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?]]>A JAMESFri, 11 Apr 2008 10:30:43 GMThttp://www.windowsitpro.com/article/ecommerce/microsoft-site-server-3-0-commerce-edition#commentsAnchorhttp://www.windowsitpro.com/article/windows-client/customizing-systems-management-server#commentsAnchorMon, 24 Jan 2005 13:08:41 GMT
Side Bar • SMS and Desktop Management Interface Also in this Series • Customizing Graphics for SMS Custom Inventory Objects Management Information Format files categorize SMS inventory listings Microsoft Systems Management Server (SMS) provides a powerful set of services and tools for centrally managing Windows NT networks. Its systems-management capabilities let you inventory software and hardware configurations, distribute software, perform remote troubleshooting, and store management information to a centralized database. In addition to using these services, you can customize and integrate SMS with your internal systems and processes. Management Information Format (MIF) files let you collect inventory information and use SMS to work with it. You can customize SMS by modifying those files. MIFs An important SMS function is inventorying your network’s hardware and software. SMS collects your system inventory information in MIFs. These ASCII text files, which you can read with any text editor, describe your inventory in a nested hierarchy of categories: components, groups within components, and detailed attributes within groups. As part of SMS’s standard processing, MIFs collect and describe personal computer inventory information and internal information such as SMS events, job location, job details, user groups, and Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP) traps. In addition to providing these standard MIF types, SMS lets you custom-define MIFs to describe virtually any type of system component, such as a router, hub, printer, person, or conceptual object. MIF Syntax MIFs comply with the Desktop Management Task Force (DMTF) Desktop Management Interface (DMI) version 1.0 standard. (SMS uses a subset of the DMI MIF syntax. For information about the DMI standard for MIFs, see the sidebar, "SMS and Desktop Management Interface ," page 104.) The DMI syntax organizes MIF information into different definition blocks. Table 1 (page 99) lists and defines the definition-block types this article discusses. In a MIF, the keywords Start and End delimit the scope of a definition block. For example, Start Component and End Component delimit the scope of a component block, so they are usually the first and last lines, respectively, in a MIF. A MIF’s component block contains all other MIF blocks, which contain the details about a component’s groups, attributes, and tables. A MIF component becomes an inventory object when you load it into the SMS database. Suppose you want an inventory object that represents an employee. You need to create a MIF containing the necessary definition blocks to fully describe and define the employee. Listing 1 shows a sample MIF that describes an employee (lines are indented for readability). The Start Component and End Component keywords delimit the Employee component block, as you see in Listing 1 at A. The Employee component block contains several group blocks. A Start Group and End Group keyword pair delimits each group, as you see in Listing 1 at B: Architecture, Identification, Employee Information, and Employee Location. Each group contains group statements and one or more attribute blocks. Architecture and Identification are special groups that SMS requires. A MIF’s Architecture group defines a component’s group and attribute structure; it tells SMS what data needs to be in this component. You must include an Architecture group for each MIF. For example, a component that describes PC hardware includes an Architecture group that specifies Personal Computer. Listing 2 shows the Architecture group for this type of MIF. Except for the Value and string length, all Architecture group elements must match those in Listing 2. SMS includes the following standard architectures: * Personal Computer, which defines inventory for the standard set of supported SMS clients and servers (all Microsoft clients and servers, Macintosh, OS/2, and NetWare) * SMSEvent, which defines SMS Events that record information about the operational status of SMS processes and components such as SMS service error (you can view these events through the SMS Administrator’s Events window) * PackageLocation, which provides such information about a distributed software package as site, distribution server, share name, and package type * JobDetails, which collects detailed information about an SMS job such as the information about the job request * UserGroups, which lists domain global groups by site code (for assigning user groups to program groups) * SNMP Traps, which store SNMP trap data that the SNMP Trap Receiver (new for SMS 1.2) logs to your site SMS also requires MIFs to include an Identification group, which contains attributes that identify the instance of the component the MIF describes. Listing 3 shows the Identification group from a Personal Computer architecture MIF. Defining Group Blocks To define a group block, you have to assign each group an Integer ID (e.g., see Listing 1 at C) that is unique within the MIF. In SMS, you use this Integer ID only in the context of the current MIF to identify the group when SMS parses the MIF. In Listing 1 at C, the Architecture