This is a complete SCCM install guide using baseline media. I will be going through the installation of SCCM 2103 using Baseline Media. To install and configure the Configuration manager there are lots of steps to be involved before actual configuration to begin.

This install guide for SCCM covers all the information related to download of correct ISO’s / files, server builds, pre-requisites required on servers, SQL database install, step by step SCCM install guide and all configuration required for it to make Configuration Manager fully functional

Minimum Requirements (for Servers)

Lets talk about the requirement, at a very basic minimum, we require 2 Servers:

1. DC01 – Domain Controller – With Server 2019 or Server 2022.

I have assigned 4GB RAM with 128 GB of Disk attached with it with 1 single partition

2. SCCM01 – Member Server – With Server 2019 or Server 2022.

I have assigned 16 GB RAM with 3 disks.
c: drive for OS
d: for SCCM installation and Content library (for SCCM)
e: for SQL

Download required ISO’s & files

We need to have following ISO’s & files downloaded:

1. Download Windows Server 2019 or 2022 – Can be downloaded from Evaluation Center which gives 180 days of evaluation.
2. Download SQL Server 2019– SQL Server on-premises can be download from sql server downloads page.
   Comes with 180 days of evaluation.
3. Download SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS)
4. Download Windows ADK for Windows 11 – Use the page to download following:
   1. Download the Windows ADK
   2. Download the WinPE add-on for the Windows ADK
5. Download Microsoft Endpoint Configuration Manager exe – Current Branch – version 2103
   Comes with 180 days of evaluation.
6. Download Microsoft SQL Server 2019 Reporting Services (SSRS) –SQL Server Reporting Services can be download with evaluation version.

Install Windows Server and configure Active Directory

We can now proceed with installation of DC01 Server which is going to be our Domain Controller. This is a straight forward process, if you need complete guide for installation follow:

• Step by step Windows Server 2019 install guide
• Install and configure Active Directory

Once done, do the installation for SCCM01 Windows server as well, but don’t proceed with any SCCM installation.

Prepare Active Directory for SCCM Installation

Once Domain controller is ready, we need to make some configuration.

Create Service account for SCCM

It is always a good practice to have service account created for SCCM. This service account will be later be used for specific accounts used for SCCM such as Network Access account, Domain joining account, client push account, SQL Service account, and each account setting requires a specific permission. But for the purpose of configuration SCCM in LAB, I am going with Domain Admins Account permission. Hence went with creating SVC-SCCMAdmin account with Domain Admins account membership.

Create container in “ADSI Edit”

We need to create a container with name System Management under System, by default it is not created. This is a very important step as System Management container as SCCM Site and MP location will be published at this location only.

Launch adsiedit.msc, and create System Management container.

Once created, go to System Management Security and add SCCM01 server with Full control. Click on Advanced > Edit and provide following permission This object and all descendant objects.

Extend the Schema

We are going to extend the schema now which will create additional attributes in Active Directory which helps publishing the information of SCCM under this attributes. Schema files are available under SCCM Source files, location SMSSETUP\BIN\X64\extadsch.exe.

Open cmd prompt with elevated rights. Navigate to the folder containing extadsch.exe. Run extadsch.exe, we should get success message “Successfully extended the active Directory schema”

Install SQL Server 2019 for SCCM

Lets install SQL Serve 2019 on SCCM Server, ideally in production environment SQL Server is installed on a different box with multiple partitions configured for specific components required for SQL. However, for the sake of simplifying it, I am installing on SCCM Server.

Mount the SQL Server 2019 ISO and launch setup.exe to start SQL Server 2019 Setup.

Select New SQL Server stand-alone installation or add features to an existing installation.

On Product Key page, specify free edition or enter the product key, click Next.

On Install Rules, it will verify the rules to makes sure everything is in place, you might see Windows Firewall as Warning status if Firewall ports are not configured properly.

