A look at SCSM Workflows and Notifications and how to manage them by using scripts

I am a lazy guy and whenever possible I try to automate things using PowerShell scripts or System Center Orchestrator runbooks. If you work with Service Manager you know that lots of tasks can be automated by using PowerShell cmdlets that are somewhere stored in PowerShell modules. For Service Manager you have 2 PowerShell modules available: either you can use the Service Manager PowerShell module that is delivered with the Service Manager console or you can use the smlets PowerShell module that you can download from the codeplex web site. One cool thing to automate is the enabling and disabling of workflow and notification subscriptions. Why? When you add new workflows or subscriptions that replace others, it can be very challenging to find a good timing. Imaging you have 50 workflows that need to be replaced. You would have to create 50 new workflows, disable all 50 old workflows and enable all 50 new workflows. The goal is to minimize the impact on the running infrastructure. Very challenging in a 7×24 environment. By using scripts this becomes easy as 1-2-3 and is of course also much faster than using the Service Manager console.

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Manage Windows Azure using PowerShell: Part 1 – “The Setup”

When companies start using Windows Azure it sooner or later comes to the situation that you want to use the same management tools to manage on premise VMs and apps and azure-based VMs and apps. No big deal: Microsoft delivers a PowerShell module for managing Windows Azure! Together with other cool things like the Azure integration in SCOM, the Azure SCORCH integration pack etc. you get a great toolset for managing hybrid infrastructures. In this article I will demonstrate the steps that are needed to bring the PowerShell module for Windows Azure to life.

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Error using the Exchange Connector 3.0 RTM

The Service Manager Exchange Connector allows Service Manager to communicate with an Exchange Mailbox to create and update work items. It is mostly used to enable a good communication with end users. Installing the Exchange Connector is straightforward, but there’s one thing you need to keep in mind.

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Connect to a Linux VM on Windows Azure – Part 2/2

This is the second part of the series that will walk you through the process of connecting to a Linux VM that runs on Windows Azure. The first part was focused on SSH connections using regular credentials. This post will demonstrate how to use SSH keys for stronger authentication.

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Connect to a Linux VM on Windows Azure – Part 1/2

Windows Azure allows the deployment of non-Windows operating systems such as Suse, Ubuntu or CentOS. Because those operating systems do not allow connections by using remote desktop as you might know from the Windows world, you have to use SSH connections to get into the machines. This is the first of two quick posts that describe how to connect to Linux VMs by using SSH.

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Network Device Management in the Service Manager CMDB

If you want to manage network nevices in the CMDB you have two options: Either create your own class and attributes for those devices or use the default classesthat are delivered with System Center. If you choose option 1, you are more flexible as you can build the class from ground up for your needs. Option 2 however is good if you are using SCOM and want to sync devices that live in SCOM to the CMDB.  If needed, you can also manually add network devices to the CMDB using the same classes so that you get a single view on all those devices. In this port I will focus on option 2.

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Windows Azure Services for Windows Server, SPF and SCVMM – Managing Tenants across these components (Part 1)

SPF, short for service provider foundation, adds multi-tenancy capabilities to your System Center environment by offering a web service that in the backend will talk to other management products like System Center Virtual Machine Manager. To give users a good self service experience you can design a portal that communicates with SPF. Or if you want to save time you can use Windows Azure Services for Windows Server that contains different portals – one of them a tenant portal that allows new tenants to sign up and also order and manage virtual machines.

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Bringing VMware CIs from SCOM to the SCSM CMDB (using Veeam MP V6)

When using Microsoft System Center to manage VMware infrastructures you will very fast get in contact with the awesome SCOM management pack from Veeam. If you want to know more on how to install and configure this MP, you should take a look at this blog post over at scomfaq.ch. When you follow these steps you will have your VMware infrastrucure components fully discovered and monitored in SCOM. To use them from a service management perspective, we now need to bring them over to the Service Manager CMDB. Read on to learn how it works.

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SQL Query for Custom Reports – concatenate values in 1:many relationships

As soon as it comes to custom reporting in Service Manager, you are sooner or later dealing with SQL queries to get the needed data out of the data warehouse and into your reports. One of my customers came up with the request for a business service report that allows him to display information about business services with all related objects, e.g. service owner, contacts, related items etc. Knowing the data warehouse model helps here, but there are still some things that you have to take care about when it comes to reporting on 1:many relationships.

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System Center Universe DACH/Europe (SCU DACH) #SysCtr

Have you ever heard of the famous System Center Universe (SCU) hosted by Catapult Systems? If not then it’s about time to visit http://www.systemcenteruniverse.com and check out the excellent content.

After talking to Catapult Systems we decided to bring this great event to Europe. We are now in the planning phase, talking to partners, speakers, sponsors etc. that are interested to partner with us and help making this event coming true. Visit the event web site where we will start publishing more information shortly!

http://www.systemcenteruniverse.ch

Cheers
Marcel

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