Microsoft published the Windows 10 1709 feature update (aka Fall Creator Update), as Semi-Annual Channel on October 18th, 2017. You may need to deploy it to your Windows 10 computer to stay supported or to benefits from the new features.
Before deploying a new Windows 10 feature upgrade, you need to have a good plan. Test it in a lab environment, deploy it to a limited group and test all your business applications before broad deployment. Do not treat a feature upgrade as normal monthly software updates. Treat it as a new operating system as if you were upgrading Windows 7 to Windows 10.
This blog post will cover all the task needed to deploy the new Windows 10 1709 using SCCM:
- Check if you have an SCCM Supported version
- Upgrade your Windows ADK
- Create a Servicing Plan to update your existing Windows 10
- Import the OS in SCCM to use with your deployment Task Sequence
- Create a Windows 10 Task Sequence for new computers
- Create a Windows 10 Upgrade Task Sequence for Windows 7 or 8.1 computers
- Update your Automatic Deployment Rules and Software Update groups
- Import your ADMX
Check SCCM Version
For Windows 10 1709 Fall Creator Update, you need at least SCCM 1706 in order to support it as a client. See the following support matrix if you’re running an outdated SCCM version and make sure to update your site.
Windows ADK
Before capturing and deploying a Windows 10 1709 image, make sure that you’re running a supported version of the Windows ADK.
SCCM Windows 10 1709 Servicing Plans Requirements
If you’re already running Windows 10 in your organization, a Servicing plan is the simplest method to upgrade to an up-to-date Windows 10 version. If it’s the first time you are using Windows 10 servicing plans, follow our previous post that explains the requirements to set up your Software Update Point.
We’ll start by making sure that the latest Windows 10 1709 Feature Upgrade is synchronized on our server:
- Go to Software Library \ Windows 10 Servicing
- Right-click Windows 10 Servicing, select Synchronize Software Updates
- As for any Software Update synchronization process, follow the progress in Wsyncmgr.log in your SCCM installation directory
- Once completed, go to Software Library \ Windows 10 Servicing \ All Windows 10 Updates
- You should have your Windows 10 1709 Upgrade packages listed
Warning
At the time of this writing, there’s a bug that shows every update in double. Only one out of two will be required, select this one.Create Windows 10 1709 Servicing Plans
Now that we have Windows 10 1709 upgrade packages synchronized in SCCM, we can create a servicing plan for our “outdated” Windows 10 devices (1511,1607,1703). Servicing Plan and Automatic Deployment Rules shares the same engine so you won’t be disoriented by servicing plans.
Warning
Servicing plans are designed to upgrade Windows 10 from one build to another build only. You can’t use that to upgrade Windows 7 to Windows 10. If you need to upgrade your Windows 7 to Windows 10 use an Upgrade Task Sequence instead. This is covered later in this blog postLooking at the Windows 10 Servicing dashboard ( Software Library \ Windows 10 Servicing), you can see your Windows 10 expiration statistics :
- Go to Software Library \ Windows 10 Servicing \ Servicing Plan
- Right-click Servicing Plan and select Create Servicing Plan
- In the General pane, give a Name and Description, click Next
- On the Servicing Plan tab, click Browse and select your Target Collection
- In the Deployment Ring tab:
- Specify the Windows readiness state to which your servicing plan should apply. CB and CBB are still there but will certainly be changed in the future.
- Specify how many days you want to wait before deploying
- In the Upgrade tab, specify the Language, Required and Title of the upgrade packages you want to deploy. The language feature is available in SCCM 1602 and later.
- Use the Preview button to ensure that you are targeting the right version (We are targeting Windows 10 1709 Enterprise en-us devices)
- In the Deployment Schedule tab, select the desired behavior
- In the User Experience tab, select the desired options
- In the Deployment Package tab, select Create a new deployment package and enter your Package Source path
- In the Distribution Points tab, select your distribution point
- In the Download Location tab, select Download software updates from the Internet
- In the Language Selection tab, select your language
- In the Summary tab, review your settings and close the Create Servicing Plan wizard
- Right-click your newly created Servicing Plan and select Run Now
- Check the RuleEngine.log file to see the progress. This process takes a while.
