This guide is in continuation to my guide on deploying system center 2012 r2 configuration manager, as found .
In this tutorial, we will cover basic deployment/configuration of Endpoint Protection to client workstations. This tutorial is largly based off of user anyweb’s guide on windows-noob.com Make sure to give him some credit over on his forum
Definition
Per the following Technet article () Endpoint Protection in System Center 2012 Configuration Manager provides security, antimalware, and Windows Firewall management for computers in your enterprise.
When you use Endpoint Protection with Configuration Manager, you have the following benefits:
- You can configure antimalware policies and Windows Firewall settings to selected groups of computers, by using custom antimalware policies and client settings.
- You can use Configuration Manager software updates to download the latest antimalware definition files to keep client computers up-to-date.
- You can send email notifications, use in-console monitoring, and view reports to keep administrative users informed when malware is detected on client computers.
Creating Endpoint Protection Hierarchy via Folders
Launch the System Center 2012 R2 Configuration Manager console On the Assets and Compliance pane, select Device Collections, and then right click and select Create Folder Enter Endpoint Protection for the folder name and click OK Select your Endpoint Protection folder under Device Collections and create two more folders called Endpoint Protection Managed Clients and Endpoint Protection Managed Servers
Create Device Collections to categorize devices managed by SCCM
Launch the System Center 2012 R2 Configuration Manager console On the Assets and Compliance pane, select Device Collections, Endpoint Protection Managed Clients, and right click select Create Device Collection Enter Endpoint Protection Managed Desktops for the name and then a comment describing what the group will hold (Desktops in this example), and then click Browse… Select All Systems and click OK Click Next > Click Next > Click OK on the dialog box explaining we have set no rules Click Next > Click Close Repeat steps 2-9 to create another group for Laptops Select Endpoint Protection Managed Servers and repeat steps 2-9 to create the following groups Note: This step is optional, this i more for organization. If you don’t have all of these services/servers deployed in your environment, you don’t have to create these Collections. Endpoint Protection Managed Servers – Configuration Manager Endpoint Protection Managed Servers – DHCP Endpoint Protection Managed Servers – DomainController Endpoint Protection Managed Servers – Exchange Endpoint Protection Managed Servers – File Server Endpoint Protection Managed Servers – Hyper-V Endpoint Protection Managed Servers – IIS Endpoint Protection Managed Servers – Operations Manager Endpoint Protection Managed Servers – SharePoint Endpoint Protection Managed Servers – SQL Server
Enable the Endpoint Protection Role
Launch the System Center 2012 R2 Configuration Manager console Select Administration, Site Configuration, Servers and Site System Roles, and right click on your Primary site and select Add Site System Roles Click Next > Click Next > Check Endpoint Protection point Click OK on the Configuration Manager dialog Click Next > Check I accept the Endpoint Protection license terms and click Next > Check Advanced membership and click Next > Note: MAPS can be joined with a basic or an advanced membership. Basic member reports contain the information described above. Advanced member reports are more comprehensive and may include additional details about the software Endpoint Protection detects, including the location of such software, file names, how the software operates, and how it has impacted your computer. These reports, along with reports from other Endpoint Protection users who are participating in MAPS, help Microsoft researchers discover new threats more rapidly. Malware definitions arethen created for programs that meet the analysis criteria, and the updated definitions are made available to all users through Microsoft Update. See for full details. My thoughts on this are to go with Advanced. If you are using the AV product, may as well help contribute towards making the product detect anomalies more accurately (I’ll turn my Microsoft fan-boyness off now :)) Click Next > Click Close
Configuring Endpoint Protection Alerting
Email Alerting Device Collection Alerting
Configure SUP for Endpoint Protection
Launch the System Center 2012 R2 Configuration Manager console Select Administration, Overview, Site Configurion, Sites and select Settings, Configure Site Components, Software Update Point Select the Products tab and then check Forefront Endpoint Protection 2010 and click OK Select Software Library, expand Software Updates and right click on All Software Updates and select Synchronize Software Updates Click Yes on the Run Synchronization dialog box
Configure SUP to deliver Definition Updates using an Automatic Deployment Rule
Configure Custom Device Settings
In this section we will configure the client policy to tell the machine it is managed by Endpoint Protection.
Launch the System Center 2012 R2 Configuration Manager console Select Administration, Client Settings, and then click on Create Custom Client Device Settings Enter in a Name (Custom Client Device Settings – Endpoint Protection Managed Servers – Configuration Manager), Description (Custom client device settings for servers related to configuration manager), and check Endpoint Protection On the Endpoint Protection tab use the following settings and then click OK Manage Endpoint Protection client on client computeres: Yes Allow Endpoint Protection client installation and restarts outside maintenance windows. Maintenance windows must be at least 30 minutes long for client installation: Yes Right click on your new Custom Client Device Settings policy and select Deploy Select the group of machines you want to deploy the agents to and select OK
Verify the client shows the policy
Open the Endpoint Protection agent and select About Verify you see your custom antimalware policy