How to deal with duplicate computers in SCCM

Duplicate computer accounts or GUIDS in SCCM (configmgr) can be a real administration nightmare.

It can ruin the accuracy of your reports and make it difficult to locate the correct system from the SCCM console. It may also result in inaccurate reports.

There are a few things you can do to locate and remove the duplicate computer accounts, but before doing that you need to look at why it is happening.

  • Are you deploying the operating system without using Sysprep to ‘reseal’ and create a new GUID?
  • Are you replacing a computer and keeping the existing active directory computer object?

Create a ‘Duplicate GUID’s’ collection

Create a new collection and add the following three direct select queries-

Query 1

select SMS_R_SYSTEM.ResourceID,SMS_R_SYSTEM.ResourceType,SMS_R_SYSTEM.Name,SMS_R_SYSTEM.SMSUniqueIdentifier,SMS_R_SYSTEM.ResourceDomainORWorkgroup,SMS_R_SYSTEM.Client from SMS_R_System where ClientVersion = "2.50.4160.2000" or Client is NULL

Query 2

select SMS_R_SYSTEM.ResourceID,SMS_R_SYSTEM.ResourceType,SMS_R_SYSTEM.Name,SMS_R_SYSTEM.SMSUniqueIdentifier,SMS_R_SYSTEM.ResourceDomainORWorkgroup,SMS_R_SYSTEM.Client from SMS_R_System join SMS_G_System_System on SMS_R_System.ResourceID = SMS_G_System_System.ResourceID where SMS_R_System.Name <> SMS_G_System_System.Name

Query 3

select SMS_R_SYSTEM.ResourceID,SMS_R_SYSTEM.ResourceType,SMS_R_SYSTEM.Name,SMS_R_SYSTEM.SMSUniqueIdentifier,SMS_R_SYSTEM.ResourceDomainORWorkgroup,SMS_R_SYSTEM.Client from SMS_R_System where SMS_R_System.ResourceID in (select SMS_GH_System_System.ResourceID from SMS_G_System_System join SMS_GH_System_System on SMS_G_System_System.ResourceID = SMS_GH_System_System.ResourceID where SMS_G_System_System.Name <> SMS_GH_System_System.Name)

 

After refreshing the collection you should have a list of computer accounts which have duplicate GUID’s. The list won’t be 100% correct, however gives you a good understanding of the scope of the issue.

 

Now you have a collection of computers to fix –

  1. Close the Configmgr console
  2. Install the latest version of the SCCM ‘Right Click’ tools from http://myitforum.com/cs2/blogs/rhouchins/archive/2008/04/09/sccm-right-click-tools.aspx
  3. Right click on the ‘Duplicate GUID’ collection and select ‘Regenterate GUID’. This will force all computers which are in the collection and turned on to recreate their GUIDs. You will need to run this over a few days or weeks to capture any computers which are turned off or laptops which are out of the office.