There are many methods to install SCCM client Installation 2012 but I had great success rate with following 3.

  1. SCCM Client Push
  2. SCCM Client Deployment by Group Policy
  3. SCCM software Update Deployment Method

Before we dive into explaining the above 3 methods. I would also like mention all SCCM client push method available.
sccm-client
Lets go over top 3 Methods that I like the best for sccm client installation.

1. SCCM Client Push:

This is the best method to push SCCM client to all of machines. This should be configured on each site. Follow the method below to configure SCCM client push.

Step 1: In configuration Manager console click on Administration workspace.

Step 2: Expand the Site configuration and click Sites

Step 3: Select the site you are interested in pushing the SCCM client automatically.

Step 4: Right-Click and Select client Installation settings and then select client push installation.

Step 5: In the Client Push Installation Properties click on accounts and define the account that you will use for the client push install, this account most have local administration rights on the clients to get the agent installed.

Step 6: Once you have added the account. click on Installation Properties tab and setup site code. In my case I setup Site=M16. “M16” is my site name.

SCCM Client Push

Step 7: Click On OK.

End Results: The results of client push, will be different depending if you do a manual install via the console or if the client was automatically install. Monitor <ConfigMgr installation directory>logs and open ccm.log

2. SCCM Client Push Using Group Policy :

If configured properly, group policy can be an ideal choice to push SCCM client. I have heard many people complaining about this method, but I think the reason they run into issues are due to improper configuration. If you follow my steps you be able to push SCCM client with ease.

        1. Obtain a copy of CCMSETUP.MSI. You can find the copy at <ConfigMgr installation directory>bini386 location.
        2. Copy CCMSETUP.MSI at shared location which is available to all users.
        3. Also Copy Client Folder from “C:Program FilesMicrosoft Configuration ManagerClient” and past it into Shared folder available to all users.
        4. SCCM ClientAfter Copying all the files, your GPO folder should look like the figure below.SCCM Client Push
        5. Open you Group Policy Management tool and add new policy. You can call call it “ConfigMgr 2012 Client Policy” for easy identification or follow your environment naming conventions.
        6. SCCM Client
        7. Click OK
        8. Now right click on newly created Policy click Edit
        9. When the group policy management editor open, expand, computer configuration > Policies > Software Settings > Software installation when open find the share and select ccmsetup.msiSCCM-Client-Push-5
        10. When the group policy management editor open, expand, computer configuration > Policies > Software Settings > Software installation when open find the share and select ccmsetup.msi
        11. At this point your GPO policy has been configured to execute CCMSETUP.MSI
        12. You should also add templates on this GPO to install the client for client assignment. To achieve that, Open GPO Admin Tools and right click Administrative Templates.
        13. Click on Add/Remove Template
        14. Click Add
        15. Find templates on <ConfigMgr installation directory>toolsConfigMgrADMTemplates. Select ConfigMgrassignment and configmgrinstallation.SCCM-Client-Push-6
        16. Once you Add both template they should appear under classic Administrative Templates.SCCM-Client-Push-7
        17. Its time to configure site assignment 1. SCCM-Client-Push-8
        18. Make Note! This should add following value to the Registry so make 100% sure that you are creating and deploying to correct clients and OU.
        19. Let’s modify the ConfigMgr Deployment setting, on here I will be entering the following command line /mp:cmsite.yourdomain.com /logon SMSSITECODE=MI6 /source:”\CMDCClientGPO” SCCM-Client-Push-9

        20. Results SCCM-Client-Push-10

3. SCCM Client Installation Software Update Deployment Method:

This client deployment method requires little trick. In order for this to work, we need to enable software update based installation in SCCM console. Follow the steps below to deploy SCCM client using this method.

  1. In the Configuration Manager console, click Administration.
  2. In the Administration workspace, expand Site Configuration, and then click Sites.
  3. In the Sites list, select the site for which you want to configure software update-based client installation.
  4. On the Home tab, in the Settings group, click Client Installation Settings, and then click Software Update-Based Client Installation.
  5. In the Software Update Point Client Installation Properties dialog box, select Enable software update-based client installation to enable this client installation method.
  6. If the client software on the System Center 2012 Configuration Manager site server is a later version than the client version stored on the software update point, the Later Version of Client Package Detected dialog box opens. Click Yes to publish the most recent version of the client software to the software update point.
  7. Click OKSCCM-Client-Push-11

Note! If SCCM client was not previously published to the software update point, this box will be blank.

At this point it will contact WSUS and push the following package.

SCCM-Client-1

Once published you will also need to configure a group policy to point all your clients to the SUP Server.

Follow the step below to configure the Group Policy.

  1. Use the Group Policy Management Console to open a new or existing Group Policy Object.
  2. In the console, expand Computer Configuration, expand Administrative Templates, expand Windows Components, and then click Windows Update.
  3. Open the properties of the setting Specify intranet Microsoft update service location, and then click Enabled.SCCM
  4. In the box Set the intranet update service for detecting updates, specify the name of the software update point server that you want to use and the port. These must match exactly the server name format and the port being used by the software update point.
  • If the Configuration Manager site system is configured to use a fully qualified domain name (FQDN), specify the server name by using FQDN format.
  • If the Configuration Manager site system is not configured to use a fully qualified domain name (FQDN), specify the server name by using a short name format.

Note* To determine the port number that is being used by the software update point, see How to Determine the Port Settings Used by WSUS

Example: http://cmsite.yourdomain.com:8530
In the box Set the intranet statistics server, specify the name of the intranet statistics server that you want to use. There are no specific requirements for specifying this server. It can be different server than software update point server and the format does not have to match if it is the same server.SCCM-Client-Push-13Simply assign GPO to machine which you want to install SCCM client and recieve the updates

Results:

SCCM Client

Here you have it. 🙂

What’s your method of SCCM client deployment? Please leave your comments below. Thank you and hope to see you back.

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