic
User:               N/A
Computer:       SCCM01-SUP.internal.local
Description: On 14-1-2013 12:05:02, component SMS_WSUS_SYNC_MANAGER on computer SCCM01-SUP.internal.local reported:   WSUS Synchronization failed. Message: WSUS server not configured. Please refer to WCM.log for configuration error details.. Source: CWSyncMgr::DoSync. The operating system reported error 2147500037: Unspecified error

1 - Issue SCCM 2012 SP1 WSUS

Cause:
After some investigation we looked into the SUP properties via Administration, Site Configuration, Servers and Site System Roles.2 - SCCM 2012 SP1 WSUS ISSUE

In the Software Update Point settings we found that SP1 has changed the 8530 and 8531 ports back into 80 and 443 (default)
3 - SCCM 2012 SP1 WSUS ISSUE

Solution:
Well this looked like an easy one; we changed the ports back to where we configured WSUS (8530 and 8531) on and the issue was solved.
4 - SCCM 2012 SP1 WSUS ISSUE

 

Upgrading System Center Configuration Manager 2012 to Service Pack 1

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After upgrading my test (Beta SP1) environment to SP1 went smoothly we rolled out SCCM 2012 SP1 to one of our customers (because of a running issue which should be solved in SP1).

It caused me some sweat but got it running eventually.
The scenario:
- Windows 2008 R2
- SQL 2008 R2
- SCCM 2012 CU2

Note: To install ConfigMgr 2012 SP1 with Windows Server 2012 and SQL 2012 SP1 see http://www.toolzz.com/?p=602

Here are the steps I took:
1. Install the WADK (Windows Assessment and Deployment Kit)
First of all there are some extra requirements to take for the upgrade. In SCCM 2012 SP1 you no longer use WAIK, we’re now on WADK.
- Go to http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkID=252874and download the ADK Setup.
- Run the ADKSetup.exe as an administrator

- I left the path’s default and choose Next
- Choose if you want to join CEIP and choose Next
- Accept the Licence Agreement and choose Accept
- Check Deployment Tools, Windows Preinstallation Environment (Windows PE) and User State Migration Tools (USMT)

- Choose Next and install the Software

2. Installing the SCCM 2012 SP1 software.
- I Downloaded the SP1 software from the Microsoft TechNet Site. It’s a little bit confusing but
“System Center 2012 Configuration Manager and Endpoint Protection with sp1 x86 x64″
and “System Center 2012 Configuration Manager and Endpoint Protection x86 x64″ with the date of 12 December are both valid.
- Start the Splash.hta on the disk
- Choose the Install option
SCCM SP1 Setup
- Choose “Upgrade this Configuration Manager site” and choose Next
SCCM SP1 Update 1
-Just note that there are more languages available then prior to SP1. Choose Next to continue
SCCM SP1 Update 2
- Check the prerequisite check. Because we implemented step 1 already we can continue by clicking Begin Install.
SCCM SP1 Update 3_1
In my case the installation took about one hour. The SQL database which was running on a different server was automatically updated.

3. The console issue
After starting up the console I bumped into an issue which was not very clear:

After upgrading to SP1 my console disappeared from my management server.
SCCM 2012 SP1 Console
After some troubleshooting I tried starting up the console from the directory; but it could not connect to the server.
Console issue SCCM 2012 SP1
This was strange, but after some investigating I discovered that the Console is not automatically updated with SP1 which causes this issue.
- Restarting the SP1 Splash.HTA and running Install Configuration Manager console solved the issue for me!
Update Console SCCM 2012 SP1
Checked the installation and we are indeed running on SP1 !!
SCCM SP1 Update 4
Henk Hoogendoorn posted a blog on what features are updated in the SP1 HERE.

System Center 2012 SP1 Released

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System Center 2012 Service Pack 1 has reached its “release-to-manufacturing” (RTM) milestone, Microsoft announced recently.
ScreenHunter_162 Dec. 21 08.33

RTM typically refers to feature-complete products, although the final “general availability” release of System Center 2012 SP1 is scheduled for early January.
The “release candidate” version of the product had been issued previously, but was just available to Microsoft’s Technology Adoption Program testers. The last public release announcement seems to have been a beta delivered in September.

The software is now available on the MSDN site for partners and customers with SA.
It’s available on http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/subscriptions/downloads/.

