Microsoft System Center 2012 Orchestrator Cookbook

• Create powerful runbooks for the entire System Center 2012 product line
• Master System Center 2012 to create advanced runbooks
• Learn how to install System Center Orchestrator and make it secure and fault tolerant

In Detail

Microsoft System Center Orchestrator 2012 simplifies the process of automating systems administration tasks. Originally a third-party product named Opalis, which Microsoft acquired in 2009, Orchestrator provides a simplified way of building complex automation. System Center Orchestrator is a complete solution that goes beyond basic automation.

Microsoft System Center 2012 Orchestrator Cookbook will teach you how to plan, create and manage powerful runbooks to help you automate mission-critical and routine administration tasks.

In this practical Cookbook you will learn how to master System Center 2012 by creating runbooks to control and automate every feature possible. You will start by learning how to efficiently install and secure System Center Orchestrator.

You will then learn how to plan and create functional and fault-tolerant System Center runbooks to automate daily tasks and routine operations. Diving deep into runbooks, you will learn how to create powerful and practical runbooks for the entire System Center family of products.

Unleashing your inner control freak, you will then master System Center automation by creating IT Service Management process runbooks and advanced runbooks to help you control every feature imaginable of System Center. If you want to save time and energy automating mission critical tasks with System Center 2012 Orchestrator, then this book is for you!

What you will learn from this book

• Create runbooks for Active directory tasks and IT Service Management processes
• Design and create runbooks for System Center Configuration Manager, Operations Manager, and Virtual Machine Manager
• Secure System Center Orchestrator with SSL certificates
• Create branching, looping and child runbooks to completely master System Center 2012 Orchestrator
• Install and make System Center Orchestrator fault tolerant
• Manage and automate your datacentre with powerful runbooks
• Automate your System Center environment

Approach

This book is written in a practical, cookbook style with numerous chapters and recipes focusing on creating runbooks to automate mission-critical and everyday administration tasks.

Who this book is written for

Microsoft System Center 2012 Orchestrator Cookbook is for administrators who wish to simplify the process of automating system administration tasks. This book assumes that you have a basic knowledge of Windows Server 2008 Administration, Active Directory, Network Systems and Microsoft System Center technologies.

About the Authors

Samuel Erskine (MCT) has over 15 years’ experience in a wide range of technologies and industries (public and private) including working for fortune 500 organizations. In 2009 he founded a consultancy practice organization in the United Kingdom focused on implementing Microsoft System Center systems management and IT Service management products. He merged the original United Kingdom organization with Syliance IT Services in 2012 and became the third member of the Syliance IT Services global management team. He is a Computer Engineering graduate and holds various technology vendor/industry certifications. Apart from this book, Samuel is also the lead author for Microsoft System Center 2012 Service Manager Cookbook and one of the contributing authors to the System Center 2012 Configuration Manager Unleashed book. He is an active participant in the System Center community with a blog.

Andreas Baumgarten (MVP), IT Architect with the German IT service provider H&D International Group, has worked as an IT pro for more than 20 years. He has always been interested in Microsoft technologies and he can also look back on 14 years of experience as a Microsoft Certified Trainer. Since 2008, he has been responsible for the field of System Center technology consulting and ever since he has taken part in SCSM 2010, 2012, 2012 SP1 and 2012 R2 and System Center Orchestrator 2012 Technology Adoption Program with H&D. With his deep inside technology know-how and his broad experience across the System Center product family and IT management, he now designs and develops private cloud solutions for customers System Center Orchestrator 2012, 2012 SP1 and 2012 R2. In October 2012, he was awarded the Microsoft Most Valuable Professional (MVP) title for System Center Cloud and Datacenter Management.

Steven Beaumont has been working in the IT field since 1998 and is a known authority on everything related to System Center. His career started with low-end system building and support, graduating to manage a crack team of enterprise class support specialists; with the release of Service Manager 2010, he ventured into customization and released some solutions to the community via the TechNet Gallery, helping to show how to extend the usage of the product.

Steve provides consultancy and designs specifically for System Center 2012 and Private Cloud solutions. He is the co-author of Microsoft System Center Service Manager 2012 Cookbook, which includes a host of tips and techniques to administer System Center, providing best practice advice and 'recipes' to get the most from Service Manager. He also runs his own blog, which covers the full range of System Center components and areas related to desktop design, deployment, and optimization.