Category / Windows Troubleshooting

by Trevor Jones

Get Program Execution History from a ConfigMgr Client with PowerShell

Have you ever been in the situation where something unexpected happens on a users computer and people start pointing their fingers at the ConfigMgr admin and asking “has anyone deployed something with SCCM?” Well, I decided to write a PowerShell script to retrieve the execution history for ConfigMgr programs on a local or remote client. This gives clear visibility of when and which deployments such as applications/programs/task sequences have run on the client and hopefully acquit you (or prove you guilty!)

Program execution history can be found in the registry but it doesn’t contain the name of the associated package, so I joined that data with software distribution data from WMI to give a better view.

You can run the script against the local machine, or a remote machine if you have PS remoting enabled. You can also run it against multiple machines at the same time and combine the data if desired. I recommend to pipe the results to grid view.

Get-CMClientExecutionHistory -Computername PC001,PC002 | Out-GridView
[CmdletBinding()]
Param
(
[Parameter(Mandatory=$false,ValueFromPipelineByPropertyName=$true,ValueFromPipeline=$true)]
[string[]]$ComputerName = $env:COMPUTERNAME
)
Begin
{
$Code = {
# Get Execution History from registry, and package details from WMI
$ExecutionHistoryKey = "HKLM:\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\SMS\Mobile Client\Software Distribution\Execution History"
$ContextKeys = Get-ChildItem $ExecutionHistoryKey | Select –ExpandProperty PSChildName
foreach ($ContextKey in $ContextKeys)
{
If ($ContextKey -eq "System")
{
$ContextKey = "Machine"
}
Else
{
$ContextKey = $ContextKey.Replace('–','_')
}
[array]$SoftwareDistribution += Get-CimInstance –Namespace ROOT\ccm\Policy\$ContextKey –ClassName CCM_SoftwareDistribution
}
# Create a datatable to hold the results
$DataTable = New-Object System.Data.DataTable
[void]$DataTable.Columns.Add("ComputerName")
[void]$DataTable.Columns.Add("PackageName")
[void]$DataTable.Columns.Add("PackageID")
[void]$DataTable.Columns.Add("ProgramName")
[void]$DataTable.Columns.Add("DeploymentStatus")
[void]$DataTable.Columns.Add("Context")
[void]$DataTable.Columns.Add("State")
[void]$DataTable.Columns.Add("RunStartTime")
[void]$DataTable.Columns.Add("SuccessOrFailureCode")
[void]$DataTable.Columns.Add("SuccessOrFailureReason")
foreach ($ContextKey in $ContextKeys)
{
If ($ContextKey -ne "System")
{
# Get user context if applicable
$SID = New-Object Security.Principal.SecurityIdentifier –ArgumentList $ContextKey
$Context = $SID.Translate([System.Security.Principal.NTAccount])
}
Else
{
$Context = "Machine"
}
$SubKeys = Get-ChildItem "$ExecutionHistoryKey\$ContextKey"
Foreach ($SubKey in $SubKeys)
{
$Items = Get-ChildItem $SubKey.PSPath
Foreach ($Item in $Items)
{
$PackageInfo = $SoftwareDistribution | Where {$_.PKG_PackageID -eq $SubKey.PSChildName -and $_.PRG_ProgramName -eq $Item.GetValue("_ProgramID")} | Select –First 1
If ($PackageInfo)
{
$PackageName = $PackageInfo.PKG_Name
$DeploymentStatus = "Active"
}
Else
{
$PackageName = "-Unknown-"
$DeploymentStatus = "No longer targeted"
}
[void]$DataTable.Rows.Add($using:Computer,$PackageName,$SubKey.PSChildName,$Item.GetValue("_ProgramID"),$DeploymentStatus,$Context,$Item.GetValue("_State"),$Item.GetValue("_RunStartTime"),$Item.GetValue("SuccessOrFailureCode"),$Item.GetValue("SuccessOrFailureReason"))
}
}
}
$DataTable.DefaultView.Sort = "RunStartTime DESC"
$DataTable = $DataTable.DefaultView.ToTable()
Return $DataTable
}
}
Process
{
foreach ($Computer in $ComputerName)
{
If ($Computer -eq $env:COMPUTERNAME)
{
$Result = Invoke-Command –ScriptBlock $Code
}
Else
{
$Result = Invoke-Command –ComputerName $Computer –HideComputerName –ScriptBlock $Code –ErrorAction Continue
}
$Result | Select ComputerName,PackageName,PackageID,ProgramName,DeploymentStatus,Context,State,RunStartTime,SuccessOrFailureCode,SuccessOrFailureReason
}
}
End
{
}
view raw Get-CMClientExecutionHistory.ps1 hosted with ❤ by GitHub
by Trevor Jones

ConfigMgr Client TCP Port Tester

This is a little tool I created for testing the required TCP ports on SCCM client systems. It will check that the required inbound ports are open and that the client can communicate to its management point, distribution point and software update point on the required ports. It also includes a custom port checker for testing any inbound or outbound port.

