Using Systems Management Server

This section provides task-based topics that show you how to use the Microsoft® Systems Management Server (SMS) schema to perform resource management, software distribution, site and SMS feature configuration, and more. You will also find topics that show you how to extend resource discovery and inventory, and extend the functionality of the SMS Administrator Console and the Resource Explorer.

Each task identifies the elements that you need to accomplish the task and contains code examples in both Microsoft® Visual Basic® and C/C++.

This section documents the following tasks:

• Using DDRs in resource discovery
• Extending Hardware Inventory
• Distributing software
• Managing collections
• Extending SMS Administrator Console functionality
• Customizing the Resource Explorer
• Managing site control configuration
• Using summarizers to determine the health of a site
• Using status messages
• Tracking product compliance issues
• Setting up your development environment
• Connecting to the SMS namespace
• SMS error handling
• Reading and writing embedded objects

Also included in this section is an integrated resource discovery and inventory example.