This article is a reproduced version of the “Point to point” article I wrote for Server Management Magazine back in November 2007. Thumbnails of the actual pages from the magazine are included at the end of the article which can be clicked to view the full sized versions.

Point to point

Now we’ve established why we need them, getting Management Points up and running is just a case of following the instructions. Last month we looked at the basics of management points in Systems Management Server (SMS) 2003 and issues relating to Design.  In Part II, this month we move on to look at installation, configuration and troubleshooting.

PROBLEM:

I seem to be always having problems with SMS 2003 Management Points.  Is there some kind of Troubleshooting Checklist available that could help me?

I’m trying to upgrade my SMS 2003 SP2 Central Site to SP3. However, the installation fails with a dialog box stating:

Systems Management Server Setup cannot continue because of the following error: Setup cannot upgrade the SMS database. Contact your SQL administrator.

Looking in the C:\SMSSETUP.LOG it reports:

SQL error <[08S01][0][Microsoft][ODBC SQL Server Driver]Communication link failure

PROBLEM:

I have sent a Package to a remote DP but it has not arrived. Looking in the replmgr.log on the sending Site it states:

"There are jobs to <target_site_code> of the same priority waiting to be sent, won’t send this batch"

PROBLEM:

I am trying to delete a SMS 2003 Secondary Site from my hierarchy. However, when I right-click on the Site in the Admin Console on my Central Site why don’t I see the “Delete” option?

PROBLEM:

I am trying to use Operating System Deployment (OSD). I have booted from a memory stick and my build has failed. Is there an easy way to copy the log files from the C: drive to my USB stick to help me troubleshoot the issue?