SCCM 2012 DebugView

I found this hidden treasure of information that is not very well known in the System Center community and found it extremely handy.

Open command prompt and type:

The path where SCCM EXE is installed followed by sms:debugview e.g.

"E:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Configuration Manager\AdminConsole\bin\Microsoft.ConfigurationManagement.exe" sms:debugview

You can create shortcut with this command and save it on your desktop for future use.

This will give you a new option called TOOLS in the SCCM Console. This option is a view into the WMI classes, properties, and attributes. You can run queries in the console and validate the output before creating reports or scripts.

In addition, you will get an option to “Switch to Debug View” for any console. So let us see what this debug view has on offer.

You will see an additional option “Show object details” when you right click on any SCCM object such as computer object, application object, software update groups, etc.

When you click on Show Object Details, it queries WMI to access all relevant properties associated to the corresponding object and displays it in a grid view.

This will also provide extended view in the management console for collection object. I am using these capabilities now for any automation that I am doing in SCCM. I am sure you will find it handy too.