Client Management Suite

 Can anyone tell me what CMS SP2 will bring to the table?
Will it support Server 2008?

Yes, it includes support for Windows Server 2008 and Windows 7.  I can't recall other specifics, and my beta login isn't working at the moment.  I'll post back when it is.

I believe the Release Notes for SP2 are going to be available around the end of this week.

Watch this space. 

Keep in mind the support for Server 2008 and Windows 7 is for clients only, not to install the NS on.

The support matrix for SMP/NS used to be here, not sure why I can't access it over the past week or two:
https://kb.altiris.com/articleRedirect.asp?aid=46349

It would answer all the questions you've ever asked about what's supported.  All I have is a static copy from July 2009.

As the SP is supposed to be out in a week or two, they might have the matrix offline pending update.

 Darnit

Q3/10 I think is when 7.1 is scheduled for...

All that plus 64 bit NS!!!!!!!!!!!

 SP2 is out. Still watching this space :)

You might be better off subscribing to the applicable KB category entires (patch, swd, inv) so you get notified when they do update. That, in addition to watching this space. :)

 I just had to be funny :)
I didn't realize/know that one could subscribe to KB categories. Thanks! :)

https://kb.altiris.com/article.asp?article=49644&p=1

(fixed the link) Jim

but after subscribing to a few hundred individual articles, I got curious and started nosing around. I still provide feedback when I can to individual articles, but no more 'single updates for me'. It's kind of nice to get the subscription emails too, gives me something to do when making my coffee in the morning.

I for one, believe the horse blanket should be put on the horse, prior to it pulling any cart. Meaning, the release notes should precede the update, after all, you only see "19 updates are available", not what those updates do.

For those that are adventurous\foolhardy, and can't afford or can't be bothered to have a test environment, it could be a devastating impact to a production architecture.

it has some attached spreadsheets for CMS and SMS support as well.

Our system is in pre-production, so I commenced with the install.  In every case the Migration SP4 package is failing to install.  Extremely frustrating. 

CMS SP2 requires Platform SP4, and yet again, the Platform SP is not installable if you have Dell Management Console installed.

I've only run it on one system, and although slow (it's a VM), I haven't run into any issues yet. Is yours failing immediately, half way through, any errors in the Altiris logs?

Halfway through.  3 Solutions (including Inventory) would not install at all.  Some would complete with the migration throwing an error, some completely failed.

After the install completes they will show with the error 'This product is installed but not properly configured" and directs you to manually configure or reinstall.

it could be a timeout issue. Now that they've failed, I'm not sure that will work, but it's worth a shot.

This is what I was doing, starting with SMP/NS SP4 (which is the first one that failed).  I ended upn doing a full uninstall and reinstall, unfortunately.  Thank goodness this is a preproduction system.

I guess that's why you need to make sure you always have a backup in place. Good to see you took the cautious approach, I would have hoped for a better outcome.

It was not an issue because we were using a dummy database for testing/discovery purposes.

My real concern would be if this install error did not occur in the test environment, we would not be prepared.

Essentially, this SP went through the entire beta cycle with never having release notes for it.

I know for me, I won't even consider installing beta or production code without release notes and understanding what I'm testing.

I completely agree.  We were in a unique position.  The system was in preproduction, we are migrating in a month or so, and Windows 7 and Snow Leopard compatibility were essential.  I took the plunge and got burned.

Another issue I noticed after installing Software Management Solution, there was an error saying "no package could be found for the selected agent installation policy."  Not sure how that happened if there were no errors during the install.  I had to again uninstall and reinstall the solution.

What does your test environment look like, if you don't mind sharing?  Here is my experience.

I have tested this on ESXi and Workstation 7 with Server 2003 SP2 and SQL 2008 Express SP2.

With this environment, I have seen consistent install and upgrade failures.  Typically the error code has something to do with a failure to communicate  with the database.  Further research has revealed this:

1. After the Server 2003 SP2 machine is built, I look at the Intel Pro 1000 NIC and the driver is from Microsoft and dated sometime in 2006.
2. I go to Intel's website and download the latest Intel Pro 1000 NIC driver (sometime in 2010).
3. Install the driver by running the .exe file.

Replacing this driver with one directly from Intel has increased my success rate of installations/upgrades to almost 100%.  I would HIGHLY recommend that you take a peek at the driver version of your NIC and see what the date is on it...

Just a thought...:)

Your setup is similar to our test environment, although we are using SQL 2005 and I am unaware of the ESX infratructure.  I'll look into the NIC issue.

Thanks,

Bryan