group has an Integer ID of 1. You also have to assign each group a Class, as you see in Listing 1 at D. The Class identifies the group type and its associated attributes across all MIFs of the same architecture. By convention, you can construct the Class by concatenating your company name with the group name and a version number. You separate each component with the pipe symbol (|). In Listing 1 the Class for the Architecture group is microsoft|architecture|1.0. This identifier is in contrast to the Group ID, which must be unique only within the current MIF. The ID might change, for example, if you generate MIFs with a dynamically changing number of attributes or you do not know what value a third-party product used in a previously generated MIF. Although this varying of IDs does not affect SMS, other DMI systems that support the Component Interface (CI) can have problems when the CI functions reference the ID to locate groups and attributes. Therefore, I strongly advise that once you select an ID for a group, you use it consistently for all additional MIFs for that architecture. A Group’s Key Statement A group can contain a Key statement, as you see in Listing 1 at E. A group’s Key statement lists the ID values, separated by commas, of attributes within the group. Together these attributes form the logical key that distinguishes one group record from another. When the Key statement is in the Identification group, it identifies one or more of the Identification group’s attributes that form the logical key for the entire component. This logical key distinguishes one instance (here, an instance is the actual record of an object rather than the abstract definition of an object type) of a component for the given architecture from another SMS database object of the same architecture. So, for example, the Key statement in the Identification group in Listing 1 references the attribute ID, which is 1. (This attribute ID can be any number you choose, so long as it is unique within the group.) This ID, in turn, references the group’s Employee ID attribute block value, which is 9999999999. This value (9999999999) is the logical key for the Employee component and thus distinguishes this employee record from other employee records in the SMS database. For the Personal Computer architecture, the Key statement differentiates one workstation and its associated groups and attributes from those of another workstation. The unique logical key SMS uses to identify workstations is a combination of the Name, NetCardID, and SMSID attributes. (If you add a custom architecture, you will want to ensure that you use the Key statement to identify a unique set of Identification group attributes. Otherwise, SMS will use all attributes in the Identification Group as the key.) The Start Attribute and End Attribute keywords delimit each attribute in a group. For example, in the Identification group in Listing 1 at F, EmployeeID is the name of an attribute block. Similar to the ID statement for group blocks, the attribute block contains an ID statement (see Listing 1 at G) that must be a unique integer within the group. Be consistent with the Attribute ID to ensure other DMI services can use your MIFs. An attribute’s Access statement (see Listing 1 at H) defines the type of access an application can gain to that particular field. SMS currently only parses this statement but doesn’t use its value. The Storage statement you see in Listing 1 at I defines how you store an attribute’s value. If the Storage value is COMMON, the attribute’s Value statement specifies the attribute’s value, and SMS stores this value in a common SMS database reference table that all groups of this class share. For each instance of this group in the database, SMS stores a pointer to the value in the table for each common attribute. If the Storage value is SPECIFIC, SMS stores the attribute’s value in the group record. SMS stores three types of attributes: String, Integer, and Date. The Type statement you see in Listing 1 at J specifies the data type for an attribute. Finally, the attribute Value statement you see in Listing 1 at K contains the value to be stored for the particular attribute. In the Employee component example, the EmployeeName attribute is a 30-character string that stores John Doe. Because names are usually unique, the Storage type is SPECIFIC. Prev. page [1] 2 next page -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Reader Comments If you found Mark Eddins’s January article (“Customizing Systems Management Server”) on generating custom Management Information Format (MIF) files for SMS interesting, you might want to look at Computing Edge’s Inventory +Plus. It lets you extract information from the Registry and pass it to SMS. Using a simple scripting language, the product looks for Registry entries matching a given pattern and then packages that information as noidmif files. True, you can use Perl or some other Registry-enabled language to write scripts to generate the MIF files, but Inventory +Plus reduces development time by supplying a language custom-designed for this purpose. Inventory +Plus ships with a bunch of ready-made scripts for extracting a variety of information from both NT and Win95 machines. In addition, I have found Computing Edge (http://www.computingedge.com/) to be very responsive to customer suggestions and requests. If you are investing in SMS and want another tool in your toolbox, take a look at Inventory +Plus.
