Wednesday, October 31, 2012

SCOM 2012 - Installing Agent from Command Line

I have run into environments where it is difficult or impossible to install the monitoring agent directly from the Operations Manager console. Either there are security restrictions or company policy prevents "unauthorized" deployment methods. Whatever the situation, there are ways of setting up command line installation through other third party tools (usually something the client already has) or creating a script to push the agent out. You can even run it locally from a command prompt.

There are a couple things you will need in advance to prep for the install. On the installation media in the AGENT folder there are three sub folders, AMD64, I386 and IA64 where you can find MOMAgent.msi for your respective OS. So depending on your environment you may actually have to create up to three packages/scripts for your domain. If you are using gateway servers that number can multiply by the number of gateway domains.

So once you have your install media you need the execution script below:
%WinDir%\System32\msiexec.exe /i path\Directory\MOMAgent.msi /qn USE_SETTINGS_FROM_AD={0|1} USE_MANUALLY_SPECIFIED_SETTINGS={0|1} MANAGEMENT_GROUP=MGname MANAGEMENT_SERVER_DNS=MSname MANAGEMENT_SERVER_AD_NAME =MSname SECURE_PORT=PortNumber ACTIONS_USE_COMPUTER_ACCOUNT={0|1} ACTIONSUSER=UserName ACTIONSDOMAIN=DomainName ACTIONSPASSWORD=Password

You will need to modify the installation directory to suit your requirements. Also you will need to update the switches using the following information
Switch Description
USE_SETTINGS_FROM_AD={0|1} Indicates whether the management group settings properties will be set on the command line. Use 0 if you want to set the properties at the command line. Use 1 to use the management group settings from Active Directory.
USE_MANUALLY_SPECIFIED_SETTINGS=={0|1} If USE_SETTINGS_FROM_AD=1, then USE_MANUALLY_SPECIFIED_SETTINGS must equal 0.
MANAGEMENT_GROUP=MGname Specifies the management group that will manage the computer.
MANAGEMENT_SERVER_DNS=MSname Specifies the fully qualified domain name for the management server. To use a gateway server, enter the gateway server FQDN as MANAGEMENT_SERVER_DNS.
MANAGEMENT_SERVER_AD_NAME=ADname Use this parameter if the computer's DNS and Active Directory names differ to set to the fully qualified Active Directory Domain Services name.
SECURE_PORT=PortNumber Sets the health service port number.
ENABLE_ERROR_REPORTING={0|1} Optional parameter. Use this parameter with “1” to opt in to error report forwarding to Microsoft. If you do not include this parameter, the agent installation defaults to “0”, which opts out of error report forwarding.
QUEUE_ERROR_REPORTS={0|1} Optional parameter. Use this parameter with “1” to queue error reports or with “0” to send reports immediately. If you do not include this parameter, the agent installation defaults to “0”.
INSTALLDIR=path Optional parameter. Use this parameter if you want to install the agent to a folder other than the default installation path. Note that \Agent will be appended to this value.
ACTIONS_USE_COMPUTER_ACCOUNT={0|1} Indicates whether to use a specified user account (0) or the Local System account (1).
ACTIONSUSER=UserName Sets the Agent Action account to UserName. This parameter is required if you specified ACTIONS_USE_COMPUTER_ACCOUNT=0.
ACTIONSDOMAIN= DomainName Sets the domain for the Agent Action account identified with the ACTIONSUSER parameter.
ACTIONSPASSWORD= Password The password for the user identified with the ACTIONSUSER parameter.
NOAPM=1 Optional parameter. Installs the Operations Manager agent without .NET Application Performance Monitoring. If you are using AVIcode 5.7, NOAPM=1 leaves the AVIcode agent in place. If you are using AVIcode 5.7 and install the Operations Manager agent by using momagent.msi without NOAPM=1, the AVIcode agent will not work correctly and an alert will be generated.

You can find additional information on agent delivery methods in the Microsoft Technet Article.

More to come!

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Windows 8 - Is it right for you?

