Share via

  • Article

Configuration Manager Support Center user guide

 

Updated: May 14, 2015

Applies To: System Center 2012 Configuration Manager, System Center 2012 Configuration Manager SP2, System Center 2012 R2 Configuration Manager SP1

System Center 2012 Configuration Manager Support Center helps you to gather information about System Center 2012 Configuration Manager clients, so that you can more easily address issues with those clients when working with product support specialists. Configuration Manager Support Center includes a tool that gathers a bundle of log files, and also a tool that is used by product support specialists to examine log files and other client data for in-depth analysis of issues with Configuration Manager clients.

System requirements and prerequisites

The following must be installed on the server or client computer on which Configuration Manger Support Center will be installed:

  • An operating system supported by System Center 2012 R2 Configuration Manager. For a list of supported operating systems, see Supported Configurations for Configuration Manager, but please note that Windows XP clients and Windows Server 2003 clients are not supported. Mobile devices are not supported by Configuration Manager Support Center.

  • .NET Framework 4.5.2 is required on the computer where you run Configuration Manager Support Center, Configuration Manager Support Center Viewer, or Support Center Log File Viewer (Log Viewer).

To install Configuration Manager Support Center

  1. Download cmsupportcenter.msi from the Microsoft Download Center.

  2. After the download completes, double-click cmsupportcenter.msi to run the setup wizard.

  3. Follow the instructions in the setup wizard to install Configuration Manager Support Center.

After the installation completes, you are ready to collect log files and troubleshoot issues using Configuration Manager Support Center.

About Configuration Manager Support Center

If you have ever been frustrated by challenges with troubleshooting Configuration Manager client computers, Configuration Manager Support Center was created with you in mind. Previously, when working with Microsoft Technical Support (or a support consultant) to address an issue with Configuration Manager clients, you would need to manually collect log files and other information to help support personnel to address the issue. It was easy to accidentally omit a crucial log file, causing additional headaches for you and the support personnel who you were working with.

Now, you can use Support Center to streamline the support experience. Support Center lets you:

  • Create .zip file that contains all of the relevant log files on your Configuration Manager client, which you can send to support personnel.

  • View log files, certificates, registry settings, debug dumps, client policies, and more.

Support Center also includes Configuration Manager Support Center Viewer, a tool that support personnel can use to open the bundle of files that you create using Configuration Manager Support Center, and Log Viewer, a stand-alone tool used to view and parse log files. Support Center also includes PowerShell cmdlets that can be used to create a remote connection to another Configuration Manager client, to configure the data collection options provided on the Data Collection tab, and to start data collection.

Accessibility features in Configuration Manager Support Center

Configuration Manager Support Center has many helpful accessibility features that make it easier for people with disabilities to use this product, and that also provide convenient keyboard shortcuts for all users.

Use the keyboard to move around the ribbon

You can use a keyboard shortcut to access every menu included in the Support Center ribbon, which contains all commands used by Support Center:

  1. Press Alt or F10 to see keyboard shortcuts for each menu

  2. Press a shortcut key that is displayed when you press Alt to switch to that menu. For example, press Alt, and then press L to access the Logs menu.

Use the keyboard to perform common tasks

You can also use a keyboard to perform common tasks in Support Center, Support Center Viewer, and the Log Viewer window that is included with Support Center and Support Center Viewer. The most common tasks that you can perform with the keyboard include:

Task

Keyboard Shortcut

Open application configuration options

F4

Exit Support Center, Support Center Viewer, or Log Viewer

Alt+F4

Load or Refresh client details

F5 (on the Support Center Client Details tab)

Load selected policy view

F5 (on the Support Center Client Policy tab)

Refresh a policy

F5 (on the Support Center Client Policy tab, after selecting a policy)

Copy as MOF

Ctrl+Shift+C (on the Support Center Client Policy tab, after selecting a policy; also available for WMI events)

Copy a policy as local client MOF

Ctrl+Shift+X (on the Support Center Client Policy tab, after selecting a policy)

Request policy

Ctrl+R (on the Support Center Client Policy tab)

Evaluate policy

Ctrl+E (on the Support Center Client Policy tab)

Load or refresh content view

F5 (on the Support Center Content tab)

Load inventory

F5 (on the Support Center Inventory tab)

Start troubleshooting

F5 (on the Support Center Troubleshooting tab)

Open data bundle

Ctrl+O (On the Support Center Viewer Home tab)

Open log files

Ctrl+O (On the Support Center Logs tab, and in the Log Viewer window)

Open log files in current view

Ctrl+Shift+O (On the Support Center Logs tab, and in the Log Viewer window)

Open log files in a new Log Viewer window

Ctrl+N (On the Support Center Logs tab, and in the Log Viewer window)

Close all log files

Ctrl+W (On the Support Center Logs tab, and in the Log Viewer window)

Search inside of log files

On the Logs tab, and in the Log Viewer window, use the following commands to search inside of log files:

  • Ctrl+F: Opens the Find dialog where you can provide a string to search for.