--Toby Everett Toby Everett -August 12, 1999 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- POST YOUR COMMENTS HERE If you don’t have a username & password, please register now (Registration not required to post as Anonymous). Forgot your username/password? Username:: Password: : Rate this article: less useful more useful 1 2 3 4 5 Your Comments: : Windows IT Pro Magazine Options • Subscribe • Renew • Archive CD • Monthly Pass • Back Issues • Article Reprint • Customer Service • Group Discount 1 Vulnerability Scanners 2 Microsoft Abruptly Pulls MSN Messenger 7.0 Beta 3 How can I uninstall the Microsoft Java Virtual Machine (JVM) from Windows XP? 4 Common .pst File Questions 5 WinInfo Short Takes: Week of January 24 More Top Viewed Articles • From Chaos to Control: Using Service Management to Reclaim Your Life • TechNet Webcast: Microsoft System Management Server 2003: A Technical Overview - Level 200 • TechNet Webcast: Understanding the SMS 2003 Operating System Deployment Feature Pack - Level 200 • TechNet Webcast: What’s in SMS 2003 Service Pack 1? - Level 200 ALL EVENTS >> Windows IT Pro Marketplace Archive Manager for Exchange Reduce cost and consolidate e-mail storage with Quest! Free Seminar! Building Application Specific Blade Servers with David Chernicoff Find Oracle Answers Fast Over 700 how-to articles and simple tips. Get answers now! Join Mike Otey to... Discover All You Need to Know on 64-bit Computing in the Enterprise Save Time and Money with Network Faxing Read the free white paper from Esker Software Free White Paper from NSI Software Protecting the Enterprise - Edge to Core (ESG Research) Protect Your Company from Within! Learn how to Manage Your Users’ Internet Access Argent versus MOM 2005 Experts Pick the Best Windows Monitoring Solution Featured Links Get 2 Sample Issues of Windows IT Pro! Get the latest tips & tricks, and become an IT hero! Get SQL Server Magazine and Get Answers Order SQL Server Magazine today and get the "69 Top Tips" Guide FREE! Find Out the Latest IM Risks Learn which risks to address in this free Web seminar. New Network Security eBook Securely implement a network around Microsoft products. Free Patch Management eBook Learn about Microsoft’s patch deployment tools. Essential Guide to Antispam Developments Increase mail server efficiency, decrease storage requirements. Free - Server Consolidation Roadshow Take a strategic approach to IT planning. Win an iPod! Register now! ]]>Anonymous User Mon, 24 Jan 2005 13:08:41 GMThttp://www.windowsitpro.com/article/windows-client/customizing-systems-management-server#commentsAnchorhttp://www.windowsitpro.com/article/windows-client/customizing-graphics-for-sms-custom-inventory-objects#commentsAnchorThu, 25 Dec 2003 19:38:07 GMT
this site is very helpful for freshers in VC++.net .A main problem is no other programmes in VC++.net.]]>VishnuThu, 25 Dec 2003 19:38:07 GMThttp://www.windowsitpro.com/article/windows-client/customizing-graphics-for-sms-custom-inventory-objects#commentsAnchorhttp://www.windowsitpro.com/article/windows-client/customizing-systems-management-server#commentsAnchorThu, 12 Aug 1999 15:22:18 GMT
If you found Mark Eddins’s January article (“Customizing Systems Management Server”) on generating custom Management Information Format (MIF) files for SMS interesting, you might want to look at Computing Edge’s Inventory +Plus. It lets you extract information from the Registry and pass it to SMS. Using a simple scripting language, the product looks for Registry entries matching a given pattern and then packages that information as noidmif files. True, you can use Perl or some other Registry-enabled language to write scripts to generate the MIF files, but Inventory +Plus reduces development time by supplying a language custom-designed for this purpose. Inventory +Plus ships with a bunch of ready-made scripts for extracting a variety of information from both NT and Win95 machines. In addition, I have found Computing Edge (http://www.computingedge.com/) to be very responsive to customer suggestions and requests. If you are investing in SMS and want another tool in your toolbox, take a look at Inventory +Plus.
--Toby Everett]]>Toby Everett Thu, 12 Aug 1999 15:22:18 GMThttp://www.windowsitpro.com/article/windows-client/customizing-systems-management-server#commentsAnchor