The Realm of the Verbal Processor

Unknown Computer Bug–Update

Just a quick update on the potential bug that I reported a couple of weeks ago. I’ve had a few back and forth exchanges via Connect about this issue, and it is being called “by design”. They asked my how I would like for this to work and at what point I would like for the machine to become “known”. Here is my response:

Thinking through the whole scenario…it would be best if the computer is seen as "known" AFTER it becomes a manageable system (i.e. after the Configuration Manager client is installed). Until that time, it is not a system that can be managed…it doesn’t even have an operating system until just before the client install step in the task sequence.

At minimum, I would not expect the computer to be "known" until after the task sequence successfully started. In the scenario I provided (task sequence erroring out at dependency check…which is VERY common), the task sequence has not begun…it is failing during the dependency check. The computer object that is created (named "Unknown") is not a manageable object. It is however an object that will block the computer from being able to run a task sequence that would allow it to be come manageable unless action is taken to remove it from the console.

The final response back from Microsoft via Connect was that this would be submitted to the Product Group as a Design Change Request.

This will be a very welcome change if it is implemented. Until then, be aware of the issue and what you need to do to fix this issue when you run into it in your environment.

April 17, 2012 - Posted by Jarvis | ConfigMgr 2012