  • F3: After finding a match for the string that you are searching for, this key will take you to the next match.

  • Shift+F3: After finding two or more matches for the string that you are searching for, this shortcut will take you to the previous match.

Look up an error code

Ctrl+L (On Logs tab, and in the Log Viewer window)

Copy from a log file

On Logs tab, and in the Log Viewer window, use the following commands to copy from log files:

  • Ctrl+C: Copies log file text

  • Ctrl+Shift+C: Copies the log entry without formatting

Quick filter using log file text

Ctrl+Shift+C (On Logs tab, and in the Log Viewer window)

Annotate a log file

Ctrl+Shift+N (On Logs tab, and in the Log Viewer window)

Note

Annotations are stored in memory, and can only be used within a log viewing session. To retain an annotation for future use, take a screen capture and save the resulting image.

Open Help

F1

Configuration Manager Support Center Quick Start Guide

Configuration Manager Support Center has powerful capabilities (including troubleshooting and real-time log viewing), but it can also be used in just a few minutes to capture the state of a Configuration Manager client computer (including remote clients).

You can create a complete “data bundle” .zip file that captures the client state – not just log file information, but other types of data such as debug dumps and registry settings. Then, you can provide that bundle to a support technician using Support Center Viewer.

Step 1: Create a data bundle on a local client

  1. Install Configuration Manager Support Center on a computer with the Configuration Manager client installed.

  2. Start Support Center.

  3. Click Collect Selected Data. Because only the minimum data set (log files, client configuration, and operating system) is being collected, the process takes only seconds.

  4. Save the .zip file (the data bundle) to a folder on your computer.

Step 2: View a data bundle using Support Center Viewer

  1. Start Support Center Viewer. This can occur on the same computer where you created the data bundle, or on anther computer that you have transferred the .zip file to.

  2. Click Open Bundle, browse to the .zip file, and then click Open.

  3. Click through the tabs to see the types of data that were collected:

    • Configuration. An exhaustive set of configuration information is available:

      • Configuration Manager client configuration

      • Operating System

      • Computer

      • Services

      • Network Adapters

    • Logs. You can double-click any of the log files shown in the list, and review those files in Log Viewer, a feature of Support Center with capabilities that include looking up error codes and using advanced filters to help you more quickly analyze log files.

Beyond these basic capabilities, Support Center can also collect a wide variety of other client state information. If you re-open Support Center and click Collect All Data, the process will typically take several minutes, even on later-model computers. However, Support Center will also collect the following:

  • Policy. Collect Configuration Manager policy settings, including both the requested policy configuration and the actual policy configuration.

  • Certificates. Collect public key information for client certificates (private keys are not collected).

  • Debug Dumps. Collect and view debug dump files, making it easier to diagnose issues.

  • WMI. Collect and view WMI state information.

  • Registry. Collect a complete set of registry settings from the client.

  • Troubleshooting. You can also use a troubleshooting feature to collect real-time troubleshooting data to help diagnose common client problems with Active Directory, Management Points, networking, policy assignments, and registration.

Configuration Manager Support Center UI Reference

This section describes the user interface (UI) for the Configuration Manager Support Center tool.

The following table lists the items on the main menu of the Support Center tool.

Menu Item

Description

Local Machine Connection

When this item is selected, Support Center will gather log files and perform troubleshooting on the client that is running Support Center.

Remote Connection

When this item is selected, Support Center will provide a dialog box that you can use to establish a remote connection with another Configuration Manager client. After the connection is established, Support Center will gather log files and perform troubleshooting on the client to which you have connected.

About

Provides information about Support Center

Options

In the Options dialog, you can:

  • Choose to reduce the movement of animated UI elements.

  • Change where data bundle files are saved by default.

  • Choose to reset warnings, so that any warning messages that you have suppressed will appear when triggered.

Exit

Exits Support Center

Data Collection tab

The following table lists the items on the Data Collection tab of the Support Center tool.