So with the recent launch of Windows 8 there has been a lot of talk about it and whether the upgrade will be worth it. I have been using the Windows 8 Consumer Preview for about eight months now so I thought I would put together some of my thoughts on it and show you some of the things I have learned.

With this new era of BYOD (bring your own device), Microsoft is attempting to embrace some of the philosophy's of Apple in their synergy of devices. Windows 8 is the corner stone of that new directive. You can now "sync" your laptop, Microsoft phone, and Microsoft tablet (interestingly enough named Surface). All of your important information such as contacts, pictures documents etc. can be shared between devices. The thinking is that in your work environment you will be able to purchase your own devices like phones and tablets, which more and more users are doing, and your Enterprise support team can set them all up to work together seamlessly.

The pro's and con's to this is multi-factored. You get the device you want, and get to keep it when you leave the company. Your company gets to lower their operating costs by not having to purchase devices and service agreements for you. One caveat to this is most company's have security policies in place to wipe devices when you leave the company to prevent sensitive company data from leaking to the outside. In most cases they do not even need your permission to do this and don't need direct access to the device either. It can be wiped remotely. So you could lose all your contacts, email's, pictures, etc in the process. Word to the wise would be to backup your device regularly.

So lets get into what Windows 8 has that's different from its predecessors.

Metro and Tiles:
As I am sure you have heard by now, Microsoft has done away with the Start Menu completely in favor of Tiles.This is part of the tablet/touch screen movement to make it easier to navigate. The tiles, called the Metro interface are fully customizable to suit your needs.
You can access Metro by hitting the Windows Key. This is also the first screen you see when the computer boots up.

Apps:
The Windows Store opened in conjunction to the launch of Windows 8 so there are new apps available for download. I had some beta exposure to it as my company develops apps for some of our clients. It is a far cry from the Mac App Store but I think with time they will catch up as more people begin to use Windows 8. There are some apps worth checking out however. I will be doing follow up segments on a few of them.

Ease of Use:
Now there has been a lot of discussion about how useful / functional this type of interface is as opposed to the Start menu. I will agree there was a week or so of getting used to the navigation. I would say that for the intermediate and advanced computer users this will speed up productivity. For the casual user it may cause more confusion. Grandma will have difficulty finding her pictures unless she sets up a tile for it, which is not too difficult.

After about two weeks I found that I was easily shifting between apps and opening up new programs using the search feature in Metro. For instance if I want to open up Word I just hit the Windows key and type word.
Top results are auto populated and since Microsoft Word is the first selection (highlighted) I can just hit Enter to open the program.

The downside would be if you are searching for a program that you do not know the name of. You would have to open up Metro search by hitting the Windows and the Q button at the same time to search all of the installed applications or apps. You have to pan the slider at the bottom over to see more of them.
This has happened to me a few times as I deal with a lot of apps and will occasionally forget what I am looking for. When you get a lot of programs installed this search can take a while.

Task Manager:
One significant improvement to Win7 and XP is the Task Manager. For those of us who have administered desktops at one time or another you know how little information was given in Task Manager. They have significantly beefed up the type of collections that are done in the newer version.
SkyDrive:
As part of the new Metro interface Microsoft has integrated SkyDrive with the operating system. You can now sync your files automatically to the cloud through the tile interface. It is easy to setup (assuming you already have a SkyDrive account. If not you can create one for free here). You get 25GB of space provided by Microsoft at no charge which for the average user is more than sufficient.

Hyper-V:
This, in my opinion is one of the biggest advantages of Windows 8 over previous versions. Hyper-V is natively installed (in add remove programs) as part of Windows 8 install. For those of you who are not familiar with Hyper-V it is a computer virtualization program that allows you to run virtual guests on your computer. In other words you can create multiple virtual computers and run them simultaneously with the default operating system. This is very beneficial for me as I often have to provide client demo's of products and I can create virtual PC's to install that software on. Granted this is not the type of feature that is helpful for Grandma but still worth mentioning.

