1 What the monitor reads
The Deployment Monitor gets its primary feed from the ConfigMgr server. The ConfigMgr server has a delay before it shows any status messages, so the monitor can also read log files and registry data from the client computers. This gives users access to live data from a deployment.
The monitor shows the data directly from the client log files, filtered by what is relevant for the current deployment. Users do not have to browse through big log files, no log viewer is required, and users do not need permission to access the file systems of the client computers.
2 Environment
The monitor needs the rights and the service on the clients in this table.
| Requirement | Why | How to check |
|---|---|---|
| The SoftwareCentral service account (the application pool user) has local administrative permissions on all clients | SoftwareCentral reads the registry and the log files of each client with this account. | Check that the account is a member of the local Administrators group on a client. |
| The Remote Registry Service is enabled on the clients (optional) | With the setting ticked, SoftwareCentral reads the client registry through the Remote Registry Service. Without it, SoftwareCentral uses WMI, which is noticeably slower. | Check the Remote Registry service on a client, then tick the setting in step 2 below. |
If you have enabled the Remote Registry Service on all of your clients, go to the Settings menu in SoftwareCentral, under SCCM › Clients, and tick Remote Registry Service Enabled. Otherwise, SoftwareCentral will use WMI to connect to the clients, which is noticeably slower.
3 Packages and applications
If your packages and applications run from script files instead of MSI files, the scripts must return the exit code of the actual executable, not the exit code of the script.
If the script returns only its own exit code, the deployment can fail while the script runs successfully. The Deployment Manager then shows the deployment as a success, because the exit code it received came from the script.
4 Task sequences
The Deploy Operating System functionality lets users migrate user data when they reinstall a computer. For this setting to work, you must configure your task sequences to support it.
See Task Sequence Configuration for a detailed description of how to do this.
5 Best practice
- Turn on the Remote Registry Service on the clients, and tick the setting. The monitor then avoids WMI, which is noticeably slower.
- Use the same service account, with local administrator rights, on every client it monitors. A client without the rights shows no live data.
- Make script-based packages return the exit code of the program. Otherwise a failed install shows as a success on the monitor.
- Configure the task sequences before you rely on migrating user data. The option does nothing until they support it.
6 Troubleshooting
| Symptom | Cause | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| The log contains "Failed to connect to client" followed by the client name | SoftwareCentral could not open a WMI connection to the client registry. The service account may not be a local administrator on the client, or WMI may be blocked. | Check the rights in section 2. Check that WMI is reachable: see the ports in Prerequisites for SoftwareCentral. |
| The monitor shows a deployment as a success but the software did not install | A script returns the exit code of the script, not of the program. | Change the script so that it returns the exit code of the program (section 3). |