Item

Description

Collect Selected Data

When you click this button, Support Center will collect information from the Configuration Manager client. By default, Configuration Manager client information is collected, and Operating System information is also collected.

You can also:

  • Collect other types of information by selecting the checkbox next to the name for that type of information.

  • Click the bottom half of the Collect Selected Data button, and then click Collect all data to collect the complete set of client state data.

Log files

When you select the checkbox for this option, client log files (including setup logs) are collected the next time that you click Start Collection.

Policy

When you select the checkbox for this option, client policy data is collected the next time that you click Start Collection.

Certificates

When you select the checkbox for this option, public key information for client certificates is collected the next time that you click Start Collection.

Client configuration collector

Configuration Manager client information is collected by default when you click Start Collection.

Client registry

When you select the checkbox for this option, client configuration information used by Configuration Manager is collected from the registry the next time that you click Start Collection.

Client WMI

When you select the checkbox for this option, client configuration information from WMI (excluding client policy) is collected the next time that you click Start Collection.

Troubleshooting

When you select the checkbox for this option, troubleshooting information (including Active Directory, Management Point, networking, policy and registration information) is collected the next time that you click Start Collection.

Note

This feature is not supported when you are using a remote connection to another client.

Debug dumps

When you select the checkbox for this option, a debug dump of client and related processes is collected the next time that you click Start Collection.

Warning

  • Collecting debug dumps will cause data bundles to become very large (in some cases, several hundred MB).

  • Debug dumps contain may contain sensitive information, including passwords, cryptographic secrets or user data. Debug dumps should only be collected on the recommendation of Microsoft Support personnel, and data bundles that contain debug dumps should be handled carefully to protect them from unauthorized access.

  • This feature is not supported when you are using a remote connection to another client.

Operating system

Operating system configuration information is collected by default when you click Start Collection.

Client Details tab

The following table lists the items on the Client Details tab of the Support Center tool.

Item

Description

Load or Refresh

When you click this button, Support Center will load or refresh client details for the Configuration Manager client.

Control client agent service

Allows you to stop, start, and restart the Configuration Manager client agent service (CCMEXEC) on the local host or a remote client:

  • Restart client

    Important

    If the client agent service does not successfully restart, the client will not be manageable by Configuration Manager until it is restarted.

  • Start client

  • Stop client

    Important

    The client will not be manageable by Configuration Manager until it is restarted.

Client ID

Displays a unique identifier that is used to identify the client to Configuration Manager

Hardware ID

Displays a unique identifier that is used to identify the client hardware to Configuration Manager

Approved

Indicates whether the client has been approved

Registration State

Indicates whether or not the client has been registered

Internet-facing

Indicates whether or not the client is internet-facing

Version

The version number of the Configuration Manager client that is running on the client computer

Site Code

Site code for the primary site associated with the client

Assigned MP

The ID of the assigned management point

Resident MP

The ID of the resident management point

Proxy MP

The hostname or fully qualified domain name (FQDN) of the proxy management point (if it exists)

Proxy Site Code

The site code for the secondary site (if it exists)

Proxy State

The state of the Configuration Manager client’s proxy management point (for example, Active or Pending)

Client Policy tab

The following table lists the items on the Client Policy tab of the Support Center tool.

Item

Description

Load Policy

When you click Actual, and then click this button, Support Center will load the client policy that you have currently selected in Support Center.

Load Requested Policy

When you click Requested, and then click this button, Support Center will load the client policy requested of the client.

Load Default Policy

When you click Default, and then click this button, Support Center will load the default policy for this client.

Load or Refresh all

Loads or refreshes the actual, requested and default policy.

Actual view

Opens the actual policy view

Requested view

Opens the requested policy view

Default view

Opens the default policy view (what Configuration Manager client computers get when they install the Configuration Manager client)

Request and Evaluate Policy

When you click this button, Support Center will request the client policy from the management point and then evaluate that policy on the client.

Request Policy

When you click this button, Support Center will request the client policy from the management point.

Evaluate Policy

When you click this button, Support Center will evaluate the client policy on the client.

Reset policy to default

When you click this button, the default policy will be re-applied to the client, and all machine and user policies on the client will be removed.

Listen for policy events

When you click this button, Support Center will listen for policy events. Clicking the button again will disable listening for policy events.

Clear Events

When you click this button, Support Center will clear any policy events.

