SCOM R2 RC: Importing MPs

With SCOM R2 RC the way MPs are imported has been improved significantly. In the ‘old days’ (until SCOM SP1), one has to start IE, go to the MP catalog, download the needed MPs (in msi-format) install them (more like unpacking them on to a machine thus putting a lot of unneeded information into the local msi-database) and finally (!) import them within SCOM through the SCOM Console.

In SCOM R2 RC Microsoft has changed this. All the MPs are placed into a cloud. From the SCOM Console one can chose to import the MPs. This was already there but new is the option ‘Add from catalog’


When one choses this option, SCOM connects with the cloud and can choose from multiple options. One of the coolest – to my opinion – is the one offering to upgrade already imported MPs. (Of course one must only do that when the differences with the old ones is fully understood, but that’s another topic on it self….)


Another cool feature is that SCOM doesn’t only foresee problems when importing MPs, but also offers a change to solve it:


and


When one clicks the link Resolve this screen appears:


Click the button resolve and SCOM finds the solution to the problem. All one has to do is hit the button Install and all is well again:


The needed MPs are downloaded first and imported right afterwards. This is a real timesaver compared to the ‘old situation’.

Conclusion:

With SCOM R2 Beta the way SCOM imports MPs was already improved. With SCOM R2 RC Microsoft has taken it even further and made it run like clockwork. The management of MPs in SCOM has been enhanced greatly. One has only to bear in mind that BEFORE importing any MP a good read of the document related to the MP remains a MUST so one knows what is going to be imported into the SCOM enviroment...