The default ports are taken from the Microsoft documentation, but these can be edited in the case that non-default ports are being used, or additional ports need to be tested.

The tool does not currently test UDP ports.

Requirements

  • Windows 8.1 + / Windows Server 2012 R2 +
  • PowerShell 5
  • .Net Framework 4.6.2 minimum

Download

Download from the GitHub.

Usage

To use the tool, extract the ZIP file, right-click the ‘ConfigMgr Client TCP Port Tester.ps1′ and run with PowerShell.

Checking Inbound Ports

Select Local Ports in the drop-down box and click GO to test the required inbound ports.

Checking Outbound Ports

Select the destination in the drop-down box (ie management point, distribution point, software update point).

Enter the destination server name if not populated by the defaults and click GO. The tool will test ICMP connectivity first, then port connectivity.

Custom Port Checking

To test a custom port, select Custom Port Test from the drop-down box. Enter the port number, direction (ie Inbound or Outbound) and destination (Outbound only). Click Add to add the test to the grid. You can add several tests. Click GO.

Adding Default Servers

You can pre-populate server names by editing the Defaults.xml file found in the defaults directory. For example, to add a default management point:

<ConfigMgr_Port_Tester>
  <ServerDefaults>
    <ManagementPoint>
      <Value>SCCMMP01</Value>
    </ManagementPoint>

Editing / Adding Default Ports

You can also edit, add or remove the default ports in the Defaults.xml file. For example, to add port 5985 in the default local port list:

<PortDefaults>
  <LocalPorts>
    <Port Name="80" Purpose="HTTP Communication"/>
    <Port Name="443" Purpose="HTTPS Communication"/>
    <Port Name="445" Purpose="SMB"/>
    <Port Name="135" Purpose="Remote Assistance / Remote Desktop"/>
    <Port Name="2701" Purpose="Remote Control"/>
    <Port Name="3389" Purpose="Remote Assistance / Remote Desktop"/>
    <Port Name="5985" Purpose="WinRM"/>
  </LocalPorts>

Source Code

Source code can be found in my GitHub repo.

by Trevor Jones

New Tool: Delivery Optimization Monitor

Delivery Optimization Monitor is a tool for viewing Delivery Optimization data on the local or a remote PC.

It is based on the built-in Delivery Optimization UI in Windows 10 but allows you to view data graphically from remote computers as well.

The tool uses the Delivery Optimization PowerShell cmdlets built in to Windows 10 to retrieve and display DO data, including stats and charts for the current month, performance snapshot data and data on any current DO jobs.

Requirements

  • A supported version of Windows 10 (1703 onward)
  • PowerShell 5 minimum
  • .Net Framework 4.6.2 minimum
  • PS Remoting enabled to view data from remote computers.

This WPF tool is coded in Xaml and PowerShell and uses the MahApps.Metro and LiveCharts open source libraries.

Download

Download the tool from the Technet Gallery.

Use

To use the tool, extract the ZIP file, right-click the Delivery Optimization Monitor.ps1 and run with PowerShell.

To run against the local machine, you must run the tool elevated. To do so, create a shortcut to the ps1 file. Edit the properties of the shortcut and change the target to read:

PowerShell.exe -ExecutionPolicy Bypass -File “<pathtoPS1file>”

Right-click the shortcut and run as administrator, or edit the shortcut properties (under Advanced) to run as administrator.

For completeness, you can also change the icon of the shortcut to the icon file included in the bin directory.

Delivery Optimization Statistics

There are 3 tabs – the first displays DO data for the current month together with charts for download and upload statistics.

The second tab displays PerfSnap data and the third displays any current DO jobs.

Shout Out

Shout out to Kevin Rahetilahy over at dev4sys.com for blogging about LiveCharts in PowerShell.

