Q: I'm preparing to install System Center Service Manager (SCSM) 2010. Any tips?

A: Installing SCSM 2010 is very simple. It's driven by detailed installation wizards. I say wizards because for a full SCSM installation, you actually need to install at least two SCSM servers (but they can be virtual). One SCSM instance is the SCSM Management Server and the other is the SCSM Data Warehouse Management Server. These SCSM instances can't be installed on the same OS instance. You'll also need a SQL Server instance available, which can be a dedicated SQL Server or an existing installation. I'm assuming for these directions that you're installing on Windows Server 2008 R2.

If you intend to use multiple languages, you need the SQL Server installation to use the Latin1_General_100 collation for both the database engine and analysis services and should be configured as accent-sensitive. If you don't need multilingual support, you can leave these settings as their defaults. You also need to ensure the .NET Framework 3.5.1 feature is installed on the SQL Servers (again, assuming you're installing on Windows Server 2008 R2). Make sure you install the following SQL Server features:

If you're using SQL Server 2008, install SQL Server 2008 SP1 after your installation. Make sure TCP port 1433 is open via firewall exception on the SQL Server so you can connect to it from Service Manager.

On the SQL Reporting Services erver, you need to run a few basic configurations and get information ready for the Service Manager installation. Log on to the SQL Reporting Services server (which may be your single SQL box if you didn't separate Reporting Services to a different box). Launch the Reporting Services Configuration Manager and run the following sections:

Try to connect to http://localhost/reports to confirm your reporting configuration is working. Another step is required on the SQL Reporting Services server, as described at http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ff461215.aspx. This is key for the SCSM Data warehouse, and during the SCSM Data warehouse installation you'll be asked if these steps have been performed before the installation can continue.

The next step is to create a few Active Directory (AD) accounts and an AD group that will be used by Service Manager. You need three AD accounts and one group that will contain the SCSM administrators. Create the following:

Log on to the Server 2008 R2 box that will host the Service Manager Management Server as an administrator. (Make sure the SvcMgrService account you created is a local administrator.) You need to install hotfix 975332 on the Service Manager Management Server and Data Warehouse Server, which must be requested from Microsoft, plus a reporting add-in that's available as part of the SCSM install prerequisites checker.

Launch Server Manager and ensure the .NET Framework 3.5.1 feature is enabled, and so is the Web Server role along with ASP.NET, Basic Authentication, Windows Authentication, IIS6 Metabase Compatibility, and IIS6 WMI Compatibility role service options.

Insert the SCSM media (the SCSM2010 with SP1 media, which has SQL Server 2008 R2 support) and select the option to install Service Manager Management Server. Follow all the prompts and, when asked, pass the accounts you created and the group for the admins—it's all very intuitive. Once the installation is complete, you install the Service Manager Data Warehouse.

Log on as an administrator to the Server 2008 R2 box that will host the Service Manager Data Warehouse Server. (Make sure the SvcMgrService account you created is a local administrator.) Launch Server Manager and ensure the .NET Framework 3.5.1 feature is enabled. Insert the SCSM media and select the option to install Service Manager Data Warehouse Server. Once again, just pass the information requested, which will include the URLs you created as part of the SQL Reporting Services configuration. (If you're unsure, just go back to the SQL Reporting Server and run the configuration utility again to see the values.)

Once the Data Warehouse is configured, go back to the Service Manager Management Server and launch the Server Manager Console. On the Administrator overview, select the Register with Service Manager Data Warehouse link at the bottom and enter the details for the data warehouse server. You're now up and running with Service Manager 2010.

You can now install updates, such as SP1 for Service Manager 2010 (at the time of writing, this is the most recent SP).