Distribution Point

The MDM distribution point

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This blog post will be about the MDM distribution point. The MDM distribution point is the distribution point that’s added after completing the Microsoft Intune integration. To be honest, I didn’t even know that the distribution point was named MDM distribution point. Also, I don’t know if it’s the official name, but I do know that it’s being referenced like that in every related log file. In the rest of this blog post I’ll describe the high level flow of a package to the MDM distribution point. SMS_DISTRIBUTION_MANAGER The SMS_DISTRIBUTION_MANAGER is the default component for handling all the content notifications. Once a distribution point is added to a package, the SMS_DATABASE_NOTIFICATION_MONITOR drops a notification file in the distmgr.box and by that triggers the SMS_DISTRIBUTION_MANAGER to …

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Allowing access to Cloud Distribution Points for specific systems with ConfigMgr 2012

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To end this year in the cloud, I would like to devote this weeks post to allowing systems access to cloud distribution points. A bit more then two months ago I already did a post about creating a cloud distribution point, but until now I’ve never posted anything about the client configuration. By default, a system is not allowed access to cloud distribution points. Prerequisites Before it’s even useful to allow a system access to a cloud distribution point, the system needs to be able to resolve the name of the cloud distribution point. There are two ways to achieve this: The proper way – Create a public CNAME –record to map the service name, provided with the certificate for the cloud service, to the …

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Creating a Cloud Distribution Point with Windows Azure and ConfigMgr 2012

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This week I decided to start with Windows Azure. One of the biggest reasons for that, was that I knew that with ConfigMgr 2012 SP1, which is currently still in BETA, it is possible to create a Cloud Distribution Point based on Windows Azure. So that’s what I decided to start with this week. Prerequisites First I started with figuring out how exactly Windows Azure works. It’s actually quit easy to set-up, but after another good look at ConfigMgr 2012 I figured that it’s not even necessary to do anything within Azure. The following things are a prerequisite for creating a Cloud Distribution Point: Create a Windows Azure subscription. Create a certificate for the management of Windows Azure. Add the management certificate to Windows Azure. …

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The NEW Distribution Point in ConfigMgr 2012 B2

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I already tweeted last week that I really, really like the new Distribution Points in ConfigMgr 2012. Around that time they started writing some really good posts at the ConfigMgr OSD Blog about the new Distribution/PXE Point and Content Management. Even though these posts give really good information I still feel like I have to write down what I really, really like about it. So in this post I will sum up some of the cool new features/ properties of the new Distribution Point in ConfigMgr 2012.  Distribution Point Role: The Distribution Point Role is now merged into one single type that can be used on workstations and server. Also there is now the ability to choose (and prioritize) two drives for the use of …

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Distribution Point Groups in ConfigMgr 2007

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This time I want to devote a post to Distribution Point Groups in ConfigMgr 2007. The most important thing to understand is that Distribution Point Groups are NOT meant to balance the load. Distribution Point Groups are meant to facilitate the processes of copying packages to Distribution Points (DP). Packages can then be sent to a Group of DP’s rather than to a single DP. One important thing to remember is that if you add a DP to an existing Group of DP’s, the new DP does not automatically receive packages that are previously copied to that Group. Create a Distribution Point Group by following the next steps: Open the Configuration Manager console and browse to System Center Configuration Manager > Site Database > Site …

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Remote Distribution Points in ConfigMgr 2007

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This post will be a short follow-up on a previous post about How a client chooses a Distribution Point. In that post I tried to explain how a client picks a (Remote) Distribution Point (DP). In this post I will try to take away some more confusion about Remote DP’s. Let’s start with when a DP is considered a Remote DP. ConfigMgr looks at this from the clients perspective. If a client is within a Fast Network Boundary, then the DP(‘s) that is in the same Boundary will be marked as a Local DP. All the other DP’s are marked as Remote DP’s. The important part here is that a client has to be within the correct Boundary and that you are the only one who …

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