Source Code

Source code can be found on GitHub.

by Trevor Jones

Intune Client-Side Logs in Windows 10

Note to self (and anyone interested!) about the client-side location of logs and management components of Intune on a Windows 10 device.

Diagnostic Report

A diagnostic report can be generated client-side from Settings > Access Work and School > Connected to <Tenant>’s Azure AD > Info > Create Report

The report will be saved to:

C:\Users\Public\Public Documents\MDMDiagnostics\MDMDiagReport.html

Intune Management Extension

Information on the parameters for the IME can be found in the registry:

HKLM:\Software\Microsoft\EnterpriseDesktopAppManagement\<SID>\MSI\<ProductCode>

The MSI itself can be found here, together with an installer log:

C:\Windows\System32\config\systemprofile\AppData\Local\mdm

Note: if you disconnect a device from Azure AD and rejoin it again, you will need to reinstall the IME as it will have a different device identifier.

IME logs can be found here:

C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\IntuneManagementExtension\Logs

The logs are:

  • AgentExecutor
  • ClientHealth
  • IntuneManagementExtension

Script Execution

When a PowerShell script is run on the client from Intune, the scripts and the script output will be stored here, but only until execution is complete:

C:\Program files (x86)\Microsoft Intune Management Extension\Policies\Scripts

C:\Program files (x86)\Microsoft Intune Management Extension\Policies\Results

A transcript of the script execution can be found underneath C:_showmewindows (a hidden folder)

The full content of the script will also be logged in the IntuneManagementExtension.log (be careful of sensitive data in scripts!)

The error code and result output of the script can also be found in the registry:

HKLM:\Software\Microsoft\IntuneManagementExtension\Policies\<UserGUID>\<ScriptGUID>

Event Logs

There are a couple of MDM event logs which can be found here:

Applications and Services Logs > Microsoft > Windows > DeviceManagement-Enterprise-Diagnostics-Provider

Services

The IME runs as a service called “Microsoft Intune Management Extension”. You can restart this to force a check for new policies.

Scheduled Task

The IME runs a health evaluation every day as a scheduled task, and logs the results in the ClientHealth.log:

Microsoft > Intune > Intune Management Extension Health Evaluation

If you know of any other log locations, please let me know!

Lots of great info on the IME by Oliver Kieselbach here and here.

by Trevor Jones

Create Disk Usage Reports with PowerShell and WizTree

Recently I discovered a neat little utility called WizTree, which can be used to report on space used by files and folders on a drive. There are many utilities out there that can do that, but this one supports running on the command line which makes it very useful for scripting scenarios. It also works extremely quickly because it uses the Master File Table on disk instead of the slower Windows / .Net methods.

I wanted to create a disk usage report for systems that have less than 20GB of free space – the recommended minimum for doing a Windows 10 in-place upgrade – so that I can easily review it and identify files / folders that could potentially be deleted to free space on the disk. I wanted to script it so that it can be run in the background and deployed via ConfigMgr, and the resulting reports copied to a server share for review.

The following script does just that.

First, it runs WizTree on the command line and generates two CSV reports, one each for all files and folders on the drive. Next, since the generated CSV files contain sizes in bytes, the script imports the CSVs, converts the size data to include KB, MB and GB, then outputs to 2 new CSV files.

The script then generates 2 custom HTML reports that contain a list of the largest 100 files and folders, sorted by size.

Next it generates an HTML summary report that shows visually how much space is used on the disk and tells you how much space you need to free up to drop under the minimum 20GB-free limit.

Finally, it copies those reports to a server share, which will look like this:

fs

The Disk Usage Summary report will look something like this:

dus

And here’s a snippet from the large directories and files reports:

ld

lf

There are also CSV reports which contain the entire list of files and directories on the drive:

csv

To use the script, simply download the WizTree Portable app, extract the WizTree64.exe and place it in the same location as the script (assuming 64-bit OS).  Set the run location in the script (ie $PSScriptRoot if calling the script, or the directory location if running in the ISE), the temporary location where it can create files, and the server share where you want to copy the reports to. Then just run the script in admin context.