Inbound TCP / UDP ports are required to be opened, such as ports 1433, 1434, 4022, 135.
If the named instance is the only instance of the Database Engine installed, it will probably use TCP port 1433

You can manually configure Firewall rules or can use following PowerShell commands:

New-NetFirewallRule -DisplayName “SQL Server” -Direction Inbound –Protocol TCP –LocalPort 1433 -Action allow
New-NetFirewallRule -DisplayName “SQL Admin Connection” -Direction Inbound –Protocol TCP –LocalPort 1434 -Action allow
New-NetFirewallRule -DisplayName “SQL Database Management” -Direction Inbound –Protocol UDP –LocalPort 1434 -Action allow
New-NetFirewallRule -DisplayName “SQL Service Broker” -Direction Inbound –Protocol TCP –LocalPort 4022 -Action allow
New-NetFirewallRule -DisplayName “SQL Debugger/RPC” -Direction Inbound –Protocol TCP –LocalPort 135 -Action allow

On Feature Selection page, select Database Enginer Services and Full-Text and Semantic Extractions.

On Instance Configuration, I am not going with Default instance, I will use Named instance, and specifying the name as INSTANCESCCM.

On Server Configuration, use the service account svc-SCCMAdmin which we created previously for the service SQL Server Agent and SQL Server Database Engine.

Under Authentication Mode, select Windows authentication mode and select Add Current User.

Click on tab Data Directories, and specify E drive rather than C drive for:
Data root directory
System database directory
User database directory
User database log directory
Backup directory

On tab TempDB, Data directories will be pointing to E drive now.

SQL Server 2019 setup is ready to install with ConfigurationFile.ini listed with all settings, click Install.

After waiting for few minutes, we see SQL installation completed, setup bootstrap logs can be viewed for installation logs.

It is always recommended to have latest version of patch applied. Hence, install latest version of cumulative update for SQL Server 2019 from Latest updates for SQL Server – SQL Server | Microsoft Docs

Install SQL Server Management Studio

As we have install SQL Server, but we cannot see or view the database without installing it. Download and install the SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS).

Install Windows ADK 11 and WinPE add-on

This consists of 2 components:

• Windows Assessment and Deployment Kit
• Windows Assessment and Deployment Kit Windows Preinstallation Environment Add-ons

Windows ADK / Windows Assessment and deployment kit and WinPE add-on is a mandatory part of Configuration manager installation. Windows ADK is a set of tools required for Operating System deployment and other tasks related to deployment tools, deployment tools etc. This installation is required on SCCM Server.

Install Windows Assessment and Deployment Kit

Download adksetup.exe and initiate the installation. Adksetup.exe gives us the option to install it online and also to download it offline. Specify a Download Path to download the binaries, and once done initiate the installation.

We have following options to install:

• Application Compatibility Tools
• Deployment Tools
• Imaging And Configuration Designer (ICD)
• Configuration Designer
• User State Migration Tool (USMT)
• Volume Activation Management Tool (VAMT)
• Windows Performance Toolkit
• Microsoft User Experience Virtualization (UE-V) Template
• Microsoft Application Virtualization (App-V) Sequencer
• Microsoft Application Virtualization (App-V) Auto Sequencer
• Media eXperience Analyzer

We will be going with options marked in bold, rest others can be installed later on if it is required.

Install Windows Assessment and Deployment Kit Windows Preinstallation Environment Add-ons

Same way, download and install adkwinpesetup.exe, this component consists of Boot images required for OSD (operating system deployment) process. Download it to a path d:\ADKWinPEAddons and initiate the installation.

Following boot images will be installed based upon various architecture:

Windows PE (x86)
Windows PE (AMD64)
Windows PE (ARM)
Windows PE (ARM64)

Under Program and features we will see the ADK & WinPE add-on is installed with version 10.1.22000.1

Install Prerequisites on Configuration Manager Server

Login to ConfigMgr server (SCCM Server) and launch Server Manager. Alternate way to launch Server Manager: On Windows + Run, type servermanager.exe.

From Server Manager Dashboard, click on Manage > Add Roles and Features. Under Server Roles select Web Server (IIS), selecting this will add additional features required for the components, click Add Features to continue.

On Add Roles and Features Wizard, Features page select few more components as those are not selected by default, make sure to select following:

• .NET Framework 3.5 Features
• Background Intelligent Transfer Service (BITS)
• Remote Differential Compression

.NET framework 4.8 Features will be selected automatically, which is also a very important component for SCCM to work.

