26 Sept 2009

MDM SP1 SCW Manifests

Before deploying servers into the production environment at work, we run the Security Configuration Wizard to harden the Operating System. Hardening involves such things as disabling unnecessary Services, adjusting authentication methods and setting Windows Firewall Exception in an effort to reduce the overall attach surface of the Operating System. While Server 2003 SP1 includes a number of default templates, additional templates are available for download on the Internet.

As part of the MDM deployment that I'm involved with, I've been looking to harden the servers before they go live. The MDM Dev Team at Microsoft were kind enough to create manifests and bundle them in the MDM SP1 Server Resource Kit. I've yet to try them but I expect them to function as the others do. The MDM SP1 Resource Kit can be downloaded here.

No comments: