Install and Configure System Center Essentials 2007

When Microsoft released System Center Operations Manager 2007, the successor to Microsoft Operations Manager (MOM) 2005, it also took the time to update MOM 2005 Workgroup Edition. The rebranded version is Microsoft System Center Essentials 2007, a System Center version scaled for midsized environments (i.e., networks with up to 30 servers and 500 desktops) that lets administrators manage networks and software updates. Essentials 2007 SP1, released in May, includes improvements such as better update management; support for Windows Server 2008, workgroup systems, and SNMP monitoring; and better performance and usability. I’ll help you start using Essentials 2007 by guiding you through its installation and initial configuration. In an upcoming article, I’ll show you how to set up and use key management features of Essentials 2007.

Before You Start
Before you install Essentials 2007, make sure your environment can support the product’s hardware requirements and that you’ve installed the software prerequisites. You can find information about Essentials 2007 hardware and software requirements in the Essentials 2007 readme file and on the Microsoft System Center Essentials System Requirements web page (www.microsoft.com/systemcenter/essentials/en/us/system-requirements.aspx). Note that you must configure Microsoft IIS to allow ASP. NET 2.0; additionally, to enable email event notifications, you’ll need an SMTP relay-andmail system, such as Microsoft Exchange 2007 or Exchange Server 2003. I also recommend that before installing Essentials 2007, you apply all the latest updates to the server you’ll install it on.

Essentials 2007 uses Microsoft SQL Server 2005 to store configuration and operations data and includes a copy of Microsoft SQL Server 2005 Express Edition. For most deployments, SQL Server 2005 Express will be sufficient to store your environment’s systems management information and provide reports. However, if you have a large network, you can use a SQL Server 2005 database server with SQL Server 2005 Reporting Services (SSRS) to store systems management data and provide reports. If you have a large network but no SQL Server 2005 database server, or if none of your SQL Server database servers has spare capacity, you can buy the Essentials 2007 with SQL Server Technology version, which includes a copy of SQL Server 2005 intended solely for Essentials 2007. (For more information about the Essentials 2007 with SQL Server Technology version and other Essentials 2007 versions, see the Microsoft System Center Essentials Pricing and Licensing web page at www.microsoft.com/systemcenter/essentials/en/us/pricing-licensing.aspx.)

An Essentials 2007 installation is typically simple and straightforward, but there are some known issues you should be aware of. To learn more about known issues and get other important installation information, I recommend that you consult the Release Notes and Installation Guide that come with Essentials 2007. If you’ve installed the software prerequisites but haven’t rebooted your server (even if a reboot isn’t required), I strongly recommend that you reboot it before proceeding.

Install Essentials 2007
Start the Essentials 2007 installation wizard by inserting the installation DVD into your DVD drive. Once the wizard has launched, you’ll see three installation options: Full Setup, User Interface, and Agent. Select Full Setup. If you don’t have Microsoft Core XML Services (MSXML) 6.0 SP1 installed, the wizard will prompt you to install MSXML 6.0 SP1. Click OK to launch the MSXML 6.0 SP1 installation wizard. For more information about installing MSXML 6.0 SP1, visit the Microsoft Core XML Services (MSXML) 6.0 Service Pack 1 web page (www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=d21c292c-368b-4ce1-9dab-3e9827b70604&displaylang=en). After MSXML 6.0 SP1 is installed, relaunch Full Setup. The installation wizard will confirm whether your machine has the hardware and software prerequisites, then ask whether you want to store update files locally or obtain them from the Microsoft Update website (www.update.microsoft.com/microsoftupdate/v6/vistadefault.aspx?ln=en-us).

The decision whether to store update files locally or use the Microsoft Update service to obtain updates is important. The latter option requires all your managed servers and workstations to go to Microsoft Update to obtain software updates. You might choose this option if you don’t have server capacity for inhouse update management, if you have two or more sites with Essentials 2007–managed systems and slow links connecting them, or if you’re using Essentials 2007 to manage the laptops of highly mobile users (although this scenario comes with a number of other problems which might make Essentials 2007 unsuitable, such as disconnected laptops that will erroneously report as being offline when they’re merely not connected to the enterprise network). By far, the preferred option is to let your Essentials 2007 server download updates from Microsoft Update, store the updates locally, and distribute them to your servers and workstations. Storing updates locally will also save bandwidth in your Internet connection.