ConfigMgr 2012 R2 RTM was released in October 2013 and adds many exciting new features to the product.
In this blog I will highlight some of these features - features that I think will be really useful to Systems Administrators. So, in no specific order, let's go.
ConfigMgr Setup - Database & Log files.
When you run Setup to install a new primary site or central administration site, you can select non-default locations for the site database files. The option to specify non-default file locations is not available when you specify a SQL Server cluster.
Client
You can now reassign Configuration Manager clients, including managed mobile devices, to another primary site in the hierarchy. Clients can be reassigned individually or can be multi-selected and reassigned in bulk to a new site.
This is particularly useful when a client moves between sites. This was an issue in previous versions.
Choose "Resultant Client Settings" by right-clicking on a client.
This is very useful if a client is a member of quite a few collections and different client settings have been applied to each collection. You can see at a glance which "resultant client settings" are now applied to that client.
Cancel a Distribution
Consider the scenario. You've just distributed a 15GB image to all your DPs and have now realized that it was the wrong image. Now, in R2, you can just cancel the distribution. This is my favourite new feature.
Company Resource Access
See the new folder under Compliance Settings. In ConfigMgr 2012 R2 you now have the ability to deploy Certificate, VPN and WiFi profiles to a collection of devices.
The screenshot shows the VPN types that can be deployed.
Mobile Device Management
I will soon write a blog describing a full MDM implementation using ConfigMgr 2012 R2 and Intune - with management of Windows Phone 8, iOS and Android devices.
This chart shows the MDM features now available with R2.
