Place this file BEFORE installing SCCM 2012 R2 / ConfigMgr Current Branch.
The no_sms_on_drive.sms file originates from System Management Server 2003 (SMS 2003). You create a Notepad file with no text inside it and save it with the name no_sms_on_drive, then make sure that the file ends with the extension “.sms” (without the quotes) and place it on the root of the drive (e.g. C:\ or D:\ drives). Make sure that the file is hidden to prevent accidental deletion.
So why is it useful? It’s used to prevent SCCM binaries (Content Library) from being installed on the first available NTFS volumes with the most available free space. These drives are detected during the installation of roles.
In SCCM Current Branch 1902, use the following options to manage the content library:
- To prevent the content library from being installed on a specific drive, create an empty file named no_sms_on_drive.sms. Copy it to the root of the drive before the content library is created.
- After the content library has been created, use the Content Library Transfer tool from the Configuration Manager tools to manage the location of the content library. For more information, see this KB article.
As previously mentioned, the no_sms_on_drive.sms on drive originates from System Management Server 2003 (SMS 2003) and can be found in this Microsoft KB article.
To prevent SMS from enumerating an NTFS volume, on the remote server, you must create a text file that is named NO_SMS_ON_DRIVE.SMS and put the NO_SMS_ON_DRIVE.SMS file on the root folder of all NTFS volumes where you do not want to install the binaries (SMS folder) for the following SMS 2003 components…
In System Center Configuration Manager 2007 (SCCM 2007), the following explanation was provided:
By default, the Configuration Manager 2007 site server role component installation files are installed on the first available NTFS formatted disk drive with the most available free disk space. However, some files are not installed in the default installation folder. For example, files are installed in the following folders:
- The SMS_CCM folder (if the management point site system role is enabled on the computer)
- The Inetpub\wwwroot\SMSComponent and Inetpub\wwwroot\SMSReporting_sitecode folders (if the reporting point role is enabled on the computer)
- The %Windir%\System32 folder
Configuration Manager 2007 will not install site role component files on a drive that contains a file named no_sms_on_drive.sms. Instead, site role components will be installed on a different NTFS formatted disk drive that does not contain the no_sms_on_drive.sms file.
The no_sms_on_drive.sms file prevents site system role component installation, on a drive with this file present, for all site systems that are installed by site component manager. If site role installation files are already present on the drive before placing the no_sms_on_drive.sms file on the drive, the installation files are not moved.