Compatibility pack for SMS 2003 SP3 adds Windows 7 RTM and Windows Server 2008 R2 RTM as supported clients

We recognize that Windows 7 is an opportunity for organizations to reduce their costs, to improve security, and to improve productivity. Windows 7 helps achieve these goals. However, organizations do not maximize the return on their investment in Windows 7 without the modern infrastructure to support it.

We want organizations to benefit from all the features in Windows 7. To achieve these goals, we want to help organizations migrate to our latest management platform. To do this, we have released a compatibility pack that adds Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 as supported clients in Microsoft Systems Management Server (SMS) 2003 Service Pack 3 (SP3). This compatibility pack helps SMS 2003 SP3 users migrate their software to Configuration Manager 2007 while realizing immediate benefits from their Windows 7 investment.

Note This compatibility pack is a one-time offer. We have no plans to offer future compatibility packs to support future versions of Windows on SMS 2003 SP3. The compatibility pack applies only to the release to market (RTM) version of Windows 7 and of Windows Server 2008 R2.

This compatibility pack does not provide support for the administrator console, for any site server roles, for any SMS 2003 feature pack, or for any SMS 2003 add-in. An example of a feature pack is the Operating System Deploy Feature Pack for Windows 7 or for Windows Server 2008 R2.

The SMS 2003 Inventory Tool for Microsoft Updates Revision 3 supports software update deployments to Windows 7 and to Windows Server 2008 R2. We are releasing this compatibility pack to the general public at no cost. The Mainstream Support phase of the support life cycle for SMS 2003 ended on January 12, 2010. SMS 2003 nonsecurity hotfixes that are released after January 12, 2010, follow the Microsoft Lifecycle Support policy and require Extended Hotfix Support.

Microsoft has confirmed that this is a problem in the Microsoft products that are listed in the "Applies to" section.

To resolve compatibility issues, install this compatibility pack on all site servers that are running SMS 2003 SP3.

Compatibility pack information

Prerequisites

To apply this compatibility pack, your computer must have SMS 2003 SP3 installed.

Compatibility issues

The following are the compatibility issues that this compatibility pack addresses.

Issue 1

The clients that are running Windows Server 2008 R2 or Windows 7 are not listed in the Supported Platforms list for SMS Programs for Software Distribution.

Issue 2

The clients that are running Windows Server 2008 R2 or Windows 7 are registered incorrectly when they are discovered by the Active Directory System Discovery feature. This issue may affect the Client Push Installation feature or the collections that are created by using and rely on the discovery data.

How to use the Update.sql file

This hotfix contains an Update.sql file. To use the Update.sql file, follow these steps:

1. On the updated SMS site server, stop the following services:
   • SMS_SITE_COMPONENT_MANAGER
   • SMS_EXECUTIVE
2. At the SMS site database server, load the following file by using a Microsoft SQL Server query tool such as Query Analyzer or ISQL/W:
   <SMS_root>\Logs\<KBID>\Update.sql
3. In the SQL Server query tool, select the Systems Management Server database.
4. Run the script.
5. Restart the following SMS site server services:
   • SMS_SITE_COMPONENT_MANAGER
   • SMS_EXECUTIVE

File information

The English (United States) version of this hotfix installs files that have the attributes that are listed in the following tables. The dates and the times for these files are listed in Coordinated Universal Time (UTC). The dates and the times for these files on your local computer are displayed in your local time together with your current daylight saving time (DST) bias. Additionally, the dates and the times may change when you perform certain operations on the files.
For more information about software update terminology, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

For more information on troubleshooting Advanced Client Push Installations see the following article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

928282 How to troubleshoot Advanced Client Push Installation Issues in Systems Management Server 2003 and System Center Configuration Manager 2007  (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/925282/ )