- A Software Update Group and Deployment Package will be created. The size of the package will be around 2-3gb per language
- You can also see that the deployment gets created in the Monitoring / Deployments section
- Ensure that your Deployment Package (specified in the Servicing Plan) has been distributed to your Distribution Points
Windows 10 1709 Servicing Plan Deployment
Now that the deployment is triggered for clients, we will launch the installation manually using software center.
- Log on your Windows 10 computer
- We verify that we are running Windows 10 Enterprise version 1703 (Build 15063)
- Initiate a Software Update Deployment Evaluation Schedule using the Configuration Manager icon in Control Panel
- Open the Software Center / Updates, Feature Update to Windows 10 Enterprise 1709, en-us is listed
- Select it and select Install
- Accept the warning by clicking Install
- The computer will restart after about 5 minutes
- The whole upgrade process takes about 30 to 45 minutes and your device will be rebooted multiple time
- Once completed, log on the computer using your account. Windows is happy to tell you that it’s updated
- We are now running Windows 10 Enterprise version 1709 (Build 16299)
- Back in the Software Library \ Windows 10 Servicing \ Servicing Plan node
- Our machine is now listed as Windows 10 version 1709 and is no longer listed as Expire Soon in the Windows 10 Servicing node
- The Service Plan Monitoring section can be used to monitor compliance and you can use the Deploy Now button to deploy the same service plan to a new collection
Using Upgrade Task Sequence and for new Windows 10 Computer (Operating System Deployment)
It’s also possible to upgrade an existing Windows 10 computer using an upgrade task sequence. This method is useful if you need to run pre and post actions in your upgrade process.
If you need to upgrade older operating system (Windows 7,8.1) refer to the Create SCCM Task Sequence Upgrade Windows 7 to Windows 10 1709 section
You will also probably want to create or modify your existing task sequence so that new computers have the latest Windows 10 1709 version.
Import Windows 10 1709 Operating System
We will now import the Windows 10 1709 WIM file for Operating System Deployment.
We will be importing the default Install.Wim from the Windows 10 media for a “vanilla” Windows 10 deployment. You could also import a WIM file that you’ve created through a build and capture process.
- Open the SCCM Console
- Go to Software Library / Operating Systems / Operating System Images
- Right-click Operating System Images and select Add Operating System Image
- On the Data Source tab, browse to your WIM file. The path must be in UNC format
- In the General tab, enter the Name, Version and Comment, click Next
- It’s normal that you see Windows 10 Education even if you are importing Enterprise edition as this WIM contains multiple indexes. You’ll need to choose the right one in your deployment Task Sequence
- On the Summary tab, review your information and click Next. Complete the wizard and close this window
Distribute your Operating System Image
We now need to send the Operating System Image (WIM file) to our distribution points.
- Right-click your Operating System Image, select Distribute Content and complete the Distribute Content wizard
We will now import the complete Windows 10 media in Operating System Upgrade Packages. This package will be used to upgrade a Windows 7 (or 8.1) device to Windows 10 using an Upgrade Task Sequence.
- Open the SCCM Console
- Go to Software Library / Operating Systems / Operating System Upgrade Packages
- Right-click Operating System Upgrade Packages and select Add Operating System Upgrade Packages
- In the Data Source tab, browse to the path of your full Windows 10 media. The path must point to an extracted source of an ISO file. You need to point at the top folder where Setup.exe reside
- In the General tab, enter the Name, Version, and Comment, click Next
- On the Summary tab, review your information and click Next and complete the wizard
Distribute your Operating System Upgrade Packages
We now need to send the Operating System Upgrade Package to your distribution points.
