Configuration Manager Upgrade

Assessment Tool Updated: October 1, 2012

Applies To: System Center 2012 Configuration Manager SP1

Use the System Center 2012 Configuration Manager Upgrade Assessment Tool to determine if the

computers that are managed by System Center 2012 Configuration Manager can run Windows 7 or

Windows 8.

System Center 2012 Configuration Manager Update

Assessment Tool Topics

Introduction to the Upgrade Assessment Tool

Planning for the Upgrade Assessment Tool

Configuring the Upgrade Assessment Tool

Operations and Maintenance for the Upgrade Assessment Tool

Technical Reference for the Upgrade Assessment Tool

Introduction to the Upgrade

Assessment Tool Updated: April 1, 2013

Applies To: System Center 2012 Configuration Manager SP1

The System Center 2012 Configuration Manager Upgrade Assessment Tool provides administrative users

with information that they can use to determine if the computers that are managed by

System Center 2012 Configuration Manager can run Windows 7 or Windows 8.

The Upgrade Assessment Tool provides the following functionality:

Retrieves device driver compatibility information for installed peripheral devices and creates

reports that you can use to determine which device drivers need to be upgraded to support the

Windows operating system.

Allows you to see which computers meet the recommended system requirements for Windows

operating systems and to customize these requirements for your environments.

Creates summary reports that you can use to see an enterprise wide view of operating system

upgrade readiness.

Allows you to create dynamic collections for an operating system deployment. The collection

query rules can be based on system requirements, application compatibility status, and device

driver status.

Planning for the Upgrade

Assessment Tool Updated: October 1, 2012

Applies To: System Center 2012 Configuration Manager SP1

Before you use the System Center 2012 Configuration Manager Upgrade Assessment Tool to assess

whether to upgrade the operating systems on computers that are managed by System Center 2012

Configuration Manager, review the prerequisites for using the tool and the operating systems that the

tool can be installed on.

Planning Topics for the Update Assessment Tool

Use the following topics to help you plan your strategy for the Upgrade Assessment Tool.

Prerequisites for Installing the Upgrade Assessment Tool

Supported Operating Systems for the Upgrade Assessment Tool

Prerequisites for Installing the Upgrade Assessment Tool

Updated: April 1, 2013

Applies To: System Center 2012 Configuration Manager SP1

You must install the following software before you install the System Center 2012 Configuration Manager

Upgrade Assessment Tool.

Microsoft System Center 2012 Configuration Manager:

o The site server must be running Configuration Manager SP1 with Cumulative Update 1.

o Configuration Manager clients can run Configuration Manager with no service pack,

Configuration Manager SP1, or Configuration Manager SP1 with Cumulative Update 1.

o You must have a reporting services point to view the compatibility information from

clients.

o You must have one or more distribution points to deploy the ACT inventory collection

package to clients.

o Clients must run hardware inventory.

Application Compatibility Toolkit (ACT) 6.0. To download and install the toolkit, see Windows

Assessment and Deployment Kit (ADK) for Windows® 8. The Windows Assessment and

Deployment Kit (Windows ADK) is a collection of tools that you can use to customize, assess, and

deploy Windows operating systems to new computers. For more information about the

Application Compatibility Toolkit, see Application Compatibility Toolkit Technical Reference.

Microsoft .NET Framework 4. To download and install the .NET Framework 4, use one of the

following resources:

o Microsoft .NET Framework 4 (Standalone Installer)

o Microsoft .NET Framework 4 (Web Installer)

Supported Operating Systems for the Upgrade

Assessment Tool

Updated: October 1, 2012

Applies To: System Center 2012 Configuration Manager SP1

You can install the System Center 2012 Configuration Manager Upgrade Assessment Tool on any of the

following computer operating systems:

