Install DPM Agent manually

In the recent class and projects, lots of the students and customers would like to install DPM once they implement a server - this is a good news.

However, how can we do so? There are two things here: Install DPM Agent manually and associate it with DPM Server.

To install DPM Agent manually, there are few ways - install it with SCCM/SMS, distribute via Active Directory group policy or even install it manually.

1) In a DPM source CD, locate Microsoft DPM\DPM\Agents\RA\2.0.5820.0\i386 (use AM64 if install in a 64 bit machine)

2) run DpmAgentInstaller.exe /q .

Now, the agent is installed. To enable firewall exeption,

1) type :\Program Files\Microsoft Data Protection Manager\bin\ SetDpmServer.exe – dpmServerName .

To associate the DPMA with DPM server,

2) On the DPM server, from the DPM Management Shell prompt, type Attach-ProductionServer.ps1 .

DPM Error 324

Recently, we are doing a DPM Proof of Concept with Microsoft.

Everything works fine with DPM Server installation, DPM Agent push. However, the second day, the agent is not be able to communicate with DPM Server with an error 324.

The detail of the error sounds like:

The agent operation failed because the DPM Agent Coordinator service did not respond.
To troubleshoot this, according to Microsoft website, you will need to:

1) Check the recent DPMAC source records in the application event log on .

2) Verify that the DPM server is remotely accessible from.

3) If a firewall is enabled on the DPM server, verify that it is not blocking requests from .

4) Verify that the time on the DPM server and the selected computer is synchronized with the domain controller. At a command prompt, type "net time /set" to synchronize the time with the domain controller.

However, it is not the case of ours, what we found out:
It is because of Windows 2003 SP2...

We will need to verify that the DPM server is a member of the Distributed COM Users group and that the group has DCOM Launch and Access permissions.

1) In Computer Management, expand System Tools, expand Local Users and Groups, and then click Groups.

2) In the Details pane, double-click the Distributed COM Users group.

3) Verify that the computer account for the DPM server is a member of the group.

For DCOM Launch and Access permission:

1) In Administrative Tools, open Component Services, Expand Component Services, expand Computers, right-click My Computer, and then click Properties.

2) On the COM Security tab, under Access Permissions, click Edit Limits. Verify that the Distributed COM Users group is allowed both Local Access and Remote Access permissions.

3) On the COM Security tab, under Launch and Activation Permissions, click Edit Limits. Verify that the Distributed COM Users groups is allowed the following permissions:

• Local Launch
• Remote Launch
• Local Activation
• Remote Activation
  

Wait for sometime, the DPMA now be able to communicate with DPM Server.

It tooks us about 1-2 hours to solve it together with the customer.

Backup SCCM Site

If you want to backup your SCCM site, you may make use of SCCM Site Server Maintenance Task to accomplish this. Below is the steps to configure the SCCM Backup job:

1. In the SCCM console, navigate to System Center Configuration Manager / Site Database / Site Management / <site name> / Site Settings / Site Maintenance / Tasks.

2. Right-click the Backup Site Server task, and click Properties.

3. Specify how frequent you would like to backup your site in the the backup task properties, and click OK. Ensure that you schedule the backup task to run at an appropriate time.

Try to make use of SCCM native backup method. My 2 cents... :)