# Script to export html and csv reports of file and directory content on the system drive
# Use to identify large files/directories for disk space cleanup
# Uses WizTree portable to quickly retrieve file and directory sizes from the Master File Table on disk
# Download and extract the WizTree64.exe and place in the same directory as this script
# Set the running location
$RunLocation = $PSScriptRoot
#$RunLocation = "C:\temp"
$TempLocation = "C:\temp"
# Set Target share to copy the reports to
$TargetRoot = "\\server-01\sharename\DirectorySizeInfo"
# Free disk space thresholds (percentages) for summary report
$script:Thresholds = @{}
$Thresholds.Warning = 80
$Thresholds.Critical = 90
# Custom function to exit with a specific code
function ExitWithCode
{
    param
    (
        $exitcode
    )
    $host.SetShouldExit($exitcode)
    exit
}
# Function to set the progress bar colour based on the the threshold value in the summary report
function Set-PercentageColour {
param(
[int]$Value
)
If ($Value -lt $Thresholds.Warning)
{
$Hex = "#00ff00" # Green
}
If ($Value -ge $Thresholds.Warning -and $Value -lt $Thresholds.Critical)
{
$Hex = "#ff9900" # Amber
}
If ($Value -ge $Thresholds.Critical)
{
$Hex = "#FF0000" # Red
}
Return $Hex
}
# Define Html CSS style
$Style = @"
<style>
table {
border-collapse: collapse;
}
td, th {
border: 1px solid #ddd;
padding: 8px;
}
th {
padding-top: 12px;
padding-bottom: 12px;
text-align: left;
background-color: #4286f4;
color: white;
}
</style>
"@
# Set the filenames of WizTree csv's
$FilesCSV = "Files_$(Get-Date –Format 'yyyyMMdd_hhmmss').csv"
$FoldersCSV = "Folders_$(Get-Date –Format 'yyyyMMdd_hhmmss').csv"
# Set the filenames of customised csv's
$ExportedFilesCSV = "Exported_Files_$(Get-Date –Format 'yyyyMMdd_hhmmss').csv"
$ExportedFoldersCSV = "Exported_Folders_$(Get-Date –Format 'yyyyMMdd_hhmmss').csv"
# Set the filenames of html reports
$ExportedFilesHTML = "Largest_Files_$(Get-Date –Format 'yyyyMMdd_hhmmss').html"
$ExportedFoldersHTML = "Largest_Folders_$(Get-Date –Format 'yyyyMMdd_hhmmss').html"
$SummaryHTMLReport = "Disk_Usage_Summary_$(Get-Date –Format 'yyyyMMdd_hhmmss').html"
# Run the WizTree portable app
Start-Process –FilePath "$RunLocation\WizTree64.exe" –ArgumentList """$Env:SystemDrive"" /export=""$TempLocation\$FilesCSV"" /admin 1 /sortby=2 /exportfolders=0" –Verb runas –Wait
Start-Process –FilePath "$RunLocation\WizTree64.exe" –ArgumentList """$Env:SystemDrive"" /export=""$TempLocation\$FoldersCSV"" /admin 1 /sortby=2 /exportfiles=0" –Verb runas –Wait
#region Files
# Remove the first 2 rows from the CSVs to leave just the relevant data
$CSVContent = Get-Content –Path $TempLocation\$FilesCSV –ReadCount 0
$CSVContent = $CSVContent | Select –Skip 1
$CSVContent = $CSVContent | Select –Skip 1
# Create a table to store the results
$Table = [System.Data.DataTable]::new("Directory Structure")
[void]$Table.Columns.Add([System.Data.DataColumn]::new("Name",[System.String]))
[void]$Table.Columns.Add([System.Data.DataColumn]::new("Size (Bytes)",[System.Int64]))
[void]$Table.Columns.Add([System.Data.DataColumn]::new("Size (KB)",[System.Decimal]))
