转：ConfigMgr v.Next (Beta 1) – The Console原文

本文转自：http://myitforum.com/cs2/blogs/jsandys/archive/2010/09/02/configmgr-v-next-beta-1-the-console.aspx

After installing ConfigMgr, what’s the first thing to check out: the console of course. So here is a whirlwind tour of new and notable things.

First off of course is the fact that the console is not an MMC snap-in. This should bring cheers from all who have ever used the MMC. It’s not so much that the MMC is bad, it’s just that it wasn’t well suited to administering ConfigMgr. Things like no auto-refresh, the annoying action pane, limited drag and drop, etc. And of course the many crashes. The ConfigMgr team tried valiantly (IMO) to battle these things, but for a lot of different reasons, the MMC snap-in just left a lot to be desired. In v.Next, ConfigMgr has moved to the System Center unified framework for the console. This doesn’t mean all System Center products will use the same instance of a console, just that the underlying framework is the same and thus all System Center products consoles will look and behave similarly. Don’t fall in love with this specific look and feel though, as this is also evolving and will change before RTM.

Notice the use of the wunderbar in the bottom left of the console. This concept was introduced with Outlook 97 and has grown from there. The wunderbar should help eliminate the constant node searching that every ConfigMgr administrator is used to and logically groups the different functionality available.

The first section on the wunderbar is Administration. This section is roughly equivalent to the Site Management node of the 07 MMC console. New functions and features exposed here include Alert Management, Distribution Point Groups, and Migration.

Alert Management relates to the “alerting” functionality now inherent in the console. This is not alerting like OpsMgr alerting, but instead a way to notify console users of events and information.

Distribution Point Groups are a new feature to group DPs. Although this concept existed before, is was a loose concept only used when initially adding a package to DPs essentially allowing multiple DPs to be selected at once based on a group. Distribution Point Groups allow DPs to be grouped but instead of simply translating a package maintenance task to the list of DPs, these groups actually assign the package update task to the group itself. What this allows is a DP to be added to the group after a package maintenance task was performed and still have it apply to that newly added DP.

Migration is a toolset that will be used for the side-by-side migration that will be required to move from ConfigMgr 2007.

Application Management is the next section of the wunderbar. Software Management, Software Updates, and Operating System Deployment tasks have been consolidated in this section. Nothing much (overtly) new here except for the Global Conditions and Update Groups. Notice that Task Sequences are no longer under Operating Systems.

Global Conditions are used by all software deployment activities and are the root of the redesigned software distribution functionality. Global Conditions are a new targeting mechanism that departs from the collection only targeting of previous versions. Conditions allow targeting on resource characteristics like OS, system name, and application install status in addition to collections. This will take the place of collection sprawl that exists in most current ConfigMgr sites where collections are created for every application.

Update Groups are part of a refined Software Updates capability that streamlines the current process and eliminates the confusion caused by Update Lists, Templates, and Deployments.

Monitoring is the third section of the wunderbar. All of the traditional monitoring nodes have been moved here including queries, reports, and system status. Client Status is the main new built-in functionality with a new node here. This goes beyond the traditional client health status monitoring and includes actual health remediation and of course is a full-fledged component and not an add-on.

The last section is Assets and Compliance. This section combines the traditional collection management, Asset Intelligence, Software metering, and Desired Configuration Management tasks. Note that there are two collection nodes, one for User Collections and one for Devices. Collections in v.Next can only contain users or computers, not both. DCM is being renamed, Settings Management was what I heard last and will have the ability to actual enforce/configure settings as well as testing for compliance.

Next up, I’ll start taking a look at each (and maybe every) discrete function in more depth.