Content tab

The content tab allows you to view the content on the client, to view cached content, and to monitor the progress of software update and application deployments. The following table lists the items on the Content tab of the Support Center tool.

Item

Description

Load or Refresh

When you click this button, Support Center will load or refresh the list of content currently on the client.

Invoke Trigger

The items on this menu request client actions related to content:

  • Location Services >Refresh content locations: Refreshes the distribution points used by any active content downloads.

  • Location Services > Refresh management points: Updates the internal list of management points used by the client.

  • Location Services > Time out content requests: Causes any content location requests that have been running for too long to time out.

  • Application deployment evaluation: Starts a task that evaluates deployed applications.

  • Software updates deployment evaluation: Starts a task that evaluates deployed software updates.

  • Software updates source scan: Starts a task that scans update source locations.

  • Windows Installer source list update: Starts a task that updates the source location for Windows Installer (MSI) installations.

Content view

In the Content view, you can see applications, packages, and updates that are loaded on the client. When you click an application, package or update, you can view details on that content. For applications, you might also be able to do the following (depending on the application):

  • Refresh: Use this button to refresh the details view

  • Verify/Download: Use this button to verify that an application is available for download

  • Install: Use this button to install the application

  • Uninstall: Use this button to uninstall the application

Cache view

In the Cache view, you can view the client cache configuration and details about the cache contents. You can do the following in this view when connected to a local client:

  • Change the cache location. Click Change next to the Cache location field to browse to a new cache location.

  • Change the cache size. Click Change next to the Cache size field to adjust the size of the cache.

  • Clear the client cache. Click Clear next to the Cache in use field to clear the client cache.

You can see the following in this view:

  • Location: The location of each cache folder is shown, and you can open those folders by clicking the link.

  • Content ID

  • Cache ID

  • Size

  • Last Referenced: This is the date when the cache was last read from or written to

Monitoring view

In the Monitoring view, you can view the progress of software update and application update deployments. This view shows state messages raised from application and software updates event WMI messages.

For each event, the following is provided:

  • Time: The time that the event was raised

  • Topic Type: The state message type

  • Topic ID: ID of the state message, used to map to events in log files

  • Topic ID Type: The sub-type of the state message

  • State ID: The result of the action that you are monitoring.

  • State Details and Raw Event Data are also provided to give you more information on the state messages shown in this view. State details may sometimes be blank.

Inventory tab

The following table lists the items on the Inventory tab of the Support Center tool.

Item

Description

Load

When you click this button, Support Center will load or refresh the client inventory list for the currently selected view.

Invoke Trigger

The items on this menu request client actions related to inventory.

For tasks other than Software metering report cycle:

  • If the task is requested when another inventory task is already running, the new task will be queued to run after the current task and other queued tasks are complete.

  • You can track the progress of the task in InventoryAgent.log.

The available client actions are:

  • Discovery data collection cycle: Triggers the client task used to collect device discovery information.

  • File collection cycle: Triggers the client task used to collect local files.

  • Hardware inventory cycle: Triggers the client task used to collect hardware inventory data.

  • IDMIF collection cycle: Triggers the client task used to collect IDMIF data.

  • Software inventory cycle: Triggers the client task used to collect software inventory data.

  • Software metering report cycle: Triggers the client task used to build a software metering report and send it to the management point. You can track the progress of this task in SWMTRReportGen.log.

  • Send unsent state messages in queue: Triggers the client task to flush the queue of state messages.

Status view

The Status view shows the name of the inventory data sets collected, and provides details on the inventory data sets.

DDR view

The DDR view contains information about the client discovery data collected from the client.

HINV view

The HINV view contains information about the hardware inventory data collected from the client. If hardware inventory is not enabled, this view will not display any data.

SINV view

The SINV view contains information about the software inventory data collected from the client. If software inventory is not enabled, this view will not display any data.

File Collection view

The File Collection view contains information about the files collected from the client. If file collection is not enabled, this view will not display any data.

IDMIF view

The IDMIF view contains information about the IDMIF and NOIDMIF data collected from the client. If IDMIF collection is not enabled, this view will not display any data.

Metering view

The Metering view contains information about the software metering data collected from the client. If software metering collection is not enabled (or no metered processes have been run) this view will not display any data.

Troubleshooting tab

The Troubleshooting tab is used to troubleshoot some of the most common issues with Configuration Manager clients: issues with Active Directory, management points, networking, policy assignment, and registration. The following table lists the items on the Troubleshooting tab of the Support Center tool.