[void]$Table.Columns.Add([System.Data.DataColumn]::new("Size (MB)",[System.Decimal]))
[void]$Table.Columns.Add([System.Data.DataColumn]::new("Size (GB)",[System.Decimal]))
# Populate the table from the CSV data
Foreach ($csvrow in $CSVContent)
{
$Content = $csvrow.split(',')
[void]$Table.rows.Add(($Content[0].Replace('"','')),$Content[2],([math]::Round(($Content[2] / 1KB),2)),([math]::Round(($Content[2] / 1MB),2)),([math]::Round(($Content[2] / 1GB),2)))
}
# Export the table to a new CSV
$Table | Sort 'Size (Bytes)' –Descending | Export-CSV –Path $TempLocation\$ExportedFilesCSV –NoTypeInformation –UseCulture
# Export the largest 100 results into html format
$Table |
Sort 'Size (Bytes)' –Descending |
Select –First 100 |
ConvertTo-Html –Property 'Name','Size (Bytes)','Size (KB)','Size (MB)','Size (GB)' –Head $style –Body "<h2>100 largest files on $env:COMPUTERNAME</h2>" –CssUri "http://www.w3schools.com/lib/w3.css" |
Out-String | Out-File $TempLocation\$ExportedFilesHTML
#endregion
#region Folders
# Remove the first 2 rows from the CSVs to leave just the relevant data
$CSVContent = Get-Content –Path $TempLocation\$FoldersCSV –ReadCount 0
$CSVContent = $CSVContent | Select –Skip 1
$CSVContent = $CSVContent | Select –Skip 1
# Create a table to store the results
$Table = [System.Data.DataTable]::new("Directory Structure")
[void]$Table.Columns.Add([System.Data.DataColumn]::new("Name",[System.String]))
[void]$Table.Columns.Add([System.Data.DataColumn]::new("Size (Bytes)",[System.Int64]))
[void]$Table.Columns.Add([System.Data.DataColumn]::new("Size (KB)",[System.Decimal]))
[void]$Table.Columns.Add([System.Data.DataColumn]::new("Size (MB)",[System.Decimal]))
[void]$Table.Columns.Add([System.Data.DataColumn]::new("Size (GB)",[System.Decimal]))
[void]$Table.Columns.Add([System.Data.DataColumn]::new("Files",[System.String]))
[void]$Table.Columns.Add([System.Data.DataColumn]::new("Folders",[System.String]))
# Populate the table from the CSV data
Foreach ($csvrow in $CSVContent)
{
$Content = $csvrow.split(',')
[void]$Table.rows.Add($($Content[0].Replace('"','')),$Content[2],([math]::Round(($Content[2] / 1KB),2)),([math]::Round(($Content[2] / 1MB),2)),([math]::Round(($Content[2] / 1GB),2)),$Content[5],$Content[6])
}
# Export the table to a new CSV
$Table | Sort 'Size (Bytes)' –Descending | Export-CSV –Path $TempLocation\$ExportedFoldersCSV –NoTypeInformation –UseCulture
# Export the largest 100 results into html format
$Table |
Sort 'Size (Bytes)' –Descending |
Select –First 100 |
ConvertTo-Html –Property 'Name','Size (Bytes)','Size (KB)','Size (MB)','Size (GB)','Files','Folders' –Head $style –Body "<h2>100 largest directories on $env:COMPUTERNAME</h2>" –CssUri "http://www.w3schools.com/lib/w3.css" |
Out-String | Out-File $TempLocation\$ExportedFoldersHTML
#endregion
#region Create HTML disk usage summary report
# Get system drive data
$WMIDiskInfo = Get-CimInstance –ClassName Win32_Volume –Property Capacity,FreeSpace,DriveLetter | Where {$_.DriveLetter -eq $env:SystemDrive} | Select Capacity,FreeSpace,DriveLetter
$DiskInfo = [pscustomobject]@{
DriveLetter = $WMIDiskInfo.DriveLetter
'Capacity (GB)' = [math]::Round(($WMIDiskInfo.Capacity / 1GB),2)
