Microsoft Assessment and Planning Toolkit - Technical FAQ

 

Microsoft Assessment and Planning Toolkit - Technical FAQ

Hello!

The Microsoft Assessment and Planning Toolkit team has just released a new set of Technical FAQ's (Frequently Asked Questions). We hope that you will find this useful as to learn how to use the MAP Toolkit for various technology migration projects regarding Windows Vista, Windows Server 2008, 2007 Microsoft Office, SQL Server 2008, Microsoft Online Services, Forefront Client Security, NAP, and more.

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Cheers!
Baldwin Ng

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Q: How do I obtain the MAP Toolkit?

A: Microsoft Assessment and Planning toolkit is available as a free download at

Download the Microsoft Assessment and Planning Toolkit

Q: What are the prerequisites for installing the MAP Toolkit?

A: The installation prerequisites can be found in the MAP Release Notes in the “Microsoft Assessment and Planning Solution Accelerator” program group in your Start menu. You may also find the installation prerequisites at http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc297228.aspx.

Q: Can the MAP Toolkit inventory computers on multiple domains?

A: Yes. MAP can gather inventory information from machines on any domain as long as the appropriate administrator credentials are provided to the MAP wizard. The machine upon which MAP is running does not have to be a member of the target domain or forest.

Q: Can the MAP Toolkit gather performance data on multiple domains?

A: MAP can gather performance data from multiple domains as long as the appropriate administrator credentials are provided to the MAP wizard and the MAP machine is a member of the same forest as the target machines.

Q: Can we use an existing SQL Server instance instead of requiring the MAP Toolkit to install SQL Server Express?

A:  Yes. You may use any edition of SQL Server 2005 or 2008 as long as you have an existing instance named “MAPS” on the same machine.

Q: What does the MAP Toolkit download package include?

A:  The download package includes:

• Microsoft Assessment and Planning Toolkit (32-bit or 64-bit installation packages)
• Getting Started Guide
• Help Documentation
• Release Notes
• Sample reports and documents (see “Lucerne Publishing” folder)

Q: Can we use previously collected MAP data with a newer version of the MAP Toolkit?

A: Yes. When MAP 3.2 is installed over a previous version of MAP, the installation will upgrade the MAP database to a format that is compatible with MAP 3.2.

Q: How can we move MAP data to a different machine?

A: To transfer MAP data to a different machine use the following steps:

• Back up the database using the SupportBackup.cmd batch file located in the “\Help\Support Files” subdirectory of the MAP installation folder in Program Files. (Run SupportBackup.cmd without any parameters to get help. If you’re using Windows Vista® or Windows Server® 2008, be sure to run the command prompt using “Run as Administrator.”
• Install MAP 3.2 on the new machine.
• Copy the database backup file to the new machine.
• Restore the database on the new machine. To restore a database, use the RestoreCustomerDatabase.cmd batch file, also located in the “Support Files” directory.

Q: How do I backup and restore the MAP Toolkit database?

A: To back up a database: Use the SupportBackup.cmd file located in the “\Help\Support Files” subdirectory of the MAP installation folder in Program Files. Run SupportBackup.cmd without any parameters to get help. If you’re using Windows Vista or Windows Server 2008, be sure to run the command prompt using “Run as Administrator.”

Pass the name of the database you want to back up to this batch file. After the backup completes, a new folder will be created in the Support Files directory with the same name as your database. In that folder, there will be a file called databasename.bkp. This is your database backup. Copy this file to the machine you want to restore the database on.

To restore a database: Use the RestoreCustomerDatabase.cmd batch file, also located in the “Support Files” directory. As for the above procedure, be sure to run from an elevated command prompt. It’s easiest to put the backup file a directory called Bin\DBUPGRADEBACKUP\ that you create underneath the Bin folder in the MAP installation folder (%ProgramFiles%\Microsoft Assessment and Planning Solution\Bin\DBUPGRADEBACKUP). Run RestoreCustomerDatabase.cmd without parameters to get help.  

Note: In some scenarios, the RestoreCustomerDatabase.cmd batch file may not work. If either the machine that you performed the backup on originally or the machine that you’re restoring the database to has more than one instance of SQL Server, there may be a failure on restore. Also, if the machine you performed the backup on was using SQL Server 2005 on x64 and if you try to restore somewhere else, the restore may fail.

Q: Does the MAP Toolkit report applications installed on Windows Server?

A: MAP currently reports what is provided by the Win32_Product WMI class. On windows servers, this class is generally disabled by default (install the WMI provider for Windows Installer to enable it). More details on Windows Installer Provider can be found at http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa392726(VS.85).aspx.

Also, on windows servers, this WMI class generally only returns a subset of the items shown in the Add/Remove programs list; it won’t show applications that are not registered in the MSI installer database. Some third-party applications may not register themselves with MSI and hence are not detected by MAP.

Q: Can the MAP Toolkit report on networking information such as persistent routes?

A: Currently, MAP does not provide the ability to inventory and report networking information such as persistent routes.

Q: Which operating systems can the MAP Toolkit inventory and assess?

A: MAP can be used to inventory and assess the following operating system versions, regardless of whether they are 32-bit or 64-bit:

• Windows Vista including SP1
• Windows XP Professional
• Windows XP Professional with SP 2
• Windows Server 2008
• Windows Server 2003
• Windows Server 2003 R2
• Windows 2000 Professional
• Windows 2000 Server

Note that the Home versions of Windows XP and Windows Vista do not have WMI enabled and will generally not be inventoried by the MAP tool.