Windows Server 2008 x64 Standard Edition SP2

Windows Server 2008 x64 Enterprise Edition SP2

Windows Server 2008 x64 Datacenter Edition SP2

Windows Server 2008 R2 Standard Edition without service pack

Windows Server 2008 R2 Standard Edition without service pack

Windows Server 2008 R2 Enterprise Edition without service pack

Windows Server 2008 R2 Enterprise Edition without service pack

Windows Server 2008 R2 Datacenter Edition without service pack

Windows Server 2008 R2 Datacenter Edition without service pack

Windows Server 2012

Windows 7 x86 Enterprise Edition SP1

Windows 7 x64 Enterprise Edition SP1

Windows 8 x86 Enterprise

Windows 8 x64 Enterprise

Note

This is the list of operating systems that support the installation of the System Center 2012

Configuration Manager Upgrade Assessment Tool; after the tool is installed, it can assess all operating

systems that the Configuration Manager client runs.

Configuring the Upgrade

Assessment Tool Updated: October 1, 2012

Applies To: System Center 2012 Configuration Manager SP1

Configuration tasks for System Center 2012 Configuration Manager Upgrade Assessment Tool include

downloading and installing Upgrade Assessment Tool, in addition to configuring the tool. For information

about how to download the Upgrade Assessment Tool, see Introduction to the Upgrade Assessment Tool.

Configuration Topics for the Upgrade Assessment Tool

Installation Scenarios for the Upgrade Assessment Tool

How to Install and Configure the Upgrade Assessment Tool

Installation Scenarios for the Upgrade Assessment Tool

Updated: October 1, 2012

Applies To: System Center 2012 Configuration Manager SP1

You can install the System Center 2012 Configuration Manager Upgrade Assessment Tool on either a

standalone site or in a site hierarchy. Choose the installation scenario that applies to your environment:

Standalone Site: You can install the Upgrade Assessment Tool on any computer; the tool does

not have to be installed on the site server.

Site Hierarchy: You can use the Upgrade Assessment Tool to connect to either the central

administration site or to one of the primary sites. This lets you set the scope of the upgrade

assessment to the entire hierarchy or to clients that are assigned to a single primary site. If the

Upgrade Assessment Tool connects to a central administration site and the SQL Server distributed

view Hardware inventory configuration option is enabled for any of the replication links between

a primary site and the central administration site, you must install the Upgrade Assessment Tool

on the computer that runs the central administration site database.

Warning

As soon as the Upgrade Assessment Tool is configured to connect to a site and synchronize,

connecting the Upgrade Assessment Tool to a different site in the hierarchy is not supported.

For information about how to install the Upgrade Assessment Tool, see How to Install and Configure the

Upgrade Assessment Tool

How to Install and Configure the Upgrade Assessment

Tool

Updated: April 1, 2013

Applies To: System Center 2012 Configuration Manager SP1

Use this topic to install and configure the System Center 2012 Configuration Manager Upgrade

Assessment Tool.

There are four main steps to install and configure the tool:

1. Configure the Application Compatibility Toolkit (ACT) 6.

You use this tool to determine whether the computers in your organization are compatible with

versions of the Windows operating system. By using ACT, you can obtain compatibility

information from Microsoft and software vendors, identify compatibility issues in your own

organization, and share compatibility ratings with other ACT users. The tools in ACT help you

analyze and mitigate compatibility issues before you deploy a version of Windows to your

organization.

2. Create and deploy a data-collection package.

You create and deploy a data-collection package to computers to collect inventory data that will

be uploaded to the ACT database.

3. Install and configure the Upgrade Assessment Tool.

You use this tool to determine whether the computers that are managed by

Microsoft System Center 2012 Configuration Manager can run Windows 7 or Windows 8.

4. Perform Upgrade Assessment Tool synchronization.

The Upgrade Assessment Synchronization Service connects to the Compatibility Online Service,

your ACT database, and your System Center 2012 Configuration Manager site database, and then

synchronizes the compatibility data for the upgrade assessment reports.

Use the following procedures to help you complete these steps.

To configure the Application Compatibility Toolkit

1. To start the Application Compatibility Toolkit Configuration Wizard, click Start, click All

Programs, click Windows Kits, click Windows ADK, clickApplication Compatibility Toolkit,

and then click Application Compatibility Manager.