- Right-click your Operating System Upgrade Package, select Distribute Content and complete the Distribute Content wizard
Create SCCM Task Sequence Upgrade Windows 7 to Windows 10 1709
Let’s create an SCCM task sequence upgrade for a computer running Windows 7. If you don’t have any Windows 7 or Windows 8.1, skip to the next section.
- Open the SCCM Console
- Go to Software Library \ Operating Systems \ Task Sequences
- Right-click Task Sequences and select Upgrade an operating system from upgrade package
- In the Task Sequence Information tab, enter a Task Sequence Name and Description
- On the Upgrade the Windows Operating System tab, select your upgrade package by using the Browse button
- Select your Edition Index depending on the edition you want to deploy
- On the Include Updates tab, select the desired Software Update task
- All Software Updates will install the updates regardless of whether there is a deadline set on the deployment (on your OSD collection)
- Mandatory Software Updates will only install updates from deployments that have a scheduled deadline (on your OSD collection)
- Do not install any software updates will not install any software update during the Task Sequence
- On the Install Applications tab, select any application you want to add to your upgrade process
- On the Summary tab, review your choices and click Next and click Close
Edit the SCCM Windows 10 1709 Task Sequence Upgrade
Now that we have created the upgrade task sequence, let’s see what it looks like under the hood:
- Open the SCCM Console
- Go to Software Library \ Operating Systems \ Task Sequences
- Right-click your upgrade task sequences and select Edit
As you can see, it’s fairly simple. SCCM will take care of everything in a couple of steps :
- The Upgrade Operating System step contains the important step of applying Windows 10
- Ensure to choose the right Edition since the WIM file contains multiple indexes
Deploy the SCCM Upgrade Task Sequence
We are now ready to deploy our task sequence to the computer we want to upgrade. In our case, we are targeting a Windows 7 computer.
- Go to Software Library \ Operating Systems \ Task Sequences
- Right-click Task Sequences and select Deploy
- On the General pane, select your collection. This is the collection that will receive the Windows 10 upgrade. For testing purposes, we recommend putting only 1 computer to start
- On the Deployment Settings tab, select the Purpose of the deployment
- Available will prompt the user to install at the desired time
- Required will force the deployment at the deadline (see Scheduling)
- You cannot change the Make available to the following drop-down since upgrade packages are available to client only
- On the Scheduling tab, enter the desired available date and time. On the screenshot, we can’t create an Assignment schedule because we select Available in the previous screen
- In the User Experience pane, select the desired options
- In the Alerts tab, check Create a deployment alert when the threshold is higher than the following check-box if you want to create an alert on the failures
- On the Distribution Point pane, select the desired Deployment options. We will leave the default options
- Review the selected options and complete the wizard
Launch the Upgrade Process on a Windows 7 computer
Now that our upgrade task sequence is deployed to our clients, we will log on our Windows 7 computer and launch a Machine Policy Retrieval & Evaluation Cycle from Control Panel / Configuration Manager Icon
- Open the new Software Center from the Windows 7 Start Menu
- You’ll see the SCCM upgrade task sequence as available. We could have selected the Required option in our deployment schedule, to launch automatically without user interaction at a specific time
- When ready, click on Install
- On the Warning, click Install
- The update is starting, the task sequence Installation Progress screen shows the different steps
- The WIM is downloading on the computer and saved in C:\_SMSTaskSequence
- You can follow task sequence progress in C:\Windows\CCM\Logs\SMSTSLog\SMSTS.log
- After downloading, the system will reboot
- The computer restart and is loading the files in preparation for the Windows 10 upgrade
- WinPE is loading
- The upgrade process starts. This step should take about 15 to 30 minutes depending on the device hardware
- Windows 10 is getting ready, 2-3 more minutes and the upgrade will be completed
- Once completed the SetupComplete.cmd script runs. This step is important to set the task sequence service to the correct state
- Windows is now ready, all software and settings are preserved
Create Software Update Group
One important thing in any OSD project is to make sure that every machines deployment are up to date. Before deploying Windows 10 1709, make sure that your Software Update Point is configured to include Windows 10 patches.