Price:
For most Windows users it will cost $39.99 for the Windows 8 upgrade that runs through January 31st 2013. It will then go up to $199.99 after that. So there is some motivation to upgrade sooner rather than later.

Overall:
My overall impression of Windows 8 is positive. There is a bit of a learning curve for the product as it is quite a departure from previous versions of the operating system. For the casual user who does not have a touch screen computer it could take several weeks to really get comfortable with the product. Advanced users will take less time to adjust but it will still be a few weeks. I did find that it managed system resources better than Windows 7 so my laptop runs better. I have 8GB of memory and I am able to run the OS and three to four virtual guests without much problem (unless one of them is SQL).

I have only outlined a few of the features of Windows 8 so I plan to do some segments highlighting other features as well as tips and tricks to optimize your Windows 8 Experience in the upcoming weeks/months.

Feel free to drop me a line if you have any questions or would like some additional information about Windows 8.

Tuesday, October 30, 2012

SCOM 2012 - Importing Management Packs

Now that we have a few Management servers up and running lets go ahead and install a Management Pack. Management Packs are what SCOM uses to communicate with the various technologies deployed out in your enterprise and they can be downloaded from Microsoft's website or from other various third party vendors. Quite a few are free, but some need to be paid for. Plan accordingly when you are considering your System Center budget that you might have to pay for a few MP's to monitor everything you want to.

For this segment we will be installing the Windows Server 2008 MP. The Windows Server management group is a free download from Microsoft and comes in an .msi format. Copy your .msi to the RMS server and run it. The EULA may vary from vendor to vendor. Just accept and Click Next

The .msi file will run and extract your .mp files to the following location:
     C:\Program Files (x86)\System Center Management Packs\

For the Windows management packs we will go one folder lower to the System Center Monitoring Pack-Windows Server Operating System Folder. You can see that there are several MP's in that one .msi.

You can close this window now as you will not need to do anything further here.

Go ahead and open up the Operations Manager console and go to the Administration workspace. On the Actions list on the right you can click Import management packs or you can Right Click on Administration in the navigation tree and do the same thing.

You will see the Import Management Packs window. Click Add then Select Add from disk since we have already imported our MP's.
 

You will be prompted to search the online catalog for MP dependencies. This is always a good idea since management packs will sometimes need other management packs installed to run properly. Click Yes.

You will briefly see the connection window, once the connection is made this will disappear.

Next we are prompted to select the management pack we want to install. Click on Microsoft.Windows.Server.2008.Monitoring.mp and Click Open

You will be taken back to the Import Management Packs screen but you may notice that there is an issue that needs to be resolved. In this case there is a dependency missing. Click Resolve to tell SCOM to go out to the online catalog and fix the issue.

Your search should return the missing MP, in this case its the Discovery MP. Click Resolve

Back on the Import Management Packs window you will see that both MP's are now ready to be installed. Click Install

If everything installs OK you will see green checks by both MP's. Click Close

To validate that both MP's are reporting in correctly return to the Operations Manager console, in the Administration space Click Management Packs. Scroll down to the bottom you should see them there.

More to come!

Monday, October 29, 2012

SCOM 2012 - Installing Additional Management Servers

Now if you have gone through my previous post SCOM 2012 - Installation, we have our first box in the management group up and running. Lets go ahead and add a second machine to the management group. The process is very similar to the primary install but diverges a little in the middle.

Prerequisites:
The prerequisites for the additional management servers are the same as for the primary box.

For .NET 3.5
Open Server Manager
Click on Features
Click Add Features
Check the box for .NET Framework 3.5.1 Features
     You will be prompted to install Web Server (IIS) and Windows Process Activation Service
     Click Add Required Role Services to continue
     On Web Server (IIS) Click Next
     On Select Role Services Click Next
     On Confirm Installation Selections Click Next

For .NET 4.0
If you don't already have a copy of .NET 4.0 you can get it from Microsoft.