2. Complete the wizard, which includes the following:

o Run an ACT Log Processing Service on the local computer. For more information about

Log Processing Service shared files, see Log File Locations for Data-Collection Packages.

o Create a new or existing ACT database. For more information about how to create an ACT

database, see ACT Database Configuration.

o Specify the log file location to use to collect data from the computers in your

environment. For more information about how to set Log Processing Service permissions,

see ACT Log Processing Service Share Permissions

o Configure your ACT Log Processing Service account. For more information about the

required permissions for the ACT Log Processing Service account, see ACT Log Processing

Service Share Permissions.

For more information about ACT, see Application Compatibility Toolkit Technical Reference.

To create and deploy a data-collection package

1. In the Application Compatibility Manager console, select the Collect tab to open

the Collect screen.

2. On the File menu, click New.

3. Select the Inventory collection package type to collect a list of installed applications.

4. On the Set up your inventory package page, provide the package information, and then

click Create. Make sure that the folder you specify forOutput Location matches the ACT log

shared folder that you created in the previous procedure.

5. Browse to the location to save the Windows Installer (.msi) file for the package, specify a file name

for the .msi file, and then click Save.

6. Complete the Create a data-collection package wizard.

7. Deploy the data-collection package to the computers that you want to assess. Use your preferred

method to deploy the package. For example, you can deploy the package by using application

management in Configuration Manager. Or, you can use other deployment methods, such as

Group Policy or logon scripts.

When the package is installed on the computers, the package collects information about applications that

are installed on the computer and collects that information in the ACT log share folder. After the data is

collected, the package is uninstalled from the computer. For more information, see Managing Your Data-

Collection Packages.

To install and configure the Upgrade Assessment Tool

1. Download the Upgrade Assessment Tool from the Microsoft Connect site.

2. From the downloaded files, run UpgradeAssessmentTool.msi to install the tool.

3. Click Start, click All Programs, and then click Upgrade Assessment Tool. Configure the

following:

a. Compatibility Online Service: Specify the proxy server, if it is required, to connect to the

Compatibility Online Service website by using HTTPS.

Note

In the Application Compatibility Toolkit documentation, the Compatibility Online

Service is referred to as the Microsoft Compatibility Exchange web service.

b. Application Compatibility Toolkit: Specify the ACT database details and credentials.

Click Verify to verify that the Upgrade Assessment Tool Synchronization Service can

connect to the database successfully by using the credentials that you provided and

whether the database is a valid ACT 6 database.

c. Configuration Manager: Specify the Configuration Manager site database details and

credentials. Click Verify to confirm that the Upgrade Assessment Tool Synchronization

Service can connect to the database successfully by using the credentials that you

provided and whether the database is a valid site database.

d. Click Apply to save the changes.

e. Synchronization Service: Click Start to start the Upgrade Assessment Tool

Synchronization Service.

f. Optionally, enable and configure the schedule so that synchronization automatically runs.

To manually synchronize the Upgrade Assessment Tool

1. Click Start, click All Programs, and then click Upgrade Assessment Tool.

2. Click Synchronization Service and make sure that the service is started.

3. Click Synchronize.

To monitor synchronization activity, use the UATSyncs.log in the Upgrade Assessment Tool installation

directory.

Operations and Maintenance for

the Upgrade Assessment Tool Updated: October 1, 2012

Applies To: System Center 2012 Configuration Manager SP1

The topics in this section contain procedures to manage the System Center 2012 Configuration Manager

Upgrade Assessment Tool after it is installed and configured. These procedures include how to create

collections that are based on upgrade assessment query rules and how to view the results of the upgrade

assessment by using reports.

Operations and Maintenance Topics for the Upgrade

Assessment Tool

How to Create Collections for the Upgrade Assessment Tool

How to Manage Reports for the Upgrade Assessment Tool

How to Create Collections for the Upgrade Assessment

Tool

Updated: October 1, 2012

Applies To: System Center 2012 Configuration Manager SP1

This topic provides instructions to create collections for the System Center 2012 Configuration Manager

Upgrade Assessment Tool that are based on upgrade assessment query rules.