Once Windows 10 is added to your Software Update Point, we will create a Software Update Group that will be deployed to our Windows 10 deployment collection. This way, all patches released after the Windows 10 media creation (or your Capture date) will be deployed during the deployment process.
To create a Windows 10 Software Update Group :
- Open the SCCM Console
- Go to Software Library / Software Updates / All Software Updates
- On the right side, click Add Criteria, select Product, Expired and Superseded
- Product : Windows 10
- Expired : No
- Superseded : No
- Title contains 1709
- Select only the latest Cumulative Updates that apply (x64 or x86) and select Create Software Update Group
- Once created, go to Software Library / Software Updates / Software Update Groups
- Right-click your Windows 10 SUG and deploy it to your OSD deployment collection
Import ADMX File
If you’re responsible for managing group policy in your organization. Ensure that you import the latest Windows 10 1709 ADMX file on your domain controller.
Bonus Ressources
Need a report to track your Windows 10 devices? We developed a report to help you achieve that :
Asset – Windows 10 SCCM Report
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24 Comments on “Windows 10 1709 Complete Upgrade Guide using SCCM”
I got and error with 2 machines in my test environment and 1 do it fine . The only difference is that 2 failed has office 365 pro plus and the other that complete has a regular office 2013 pro plus. Is there are an know issue with the implace update with device with office 365 pro plus.
Hy,
I have couples of months of experience with sccm and i want to upgrade my windows in the field.
I’m using a task sequence to upgrade my windows in the field, i have start with the original 1709 and customized it, but when i’m dpeloying it’s failing.
I read that article: https://social.technet.microsoft.com/Forums/ie/en-US/71c5201d-2ed5-4697-bc4d-a05b0febcef2/windows-10-inplace-upgrade-custom-wim?forum=ConfigMgrCBOSD
they say that: “You cannot use a captured custom image, so no workaround for that, you should install and do your modifications after deployment in the TS instead”
Question:
can it be done? if not any recipe who exist that i can look so it can help me.
Thank’s
Has anyone ever been able to get servicing plans to work? I have run through these instructions plus other resources multiple times. I have 1802 SCCM and the most recent ADK. I have created and recreated a servicing plan (one before updating ADK yesterday and one after updating). I have even loaded the 1709 media into the OS Images and OS Upgrade Packages tree, feature update for 1709 and 1803 are both available in Windows 10 Servicing, 1709 has been selected, the issue with 1709 being superseded/expired is not in the way I verified the supercedence status is none.
I targeted a test OU with 2 Windows Enterprise 1703 VMs in it to test the service upgrade does not show up although other apps available for install do show up. I have uninstalled and reinstalled the SCCM client, the Software Center is seeing other apps available for install the Windows 10 1709 servicing upgrade is not displaying in software center. Does anyone have any suggestions that I have not tried?
I got servicing plans working with Windows 10 version 1709 last month. Since, Windows 10 version 1803 was released, servicing plans aren’t working anymore for 1709. So I decided to use a task sequence to upgrade 1607 to 1709.
I’m running SCCM 1802.
Hi, How can I upgrade win 1607 to 1709 using task sequence ?. I have followed the same Steps it is Failing at the time of Upgrade.
Please suggest
Check the SMSTS.log file located at C:\Windows\CCM\logs\SMSTSLog while the task sequence is running.
Hi Benoit,
what is the benefit in using the Services Plans instead of deploying the Upgrades via Software Update Packages?
BR
Daniel
Create SCCM Task Sequence Upgrade Windows 7 to Windows 10 1709
Let’s create an SCCM task sequence upgrade for a computer running Windows 7. If you don’t have any Windows 7 or Windows 8.1, skip to the next section.
Open the SCCM Console
Go to Software Library \ Operating Systems \ Task Sequences
Right-click Task Sequences and select Upgrade an operating system from upgrade package
For some reason I don’t see the option ” Right-click Task Sequences and select Upgrade an operating system from upgrade package” in system center config manager?
