Microsoft System Center Configuration Manager (SCCM) Lab

Microsoft System Center Configuration Manager (SCCM) is a software management tool that provides comprehensive management of servers, desktops and laptops. Configuration Manager is a part of the Microsoft Intune family of products.

SCCM allows administrators to deliver more effective IT services by enabling the creation and deployment of software packages, deploying updates and providing endpoint security polices that keeps the devices in compliance with organizational regulations. SCCM also provides the capability to manage hardware inventories while monitoring system status across an organization.

SCCM uses a client-server architecture where the SCCM server manages and controls the client computers using a combination of server-side components, site roles and client agents. The server side is known as the Configuration Manager Console while the user side is the Software Center.

The overall goal of Configuration Manager is to reduce the administrative overhead and total cost of ownership maintaining a large-scale IT environment.

In this lab we will create the basic configuration required to deploy and/or remove software to Windows 10 desktop by:

1. Creating a share path to the installation files that will be pushed down to the client machines.
2. Creating Active Directory Computer Groups and defining how machines are allocated to different departments within an organization.
3. Defining the device collection groups from within SCCM.
4. Deploying software packages:
   1. LibreOffice
   2. FileZilla
   3. VLC Media Player
   4. 7-ZIP
   5. Mozilla Firefox
   6. Sublime Text Editor
   7. Notepad++
5. Removing software packages:
   1. Sublime Text Editor
   2. Truecrypt
6. Utilizing a PowerShell script from SCCM to install multiple package load.
   1. Keepass
   2. Veracrypt

We will also go through the process of deploying a maintenance schedule for application deployment. Finally, we will discuss server/client troubleshooting when deploying the application packages.

The lab is comprised of the following components and software versions:

• Microsoft Active Directory Server (Windows Server 2019 Standard)
• Microsoft System Configuration Manager Server (Windows Server 2022 Standard)
  • SCCM version (2203)
  • SQL version (2019)
• Windows 10 Desktops (Enterprise)
  • SSCM Software Center (5.00.9078.100X)
• Client Installer Packages
  • LibreOffice (7.3.4.1)
  • FileZilla (3.63.1)
  • VLC Media Player (3.0.17.4)
  • 7-ZIP (2201)
  • Mozilla Firefox (102.8.0esr)
  • Sublime Text Editor (3211)
  • Notepad++ (8.4)
  • Keepass (2.51.1)
  • Veracrypt (1.25.9)
• PSAppDeployToolKit (3.8.4)