Build SCCM Console Extension Right Click Tools for SCCM ConfigMgr

Build SCCM Console Extension and Custom Right Click Tools for SCCM ConfigMgr Endpoint Manager. Microsoft PFE Neil Peterson published a blog post to help you create your SCCM console extension Right click tools. Isn’t it great??

Read More – Free SCCM Right Click Tools Community Console Extension

I think the 2012 version of the Configuration Manager console extension is applicable for SCCM CB versions. So I think you should try building the console extension using this method and then publish it to the SCCM Community hub.

You can also get the latest information about the New Method To Install SCCM Console Extensions.

Latest Post – Enable Windows 10 Servicing Using SCCM | ConfigMgr | WSUS HTMD Blog (anoopcnair.com).

Build SCCM Console Extension Right Click Tools

There are several components to consider when considering console extensions for Configuration Manager (2007 or 2012). How to Build Custom Right Click Tools for SCCM ConfigMgr Endpoint Manager?

Build SCCM Console Extension Right Click Tools YouTube

Console Component GUID – this GUID corresponds to the console component on which you would like to add the custom Action.

Extension Folder – Each custom extension will be created and placed in a specific location for console consumption. This location will vary depending on why type of console extension is being created and what platform it is being created for (2007 or 2012).

XML File – each console extension is made up of a custom XML file.

Action Executable – typically each Console Action extension will have an executable (script or otherwise) that will be called from the XML file.

Just thought of combining Other Useful SCCM Right Click Tools and Add-ons related links in the same post.

Have a look at the step by step explanation and video demonstration in the blog post::

Long Live Right Click Tools – System Center 2012 Configuration Manager Console Extensions

See Console Extension Internals in his words ::::

Console Component GUID :

Before we can determine where to place our custom extension XML file, we will need to find the GUID corresponding to the console component on which we would like our custom action to be added. In other words, if we want to add our action (right-click tool) to the Software Library / Software Update section of the console, we need to determine the specific GUID for this location.

Likewise, suppose we would like our action (right-click tool) to surface on a collection under the Assets and Compliance node of the 2012 Configuration Manager console. In that case, we need to know the corresponding GUID. To identify these GUID’s we must traverse existing root console XML files and manually (or using a script) locate these GUIDES.

If you have done this with 2007, you will recall the root console file as AdminConsole.XML. In 2012 multiple files corresponding to the multiple Configuration Manager nodes. For instance, if you have an action to be placed on the Overview node under Administration, you would be searching SiteConfigurationNode.XML. For the exercise detailed in this blog (ping all machines in a collection), we will be adding an extension to device collections underneath the Assets and compliance node. For this, we will be searching the AssetManagementNode.xml file.

When examining the root console XML files for specific GUIDS, search for NamespaceGuid=<GUID> followed by Id=<Node Description>. The Id will give you a good idea of which console component the GUID belongs too. Note that most console components will have child components; these will not have an ID rather a Type=’WQL’. It is pretty easy to walk the XML matching up GUIDs to console components as I go.

A little bit of trial and error helps as well. So for example if we open up AssettManagementNode.XML and search for ‘NamespaceGuid=’, the second item (after the root) we will come to is ‘NamespaceGuid=”f10d0965-4b26-4e37-aab5-5400fbbc8eaa” Id=”AssetManagementNodeOverview” ’.

This is the GUID associated with the root of Assets and Compliance or ‘Overview’ displayed in the 2012 Configuration Manager Release Candidate console. Walking to the next ‘NamespaceGuid=’ we come up with ‘NamespaceGuid=”80ea5cfa-5d28-47aa-a134-f455e2df2cd1″ Id=”Users” ’. One more and we come up with ‘NamespaceGuid=”baaa6910-892f-4d20-9082-b392e5a28a53″ Type=”WQL” ’. We can assume that this is the GUID associated with the user objects.

We want to right-click on a device collection and ping all machines found in that collection for this exercise. For this purpose we will use GUID a92615d6-9df3-49ba-a8c9-6ecb0e8b956b.

XML File Location

We can create our XML landing spot or destination folder with the console component GUID determined. With 2012 Configuration Manager the XML file location will be %Program Files%\Microsoft Configuration Manager\AdminConsole\XmlStorage\Extensions\Actions\<GUID>”. Replace <GUID> with the appropriate GUID. This folder will need to be created. In some cases, you may need to create the “\Extensions\Actions\<GUID>” folders as well.

 XML File:

Here is sample XML for both 2007 and 2012. Notice that the 2012 XML has slightly changed due to the introduction of the ribbon. The new edition of the ‘ShowOn’ tag allows us to control whether or not the extensions are shown on the ribbon, right-click menu, or both. During this blog, I will only be discussing right-click menus and will not address adding actions to the ribbon. These two sample XML have been taken from the 2007 SDK and the 2012 beta SDK.