Note

This tab is not available when connecting to remote Configuration Manager clients.

Item

Description

Start Troubleshooting

Starts troubleshooting the client

View selected log

After you select a row on the Troubleshooting tab, you can click this button to view the log file for the item on that row.

Keep previous results

If you troubleshoot the client and want to try troubleshooting again, choose this option to retain results from your first troubleshooting attempt. Otherwise, previous troubleshooting log files are overwritten when you click Start Troubleshooting a second or subsequent time.

Active Directory

Queries Active Directory to retrieve published Configuration Manager site information.

MPCERTIFICATE

Gets management point certificates

MPLIST

Gets a list of management points

Networking

Troubleshoots issues with networking

Policy Assignments

Retrieves policy assignments

Registration

Verifies that the client is registered

Logs tab and Log Viewer

The following table lists the items on the Logs tab of the Support Center tool. This tab is identical to the Log Viewer tool, except that the Log Viewer tool does not include the Configure Client Logging and Log groups features described below.

The following table lists the items on the Logs tab of the Support Center tool.

Item

Description

Open logs
and
Open logs in current view

When you click these buttons, Support Center will prompt you to select one or more log files to open.

Open logs in new window

Prompts you to select one or more log files to open, and then opens them in a new Log Viewer window.

Close and clear logs

Closes any open log files, and also clears any displayed log file entries from the window. These entries will not be displayed in the future.

Clear all entries

Clears any displayed log file entries from the window. These entries will not be displayed in the future.

Close All logs

Closes any open log files

Find

Opens the Find dialog where you can provide a string to search for. You can also choose to match whole words (to avoid hits on short strings that appear in other strings) or to do a case-sensitive match for the string.

Find next

After finding a match for the string that you are searching for, this key will take you to the next match.

Find previous

After finding two or more matches for the string that you are searching for, this shortcut will take you to the previous match.

Live updating

Choose this option to monitor a currently open log file for changes. This feature does not function when multiple log files are open.

Auto-scroll

Choose this option (if you also chose the Live updating option) to automatically scroll the log view to show newly added entries. This feature does not function when multiple log files are open.

Show Details

When you select this option after clicking a log file message, the details of the log file message will be displayed at the bottom of the Logs tab.

Quick Filter

When you select this checkbox after clicking the Open Logs button, you will be able to filter the log file messages across all open log files to find a specific string. You can filter by log text, component name, and thread ID. You can also right-click a log message and then click Quick Filter on log text to find similar log messages.

Wrap log text

Click this button to wrap long and multi-line log file messages to fit into a single column, making these messages easier to read.

Advanced filters

Click this button to open the Advanced Filters dialog. For more information about Advanced filters, see Advanced Log File Filters.

Error lookup

Enter an error code in this field to search for that error code in currently open log files. You can use the following error code formats:

  • 32-bit integer (signed): For example, -2147024891

  • 32-bit integer (unsigned): For example, 2147942405

  • 32-bit hexadecimal: For example, 0x80070005

Decode certificate

Opens the Decode Certificate dialog box. In this dialog box, you can paste the serialized certificate value (found in the Registry Editor, in log files, or in WMI) for any certificate on the client, and then click Process. This will open another dialog box that provides general information and details on that certificate, as well as the certification path for that certificate. You can also click Export to export the certificate as a .cer file.

Configure client logging

Opens the Client logging information dialog. In this dialog, you can set the client logging level used on the client (which determines the log file size), and set the Maximum file count to allow more than one log file of a given type, and also configure the Maximum file size (in bytes) of any given log file.

Note

Setting these values too low can prevent the client from logging very much (or any) information, and setting these values too high can consume large amounts of storage.

Log groups

Instead of manually selecting log files using the Open Logs button, you can use this drop-down list to open all log files associated with Application Management, Desired Configuration Management, Inventory, Client Registration, Operating System Deployment, Policy, Software Distribution, or Software Updates.

Advanced Log File Filters

Advanced log file filters allow you to include, exclude or highlight specific strings that can occur in a log file or log file group when looking at log file entries. You can use wildcard searches when creating a filter, and when you have a combination of filters that are useful, you can save them as a filter set. Advanced log file filters supersede quick filters, so you can use both together but you should be aware that quick filters only apply to the log data displayed, whereas advanced filters determine what data is initially displayed before any quick filters are applied.

