In this post, we will be looking at using SCCM dynamic queries to populate collections in our deployments. As an SCCM administrator, you most likely had to plan out mass deployments to all your servers or workstations or even both. How did you go ahead and populate your collections? Queries? Since the introduction of SCCM 2012, we now have a multitude of options, most notably: Direct membership Queries Include a collection Exclude a collection Chances are, if you are deploying new software to be part of a baseline for workstations (for example), you will also add it to your task sequence. In my past life, I must admit, I really did like queries. They can be such a powerful tool to populate your collections. I always was looking for ways to pimp the usual types of queries we use. For example, we developed a fabulous list of operational collections that we … Read More
Complete SCCM Installation Guide and Configuration
This blog post is a complete revised Step-by-step SCCM Installation Guide. It covers every aspect of the SCCM Installation. From the server prerequisites to the SQL installation, the Sccm installation itself and all configuration and site server installation. Following this guide, you should have a functional SCCM server in a couple of hours. We already did a guide in the past when SCCM 1511 was released but it’s was time for a 2020 refresh. Since our first guide, more than 12 SCCM version has been released… and the product even changed its name to Microsoft Endpoint Manager. (MEM or MEMCM). SCCM installation has never been an easy process and the product itself can be complex for inexperienced administrators. With this blog post, our goal is to bring it a bit further, explaining concepts and best practices rather than just guide the user through the installation process. If you’re not familiar with SCCM Current … Read More
SCCM Software Update Management Guide
Software Update management is not the simplest SCCM task. Over the years, we trained many SCCM administrators using a simple approach and deployment strategy. We finally decided to create this complete SCCM Software Update Management Guide. This guide is a best-practice guide on how to plan, configure, manage and deploy software updates with SCCM. This guide aims to help SCCM administrators understand the basic concept of each part of the patch management process. This guide does not explain how to setup your Software Update Point. There are other ways of doing software update management in SCCM, this document describes a typical case that can be used in any organization as a good starting point. It’s impossible to cover every organization’s needs and requirements in a single guide. SCCM Software Update Management Guide The guide will help you achieve these tasks : Guide you toward a good deployment strategy. When and … Read More
Manage Windows 10 Upgrades using SCCM (Windows as a Service)
Windows as a service provides a new way to think about building, deploying, and servicing the Windows operating system. Microsoft will releases new builds two to three times per year rather than the traditional upgrade cycle. Instead of doing traditional Windows deployment projects, you will need a continuous updating process which will reduce the overall effort required to maintain Windows 10 devices in your environment. SCCM Windows 10 Upgrades Summary This post will look at the available tools in SCCM to manage and deploy Windows 10 upgrades. We have broken down the post in 4 different sections : Windows 10 Servicing Dashboard What’s missing in the Windows 10 Servicing Dashboard Windows 10 reports Windows 10 Collections SCCM Windows 10 Servicing Dashboard The Windows 10 servicing dashboard provides information about Windows 10 computers in your environment, active servicing plans, compliance information, and so on. Let’s get a look at the different dashboard tiles: Windows 10 Usage tile … Read More
Upgrade Windows 10 using SCCM Servicing Plans
With the introduction of new Windows 10 service branches, you will need to upgrade your Windows 10 devices at a much faster pace. Hopefully, SCCM Current Branch (1511 and higher) has built-in features to help you fulfill this task. You can choose between Upgrade Task Sequence or the new Windows Servicing feature. This post will describe how to use SCCM Windows 10 servicing plans to upgrade Windows 10 devices. If you are running SCCM 1511 we recommend using the Upgrade Task Sequence over servicing plans. SCCM 1511 has an issue that makes all Windows 10 languages and editions to be downloaded to the device when the ADR runs. This is fixed in SCCM 1602, using a new filter you can exclude unwanted languages and editions. If you are running SCCM 1602 or later, it’s really a matter of preference of which process to use. Each one has their own advantages, the … Read More