Run the .NET 4.0 executable
Check I have read and accept the license terms
Click Install (this will take a few minutes depending on the specs of the box)
Click Finish

Services:
The Remote Registry Service needs to be enabled and running before you start the install. By default it is disabled.
     Start > Administrative Tools > Services
     Scroll down to Remote Registry Service, Right Click, Properties
     In Startup type: Change to Automatic and Click Apply
     Then Click Start
     Then Click OK

Microsoft Report Viewer 2010:
The Microsoft Report Viewer 2010 needs to be installed prior to installation of SCOM 2012. you can download it from Microsoft here.

Once you have it downloaded, Right Click on ReportViewer.exe and Run as administrator
On the setup page Click Next
Accept the EULA and Click Install
When the install is complete Click Finish

Installation:
Once you have these steps taken care of go ahead and Right Click on Setup.exe and Run as administrator. As before you will be greeted with the System Center 2012 Install screen. Click Install

Check Management Server and Operations Console and Click Next

You can select the default location or choose a different location. Once selected Click Next

You will go through the prerequisite checker and if all the steps above were followed you should reach this screen. If not resolve any outstanding issues then Click Next

Here is where we start to differ from the first install. Select Add Management server to an existing management group and Click Next

You will be prompted for the Operational Database information enter <server name>\<instance name> and the port number (if not the default). It will attempt to connect to the instance and if successful the database name field will become active. Select the database where you installed the Ops DB. In this case I used the default. Click Next

You will be prompted for the Management Server Action account and the Data Access account used in the primary install and their respective passwords. Click Next if the accounts can be verified you will move onto the next page.

On the Customer Experience Improvement page, your participation is optional. Click Next

On the Microsoft Update page I generally choose update but you may do what you like. Click Next

Review your installation choices and Click Install

If you are successful you will see this page.

You can validate that you are successful by opening up Operations Manager on your primary box. Go to the Administration workspace > In Device Management Click Management Servers you should now see a second server in the group.

You will also see that the primary box has assumed the RMS Emulator role. The RMSE role has changed in SCOM 2012 and I will be highlighting those changes in a later segment.

Friday, October 26, 2012

SCOM 2012 - Install Product Key

You may have noticed that when you did the product install of SCOM 2012 you were not prompted to add a license key. And as you have been looking around for it, you discover that you can't find it in About which is usually the first place I look. In About you see that you are running the (Eval) or evaluation version.

With SCOM 2012 they have moved the license key install to their Operations Manager Shell component. To install a valid license key open Operations Manager Shell.
Start > All Programs > Microsoft System Center 2012 > Operations Manager Shell

Once Operations Manger Shell is up enter the following command:
     Set-SCOMLicense -ProductId "insertyourlicensekeyhere“

You will be prompted to confirm the action, just type Y and hit Enter


Once you return to a command prompt close Operations Manger Shell and restart the server.

Now when you look at About you will see (Retail)

Additionally you can confirm this by pulling up Operations Manager Shell again and running the following command:
     Get-SCOMManagementGroup | ft skuforlicense, version, timeofexpiration –a

You will get confirmation that the license is installed correctly and it should give you an expiration date.

SCOM 2012 - Installation

For the first segment on SCOM 2012 I plan to walk through the prerequisites you need to do before hand as well as the actual install process. This segment will just be for the Management server and Operations console. I will cover Web and Reporting Services as well as adding additional Management servers in a later segment.

Hardware Requirements:
     Disk space: %SYSTEMDRIVE% requires at least 1024 MB free hard disk space.
     Server Operating System: must be Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1.
     Processor Architecture: must be x64.
     2GB of memory minimum, 4GB recommended
          (it will install with less than 2GB but it will run like crap)

Operating System Requirements
SCOM 2012 needs to be installed on Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1

Prerequisites:
For the Management Server you need to have .NET 3.5 and .NET 4.0 installed as well as enabling the remote registry service and installing Microsoft Report Viewer 2010

For .NET 3.5
Open Server Manager
Click on Features
Click Add Features
Check the box for .NET Framework 3.5.1 Features
     You will be prompted to install: 
     Web Server (IIS) and Windows Process Activation Service
     Click Add Required Role Services to continue
     On Web Server (IIS) Click Next
     On Select Role Services Click Next
     On Confirm Installation Selections Click Next 

For .NET 4.0
If you don't already have a copy of .NET 4.0 you can get it from Microsoft.