In the Log Viewer window, or on the Support Center Logs tab, click Advanced filters to open the Advanced filters dialog. You can use this dialog to create complex filter sets that search for strings across a variety of log file components (including messages, threads, logging levels and components). A filter set contains multiple filter statements that you use to include, exclude or highlight log file messages. A filter defines a using a log file column to search within, an operator, and a value (which can contain regular expressions, such as the * “wildcard” character).

To add a filter

  1. In the Advanced filters dialog, click Add, and then click Include (to include log entries that match your filter), Exclude (to exclude log entries that match your filter) or Highlight (to highlight log entries that match your filter).

  2. In the Advanced Filter Configuration dialog, choose a column and an operator:

    Item

    Description

    Column

    Choose where you want to look for strings that match your filter:

    • Log Text searches within the text of a log file

    • Log Severity searches for logs with a specific severity level. You set these severity levels in the Value field after selecting this option.

    • Component searches for a specific component by name.

    • Thread ID searches for log messages with a specific Thread ID.

    • Source File searches for log messages that occur in a specific log file

    Operator

    Choose an operator for your filter.

  3. Enter a value to filter on in the Value field, and then click Enable regular expression matching if your value contains regular expressions.

  4. Click Apply.

To manage filter sets

  • To edit a filter: Click the filter, and then click Edit.

  • To delete a filter: Click the filter, and then click Delete.

  • To clear all filters: Click Clear.

  • To save the current filter set: Click Save filters, and then save your filter set as a *.filterset file.

  • To load a saved filter set: Click Load filters, and then browse to a previously saved *.filterset file.

Configuration Manager Support Center Viewer UI Reference

This section describes the user interface (UI) for the Configuration Manager Support Center Viewer tool.

The following table lists the items on the main menu of the Support Center Viewer tool.

Item

Description

Open Bundle

When this item is selected, Support Center Viewer will allow you to browse to the location of a data bundle created using Support Center.

About

Displays information about Support Center Viewer

Options

In the Options dialog, you can:

  • Choose to reduce the movement of animated UI elements.

  • Choose to reset warnings, so that any warning messages that you have suppressed will appear when triggered.

Exit

Exits Support Center Viewer

Home tab

The following table lists the items on the Home tab of the Support Center Viewer tool.

Item

Description

Open Bundle

When this item is selected, Support Center Viewer will allow you to browse to the location of a bundle created using Support Center.

Open Log file

Opens the Open log files dialog, where you can select one or more log files to open.

Decode certificate

Opens the Decode Certificate dialog. In this dialog, you can paste the serialized certificate value (found in the Registry Editor, in log files, or in WMI) for any certificate on the client, and then click Process. This will open another dialog box that provides general information and details on that certificate, as well as the certification path for that certificate. You can also click Export to export the certificate as a .cer file.

Configuration tab

The Configuration tab of the Support Center Viewer tool provides the following views using data retrieved from WMI providers:

Item

Description

Client

This view provides the same information shown on the Client Details tab of Configuration Manager Support Center

Operating System

This view provides the details for the client’s operating system, using the Win32_OperatingSystem class.

Computer

This view provides the details for the client computer, using the Win32_OperatingSystem class

Services

This view provides the details for services running on the client computer, using the Win32_Service class.

Network Adapters

This view provides the details for network adapters installed on the client computer, using the Win32_NetworkAdapterConfiguration class.

Logs tab

The Logs tab shows a list of the log files included in the bundle. The following table lists the items on the Logs tab of the Support Center Viewer tool.

Item

Description

Open

After clicking a log file, click this button to open the Log Viewer, which provides a subset of the functionality seen on the Configuration Manager Support Center Logs tab and Log Viewer.

Decode Certificate

Opens the Decode Certificate dialog. In this dialog, you can paste the serialized certificate value (found in the Registry Editor, in log files, or in WMI) for any certificate on the client, and then click Process. This will open another dialog box that provides general information and details on that certificate, as well as the certification path for that certificate. You can also click Export to export the certificate as a .cer file.

*.log

Each row on this tab provides the path and name of a log file and the size of the log file. You can double-click these rows to open a log file in Log Viewer.

Debug Dumps tab

You use this tab to export debug dump files (.dmp files) for further analysis, using a tool such as WinDbg. The following table lists the items on the Debug Dumps tab of the Support Center Viewer tool.

Warning

Debug dumps contain may contain sensitive information, including passwords, cryptographic secrets or user data. Debug dumps should only be collected on the recommendation of Microsoft Support personnel, and data bundles that contain debug dumps should be handled carefully to protect them from unauthorized access.

