It has been some time since this tool got my attention, and to be honest, when version 2.0.0 was released I said that I’d add back the features that got removed since version 1.4.2. Truth be told, I was not happy with the outcome of version 2.0.0 and started looking at a completely re-written version instead, that would in fact include the removed features and add in more that has been request for a long time. I also realized that I needed to come up with a new user interface to be able to introduce more features, since the single tab experience version 2.0.0 had wouldn’t cut it.

New features and improvements

With this new version comes a lot of improvements in terms of functionality and usability. See the list below for more details:

Version 3.0.0 has been completely re-written in C# and WPF. Every section and operation of the tool has been written to support asynchronous calls whenever possible. With the change from PowerShell to C# a modern design is also introduced including a more simplified tab experience. Another benefit from this language change is that the tool now only consists of a single executable. It will also automatically require elevation, so that issues around non-elevated privileges are eliminated.

Primary Site and Central Administration Site windows feature installation now only install the minimum required items for the selected site type to install successfully. Remember to install the windows features for a Management Point and Distribution Point if you plan to host these roles on the same server as the selected site type. A message will appear showing a reminder for this operation.

The tool now has a Settings section, built to make the tool easier to use. Within the section you can define alternative credentials, setup a connection to a SQL Server and specify what alternative source to use when re-trying a failed windows feature installation.

Installation of windows features for any site type can now be re-tried with sources files from a specific location containing the operating system files required to install the feature that failed.

This tool can now also prepare a server for holding the Certificate Registration point role.

Prerequisite checks for launching the tool has been reduced to only check for a valid operating system type, e.g. Member Server. Support for running the tool on a Domain Controller has been added, but with a warning message that this is not supported, meaning it has not been tested extensively.

Configuring Active Directory for a Configuration Manager environment has improved and is now spread over multiple tabs. Automatic detection for the Schema Master role owner and PDC Emulator role owner has been added in this version. Support for providing different credentials when creating the System Management container and extending the Active Directory schema has also been added.

Supported and available Windows ADK version from the Windows Hardware Dev Center can automatically be detected by a simple web page scraper. This improves the experience of the tool when installing Windows ADK in the online mode. Previously, the tool would require an update to add-in the latest Windows ADK version URL.

A whole new section for SQL Server is introduced in this version. You can now configure the SQL Server memory usage settings, validate the correct collation for Configuration Manager is in use for the specified SQL Server connection, pre-create the Configuration Manager database and split the files in addition to configure SSRS database file settings.

This version also includes a better messaging system that prompts for success and/or failures. Warning and information messages are also shown when eligible.

Download ConfigMgr Prerequisites Tool 3.0.0

You can download the tool from the TechNet Gallery, following the URL below.

Download ConfigMgr Prerequisites Tool 3.0.0 on TechNet Gallery

Source code

From this version and onward, ConfigMgr Prerequisites Tool source code will be available on GitHub:

https://github.com/NickolajA/ConfigMgrPrerequisitesTool

Documentation

Since ConfigMgr Prerequisites Tool 3.0.0 has been completely rewritten, the documentation covering the older version are now obsolete. Included in the download from the TechNet Gallery is a PDF with more details about each section of the tool.

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