Microsoft Systems Management Server 2003 : Package Distribution and Management - Monitoring Status

Both the package distribution process and the advertised programs process generate status messages. You can monitor status in the same place you have monitored other SMS functions—the System Status folder in the SMS Administrator Console. You can also expand the Component Status folder and view the messages for Distribution Manager and Offer Manager.

You’ve probably noticed two other folders in the SMS Administrator Console: Package Status and Advertisement Status, located under System Status. These folders pertain specifically to packages and advertisements and are more useful for monitoring their status. As with Component Status, both Package Status and Advertisement Status have status summarizers, which consolidate status messages generated by the SMS components involved in the package and advertisement processes.

In Figure 1, the Advertisement Status and Package Status folders have been expanded to demonstrate the information they summarize. Package status detail is summarized at two levels—by site and by distribution point. Advertisement status detail is summarized by site. At each level, you can view the detailed messages that were generated for that particular package or advertisement by right-clicking an entry, choosing Show Messages from the context menu, and then choosing All. After you specify a view data and time range, the Status Message Viewer displays the messages related to the package or advertisement.

Figure 1. The expanded Advertisement Status and Package Status folders.

The summary information displayed when a site entry is selected, as in Figure 1, shows when the package was copied to the distribution point and last refreshed. The summary information displayed when a specific package is selected, as in Figure 2, shows at a glance how many clients installed the package, how many failed, and how many are retrying.

Figure 2. Sample summary information displayed when a package is selected in the SMS Administrator Console.

Figure 3 shows the status messages generated at the site level for a package.

Figure 3. Status messages for a package generated at the site level.

Figure 4 shows the detailed messages for a specific distribution point in the site.

Figure 4. Status messages for a specific distribution point in a site.

Notice the difference in messages summarized for each. Messages for the distribution point are specific to that distribution point. Messages in the 23xx range refer to Distribution Manager tasks.

Figure 5 shows the summary information displayed in the SMS Administrator Console when you select an advertisement. This summary information includes success and failure status generated by the program as it’s run on the targeted clients.

Figure 5. Advertisement summary showing successful and failed program executions on the targeted clients.

Figure 6 shows some of the detailed messages generated for an advertisement associated with one of the package’s programs. The messages that appear vary somewhat depending on the type of SMS client installed. Messages generated by the Offer Manager component fall within the 39xx range. The messages generated by the Software Distribution agent in Figure 6 came from the client. The complete message text (appearing under Description) tells you when the advertisement was received, when the program started, and when the program completed.

Figure 6. Detailed messages generated for an advertisement associated with one of the package’s programs.

When a program executes at the client and a status MIF is generated, you can determine whether the program completed, how the program ran, and, if it failed, what caused the problem. It should be no surprise, therefore, that we can determine not only whether a program ran, but also how it ran, whether it was successful, and, if it was unsuccessful, why it failed, as shown in Figure 6. The degree to which a program can generate this information depends on whether the program generates a status MIF for SMS reporting and the exit codes that are generated. SMS interprets any nonzero exit code as an error or a failure. For example, a Setup.bat file might simply execute an XCOPY of a file to a directory on the client. Even though the XCOPY command is successful, the exit code that it generates is interpreted as an error. Nevertheless, the detailed message is still far more useful and informative.

As always, you can also view the log files associated with the Distribution Manager and Offer Manager—Distmgr.log and Offermgr.log. These logs will provide thread activity details, but they’re more useful for determining why a source file couldn’t be copied to a distribution point or why a program couldn’t be advertised—in other words, to troubleshoot the package distribution and advertised program processes. For monitoring the package distribution and program execution process, the Status Viewer will be more than sufficient and probably more efficient.