Item

Description

Export

Opens a Save As dialog to save a copy of the debug dump file that you select.

*.dmp

Each row on this tab provides details on the debug dump files that are available to export.

WMI tab

This tab shows the set of WMI data from the configuration manager client that is included in the data bundle. The following table lists the items on the WMI tab of the Support Center Viewer tool.

Item

Description

Find

This button opens the Find dialog, which has the following features:

  • Find what: Enter the string that you are searching for in the WMI data set. Wildcard characters are supported.

  • Look at: Choose whether you want to search within the WMI data set for a matching Class or instance name, Property, or Value.

  • Match whole string only: By default, the find dialog will search for strings that contain the string that you are looking for. Choose this checkbox to only find strings that are an exact match to the string that you provided.

Find next

This button opens the next instance of the string that you provided in the Find dialog within the WMI data set.

Decode certificate

Opens the Decode Certificate dialog. In this dialog, you can paste the serialized certificate value (found in the Registry Editor, in log files, or in WMI) for any certificate on the client, and then click Process. This will open another dialog box that provides general information and details on that certificate, as well as the certification path for that certificate. You can also click Export to export the certificate as a .cer file.

Registry tab

The Registry tab is used to view registry data included in the data bundle, and to export that data for further analysis. The following table lists the items on the Registry tab of the Support Center Viewer tool.

Item

Description

Export

Opens a dialog box to save a copy of the registry key and subkeys that you select as a System Registry (.reg) file.

Find

This button opens the Find dialog, which has the following features:

  • Find what: Enter the string that you are searching for in the registry data set. Wildcard characters are supported.

  • Look at: Choose whether you want to search within the registry data set for a matching Key, Value, or Data.

  • Match whole string only: By default, the find dialog will search for strings that contain the string that you are looking for. Choose this checkbox to only find strings that are an exact match to the string that you provided.

Find next

This button opens the next instance of the string that you provided in the Find dialog.

Decode certificate

Opens the Decode Certificate dialog. In this dialog, you can paste the serialized certificate value (found in the Registry Editor, in log files, or in WMI) for any certificate on the client, and then click Process. This will open another dialog box that provides general information and details on that certificate, as well as the certification path for that certificate. You can also click Export to export the certificate as a .cer file.

Policy tab

The Policy tab is used to view policy data included in the data bundle. The following table lists the items on the Policy tab of the Support Center Viewer tool.

Item

Description

Find

This button opens the Find dialog, which has the following features:

  • Find what: Enter the string that you are searching for in the policy data set. Wildcard characters are supported.

  • Look at: Choose whether you want to search within the policy data set for a matching Class or instance name, Policy, or Values.

  • Match whole string only: By default, the find dialog will search for strings that contain the string that you are looking for. Choose this checkbox to only find strings that are an exact match to the string that you provided.

Find next

This button opens the next instance of the string that you provided in the Find dialog.

Decode certificate

Opens the Decode Certificate dialog. In this dialog, you can paste the serialized certificate value (found in the Registry Editor, in log files, or in WMI) for any certificate on the client, and then click Process. This will open another dialog box that provides general information and details on that certificate, as well as the certification path for that certificate. You can also click Export to export the certificate as a .cer file.

Certificates tab

The Certificates tab is used to view certificates included in the data bundle, and to export them. The following table lists the items on the Certificates tab of the Support Center Viewer tool.

Item

Description

View Certificate

Displays information about a selected certificate

Export

Opens a Save As dialog to save a copy of the certificate that you select

Troubleshooting

The Troubleshooting tab is used to view log files created using the \Configuration Manager Support Center Troubleshooting tab. The following table lists the items on the Troubleshooting tab of the Support Center Viewer tool.

Item

Description

View log

After you select a row on the Troubleshooting tab, you can click this button to view the log file for the item on that row using Log Viewer.

Customizing Configuration Manager Support Center

Before you open Configuration Manager Support Center, you can edit the Support Center configuration file to change the behavior of the program as follows:

  • Customize Data Collection: You can edit the sets of registry keys and WMI namespaces that are available to include during data collection.

  • Customize Log Groups: You can define new groups of log files using regular expressions, and you can also add specific log files (or sets of files) to log groups.

  • Collect additional log files using wildcards: You can use wildcard searches to collect additional log files.

To make these changes, you will need Administrator permissions on the client where Support Center is installed. You can make these customizations using a text editor or XML editor (such as Notepad or Visual Studio) to update the Support Center configuration file: ConfigMgrSupportCenter.exe.config.