Q: How do I determine why no inventory or performance data was collected for some computers?

A: In the inventory reports each computer has a status listed next to it showing the result of the inventory attempt. Additional information is provided in the MAP log file which can be found in the file: <install directory>/ Microsoft Assessment and Planning Solution Accelerator\bin\log\Microsoft.AssessmentPlatform.UI.Console.log.

Q: Are the utilization figures that the MAP Toolkit provides in the PerfMetricResult spreadsheet averages or maximums?

A: CPU utilization is computed as an average; Network and Disk I/O use maximums.

Q: What is the expected network impact when running the MAP Toolkit?

A: When running inventory, MAP transfers an estimated 512 KB to 1 MB of data per machine inventoried over the network. The main source of the variance is due to the number of items in the MSI database per machine (how many applications installed, how many patches, and so on).

When running performance metrics collection, the amount of data collected is about 1 MB per machine monitored every 5 minutes. Note that an inventory of each machine targeted for performance metrics collection will be performed if that machine has not been previously inventoried in the database being used by MAP.

Q: Does the MAP Toolkit collect or analyze memory counters for virtual machine placement?

A: The virtual machine (VM) placement recommendation provided by MAP uses the physical memory installed on the physical machine that you are considering for virtualization, instead of the actual memory utilization. So, when you make a virtualization assessment in MAP, the amount of physical memory currently installed in the machine that you are attempting to virtualize will be deducted from the memory available on the host machine.

The article “Essential Tools for Planning Your Virtual Infrastructure” at http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/magazine/cc895647.aspx  provides additional detail.

Q: Can the MAP Toolkit merge results from multiple performance metric gathering sessions?

A: No, MAP does not currently provide users the ability to combine the results of multiple performance metric gathering sessions. Running the performance metrics wizard a second time will overwrite previously collected performance data.

Q: Can I get virtualization placement recommendations without first capturing performance data via MAP?

A: No, MAP requires specific performance data to perform placement analysis. Import of this performance data is not currently supported.

Q: What does the MAP Toolkit do with administrative credentials used to collect inventory?

A: MAP never persists security credentials. The credentials you provide are encrypted using the DPAPI and maintained only in memory. Credentials in memory are disposed of when the inventory completes.  For each machine that MAP attempts to connect to, the credentials are passed to the connection method being used, at which point the credentials are securely handled by the remote operating system that is being interrogated. Credentials are never logged or written to the database or any other file.

Q: What are the security features provided by the MAP Toolkit?

A: The following security features are provided by MAP:

• All domain accounts used during inventory must be validated in the wizard before the inventory and assessment begins.
• None of the credentials provided in the wizard are persisted in the MAP database or any other file. Credentials are encrypted in memory and discarded as soon as the inventory wizard is completed.
• Communication between the computer performing the inventory and the computer being inventoried is encrypted.
• The SQL Server instance used by MAP is configured, by default, not to allow connections from remote computers.
• SQL Server authentication is disabled in the SQL Server database instance. Only local administrators have access to the installed instance by default.
• The MAP tool can only be run by a user that is an Administrator on the computer on which it is installed.

Q: How can I use the MAP Toolkit given my current firewall configurations?

A: MAP will only work if WMI traffic is allowed from the MAP computer to the inventoried machines. Many host-based and software-based firewall products will block DCOM traffic across the network adapters on the computer. To enable remote WMI access, you need to make sure that the TCP/UDP ports for the "Remote Administration" and "File and Printer Sharing" exceptions are open on the computer running the software firewall. In addition, you will need to ensure that the following required configuration is implemented prior to running the tool:

• Enable Remote Administration exception. The "remote administration exception" needs to be enabled for computers when the Windows Firewall is enabled. This exception opens TCP port 135. If you have another host firewall installed, then you will need to allow network traffic through this port. You are advised to delete this exception after the MAP operation is completed.
• Enable File and Printer sharing exception. The “File and Printer Sharing” exception must be enabled for computers when the Windows Firewall is enabled. This exception opens TCP ports 139 and 445, and UDP ports 137 and 138. If you have another host firewall installed, then you will need to allow network traffic through these ports. You are advised to delete this exception after the MAP operation is completed.

More detail on network configuration requirements is provided in the “Getting Started Guide” provided with the MAP tool.

Q: Where do I find the step-by-step guidance on how to run the MAP Toolkit?

A: MAP includes a getting started guide that provides step-by-step guidance. The Getting Started Guide is located at  “Microsoft Assessment and Planning Solution Accelerator” program group in your Start menu. If you have further questions please visit the MAP TechNet forum: http://social.technet.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/map/threads/.

Q: Are any MAP sample reports available?

A: The MAP installation includes a complete set of sample documents. They can be found in the documents folder under MAP\Lucerne Publishing.

Q: Does the MAP Toolkit have a scripting interface?

A: No, MAP 3.2 does not currently have a scripting interface.

Q: Where can I ask questions and give my feedback on the MAP Toolkit?

A: You may contact the MAP team in the following ways:

• You may obtain online community support at the TechNet community forum: http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkID=110990
• You may get telephone technical support by visiting this site: http://support.microsoft.com/common/international.aspx
• You may contact us for suggestions and feedback at: mapfdbk@microsoft.com

Q: As a Microsoft partner, how do I get access to partner-related resources and content to help me use MAP with customer engagements?

A: Please visit http://partner.microsoft.com/SAAssessment.

Microsoft Assessment and Planning Toolkit Team Blog : Microsoft Assessment and Planning Toolkit - Technical FAQ