Supporting Windows

Have you published your SCCM server to active directory yet? If not, clients will never find the new server, as the boundary information has not yet been made available to active directory. You can begin publication by opening up the console, and navigating to Site Database-->Site Management--> right click on "(site code) - (Site Name)" --> click properties --> Advanced tab --> Publish this site in Active Directory Domain Services.

Keep in mind that, with parallel installations, if the boundaries overlap (IE, your subnet range encroaches on the addresses provided by your site) then the clients in the overlapped IP space will essentially select a random site when discovery is run. While using parallel SMS installations, especially when one is a test environment, I typically find that it's best to point test clients to the server with a customized installer. You can use the client.msi from your SCCM installation folder with the SMSSITECODE= switch on the command line to accomplish this.

Thanks for your response. On the SCCM server I have "Published this site in AD..." checked already. The schema has also been extended on SCCM as well as SMS. I also used a script to install the client which has the SMSSITECODE=xxx in there. When I open up the CM properties on the client and then select the Advance tab, my site code is in the field already but when I click on the Discover button it gives me an error saying Auto Site discovery is unsuccessful. What log files do I need to look at on the client?

I'd start with locationservices.log, see what that tells you when you hit "discover."

OK, so I changed it from a vbs script to using a adm template found on the install CD. If I restart my machine and click on the auto discover button, the discovery is successful. But after a while (30 minutes) I try to discover again and it comes back unsuccessful. I looked at the locationservices.log and this is what it displays.

LSGetAssignedSiteFromDirectories: Found Assigned Site Code <XXX> by Group Policy LocationServices
LSVerifySiteVersion : Verifying Site Version for <XXX> LocationServices
LSGetSiteVersionFromAD : Successfully retrieved version '4.00.6221.0000' for site 'XXX' LocationServices
LSVerifySiteVersion : Verified Client Version '4.00.6221.1000' is not greater than Site Version '4.00.6221.0000'. Client can be assigned to site <XXX>. LocationServices


Any thoughts on this?

Looks like it's successfully assigning according to the log, and the functionality works as expected. Have you tried assigning the machine to the wrong site manually, and then clicking discover again to see if it will go from the wrong site to discovering the correct site again?

OK, I tried discovery again and it was successful but after a few minutes (without rebooting) I tried again and it was unsuccessful. locationservices.log shows the same message on both successful and unsuccessful attempts. I tried changing the site code to something non-existing and it came back unsuccessful and the site code automatically changed back to the correct site code. Is there a different log I should look at? Is it because I have 2 MP's?

Sounds like the functionality is perfect, but the feedback is a failure. Any true failures should be reported in locationservices, so it sounds to me just like some funky quirks as a result of having two parallel site installations.

EDIT: It should also be noted that parallel site installations are 100% not supported by Microsoft (I asked them, they told me to shut up and gtfo.) Having run parallel sites for a while, I didn't have any real functionality problems, but strange little things did crop up from time to time.

Hmmm... interesting. Yeah as long as I can remote and gather data from my machines I guess it should be ok. Hopefully after we remove the old server all will discover properly. Thanks for your time and help. Much appreciated.