Run the .NET 4.0 executable
Check I have read and accept the license terms
Click Install (this will take a few minutes depending on the specs of the box)
Click Finish

Services:
The Remote Registry Service needs to be enabled and running before you start the install. It is disabled by default

      Start > Administrative Tools > Services
      Scroll down to Remote Registry Service, Right Click, Properties
      In Startup type: Change to Automatic and Click Apply
      Then Click Start
      Then Click OK

Microsoft Report Viewer 2010:
The Microsoft Report Viewer 2010 needs to be installed prior to installation of SCOM 2012. you can download it from Microsoft here. Once you have it downloaded,

     Right Click on ReportViewer.exe and Run as administrator
     On the setup page Click Next
     Accept the EULA and Click Install
     When the install is complete Click Finish

Service Accounts:
For the installation of SCOM 2012 you will need four service accounts created. Their information and access requirements are listed below:

Account Description Permissions
Management server action account This account is used to carry out actions on monitored computers across a network connection. -This needs to be a domain based account
-This account needs local administrative permission on all servers to be monitored
System Center Configuration service and System Center Data Access service account This account is used to read information from the operational database. -This account needs to be assigned to the SDK_user role in the operational database
-This account must have local administrative privilege on the SQL server and the Management Server
-Should be different from the Management server action account
Data Warehouse Write account The Data Warehouse Write account writes data from the management server to the Reporting data warehouse and reads data from the operational database. -This account needs write permission on the Data Warehouse database and read permission on the Operational database
-This account needs SQL Server Logon rights and Logon rights to the SQL Server hosting both the Data Warehouse and Operational database.

Data Reader account The Data Reader account is used to define which account credentials SQL Server Reporting Services uses to run queries against the Operations Manager reporting data warehouse. -This needs to be a domain based account
-Needs SQL server and management server logon rights

SPN Creation:
If the System Center Data Access service account is a domain account (and it should be) Service Principal Names need to be registered for each management server. Register both the netbios name and fully qualified domain name of the management server using the following syntax:

setspn –a MSOMSdkSvc/<netbios name> <DAS account domain>\<DAS account name>
setspn –a MSOMSdkSvc/<fqdn> <DAS account domain>\<DAS account name>

This does not need to be done prior to install for it to be successful, but it does not hurt.

SQL Instances:
You will need a SQL instance created for the Operational database and the Data Warehouse database. For assistance in determining how large to make the database instances refer to the System Center 2012 Operations Manager Sizing Helper Tool v1

If you do not already have SQL installed you can review my SQL 2008R2 install guide here.

*Gotcha* - When creating the database instances leave the sizes set to their default. Once you have SCOM 2012 installed then extend them to the size that is required. If you extend them first the instillation of SCOM takes considerably longer. In addition you want to make sure your Operations database has at least 50% free space at any given time. Less than that will effect performance. Also, never set your Operations database to auto-grow. This will also effect performance.

Ensure that you have the service accounts and their respective permissions configured correctly as indicated above or the installation can fail.

*Gotcha* - The account you are using to do the SCOM 2012 installation needs have logon rights on SQL box as well otherwise you may run into permission issues.