To create collections that are based on upgrade assessment

query rules

1. In the Configuration Manager console, click Assets and Compliance.

2. In the Assets and Compliance workspace, click Device Collections, and then on

the Home tab, click Create and then click Create Device Collection.

3. In the Membership Rules page of the Create Device Collection Wizard, click Add

Rule, and then select Query Rule.

4. In the Query Rule Properties dialog box, click Edit Query Statement.

5. In the Query Statement Properties dialog box, specify a query statement that is based on

the Upgrade Assessment System attribute class and its attributes. For example, to assess

an upgrade to a Windows 8 32-bit operating system deployment, the following query statement

queries all devices that meet the minimum system requirement, have a device status of

either Available Inbox or Available in Catalog, and have a my app rating of works:

Select SMS_R_System.Name, SMS_R_System.SMSAssignedSites,

SMS_R_System.IPAddresses, SMS_R_System.IPSubnets,

SMS_R_System.OperatingSystemNameandVersion,

SMS_R_System.ResourceDomainORWorkgroup,

SMS_R_System.LastLogonUserDomain, SMS_R_System.LastLogonUserName,

SMS_R_System.SMSUniqueIdentifier, SMS_R_System.ResourceId,

SMS_R_System.ResourceType, SMS_R_System.NetbiosName,

SMS_R_System.ClientType from SMS_R_System inner join

SMS_G_System_Upgrade_Assessment on

SMS_G_System_Upgrade_Assessment.ResourceId = SMS_R_System.ResourceId

where SMS_G_System_Upgrade_Assessment.DeviceStatus <= 2 and

SMS_G_System_Upgrade_Assessment.OSName = "Windows 8 32-Bit" and

SMS_G_System_Upgrade_Assessment.AppMyRating <= 1 and

SMS_G_System_Upgrade_Assessment.SysReqRating >= 1.

6. Complete the wizard.

The following table shows the values and descriptions for the Upgrade Assessment Application Rating

attribute:

App My

Rating Description

Status in Upgrade Assessment

Summary reports

1 Works Ready

2 Works with minor issues or has

solution

Minor Issue

3 Does not work Major Issue

4 No data Unknown

The following table shows the values and descriptions for the CPU rating for the Upgrade Assessment

Operating System Requirement rating:

CPU rating Description

0 Does not meet minimum requirement

1 Meets minimum requirement

2 Meets recommended requirement

The following table shows the values and descriptions 64-bit capability for the Upgrade Assessment

Operating System Requirement rating:

Is 64-Bit capable Description

0 Not 64-Bit Capable (Cannot install Windows 64-Bit SKU)

1 64-Bit Capable

The following table shows the values and descriptions for the memory rating for the Upgrade Assessment

Operating System Requirement rating:

Memory rating Description

0 Does not meet minimum requirement

1 Meets minimum requirement

2 Meets recommended requirement

The following table shows the values and descriptions for the hard disk rating for the Upgrade

Assessment Operating System Requirement rating:

Hard disk rating Description

0 Does not meet minimum requirement

1 Meets minimum requirement

2 Meets recommended requirement

The following table shows the values and descriptions system requirement rating for the Upgrade

Assessment Operating System Requirement rating:

System

requirement rating Description

Status in Upgrade Assessment

Summary reports

0 CPU Rating does not meet minimum

requirement

Or not 64-Bit Capable for Windows

64-Bit SKU

Or Memory Rating does not meet

minimum requirement

Or Hard disk Rating does not meet

minimum requirement

Major

1 CPU Rating meets minimum

requirement

AND Memory Rating meets

minimum requirement

AND Hard disk Rating meets

minimum requirement

AND 64-Bit Capable for Windows

64-Bit SKU

Minor

2 CPU Rating meets recommended

requirement

AND Memory Rating meets

recommended requirement

AND Hard disk Rating meets

recommended requirement

AND 64-Bit Capable for Windows

64-Bit SKU

Ready

The following table shows the values and descriptions for the device status attribute:

Device

Status Description

Status in Upgrade

Assessment Summary

reports

1 Available inbox Ready

2 Available in Catalog. If the driver for the device is not

available with Windows, a compatible driver is found in

the System Center Configuration Manager 2012 driver

catalog.