This file is installed in the same folder where you installed Support Center.

The Support Center configuration file is an XML-formatted file that is essential to the operation of Support Center. Modifying this file is only recommended for users who are familiar with XML and regular expressions.

Warning

Before you customize the Support Center configuration file, we recommend that you create a new folder and save a backup of the original configuration file. This will allow you to recover the original Support Center functionality if you make mistakes while editing the file. If you don’t create a backup and Support Center does not function correctly after you modify the configuration file, you will need to uninstall and re-install Support Center, or copy a configuration file from another installation of Support Center.

Customizing Data Collection

The Support Center configuration file can be modified to customize the collection of data on the client, using XML elements contained within the <dataCollectorSettings> element:

  • WMI Data Collection: The <CcmWmiDataCollector> element contains a <collectionScopes> element, which you can use to change the WMI namespaces from which data will be collected. It also includes an <ignoreScopes> element that allows you to filter out the collection of data from portions of the namespaces defined in the <collectionScopes> element.

    Example: The default configuration file collects data from the root\ccm namespace (by including this path in an <add/> element contained within <collectionScopes>), but ignores everything under the \cimodels, \invagt \events and \policy paths for this namespace (by including these in <add/> elements contained within <ignoreScopes>).

  • Registry Data Collection: The <RegistryDataCollector> element contains a <registryKeys> element, which you can use to change the registry keys (and subkeys) that will be collected under the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE registry path (collection of registry data from other root registry paths is not supported).

    Example: To collect registry keys that will let you determine which programs and features are installed on the client and can be uninstalled from the Programs and Features Control Panel applet, add the following <add/> element inside of the <registryKeys> element: <add key=”software\\microsoft\\windows\\currentversion\\uninstall”>

Customizing Log File Groups

The Support Center configuration file can be modified to customize which log files are collected and how they are presented in the Log groups list in the Support Center UI, using elements contained within the <logGroups> element. When you start Support Center, it scans this section of the configuration file and creates a group on the Log groups list for each unique key attribute value found in the <add/> elements contained in the <logGroups> element.

  • Component Log Group: The <componentLogGroup> element uses a key attribute to define the name of the log group that will appear in the UI, and a value attribute that contains a regular expression used to collect a set of related log files.

  • Static Log Group: The <staticLogGroup> element uses a key attribute to define the name of the log group that will appear in the UI, and a value attribute that defines a log file name.

If the same key attribute value is used in an <add/> element within both the <componentLogGroup> element and the <staticLogGroup> element, Support Center will create a single group that includes the log files defined by both <add/> elements that use the same key.

Collecting additional log files using wildcards

The Support Center configuration file can be modified to collect additional log files using wildcards (including system-wide environment variables such as %WINDIR%, but excluding user-scoped environment variables such as %USERPROFILE%) in the file path or filename. To collect additional log files using this non-recursive log file search, use an <add/> element within the <additionalLogFiles> element. The following examples show how this feature is used in the configuration file that is installed by default when you install Support Center:

  • Collecting all Windows Update log files in the Windows directory: The following element will collect any file named WindowsUpdate.log found in the Windows directory: <add key="%WINDIR%\WindowsUpdate.log"/>

  • Collecting all log files in the Windows Logs directory: The following element will collect any file that ends in .log found in the Windows Logs directory: <add key="%WINDIR%\logs\*.log" />

Known issues with Configuration Manager Support Center

The current release of Configuration Manager Support Center has the following known issues:

Remote connections must include computer name or domain as part of the user name. If you connect to a remote client from Configuration Manager Support Center, you must provide the machine name or domain name for the user account when establishing the connection. If you use a shorthand computer name or domain name (such as “.\administrator”), the connection will be successful, but Support Center will not successfully collect data from the client. To avoid this issue, connect to a remote client with a user name that is formatted as follows: <computer name>\<username> or <domain name>\<username>.

Scripted server message block connections to remote clients might require removal. When connecting to remote clients using the New-CMMachineConnection PowerShell cmdlet, Configuration Manager Support Center will create a Server Message Block (SMB) connection to each remote client, and those connections are retained after you complete data collection. To avoid exceeding the maximum number of remote connections (this maximum is twenty-one remote connections for Windows 7 and Windows 8), you can use the net use command to see the currently active set of remote connections, and then you can disable any unneeded connections by typing net use <connection_name> /d (where <connection_name> is the name of the remote connection)