On Role Services page, select additional components, which is again very much important for Configuration Manager to work, and by default these components are not selected:

• Performance
  • Dynamic Content Compression
• Security
  • Windows Authentication
• Application Development
  • .NET Extensibility 3.5
  • .NET Extensibility 4.8 (or .NET Extensibility 4.7)
  • ASP.NET 3.5
  • ASP.NET 4.8 (or ASP.NET 4.7)
  • ISAPI Filters
• Management Tools
  • IIS 6 Management Compatibility
    • IIS 6 Metabase Compatibility
    • IIS 6 Management Console
  • IIS Management Scripts and Tools

On Confirmation page, you have to select the source path for .NET Framework 3.5 features which requires Windows Server source (ISO) and pointing to source\sxs folder. Provide the path, in my case it was G:\source\sxs.

Installation will take a while, allow it to complete the install.

Create no_sms_on_drive.sms file.

What is no_sms_on_drive.sms ?

This is a file when created on root of the drive, configuration manager will no longer use the specific drive to install any component related to SCCM Site server, such as SCCM Content Library & other SMSPKG$, etc stuff.

How to create no_sms_on_drive.sms ?

Create an empty text file with name no_sms_on_drive.txt, rename the extension txt to sms so that it becomes no_sms_on_drive.sms

I created this file on C drive and E drive, hence will utilize D drive only for Config Mgr stuff.

Install Configuration Manager using Baseline Media

This is the time now to do the actual stuff. We will be proceeding with installing the Microsoft Endpoint Configuration Manager using Baseline Media version 2103. Copy the binaries locally and launch splash to begin install SCCM 2103 using Baseline Media.

Click Install to initiate the process.

If don’t have .NET Framework 3.5 SP1 installed, we will see the error:

Setup requires .NET Framework 3.5 SP1 to continue

Hence, we need to make sure to install it before initiating the installation.

This will launch Microsoft Endpoint Configuration Manager Setup Wizard, click Next.

On Getting Started page, select Install a Configuration Manager primary site, along with other options we see here:

Install a Configuration Manager central administration site
Upgrade this Configuration Manager site
Recover a site
Perform site maintenance or reset this site
Uninstall this Configuration Manager site

On Product Key page, select Install the evaluation edition of this product, which gives us fully functional LAB for 180 days, we can later make it full licensed version as well.

On Product License Terms page, accept the conditions and click Next.

On Prerequisite Downloads page, provide the path to Download required files. We can Use previously downloaded files as well if it already exists.

We can download the prerequisite files from another system which has internet connectivity. Use Setupdl.exe which is located in folder SMSSETUP\BIN\X64. Configuration Manager Setup downloader will be responsible to download the required binaries.

On Server Language Selection page, select any additional language you want, click Next.

On Client Language Selection page, select the language, click Next.

On Site and Installation Settings page, specify:

Site Code: <3 digit site code>
Site name: <Specify site name>
Installation folder: d:\Program Files\Microsoft Configuration Manager
Install the Configuration Manager console

On Primary Site Installation page, select Install the primary site as a stand-alone site. As there is no CAS site here, I am not selecting “Join the primary site to an existing hierarchy”

On Database Information page, select:

SQL Server name (FQDN):
Instance name: INSTANCESCCM
Database name: CM_MAN (created previously during SQL Server installation)
Service Broker Port: 4022 (default option elected automatically)

On Database Information page, I am using E drive for SQL Server data file and SQL Server log file, click Next.

On SMS Provider Settings page, specify SMS Provider (FQDN) which is going to be the SCCM server we are using, click Next.

On Client Computer Communication Settings page, select Configure the communication method on each site system role, click Next.

On Site System Roles, check the box Install a management point and Install a distribution point, click Next.

On Diagnostic and Usage Data page, click Next.

On Service Connection Point Setup page, select Yes if you have internet connection. This is an important step which connects on-premises infrastructure to cloud based solution such as mobile device management(MDM) / intune authority etc. With this step we are going to install Service Connection Point.

On Settings Summary page, verify Setup Component and Component Details and click Next.

Prerequisite Check will run and can be monitored through c:\ConfigMgrPrereq.log. You might see SQL Server Tcp Port error with Status Failed. Follow the link to resolve the issue and Run Check.

You need to make sure to get rid of any Prerequisite Warning before initiating the install, I know these warnings won’t hamper SCCM installation setup hence I continued, but in production we need to get it resolved and setup properly.

Click on Begin Install to initiate the install.

This process will take time, you may monitor the installation through C:\ConfigMgrSetup.log.

Conclusion

The installation is done for Configuration Manager but this is not in a fully functional configuration state which consists of enabling Discovery, configuring Boundary / Boundary groups, setting up Network Access Account and other settings.