'FreeSpace (GB)' = [math]::Round(($WMIDiskInfo.FreeSpace / 1GB),2)
'UsedSpace (GB)' = [math]::Round((($WMIDiskInfo.Capacity / 1GB) – ($WMIDiskInfo.FreeSpace / 1GB)),2)
'Percent Free' = [math]::Round(($WMIDiskInfo.FreeSpace * 100 / $WMIDiskInfo.Capacity),2)
'Percent Used' = [math]::Round((($WMIDiskInfo.Capacity – $WMIDiskInfo.FreeSpace) * 100 / $WMIDiskInfo.Capacity),2)
}
# Create html header
$html = @"
<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1">
<link rel="stylesheet" href="http://www.w3schools.com/lib/w3.css"&gt;
<body>
"@
# Set html
$html = $html + @"
<h2>Disk Space Usage for Drive $($DiskInfo.DriveLetter) on $env:COMPUTERNAME</h2>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="700">
<tr>
<td style="background-color:$(Set-PercentageColour –Value $($DiskInfo.'Percent Used'));padding:10px;color:#ffffff;" width="$($DiskInfo.'Percent Used')%">
$($DiskInfo.'UsedSpace (GB)') GB ($($DiskInfo.'Percent Used') %)
</td>
<td style="background-color:#eeeeee;padding-top:10px;padding-bottom:10px;color:#333333;" width="$($DiskInfo.'Percent Used')%">
</td>
</tr>
</table>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="700">
<tr>
<td style="padding:5px;" width="80%">
Capacity: $($DiskInfo.'Capacity (GB)') GB
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="padding:5px;" width="80%">
FreeSpace: $($DiskInfo.'FreeSpace (GB)') GB
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="padding:5px;" width="80%">
Percent Free: $($DiskInfo.'Percent Free') %
</td>
</tr>
</table>
"@
If ($DiskInfo.'FreeSpace (GB)' -lt 20)
{
$html = $html + @"
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="700">
<tr>
<td style="padding:5px;color:red;font-weight:bold" width="80%">
You need to free $(20 – $DiskInfo.'FreeSpace (GB)') GB on this disk to pass the W10 readiness check!
</td>
</tr>
</table>
"@
}
# Close html document
$html = $html + @"
</body>
</html>
"@
# Export to file
$html |
Out-string |
Out-File $TempLocation\$SummaryHTMLReport
#endregion
#region Copy files to share
# Create a subfolder with computername if doesn't exist
If (!(Test-Path $TargetRoot\$env:COMPUTERNAME))
{
$null = New-Item –Path $TargetRoot –Name $env:COMPUTERNAME –ItemType Directory
}
# Create a subdirectory with current date-time
$DateString = ((Get-Date).ToUniversalTime() | get-date –Format "yyyy-MM-dd_HH-mm-ss").ToString()
If (!(Test-Path $TargetRoot\$env:COMPUTERNAME\$DateString))
{
$null = New-Item –Path $TargetRoot\$env:COMPUTERNAME –Name $DateString –ItemType Directory
}
# Set final target location
$TargetLocation = "$TargetRoot\$env:COMPUTERNAME\$DateString"
# Copy files
$Files = @(
$ExportedFilesCSV
$ExportedFoldersCSV
$ExportedFilesHTML
$ExportedFoldersHTML
$SummaryHTMLReport
)
Try
{
Robocopy $TempLocation $TargetLocation $Files /R:10 /W:5 /NP
}
Catch {}
#endregion
# Cleanup temp files
$Files = @(
$FilesCSV
$FoldersCSV
$ExportedFilesCSV
$ExportedFoldersCSV
$ExportedFilesHTML
$ExportedFoldersHTML
$SummaryHTMLReport
)
Foreach ($file in $files)
{
Remove-Item –Path $TempLocation\$file –Force
}
# Force a code 0 on exit, in case of some non-terminating error.
ExitWithCode 0