System Center Configuration Manager 2007 –

System Center Configuration Manager 2007

1. <ActionDescription Class=”Executable” DisplayName=”Make a Note” MnemonicDisplayName=”Note” Description = “Make a note about software updates”>
2.   <Executable>
3.     <FilePath>Notepad.exe</FilePath>
4.     <Parameters>C:\MyConfigurationManagerNote.txt</Parameters>
5.   </Executable>
6. </ActionDescription>

System Center 2012 Configuration Manager –

System Center 2012 Configuration Manager

10. <ActionDescription Class=”Executable” DisplayName=”Make a Note” MnemonicDisplayName=”Note” Description = “Make a note about software updates”>
11.   <ShowOn>
12.     <string>DefaultContextualTab</string>
13.     <!—RIBBON –>
14.     <string>ContextMenu</string>
15.     <!—Context Menu –>
16.   </ShowOn>
17.   <Executable>
18.     <FilePath>Notepad.exe</FilePath>
19.     <Parameters>C:\MyConfigurationManagerNote.txt</Parameters>
20.   </Executable>
21. </ActionDescription>

PFE Ping Demo Extension XML

Here is the XML that will make up the ping console extension. Notice here that the ShowOn tag only includes <string>ContextMenu</string>, unlike the previous SDK samples. I only want the extension to be accessible from the context menu and not the ribbon for this example. Take note of the FilePath tag; this will specify the location of the ping script. Also, note the parameter tag. The ##SUB: CollectionID## will make the collection ID accessible as an argument for our ping script.

PFEPing.XML

1. <ActionDescription Class=”Group” DisplayName=”PFE Ping Demo” MnemonicDisplayName=”PFE Ping Demo” Description=”PFE Ping Demo” SqmDataPoint=”53″>
2.  
3.   <ShowOn>
4.     <string>ContextMenu</string>
5.   </ShowOn>
6.  
7.   <ActionGroups>
8.     <ActionDescription Class=”Executable” DisplayName=”Ping Computers” MnemonicDisplayName=”Ping Computers” Description=”Ping Computers”>
9.  
10.       <ShowOn>
11.         <string>ContextMenu</string>
12.       </ShowOn>
13.  
14.  
15.       <Executable>
16.         <FilePath>”C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Configuration Manager\AdminConsole\XmlStorage\Extensions\Actions\a92615d6-9df3-49ba-a8c9-6ecb0e8b956b\PFEPing.vbs”</FilePath>
17.         <Parameters>##SUB:CollectionID##</Parameters>
18.       </Executable>
19.     </ActionDescription>
20.  
21.   </ActionGroups>
22. </ActionDescription>

Action Executable:

Here is the VBScript that the console extension will execute. Using this script as-is, you will need to specify your site server and site code around line 22 of this script.

PFEPing.vbs

3. Set WshShell = WScript.CreateObject(“WScript.Shell”)
4. Set objExcel = CreateObject(“Excel.Application”)
5. objExcel.Visible = True
6. objExcel.Workbooks.Add
7. intRow = 2
8.  
9.  
10. objExcel.Cells(1, 1).Value = “Machine Name”
11. objExcel.Cells(1, 2).Value = “Results”
12.  
13.  
14. Set objArgs = WScript.Arguments
15.  
16. IF (objArgs.count > 0) then
17.       MyPos = InStr(objArgs(0), “:”)
18.     COLLID = wscript.arguments.item(0)    
19. END IF
20.  
21. Set SWbemLocator=CreateObject(“WbemScripting.SWbemLocator”)
22. set SWbemServices = SWbemLocator.ConnectServer(” <Site Server> “,”root\SMS\site_ <Site Code> “)
23.  
24. strQuery = “select * from SMS_CM_RES_COLL_” & COLLID
25. Set Computers= SWbemServices.ExecQuery(strQuery)
26.  
27. for each Computer in Computers
28.  
29.     Ping = WshShell.Run(“ping -n 1 ” & Computer.Name, 0, True)
30.     objExcel.Cells(intRow, 1).Value = UCase(Computer.Name)
31.  
32.     Select Case Ping
33.     Case 0 objExcel.Cells(intRow, 2).Value = “On Line”
34.     Case 1 objExcel.Cells(intRow, 2).Value = “Off Line”
35.     End Select
36.  
37.     If objExcel.Cells(intRow, 2).Value = “Off Line” Then
38.     objExcel.Cells(intRow, 2).Interior.ColorIndex = 3
39.     Else
40.     objExcel.Cells(intRow, 2).Interior.ColorIndex = 4
41.     End If
42.  
43. intRow = intRow + 1
44.  
45. Next
46.  
47.  
48. objExcel.Range(“A1:B1”).Select
49. objExcel.Selection.Interior.ColorIndex = 19
50. objExcel.Selection.Font.ColorIndex = 11
51. objExcel.Selection.Font.Bold = True
52. objExcel.Cells.EntireColumn.AutoFit

 Putting it all Together:

To create the console extension, follow these steps.

1. Create the following folder – %Program Files%\Microsoft Configuration Manager\AdminConsole\XmlStorage\Extensions\Actions\a92615d6-9df3-49ba-a8c9-6ecb0e8b956b .
2. Create an XML file (of any name) containing the XML from the above PFEPing.XML. Place this in the newly created folder. You may want to change the Display Name, Mnemonic Display Name and Description to something more appropriate for your environment.
3. Create a .VBS file using the PFEPing.vbs code from above. Replace <Site Server> with the FQDN of your site server and <Site Code> with your three character site code. Place the script inside of the folder created in step 1.
4. If your console is open, close it out and open it back up.
5. Right click on any collection and execute the extension.

Troubleshooting and Caution:

To troubleshoot console extension issues, see the SMSAdminUI.log.

I would discourage creating extensions directly on a site server, rather install the Configuration Manager console on another machine and create them there.

Author

Anoop is Microsoft MVP! He is a Solution Architect in enterprise client management with more than 20 years of experience (calculation done in 2021) in IT. He is a blogger, Speaker, and Local User Group HTMD Community leader. His main focus is on Device Management technologies like SCCM 2012, Current Branch, and Intune. E writes about ConfigMgr, Windows 11, Windows 10, Azure AD, Microsoft Intune, Windows 365, AVD, etc…