Ready

3 Available with Dynamic Update Minor Issue

4 Available on Windows Update Minor Issue

5 Available from vendor Minor Issue

6 Compatible with unknown driver Minor Issue

7 Incompatible Major Issue

8 Unknown Unknown

How to Manage Reports for the Upgrade Assessment

Tool

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Updated: October 1, 2012

Applies To: System Center 2012 Configuration Manager SP1

Use the following procedure to run reports for the System Center 2012 Configuration Manager Upgrade

Assessment Tool and view the results of the upgrade assessment.

Note

You must have a reporting services point installed and configured to view these reports. For more

information, see Configuring Reporting in Configuration Manager.

To run upgrade assessment reports

1. In the Configuration Manager console, click Monitoring.

2. In the Monitoring workspace, expand Reporting, and then click Reports to list the available

reports.

3. Select one of the following Upgrade Assessment reports, and then on the Home tab, in

the Report Group section, click Run to open the report:

o Computers that have a specific hardware device

o Computers that have a specific application installed

o Operating system requirement criteria

o Upgrade assessment summary

o Operating system requirement status for computers in a specific collection

o Hardware device status summary

o Application status for computers in a specific collection

o Application status for a specific computer

o Application status summary

o Hardware device status for computers in a specific collection

o Hardware device status for a specific computer

When there are required parameters, specify the parameters, and then click View Report.

4. Repeat step 3 to view other Upgrade Assessment reports.

For more information about how to run reports in Configuration Manager, see Operations and

Maintenance for Reporting in Configuration Manager.

Technical Reference for the

Upgrade Assessment Tool Updated: April 1, 2014

Applies To: System Center Configuration Manager 2012

Use the following topics in this section for technical reference information for the System Center 2012

Configuration Manager Upgrade Assessment Tool.

Technical Reference Topics

Registry Key Settings for the Upgrade Assessment Tool

Registry Key Settings for the

Upgrade Assessment Tool Updated: April 1, 2013

Applies To: System Center Configuration Manager 2012

You can perform most actions and configure most settings for the System Center 2012 Configuration

Manager Upgrade Assessment Tool in the console. However, to modify the default values for some

settings and to start the process to remove upgrade assessment data, you must configure specific registry

values on the computer that runs the Upgrade Assessment Tool.

To use the registry to configure settings or start actions for

the Upgrade Assessment Tool

1. Open the registry on the computer that runs the Upgrade Assessment Tool.

Warning

If you use the Registry Editor incorrectly, you might cause serious problems that might require you to

reinstall the operating system. Microsoft cannot guarantee that you can solve problems that result

from using the Registry Editor incorrectly. Use the Registry Editor at your own risk.

2. Locate the UAT sub-key by browsing to the following path:

o For a 32-bit operating system:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\SMS\UAT

o For a 64-bit operating system:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Wow6432Node\Microsoft\SMS\UAT

3. Use the following table to configure the appropriate registry key to specify a setting or start an

action for the Upgrade Assessment Tool.

Registry key

value Purpose Default value

Clean Up Set the value to 1 to start the process to remove all

upgrade assessment data from the Configuration Manager

site database.

0

Use 1 to start

the process.

Poll Interval The interval between polling for sync service (in

seconds)

900

SQL Read

Batch Size

Specifies the maximum number of rows in the

Application Compatibility Toolkit (ACT) SQL Server

database that the synchronization service reads at a time.

500000

SQL Bulk

Copy Batch

Size

Specifies the maximum number of rows that the

synchronization service copies to a temporary table in the

Configuration Manager site database.

500

SQL Merge

Batch Size

Specifies the maximum number of rows that are merged

from a temporary table to a destination table in the

Configuration Manager site database.

1000

SQL Merge

Delay

Specifies the delay (in milliseconds) before the process is

started to merge the data from a temporary table to a

destination table.

0