Installation:
OK, So if you have all of your ducks in a row you should be read to do the install. From the install media Right Click on Setup.exe and Run as administrator. You will be greeted with the Microsoft System Center 2012 splash page. Click Install


On the Select features to install page, you will be prompted to do just that, to select the features you wish to install. Since this is the first server in the Management pool we will select Management server and Operations console and Click Next (I will be covering the Web console and Reporting server features in a followup segment)

For Select installation location we can leave this default or choose an alternate location if you would like. For this example we will go with the default. Click Next

If we followed the steps above all of your prerequisites should pass. If not click on each one for resolution details. Click Next

Again, since this is the first server in the Management pool we will select Create the first Management server in a new management group, supply a name for this group in the field provided and Click Next

Accept the terms of the EULA and Click Next

For the Operational database setup you will need to provide the database instance information you created above in the <server name>\<instance name> format. If you did not use the default SQL Server port (1433) during instance creation, you will need to provide the new port number as well. The installer will attempt to connect to the server\instance you provided and if successful the four fields below will become active. I leave all of these set as default. Click Next

Same as the Operational database page, for the Data Warehouse, you will need to provide <server name>\<instance name> of the data warehouse instance as well as the port number if not default. Select Create a new data warehouse database and leave the rest of the fields default. Click Next

On the Configure Operations Manager accounts page you will need to provide the <domain name>\<user name> and password of the four service accounts you created earlier. These accounts need to be active at this time. When you Click Next the installer will attempt to validate all four accounts. If it fails it will tell you which ones it cannot validate. Double check the user name and password and Click Next again. If successful you will advance to the next screen.

As far as the Customer Experience Improvement Program is concerned I generally opt out, but it is dealers choice, you do what you like here. Select your options and Click Next

For Microsoft Update, again this is dealers choice, but I generally turn this feature On. Select and Click Next

On the Installation Summary you will be able to review your installation decisions and go back if necessary if you would like to change anything. Click Install

Total install time is approximately thirty to forty-five minutes so go get some coffee, or if you timed it right, Lunch.

Success!


More SCOM 2012 segments to come!

Friday, October 19, 2012

Android Security

For those of you not aware, the FBI's Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) has just issued a warning about increasing levels of malware targeting Android phones. This announcement comes at the same time Google has announced a new version of Google Play which will contain malware scanning capability. Google has been fighting security issues with its Android operating system for almost two years now. It claims that it has seen a significant drop in the number of potentially malicious apps in its Google Play Store, 40% since the fourth quarter of 2011. However, according to McAfee the opposite is true, they report a 76% jump since the second quarter of this year.

The IC3 sites two examples in particular, Loozfon and FinFisher. Loozfon is an information-stealing app that offers either porn or work opportunities to lure users in. FinFisher on the other hand is a spyware capable taking over the components of a mobile device. When installed the device can be remotely controlled and monitored no mater where the device is located.

The IC3 announcement and a list of safety tips to help secure your mobile device can be found here.

Whether you believe Google or McAfee my advice would be to resist using applications which could compromise the security of your personal information. Refrain from using banking applications or visiting banking websites. Avoid using your credit cards to make purchases over apps or the web. The best way to keep that information safe is just not to do it on your phone.

Thursday, October 18, 2012

iOS6 - Ad Tracking Re-enabled

So it came to my attention that with the release of the iPhone5 and the new iOS6 Apple has quietly re-enabled its tracking feature to pass your information on to advertisers so they can target you through new tracking technology called IFA.

You will remember that Apple did this back with the release of iOS5 which met with enormous public outcry. Apple rescinded this with the ability for the end user to "opt-out". With the iOS6 release they have done it again but hid the opt-out feature in a place you would not think to look.

How it Works:
The IFA or identifier for advertisers assigns a random number to your Apple device and uses that number like a cookie on your computer. So when you look at an app or browse the web it generates an ad call.  The advertiser then takes your IFA and knows you are an iPhone user looking at specific apps or publications and can serve ads targeted to you specifically. For example you are looking at a lot of house websites. The ad server will recognize that you are looking for a house and start serving up house advertisements.

By default this feature is enabled for all iOS6 users and needs to be manually disabled. Fortunately the number is temporary and after the feature is disabled it goes away.

How to Disable Tracking:
So The first part of how they have concealed this is place the feature in General, NOT Privacy as it has been in the past.


