Many IT managers claim that they “never install dot-oh of anything.”  For those who have been putting off their upgrade or implementation of Microsoft System Center 2012, your time has come.  On Jan.3, 2013, Microsoft released Microsoft System Center 2012 Service Pack 1, which provides Clients for Additional Operating Systems in System Center Configuration Manager (SCCM).

This is exciting news on so many levels with the fulfillment of Microsoft’s interoperability vision being primary amongst them. Right now, System Center users can download clients that will allow them to manage Apple Macintosh, UNIX and Linux computers.  The value all comes back to the concept of “a single pane of glass,” one unified console from which systems managers can see and control everything on their network.

All of these clients can be downloaded here.

The client for Mac computers allows you to discover, collect inventory, manage settings and deploy applications and patches using your Configuration Manager environment. The clients for UNIX and Linux extends the scope of your Configuration Manager environment to collect inventory, deploy software and run reports about UNIX and Linux servers in your enterprise. The client operates as a workgroup client that is managed by Configuration Manager.

Mac Client:

The following Mac versions are supported in this release:

• Mac OS X 10.6 (Snow Leopard)

• Mac OS X 10.7 (Lion)

The following scenarios are supported through the Mac client in Microsoft System Center 2012 Configuration Manager SP1:

• Discovery – Discovers Mac OS X system in Active Directory and through network discovery

• Hardware Inventory – Provides hardware inventory and auditing of computers running Mac OS X, including a list of installed software similar to add/remove programs for Windows systems.

• Settings Management – Ensures computers running Mac OS X comply with company policies using scripts and preference list management.

• Application Deployment – Distributes required software via app model.

• Software Updates Management – Distributes patches utilizing Software Distribution and Settings management features.

UNIX/Linux Client:

The following UNIX and Linux versions are supported in this release.

• RHEL Version 6 (x86 & x64)
• RHEL Version 5 (x86 & x64)
• RHEL Version 4 (x86 & x64)
• Solaris Version 10 (x86 & SPARC)
• Solaris Version 9 (SPARC)
• SLES Version 11 (x86 & x64)
• SLES Version 10 SP1 (x86 & x64)
• SLES Version 9 (x86)

The following scenarios are supported by the UNIX and Linux clients: • Hardware Inventory - Hardware inventory can be viewed through Resource Explorer and can be used to create collections of UNIX and Linux computers.

• Software Inventory

• Software Distribution - Deploy new software, update existing software and apply OS patches to collections of UNIX/Linux computers (using a package and program). Run arbitrary maintenance scripts on a collection of UNIX/Linux servers.

• Secure and Authenticated Communications

• • Consolidated Reports

In recent presentations, Microsoft COO Kevin Turner has shared Microsoft’s interoperability vision, which includes management of a wide variety of mobile devices as well.  System Center continues to grow into its role as the premier platform for managing, migrating, and orchestrating interoperability among multiple platforms in a client’s IT environment.