MORE INFORMATION
NOTE: Applying Systems Management Server service packs will overwrite the
modified files. Save a backup copy of the changes and manually update the
files after applying the latest service pack.
The master copy of the Uinfo.xnf file is stored in the following directory:
\SMS\Site.Srv\Maincfg.box\Client.src\X86.bin\00000409
Microsoft recommends that you modify a copy of this file, rather than the
file in this location. After you create and save the final version of the
form, place it in this directory.
The following steps show the best procedure for modifying this file and
distributing it to your Systems Management Server clients:
Customizing the Form
- Copy the Uinfo.xnf file from the directory noted in the previous section
to a working directory.
- Start the Systems Management Server MIF Form Generator and open the
Uinfo.xnf file or create a new one.
- Enter or modify the Form Name.
NOTE: If the Systems Management Server client has already been deployed
in the network environment, and users have already filled out the
default User Information form, then do not use User Information as the
Form Name. Use User Data or Client Information or something similar
instead. Systems Management Server uses the form name to define the
group class and SQL tables in the Systems Management Server database.
- Configure the rest of the MIF form as needed.
NOTE: Consulting with others is an excellent idea to help determine what
information is going to be requested from the users. Planning what is
going to be contained in the form will prevent users from having to fill
out the form more than once.
- Save the MIF form as Uinfo.xnf in the working directory.
For more information on creating custom MIF forms, see Appendix B of the
"Systems Management Server Administrator's Guide" for Systems Management
Server version 1.2.
Testing the MIF Form on a Client
Ideally, the new form should be tested in a test environment with a test
installation of Systems Management Server.
- Delete the Uinfo.mif and Uinfo.sev files from the \Ms\Sms\Noidmifs
directory of the Systems Management Server client.
- Manually copy the new form (Uinfo.xnf) to the \Ms\Sms\Bin directory of
the Systems Management Server client.
- Start the MIF Entry application and view the form. If changes are
necessary, go back to the "Customizing the Form" procedure in this
article and modify until it is defined the way you want.
- Repeat Step 1 to delete the files.
NOTE: If Systems Management Server inventory is taken after the MIF form is
filled out, it will be written into the Systems Management Server database.
Therefore, perform Step 1 (in Testing the MIF Form on a Client) to ensure
that the group class matching the form name (that is, User Information) is
not defined in the Systems Management Server database until the final
version of the form is determined.
Distributing the Updated Form
Copy the updated Uinfo.xnf file to the following directory on each Systems
Management Server site server:
\SMS\Site.srv\Maincfg.box\Client.src\X86.bin\00000409
If additional sites are added to the Systems Management Server hierarchy,
be sure to copy the custom MIF form to this directory on the new site
servers. This will ensure that client inventory that is passed up the
Systems Management Server hierarchy will not be rejected by the upper-level
sites.
After the Systems Management Server Maintenance Manager service has
distributed the file to all the Systems Management Server logon servers
managed by the site, any new Systems Management Server client that is
installed will receive the updated form automatically.
Viewing the New MIF Form Data
After a Systems Management Server client has filled out the MIF Entry form
and has been subsequently inventoried by running Smsls or Runsms utility,
the new MIF Entry data can be viewed with the Systems Management Server
Administrator utility. The following are some reasons why the new group
might not appear under the Systems Management Server client's Personal
Computer Properties.
- To display a new group class for the first time, the Systems Management
Server Administrator must be exited and restarted.
- It can take several minutes for a client's inventory to be updated in
the Systems Management Server database.
- The client's inventory was rejected as being corrupted. See the
'Deleting the Group Class' section (later in this document) to see if
this is the case and what needs to be done to correct it.
Additional Steps for Existing Systems Management Server Clients
If the old form has been filled out and inventoried by any users in an
existing Systems Management Server environment, you must remove any
existing Uinfo.mif and Uinfo.sev files prior to distributing the new
Uinfo.xnf file. This can be accomplished by creating a Systems Management
Server Workstation package that calls a batch file which contains these
commands:
REM Look for the Systems Management Server Client directory on the C: drive
REM If it isn't found, look on the D: drive
IF NOT EXIST C:\MS\SMS\BIN\UINFO.XNF goto D_DRIVE
DEL C:\MS\SMS\BIN\UINFO.XNF
DEL C:\MS\SMS\NOIDMIFS\UINFO.MIF
DEL C:\MS\SMS\NOIDMIFS\UINFO.SEV
XCOPY UINFO.XNF C:\MS\SMS\BIN
goto END
:D_DRIVE
IF NOT EXIST D:\MS\SMS\BIN\UINFO.XNF goto NO_CLIENT
DEL D:\MS\SMS\BIN\UINFO.XNF
DEL D:\MS\SMS\NOIDMIFS\UINFO.MIF
DEL D:\MS\SMS\NOIDMIFS\UINFO.SEV
XCOPY UINFO.XNF D:\MS\SMS\BIN
goto END
:NO_CLIENT
echo SMS Client Directory Not Found
:END
In the preceding example, the batch file could be extended to look for the
Systems Management Server client on other drive partitions. This same
functionality could also be performed using a Systems Management Server
Installer application.
Deleting the Group Class
The preceding steps should not be necessary if the procedures documented
earlier are followed as recommended. However, if a new form name was not
used, as recommended in the previous steps, it might be necessary to delete
the group class created by an earlier version of the MIF form.
Any inventory taken from Systems Management Server clients that have filled
out the new form will be rejected as being corrupted if the form name used
is already defined in the Systems Management Server database and has a
different format.
The MIFs that are rejected by the Dataloader service are placed in the
following directory:
\SMS\Site.srv\Dataload.box\Deltamif.col\BadMifs
To prevent the client inventory from being rejected, do the following:
WARNING: Deleting a group class from the Systems Management Server database
will result in the complete loss of all inventory stored by the
corresponding tables in the Systems Management Server database. In other
words, if the "User Information" group class is deleted, all Systems
Management Server clients that previously showed the "User Information"
group in their Personal Computer Properties will no longer show this group.
In addition, deleting a group class will probably result in RESYNC jobs
being created in order to retrieve full inventory information from Systems
Management Server clients.
- Start the Systems Management Server Database Manager utility and
log on to SQL server.
- On the Tools menu, click Delete Group Classes.
- Select the Personal Computer architecture and then click OK.
- In the Defined Group Classes list, see if "User Information" is
defined. If "User Information" is defined as a group class, then at
least one Systems Management Server client has filled out the original
form and passed it up with their Systems Management Server inventory.
- Select User Information, click OK, and then answer Yes to verify the
delete action.
- Quit the Systems Management Server Database Manager utility.
- Start the Systems Management Server Service Manager utility.
- Stop and restart the Systems Management Server Executive service running
on the Systems Management Server site server. This will flush the
Systems Management Server Dataloader's cache, which contains an image
of the structure of the Systems Management Server database.
When the next full client inventory is reported, the new User Information
group will be created with the corresponding entries.
After deleting the old group class, the Dataloader may be able to reprocess
the MIFs that it previously found to be corrupted. To do this, move the MIF
files located in the \BadMifs directory into the \Deltamif.col directory.
Do not move MIF files which have a date and/or time stamp earlier than the
date changes to the MIF Entry form were made. These were probably marked as
corrupted for a different reason.