view raw
New-WizTreeDiskUsageReport.ps1
hosted with ❤ by GitHub

by Trevor Jones

Fix Http 500.19 Error after Removing WSUS

This post is more of a ‘note to self’ for troubleshooting IIS errors.

Recently I decided to remove the WSUS role from an SCCM distribution point as it was previously being used for patching during OSD, but now we patch only the reference image instead. After removing the WSUS role, I also did some cleanup including deleting the WSUS_Updates directory, the %Program Files%\Update Services directory and removing the WsusPool website and application pool from IIS.

After that, clients using that distribution point failed to get content for packages, returning an Http 500 error:

smsts

Checking the IIS log on the distribution point I found the following corresponding entry:

iis

The error code is 500.19 which translates to ‘Internal Server Error / Configuration data is invalid‘ and is documented in more detail in this Microsoft article. A further clue is found in the 126 windows error code, which translates to ‘The specified module could not be found‘.

Browsing to the website directly, ie http://localhost/SMS_DP_SMSPKG$, gave the following information:

siteerror

The error code 0x8007007e is the same as the windows error code 126 and also means ‘The specified module could not be found”. The module referenced in the error is the DynamicCompressionModule.

To get more detailed information on the error, I decided to enable Failed Request Tracing in IIS and log the 500.19 error. The process for enabling and using Failed Request Tracing is nicely summarised here as well as documented by Microsoft here. Using that, I found that a couple of modules were being referenced that were no longer present.

ftrerror

Following a hint from here, I checked the applicationHost.config file and found a reference to a dll in the %Program Files%\Update Services directory that was installed with WSUS and that I deleted after removing the WSUS role:


<scheme name="xpress" doStaticCompression="false" doDynamicCompression="true" dll="C:\Program Files\Update Services\WebServices\suscomp.dll" staticCompressionLevel="10" dynamicCompressionLevel="0" />

To remove the reference, I ran the following command as admin:


%windir%\system32\inetsrv\appcmd.exe set config -section:system.webServer/httpCompression /-[name='xpress']

You can find more info on IIS modules and how to add/remove/disable/enable here.

After removing the reference to the xpress schema and restarting the W3SVC service, everything was back to normal 🙂

by Trevor Jones

Find the Full Windows Build Number with PowerShell

Much to my surprise I discovered that the full build number for a Windows OS is not stored in WMI in the usual Win32_OperatingSystem class.

In Windows 10 at least, the full build number containing the “UBR”, or essentially the CU patch level of the build, is a useful piece of information.

Open Settings > System > About on a Windows 10 box, and you’ll find the OS Build value, in my case 15063.183

W10

If I run the usual WMI query to get the build number I just get 15063:

WMI

Same if I query the environment:

DotNet

To find the full number I have to query the registry in the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion branch.

So I put together a PowerShell script that can be used to get the Windows version for a local or remote computer (or group of computers) which includes the Edition, Version and full OS Build values.

Query the local system like this:


Get-WindowsVersion

Or query remote computers:


Get-WindowsVersion -ComputerName PC001



Get-WindowsVersion -ComputerName @("PC001","PC002","SRV001","SRV002")

Result:

result

The script

[CmdletBinding()]
Param
(
[Parameter(Mandatory=$false,
ValueFromPipelineByPropertyName=$true,
ValueFromPipeline=$true
)]
[string[]]$ComputerName = $env:COMPUTERNAME
)
Begin
{
$Table = New-Object System.Data.DataTable
$Table.Columns.AddRange(@("ComputerName","Windows Edition","Version","OS Build"))
}
Process
{
Foreach ($Computer in $ComputerName)
{
$Code = {
$ProductName = (Get-ItemProperty 'HKLM:\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion' –Name ProductName).ProductName
Try
{
$Version = (Get-ItemProperty 'HKLM:\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion' –Name ReleaseID –ErrorAction Stop).ReleaseID
}
Catch
{
$Version = "N/A"
}
$CurrentBuild = (Get-ItemProperty 'HKLM:\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion' –Name CurrentBuild).CurrentBuild
$UBR = (Get-ItemProperty 'HKLM:\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion' –Name UBR).UBR
$OSVersion = $CurrentBuild + "." + $UBR
$TempTable = New-Object System.Data.DataTable
$TempTable.Columns.AddRange(@("ComputerName","Windows Edition","Version","OS Build"))
[void]$TempTable.Rows.Add($env:COMPUTERNAME,$ProductName,$Version,$OSVersion)
Return $TempTable
}
If ($Computer -eq $env:COMPUTERNAME)
{
$Result = Invoke-Command –ScriptBlock $Code
[void]$Table.Rows.Add($Result.Computername,$Result.'Windows Edition',$Result.Version,$Result.'OS Build')
}
Else
{
Try
{
$Result = Invoke-Command –ComputerName $Computer –ScriptBlock $Code –ErrorAction Stop
[void]$Table.Rows.Add($Result.Computername,$Result.'Windows Edition',$Result.Version,$Result.'OS Build')
}
Catch
{
$_
}
}
}
}
End
{
Return $Table
}

view raw
Get-WindowsVersion.ps1
hosted with ❤ by GitHub

by Trevor Jones

ConfigMgr Content Distribution Fails with 0x80041001

Today I came across an unusual issue on a couple of SCCM distribution points where two particular software update packages were failing to distribute. Using the distmgr.log and the PkgXferMgr.log on the site server, as well as the Distribution Point Job Queue Manager tool, I could see that these packages were trying to distribute again and again, but returning a failure on certain files.

In the PkgXferMgr.log I found these entries repeatedly:


ExecStaticMethod failed (80041001) SMS_DistributionPoint, FinalizeContent
CSendFileAction::SendContent failed; 0x80041001
Sending failed. Failure count = 2, Restart time = 24/04/2017 15:30:57 W. Europe Daylight Time

0x80041001 is a WMI error meaning “Generic failure” – not overly helpful.

