How to Enable Content Validation in SCCM

If you are looking to enable content validation in SCCM for your distribution points, this guide is for you. I will explain what the content validation feature is and explore all the DP content validation options available in Configuration Manager.

Content validation is a feature that checks and validates the status of content that has previously been distributed to a distribution point. It compares the content on the distribution point to the content in the application or package’s source.

During content validation, if the file hash is unexpected for the files on the distribution point, Configuration Manager creates a status message that you can review in the Monitoring workspace.

Also Read: 3 Proven Ways to Redistribute Content in SCCM | ConfigMgr

Ways to turn on DP Content Validation

In Configuration Manager, you can turn on the content validation on a DP in two ways:

1. Distribution Point Properties: From the DP properties, switch to the Content Validation tab and enable the option to validate content on schedule.
2. Invoke-CMContentValidation: This PowerShell cmdlet can validate content on a distribution point.

If you want content validation to occur on a specific schedule, configure it under the DP properties. If you would like to validate content for a specific package, use the PowerShell cmdlet Invoke-CMContentValidation. I will cover both of the above methods in this guide.

Enable Content Validation in SCCM

The steps to enable content validation on a SCCM DP are as follows:

• Launch the SCCM console.
• Navigate to Administration\Overview\Distribution Points.
• Right-click the distribution point server and select Properties.
• Under the Distribution Point server properties, switch to the Content Validation tab.
• Enable validate content on schedule option and click Apply and OK.

Configure the content validation schedule

When you enable content validation for a distribution point server, the process is automatically started every week on Saturday at 00:00. This time and day were specifically chosen because DP usage is lower on weekends.

You can configure the recurrence schedule for the content validation using the Schedule options. Under the DP properties, select the Content Validation tab and click the Schedule button. In the custom schedule window, specify the new schedule.

For example, as a best practice, you may choose to run the validation every month or set a custom interval as per the business requirements. After making the changes, click the OK button to save the configuration.

Set Content Validation Priority

The last bit about content validation is setting the priority. With this option, you can select the priority that you want to use for content validation.

There are five priority options to choose from:

1. Lowest (Default)
2. Low
3. Medium
4. High
5. Highest

By default, the content validation priority is set to ‘Lowest (default)‘ for a distribution point. Depending on how early and quickly you would like to run the content validation, the priority option must be selected.

Note: Choosing high priority might increase the CPU usage and disk activity on the distribution point server during content validation. If you have set the content validation priority as High and if you notice high CPU usage or disk activity, change it to medium or low.

Validate Content for a specific package

To manually verify content for a chosen package on a distribution point, follow these steps:

• Launch the Configuration Manager console.
• Go to Administration\Overview\Distribution Points.
• Under the DP properties, switch to the Content tab.
• Choose the package that you want to validate and click on Validate.

The following message appears: Are you sure that you want to validate package content on the selected distribution point ?. Click OK. The content validation process starts for the content on the selected distribution point or distribution point group.

A confirmation box appears with a message. An action has started to validate the selected content. Check the Content Status node in the Monitoring workspace for validation status.

Validate all content on a distribution point

You can validate all the package content on a distribution point server with the following procedure:

• In the Configuration Manager console, go to Administration > Distribution Points.
• Select a distribution point server and on the Home tab of the ribbon, select Properties.
• Switch to the Content tab. Select all the packages that you intend to validate. Select Validate, and then select OK.
• The content validation process starts for all the packages on the distribution point.

Monitor Content Validation in SCCM

Content validation can be monitored from the console and logs. The console gives a simple way to determine whether the content validation process is successful or unsuccessful. However, logs are more useful for determining the actual issue code throughout the content inspection process. Use the following guide to view Content Distribution Status in SCCM | ConfigMgr.

To view the results of the content validation process in the console, go to the Monitoring workspace. Expand Distribution Status, and select the Content Status node. This node displays the content for each type.

For troubleshooting errors during content validation, logs are super useful. After you validate the content, you can monitor the smsdpmon.log. The SMS_Distribution_Point_Monitoring records details about the distribution point health monitoring scheduled task that is configured on a distribution point. Take a look at all the Configuration Manager logs for troubleshooting.

The below lines from the smsdpmon.log confirm that a specific package has been verified successfully on the distribution point.

Status message has been successfully sent to MP from remote DP	SMS_Distribution_Point_Monitoring
Start to evaluate package share for package 'MCM0003C' version 0 ...	SMS_Distribution_Point_Monitoring
Package MCM0003C is verified successfully	SMS_Distribution_Point_Monitoring

Invoke Content Validation on DP using PowerShell

If you like to validate the content (application or a package) on a distribution point using PowerShell, you can do that using Invoke-CMContentValidation cmdlet.

Following are the options that you can use with Invoke-CMContentValidation. More information about the command usage Invoke-CMContentValidation.

• [-CollectionName]
• [-DistributionPointGroupName]
• [-DistributionPointName]
• -TaskSequenceId
• [-DisableWildcardHandling]
• [-ForceWildcardHandling]
• [-WhatIf]
• [-Confirm]

You can validate the content such as application, package, task sequence, operating system etc. Check out the below information.

-ApplicationId
-ApplicationName
-BootImageId
-DeploymentPackageId
-DeploymentPackageName
-DriverPackageId
-DriverPackageName
-OperatingSystemImageId
-OperatingSystemImage
-OperatingSystemImageName
-OperatingSystemInstallerId
-OperatingSystemInstallerId
-PackageId
-PackageName
-TaskSequenceId
-TaskSequenceName

Let me show you an example of Invoke-CMcontentvalidation usage. The below command validates the content for the application named 7-zip on the distribution point named DPServer.

Invoke-CMContentValidation -ApplicationName "7-zip" -DistributionPointName "DPServer"

Disable Content Validation on distribution point

You can turn off the SCCM content validation feature for a specific distribution point server by following these steps:

In the Configuration Manager console, go to Administration\Overview\Distribution Points. From the list, select a DP and choose Properties. Switch to the Content Validation tab and uncheck the option “Validate content on a schedule” and click Apply and OK. The content validation is disabled on the DP.