System Center and Azure Blog by Russ Slaten

Retiring my Blog

I just wanted to inform anyone that subscribes to this blog that I will no longer be posting here....

Date: 10/05/2015

Static vs Dynamic Routing Gateways in Azure

I was recently designing an Azure Hybrid Cloud implementation and was asked some questions regarding...

Date: 12/08/2014

Multihop Routing in Azure

There is some great documentation on how to Configure a Multi-Site VPN connection in Azure. I wanted...

Date: 12/05/2014

Create a Multi-NIC VM with a Public IP in Azure

We recently announced support for virtual machines (VMs) with multiple network interface controllers...

Date: 11/18/2014

Monitoring Distributed Applications in Operations Manager

One of the more complex Management Pack Authoring scenarios is monitoring distributed applications....

Date: 09/08/2014

Deploying Virtual Machines in Azure using Service Manager and SMA Part III

This is the 3rd post in a 3-part series on deploying VMs in Azure using System Center Service...

Date: 09/01/2014

Deploying Virtual Machines in Azure using Service Manager and SMA Part II

This is the 2nd post in a 3-part series on deploying VMs in Azure using System Center Service...

Date: 08/25/2014

Deploying Virtual Machines in Azure using Service Manager and SMA Part I

Earlier this year I worked with Brad Watts on some automation: Deploying Virtual Machines in Azure...

Date: 08/18/2014

Update the Request Action Log in Service Manager from SMA

Almost a month ago I posted on Updating the Request Action Log in Service Manager from Orchestrator....

Date: 08/11/2014

Converting Times from One Time Zone to Another Time Zone in PowerShell

I was doing some work with Service Manager and Orchestrator over the last few weeks and ran into a...

Date: 08/04/2014

Logging in CMTrace format from PowerShell

I know there are other examples of doing this out there but the one I use has a few other features...

Date: 07/28/2014

Management Pack Authoring in the VSAE - Tips and Tricks

I started authoring management packs (MPs) in System Center Operations Manager (SCOM) when the 2007...

Date: 07/21/2014

Updating the Request Action Log in Service Manager from Orchestrator

I have been developing a lot of automation in Service Manager / Orchestrator lately and wanted a way...

Date: 07/14/2014

Installing the Service Manager 2012 Self Service Portal

There is a lot of information on installing the SCSM 2012 portal on SharePoint. Recently I ran into...

Date: 07/07/2014

Operations Manager Health Service Restarts due to Exceeding Handle Count Threshold

Two of my coworkers, Chris Maiden and Phil Bracher, recently ran across an issue where many of their...

Date: 04/22/2014

Deploying Software from Configuration Manager using the Service Manager Self-Service Portal

This post is the 12th in a series of posts focused on making common administrative tasks in System...

Date: 03/31/2014

Sync Configuration Manager Application Collections in Service Manager

This post is the 11th in a series focused on making common administrative tasks in System Center and...

Date: 03/31/2014

Using an RDS Gateway to Connect to a Remote Lab

In my role I often have to demo solutions at conferences, customer locations, or training rooms. I...

Date: 03/20/2014

Monitoring Exchange 2010 Database Backup and Mount Status

The Exchange 2010 Management Pack for System Center Operations Manager 2007 / 2012 does some of its...

Date: 03/20/2014

Get All Windows XP Machines in an Active Directory Forest

Support for Windows XP ends on April 8, 2014. Some organizations might not be completely off Windows...

Date: 03/18/2014

Monitoring Point-of-Sale Devices Remotely Using System Center Operations Manager

Back in 2010 I developed a management pack to monitor retail point of sale devices. The design takes...

Date: 03/14/2014

URL Monitoring Part V–Monitoring URLs from a Resource Pool

This post is a continuation of the following series: URL Monitoring Part I – The Design URL...

Date: 03/12/2014

Shutting down your Azure Virtual Machines during non-working hours

I have a few Azure accounts which I use for labs, mainly virtual machines running various...

Date: 03/11/2014

Configuration Manager 2012 Direct Membership Collection Manager

I recently wanted to experiment with creating a user interface with PowerShell. I found that it...

Date: 03/10/2014

Monitoring Operations Manager Agent Health

I’m working on clearing out some old items on my “to blog” list. This one happens to be a management...