Upgrade Windows 10 using SCCM Task Sequence
With the introduction of new Windows 10 service branches, you will need to upgrade your Windows 10 devices at a much faster pace. Hopefully, SCCM Current Branch (1511 and higher) has built-in features to help you fulfill this task. You can choose between Upgrade Task Sequence or the new Windows Servicing feature. This post will describe how to upgrade Windows 10 using SCCM Upgrade Task Sequence. If you are running SCCM 1511 we recommend to use the Upgrade Task Sequence over the new servicing features. There is an issue in SCCM 1511 that make all Windows 10 languages and editions to be downloaded to the device when the ADR runs. This is fixed in SCCM 1602, using a new filter you can exclude unwanted languages and editions. If you are running SCCM 1602 or later, it’s really a matter of preference of which process to use. Each one has their … Read More
Step-by-Step SCCM 1606 Upgrade Guide
The second upgrade for SCCM Current Branch (1511) is now available. This post is a complete step-by-step SCCM 1606 upgrade guide. If you’re looking for a complete SCCM 1511 installation guide, see our blog series which covers it all. You can’t install this upgrade if you are running SCCM 2012. You need to be at least at SCCM 1511. Installing SCCM upgrades is very important to your infrastructure. It adds new feature and fixes lots of issues, which some of them are important. New Update and Servicing model If you’re not familiar with the new SCCM servicing model, read our New Update and Servicing section of the 1602 upgrade post which explain it all. Similar to SCCM 1602, if you need to make a new SCCM installation, you can’t install SCCM 1606 directly. You need to install SCCM 1511 first and then apply SCCM 1606 from the console. SCCM 1511 is still the baseline version if you’re starting from … Read More
Refreshing a Windows 7 Computer to Windows 10 using USMT and SCCM
Since SCCM 1511, you can use the new upgrade task sequence to easily upgrade a Windows 7 computer to Windows 10. But what if you want to upgrade a computer from a 32-bits operating system to Windows 10 64-bits ? You can’t use the upgrade task sequence for this specific scenario. Another reason would be that your company decided to use the wipe and reload option in your Windows 10 migration project. In those cases you will need to use USMT to capture data and settings from the users profiles before applying the new operating system. This post will describe how to upgrade a 32-bits computer to Windows 10 64-bits using USMT and SCCM. This post will be using hard-links without using a State Migration Point. Continue reading if you are not familiar with those terms, we will explain it later. Since you’re at the step of deploying Windows 10, we assume that you already … Read More
SCCM Windows 10 Customization using Task Sequences
In this post we will describe how to customize your windows 10 image to personalize it to your company. There’s an infinite amount of customization that can be made but i’ll try to cover the more frequent one, those that are asked 95% of every Windows 10 projects I was involved in. You could also do all those modifications through group policies if you want to enforce those settings. SCCM Windows 10 Customization Package Before we begin any customization, we will create a Windows 10 Customization package that we will use in our task sequence. It will be empty to start but we will create the folders and scripts during this blog post. Open the SCCM Console Go to Software Library / Application Management / Packages Create a new package On the Package tab, enter a Name, Description, Manufacturer and Source folder (this is where all scripts will be stored) On the Program Type … Read More
Inject Software Updates in your WIM using SCCM Offline Servicing
Offline Servicing in SCCM is the process through which you can inject software updates in your operating system WIM files. This process can alleviate your build and capture yearly/bi-yearly WIM updates that you most likely run in your enterprise. However, as much as this process is great to shorten your gold image updates, it’s still not perfect. Why? The answer is quite simple. Even if your gold image contains products such as Microsoft Office, offline servicing will not apply Office patches even though these are downloaded to your Software Update Point. Only core Windows applications can get patched through this process. What are the type of core applications that you can apply patches to? Obviously, Windows, Internet Explorer, .Net Framework and so on and so forth. (also called CBS, for Component Based Servicing) SCCM Offline Servicing Overview Here’s what happens in the background when you start the SCCM Offline servicing process : SMS_Executive … Read More