So I went to the distribution point itself to investigate, and found these entries repeatedly in the smsdpprov.log


[BA4][Mon 04/24/2017 22:24:19]:MoveFile failed for \\?\C:\SCCMContentLib\DataLib\24688509-2940-44e9-9d7d-9a6c2e33c9a1.ABC002C2.temp to \\?\C:\SCCMContentLib\DataLib\24688509-2940-44e9-9d7d-9a6c2e33c9a1
[BA4][Mon 04/24/2017 22:24:19]:FileRename failed; 0x80070005
[BA4][Mon 04/24/2017 22:24:19]:CContentDefinition::Finalize failed; 0x80070005
[BA4][Mon 04/24/2017 22:24:19]:Failed to finalize content '24688509-2940-44e9-9d7d-9a6c2e33c9a1' for package 'ABC002C2'. Error code: 0X80070005

0x80070005 means “access denied”. So I browsed to the location in Explorer and sure enough:

pic

If I try to view the Security tab on the directory, apparently I don’t have permission:

pic2

If I click Advanced, it seems we don’t have an owner, so clearly something is corrupted as the other files and directories in this location are owned by the SYSTEM account.

pic3

If I try to change the ownership in the UI, nothing happens.

So I use PSEXEC to open a cmd prompt in SYSTEM context, and try to take ownership on one of the directories, but still no joy:

pic4

Next I run Process Explorer to find if something has a handle on it, and yes, WMI does.

pic5

So I stop the WMI service, and suddenly the directory disappears!

Start the WMI service (and it’s dependencies) and then kick off the distributions again using the DP Job Queue Manager tool, and finally the packages distribute successfully 🙂

by Trevor Jones

New Free Tool: ConfigMgr Remote Compliance

Remote Compliance

Today I released a new free tool for ConfigMgr administrators and support staff.

ConfigMgr Remote Compliance can be used to view, evaluate and report on System Center Configuration Manager Compliance Baselines on a remote computer. It provides similar functionality to the Configurations tab of the Configuration Manager Control Panel, but for remote computers. It is a useful troubleshooting tool for remotely viewing client compliance, evaluating baselines, viewing the evaluation report or opening DCM log files from the client, without needing to access the client computer directly.

ConfigMgr Remote Compliance can be downloaded from here.

Source code for this application is available on GitHub and code contributions are welcome.

by Trevor Jones

Decrypting Remote Desktop Connection Manager Passwords with PowerShell

Today I needed to find a password for a certain account I had used before (but had forgotten), and I remembered that I had stored the credentials in the Remote Desktop Connection Manager, Microsoft’s free RD tool. Of course, it crossed my mind whether these credentials could be decrypted, and it turns out they can, quite easily, with a little PowerShell.

The credentials are stored in encrypted form in the RDG file you create for your RDP connections. It’s just an XML file, so can be easily parsed with PowerShell. Using a handy trick blogged by , I decrypted all the credentials found in the RDG file.

The passwords can only be decrypted with the user profile that added them to the RDG file, however, so they are still reasonably secure. If the credentials were added by another account or on another system, you will get a “Failed to decrypt” error as seen below, which is the same error you get if you try to copy the RDG file and open it on another computer or with another user profile.

Needless to say, I found the password I needed!

capture


# Path to RDCMan.exe
$RDCMan = "C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft\Remote Desktop Connection Manager\RDCMan.exe"
# Path to RDG file
$RDGFile = "$env:USERPROFILE\Documents\RDPConnections.rdg"
$TempLocation = "C:\temp"

Copy-Item $RDCMan "$TempLocation\RDCMan.dll"
Import-Module "$TempLocation\RDCMan.dll"
$EncryptionSettings = New-Object -TypeName RdcMan.EncryptionSettings

$XML = New-Object -TypeName XML
$XML.Load($RDGFile)
$logonCredentials = Select-XML -Xml $XML -XPath '//logonCredentials'

$Credentials = New-Object System.Collections.Arraylist
$logonCredentials | foreach {
    [void]$Credentials.Add([pscustomobject]@{
    Username = $_.Node.userName
    Password = $(Try{[RdcMan.Encryption]::DecryptString($_.Node.password, $EncryptionSettings)}Catch{$_.Exception.InnerException.Message})
    Domain = $_.Node.domain
    })
    } | Sort Username

$Credentials | Sort Username