Include Cumulative Update or Patch in SCCM Task Sequence

I think this is fairly well publicised however I thought I would post my way of integrating a Cumulative Update or Patch into a SCCM Task Sequence. I will use the latest Configuration Manager 2012 SP1 Cumulative Update 3 (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2882125) as an example, however this process can be reused for future Cumulative Update or Hotfix releases.

1. Make a copy of the SCCM Client Source (folder) and copy it to your package source location. The SCCM client can be found under: C:\Program Files\Microsoft Configuration Manager\Client.

2. Depending on the hardware architecture (x86 or x64) copy the associated hotfix from:
C:\Program Files\Microsoft Configuration Manager\hotfix\KB2882125\Client\x64
or
C:\Program Files\Microsoft Configuration Manager\hotfix\KB2882125\Client\i386

Create a x64 and x86 folder under a new 'Patch' folder.

Copy the configmgr2012ac-sp1-kb2882125-<architecture>.msp file to the associated folder in the copied client source.

 

 

3. Create a new package pointing to the copied Configuration Manager Client Install source and name it 'Configuration Manager Client with CU3' or similar. There is no need to create any associated program as the Task Sequence step will take care of the client install.

 

 



4. Open you Task Sequence and select the 'Setup Windows and Configuration Manager' step. Modify the installation properties to include the following switch:

 

PATCH="%_SMSTSMDataPath%\OSD\<packageID\Patch\x64\configmgr2012ac-sp1-kb2882125-x64.msp"

 

or

 

PATCH="%_SMSTSMDataPath%\OSD\<packageID>\Patch\x86\configmgr2012ac-sp1-kb2882125-i386.msp"

  

SCVMM 2012 SP1 Hyper-V host lowercase to uppercase

So for the slightly OCD folks out there who have installed SCVMM, added the hosts to be managed and noticed that some names are in lower case and some are in uppercase. Functionally not a big deal but doesn't look consistent.

I came across this great little tid bit by Larry Rayl: http://blogs.catapultsystems.com/lrayl/archive/2013/05/14/tips-amp-tricks-for-sc-2012-sp1-vmm-fix-for-the-upper-and-lower-case-host-listings.aspx

Simply follow the below steps:

1. Backup the SCVMM Database (SCVMM console or in SQL Management Studio). I need to stress this is a must for any DB level changes required for SCVMM!

2. Log on to SQL Management Studio and apply the following script:

SELECT [ComputerName], UPPER(LEFT([ComputerName], CHARINDEX('.', [ComputerName], 1) -1)) +
            RIGHT([ComputerName], LEN([ComputerName]) - CHARINDEX('.', [ComputerName], 1) + 1)
FROM [VirtualManagerDB].[dbo].[tbl_ADHC_Host]

UPDATE [VirtualManagerDB].[dbo].[tbl_ADHC_Host]
SET [ComputerName] = UPPER(LEFT([ComputerName], CHARINDEX('.', [ComputerName], 1) -1)) +
                               RIGHT([ComputerName], LEN([ComputerName]) - CHARINDEX('.', [ComputerName], 1) + 1)


3. After running the script, restart “System Center Virtual Machine Manager Agent Service” on the VMM Server.

4. After this all hosts will appear in uppercase.

So all those OCD folks out there...can rest at ease!
Thanks Larry!