Once in General Click About

Scroll all the way to the bottom and Click Advertising

Here is where the second layer of confusion comes in. You look at this and see it is in the Off position and think to yourself that you are good. This is not the case, it needs to be ON to limit ad tracking.  Switch it to ON and close out of Settings

The IFA will expire shortly and be gone for good.


Monday, October 15, 2012

SQL Server 2008R2 - Installation

So as we get started talking about installing and configuring the System Center 2012 Suite it occurs to me that we should take a step back and talk about setting up SQL. You will need to have it installed and configured correctly in order to use SC. So I am going to do my first segment on installing SQL 2008R2 and prepping it for SCOM (the next segment in the series).

You can download SQL 2008R2 Trial from the following locations if you don’t have access to a copy elsewhere.
x64 is the better choice in my opinion, unless you are installing SQL on an older box for testing there really isn't any reason to use the x86 version. I am going to install this on Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1 since that is the image I am currently working with in my lab.

Hardware/Software requirements:
A complete list of all of the hardware and software requirements can be found on the Microsoft Technet page. Please take a moment to review it to make sure you meet the minimum.

Prerequisite:
The only thing SQL Server 2008R2 needs prior to install is .NET 3.5

Open Server Manager
Click on Features
Click Add Features
Check the box for .NET Framework 3.5.1 Features
     You will be prompted to install Web Server (IIS) and Windows Process Activation Service
     Click Add Required Role Services to continue
     On Web Server (IIS) Click Next
     On Select Role Services Click Next
     On Confirm Installation Selections Click Next

Installation:
Once you have the install media, right click on setup.exe and run as administrator. This is important, if you don’t run as administrator you can run into permissions issues later!

When the SQL Server Installation Center opens up (Step 1) Click Installation on the left menu.
Step 1

On the Installation page (Step 2) Click New installation or add features to an existing installation.
Step 2

The installation will automatically go through the Setup Support Rules (Step 3). If everything passes, Click OK. Otherwise Click Show Details and resolve any issues outstanding.
Step 3

On the Product Key page (Step 4) select Specify a free edition, or enter a product key if available and Click Next.
Step 4
On the License Terms page Check I accept the license terms and Click Next
Step 5

On the Setup Support Files (Step 6) Click Install
Step 6
In step 7 the Setup Support Rules will run automatically to validate that all install issues are resolved. If they are Click Next, otherwise Click the Warning or Failed next to the error for additional details on how to resolve.
Step 7
On the Setup Role select SQL Server Feature Installation then Click Next
Step 8
In Step 9 Feature Selection, Check Database Engine Service, Full-Text Search, Reporting Services (I will be doing a follow up segment on configuring SSRS for SCOM later), Management Tools - Basic and Management Tools - Complete. Keep the default directories. Click Next
Step 9
Installation Rules will run again to validate any install issues. As before Click Next if everything is OK, otherwise Click Show Details
Step 10
In Step 11, for the sake of simplicity we are going to keep the default instance. This can be changed if you require another instance setup on the box you are working with. Click Next
Step 11
On Disk Space Requirements Click Next
Step 12
On Step 13, best practice dictates that you create unique service accounts for each of the SQL services running on the machine. For this example, however I am using Network Service since this is just a lab installation. Enter in the domain\username and password for each account and Click Next
Step 13
For Database Engine Configuration (Step 14) Select Windows authentication mode. For Specify SQL Server administrators, I always add domain\administrator (Administrator) to ensure access. Click Next
Step 14
In Reporting Services Configuration Select Install the native mode default configuration, since we are setting this up for System Center not SharePoint we don't need to create the database in SharePoint integrated mode. Click Next
Step 15
In Step 16 Error Reporting Click Next
Step 16
A final Installation Configurations Rules will run. Follow procedures as before. Click Next
Step 17
On Step 18 Ready to Install, review the setup information and Click Install. This is a good opportunity to go get some coffee. The install takes about twenty to thirty minutes (depending on the specs of the box) to complete.
Step 18
If we did everything correctly you will be greeted with the Your SQL Server 2008 R2 installation completed successfully page, shown below.
Success!

Click Close and you are all set!