A list of what’s new in SP1 for System Center 2012:
1. There are new Monitoring Capabilities under APM functionality:
                         o Monitoring of Windows Services Built on the .NET Framework.
                         o Automatic Discovery of ASP.NET MVC3 and MVC4 Applications.
                         o New Transaction Types: MVC Pages and WCF Methods.
2. Enabled APM of SharePoint 2010.
3. Integration with Team Foundation Server 2010 and Team Foundation Server 2012.
4. New monitoring capability allows for opening of APM exception events from Visual Studio IDE as if the exception was captured during the IntelliTrace historical debugging session. Developers can stay within their familiar environment to examine complete exception call stack.
5. New Management Packs and Support for Windows Server 2012 and IIS 8.
6. The System Center 2012 Service Pack 1 (SP1) Beta version of Operations Manager can show you different perspectives of application health in one place—360 .NET Application Monitoring Dashboards. The 360 .NET Application Monitoring Dashboards displays information from Global Service Monitor, .NET Application Performance Monitoring, and Web Application Availability Monitoring to provide a summary of health and key metrics for 3-tier applications in a single view.
7. ACS support is now added for Dynamic Access Control – new feature in Windows Server 2012, where business data owners to easily classify and label data allowing access policies to be defined for data classes that are critical to business.
8. Support is added for CentOS, Debian, and Ubuntu Linux.

The arrival of SP1 for System Center 2012 is a big deal because it will add management support for Windows Server 2012 and Windows 8 and SQL 2012.

Without this service pack, there’s no management support for those operating systems in System Center 2012.

Nice!

What about System Center Server licensing?

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In sales and presales conversations my experience is that knowledge of the licensing suite is sometimes crucial to close the deal. Therefore this post about how the licensing suite in System Center is build.

To make things clear;
This part only counts for Server Operating Systems; not for clients (workstations)

Basically it is very simple; You can only buy the complete System Center suite, if you only use SCCM or only SCOM you still have to buy the complete suite.
Advantage is that if you license one product you get the right to use:
-  Configuration Manager
-  Service Manager
-  Virtual Machine Manager
-  Operations Manager
-  Data Protection Manager
-  Orchestrator
-  App Controller
-  Endpoint Protection
Now we’re talking !!

Licence models
System Center 2012 management licenses will be released in 2 editions differentiated by virtualization rights only:

-System Center Datacenter: Maximizes cloud capacity with unlimited Operating System Environments (OSEs) for high density private clouds.

Each Data Center license covers up to two physical processors, so you must count the number of physical processors on the server, divide that number by two, round up to the nearest whole number, and acquire and assign that number of licenses to your server.

-System Center Standard: For lightly or non-virtualized private cloud workloads. Standard Edition allows the management of up to two  ”Operating System Environments” per license.

For each managed server count the number of physical processors and the number of managed OSE’s. You need the number of licenses to cover the greater number (processors or OSE’s).

Extra information:
- Both licenses includes SQL Runtime or SQL CAL
- Licensed Per processor
- Always includes Software Assurance (SA)

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Time for a quick recap of the licensing suite:
-Standard for servers with low or no virtualization
-Datacenter for high density virtualisation

Underneath an example on what licence is to most suitable.

Are there separate offerings without SQL Server Technology?
No. All System Center 2012 products include the right to run a runtime version of SQL Server Technology (SQL Server Standard Edition) to support System Center so there are no longer separate offerings.

How much do the Server MLs cost?
The Microsoft Volume Licensing Open License No Level (NL) U.S. Estimated Retail Price (ERP) is
- $1,323 for System Center 2012 Standard
- $3,607 for System Center 2012 Datacenter.

For your specific pricing, contact your Microsoft reseller. Actual prices may vary. Microsoft does not determine pricing or payment terms for licenses acquired through resellers.

Why do the Server MLs cover up to two processors?
The server management licensing is simplified by standardizing on a processor-based licensing model. Each license covers up to two physical processors because the vast majority of servers contain an even number of physical processors.

Endpoint Protection?
Endpoint Protection is included in de suite. It is possible to install Endpoint protection stand-alone. For managing the Endpoint Protection software SCCM 2012 is required. For monitoring there is a management pack available. Without SCCM 2012 it is possible to manage the clients with policies but this is not an optimal situation and I do not recommend this.

Extra information:
Standalone Standard or Enterprise Server Management Licenses will be exchanged for a minimum of 1 System Center 2012 Standard Edition licenses per server or for the actual number of processors in use.
At the end of the current agreement term, you should do a self-inventory, documenting the number of processors in each server in use with System Center Server Management Suite Enterprise Edition or standalone Server Management Licenses covered with Software Assurance.
This will enable customers to receive the appropriate number of processor licenses based on System Center 2012 to continue their current deployments.
You should do this self-inventory using the Microsoft Assessment and Planning (MAP) Toolkit or other inventory tools and processes to accurately archive a time/date stamped inventory of hardware tied to System Center installations.
If you do not perform the self-inventory, they will receive two System Center 2012 licenses for each System Center Server Management Suite Enterprise Edition and one license for each standalone Server Management License.