Date: 03/10/2014

How to make an Operations Manager Resource Pool Host your Custom Class

About 6 months ago I created a sample management pack after being asked how one could have their...

Date: 03/09/2014

DMVMUG 2014: DC, Maryland, Virginia Management User Group Conference

On Saturday, March 8th I am presenting at the DMVMUG 2014 User Group Conference with a group of my...

Date: 03/07/2014

Managing Operations Manager Agent Maintenance Mode using the Service Manager Self-Service Portal

This post is the 10th in a series of posts focused on making common administrative tasks in System...

Date: 03/07/2014

Enabling the Act as Proxy setting for Operations Manager Agents using the Service Manager Self-Service Portal

This post is the 9th in a series of posts focused on making common administrative tasks in System...

Date: 03/07/2014

Using the Service Manager Self-Service Portal to Manage Operations Manager Agents

This post is the 8th in a series of posts focused on making common administrative tasks in System...

Date: 03/07/2014

Managing Configuration Manager Collection Membership using the Service Manager Self-Service Portal

This post is the 7th in a series of posts focused on making common administrative tasks in System...

Date: 03/07/2014

Managing Configuration Manager Collections using the Service Manager Self-Service Portal

This post is the 6th in a series focused on making common administrative tasks in System Center and...

Date: 03/07/2014

Using the Service Manager Self-Service Portal to Manage Configuration Manager Clients

This post is the 5th in a series focused on making common administrative tasks in System Center and...

Date: 03/07/2014

Sync Configuration Manager Client and Operations Manager Agent State in Service Manager

This post is the 4th in a series focused on making common administrative tasks in System Center and...

Date: 03/07/2014

Sync Configuration Manager Collections in Service Manager

This post is the 3rd in a series of posts focused on making common administrative tasks in System...

Date: 03/07/2014

Deploying Virtual Machines in Azure using the Service Manager Self-Service Portal

This post is the 2nd in a series focused on making common administrative tasks in System Center and...

Date: 03/07/2014

Using the Service Manager Self-Service Portal for Common Tasks in Configuration Manager, Operations Manager, and Azure

This post is the first in a series focused on making common administrative tasks in System Center...

Date: 03/07/2014

Past Due Applications Not Installing in SCCM 2012

Jim Riekse and I recently collaborated on a solution to an issue involving newly imaged workstations...

Date: 11/26/2013

Get Counts of all Operating Systems in a Forest Per Domain

I was recently asked to get the count of all Windows XP systems in a forest. I decided to do a bit...

Date: 11/25/2013

Pinging a List of Machines in PowerShell

I know what you are thinking, another ping script? Yes, there are thousands of ping tools and...

Date: 07/30/2013

Create Overrides in SCOM 2012 with PowerShell

This is a continuation of a Data Center Automation series of posts that I have been working on with...

Date: 07/21/2013

Get All Overrides in a SCOM 2012 Management Group using PowerShell

This is a continuation of a Data Center Automation series of posts that I have been working on with...

Date: 07/21/2013

Get Overrides Applied to a Workflow in SCOM 2012 using PowerShell

This is a continuation of a Data Center Automation series of posts that I have been working on with...

Date: 07/21/2013

Get Parameters that can be Overridden in SCOM 2012 with PowerShell

This is a continuation of a Data Center Automation series of posts that I have been working on with...

Date: 07/19/2013

SCOM 2012 MP Authoring for Linux and UNIX

Kris Bash recently posted an excellent article on Management Pack Authoring for Linux and UNIX. Kris...

Date: 06/27/2013

Modifying Explicit Group Membership in SCOM 2012 with PowerShell

This is a continuation of a Data Center Automation series of posts that I have been working on with...

Date: 06/27/2013

Dumping WMI Instance Property Values for all Classes in a Namespace

This is a continuation of my Troubleshooting WMI Repository Bloat post. Once you have identified the...

Date: 06/17/2013

Adding References to MPs in SCOM 2012 with PowerShell

This is a continuation of a Data Center Automation series of posts that I have been working on with...

Date: 06/06/2013

Creating Groups in SCOM 2012 with PowerShell

This is a continuation of a Data Center Automation series of posts that I have been working on with...

Date: 06/06/2013

Deleting Workflows in SCOM 2012 with PowerShell

This is a continuation of a Data Center Automation series of posts that I have been working on with...

Date: 06/03/2013

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