What version of SCCM are you using?
how about machines that get stuck in the ” In progress” in the deployment, yet the machines have completed the update and are at 1709. How can I force the machine to report back in and report correctly ?
Nice Article!
What about windows 10 Language pack and drivers upgrade during servicing. Now MS is releasing new LPs for each CB. Also hardware vendors are releasing drivers for each win10 specific CB.
So if we upgrade from 1607 to 1709 then how we will upgrade LP/drivers automatically during servicing itself?
thanks
Great tutorial. One question – if I have a custom WIM file that I built and captured, how do I use that custom WIM file to upgrade my previous versions of Windows 10 to 1709? I have scripts I need to run after the install is complete in order to remove some of the bloatware and customize settings, so I need to do the upgrade via a Task Sequence. The only upgrade choice is to extract the media from the ISO which will give me the vanilla Windows 10 install.
Thanks!
Pete did you ever figure that out? I have the same question
I have several Languages I need to upgrade from win7 to win10 1709 Whats the fastest cleanest way? Can I use my US ISO or would I need a region specifc ISO?
First off, I always appreciate your work and detailed articles! Which is also why I decided to come here with our issue for hopefully some resolve. We’ve been deploying upgrades via Windows 10 Servicing section for 1511, 1607, and 1703. We manually find the Windows 10 Updates that are applicable for our environment and deploy them to a test collection initially and then to production when ready.
This iteration for 1703 to 1709 is having an odd issue where our test clients just sit in Software Center with a display of “Installing” until we manually reboot the device (even after sitting for 24+ hours). At that time Software Center displays it as a failure. Looking into our WUAHandler.log file we see the installation process begin and about 2 hours later it shows it was “Successfully cancelled”. We’ve tried increasing the time limit from 60 minutes to 120 and recently with Microsoft Premier support to 180 minutes. However, it still keeps failing with the “Successfully cancelled” log and constant the “Installing” status in Software Center.
This 1703 to 1709 is the first release that we cannot seem to get any success with installation (none have ever been a 5 min install leading into a 30-40 minute reboot but that’s another issue itself). Any direction or help on this “installing” status would be appreciated as it seems even Premier support is grasping at straws. I can provided any logs requested that may help further.
All of my 1703 test machines are showing as already compliant when I deploy the 1709 upgrade to their collection. Any ideas why that might be? They are 100% 1703 builds.
Make sure to run a software update scan on those machines and that the right language are used. (EN-US updates on EN-US machines)
All the errrors we have got with Windows 10 servicing plans have turned out to be missing patches on the WSUS machine and errors with WSUS being to large. Try cleaning WSUS.
I do not see Windows 10 1709 as an option in my Windows 10 Updates in SCCM. What could be the cause of that? I did sync my Windows 10 updates.
Have you ensured that the “upgrades” box is checked in the Software Update Point configuration? Also make sure that you have applied the required patches and hotfix for WSUS to support downloading “upgrades” as a classification option. See here: https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/3095113/update-to-enable-wsus-support-for-windows-10-feature-upgrades
My Updates are stuck in “Waiting for Installation” any Idee what I do wrong?
THX
I’ve run into this issue in the past and have been unable to work around it; using the servicing plan, I run into the following error and the update fails:
Installation Failure: Windows failed to install the following update with error 0x800704C7: Feature update to Windows 10, version 1709, en-us. 0x87D00664(-2016410012)
Hi Tony,
I suggest that you look at the Setupact.log in the C:\$WINDOWS.~BT directory. I wrote an article about an installation error, it’s not the same as yours but it will show you the basic troubleshooting steps.
https://systemcenterdudes.com/sccm-windows-10-feature-update-error-0xc1900208/
Let me know if that helps.
Great article!
But like others, we work on an off-line network, no internet connection. How can we download the update and import into SCCM?