With the Beta release of DPM 2012, there is a new installation option for a DPM Central Console. This is very exciting as finally it is now possible to mange multiple DPM servers from one location, and what is also great is that the new central console utilises System Center Operations Manager as the management platform!!
The steps below outline how to install the server side and client side components to enable the DPM central console. The server side components need to be installed first on the Operations Manager server before the client components can work. The DPM management pack will also need importing into Operations Manager so the central administration tasks can be launched.
Installing the Server Side Components
- From the DPM 2012 Beta installation media, run "setup.exe" on the Operations Manager server.
- Select DPM Central Console from the installation splash screen.
- The setup wizard will open on a welcome screen, click Next.
- Select Install Central Console Server side Components, and click Next.
- Set the installation location for the program files, click Next.
- Select whether or not to use Microsoft Update, click Install.
- Wait for the installation to complete, and click Close.
- That's it, that's the server side components installed
Installing the Client Side Components
- Before installing the client side components, confirm the server side components have been installed.
- Select DPM Central Console from the installation splash screen, as shown in the server side components installation steps above.
- The setup wizard will open on a welcome screen, click Next.
- Select Install Central Console Client side Components, and click Next.
- Set the installation location for the program files, click Next.
- Select whether or not to use Microsoft Update, click Install.
- Wait for the installation to complete, and click Close.
- That's it, that's the client side components installed
Importing the DPM Management Pack
As DPM uses Operations Manager as the central console platform, you must import the management pack to discover, monitor and remotely administer your DPM servers.
The management packs are located at <installdrive>\Program Files\Microsoft DPM\Management Packs on the Operations Manager server where the server side components were installed. The management pack files are named:
- Microsoft.SystemCenter.DataProtectionManager.2011.Discovery
- Microsoft.SystemCenter.DataProtectionManager.2011.Library.mp
The management pack files have 2011 in the name, which is strange as there was no 2011 version of DPM, but I'm sure this will be rectified at RTM.
The management packs can be imported in the usual way.. Open the SCOM console, select Administration from the wundabar, and then select Management Packs. Then click Import Management Pack from the Actions menu, and select the management packs listed above.
Once the management packs are imported, your DPM servers will be discovered and monitored. After the DPM servers have been discovered, you will then be able to remotely manage them!!!
Remotely Administering DPM
Now all the components have been installed, and the management packs imported, you can now start remotely administering DPM. To do this, open the Operations Manager console, and expand the Data Protection Manager 2012 folder from within the Monitoring view. Then select the DPM Servers view, where your DPM servers should be listed.
When you highlight a DPM server a list of tasks will appear in Actions, these include all the actions that were included with the DPM 2010 management pack, plus a brand new task. This new task is Manage DPM server and it will launch a remote administration console for the DPM server... which is awesome!!!
For any organization this is going to be hugely helpful, as there is no longer a need to remote desktop to a DPM server to administer it. I think everyone who uses DPM is going to be hugely excited by this, I know I am
Enjoy!
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David Allen
MVP System Center Operations Manager
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