System Center Configuration Manager 1607 Technical Preview now available !

Introduction

Another month, another release, this time System Center Configuration Manager 1607 (Technical Preview).

It’s amazing how Microsoft can produce such high quality content on such a tight schedule.

What’s New in 1607

The following features are new to 1607:

Customizable Branding for End-User Dialogs

End-user dialogs that are opened from Software Center or taskbar notifications now show the same organization name, color and icon branding as Software Center. The administrator workflow for specifying branding settings remains unchanged.

Manage duplicate hardware identifiers

Add known duplicate MAC addresses or SMBIOS IDs to be ignored hierarchy-wide for PXE boot and client registration. To use this feature you must give consent. To give consent, in Hierarchy settings place a checkmark in Consent to use Pre-Release Features as shown below.

consent

Then click on the Client Approval and Conflicting Records tab, and add your Mac Address or SMSbios guid in the Duplicate Hardware Identifiers box.

hardware IDs

Pre-release: Microsoft Operations Management Suite (OMS) Connector

Sync data such as collections from ConfigMgr to OMS.

Windows 10 Edition Upgrade

Upgrade Configuration Manager clients running Windows 10 Professional edition to Windows 10 Enterprise edition with just a product key; no re-imaging required.

To use this, set the appropriate settings in Client Settings and create and then deploy an Upgrade Policy.

create upgrade policy

There are also client settings for Edition Upgrade, but they are not applicable and can be ignored

upgrade windows 10

 

 

 

How do I get the 1607 Technical Preview release

To get the 1607 release, in your System Center Configuration Manager Technical Preview release, go to Administration, Cloud Services and select Updates and Servicing. You’ll probably see something like this assuming you are running 1606.

check for updates

click on Check for Updates in the top left corner.

and using CMTrace, open the DMPdownloader.log found in <ConfigMgrInstallationFolder\Logs> and search (or highlight) for the following “Generating state message: 6

Once an applicable download is found you’ll see something similar to the following in the log file, the GUID will vary depending on what update package it’s referencing.

Generating state message: 6 for package 847d23f8-2e05-40d9-b32c-6318d8bc9636

The GUID for this Technical Preview release is 847d23f8-2e05-40d9-b32c-6318d8bc9636.

state message 6

at this point the download will begin, you can verify that be reviewing the state which should be listed as Downloading on the server that has the Service Connection Point role installed in the Updates and Servicing node.

download large file with BITS

When it has completed downloading, the files will be extracted.

extracting files

After the files are extracted a state message 13 is generated for the package.

state message 13 for the package

At this point you can refresh the console by clicking on Refresh in the console (top left) and the state should now be listed as Available.

tp1607 available

Right click on the 1607 update, and choose Install Update Pack

install update pack

when the Wizard appears you can click next

configuration manager updates wizard

next you’ll see the features available, in this release they are all greyed out if you are upgrading from 1606 to 1607 if you have previously installed them in 1606 Technical Preview.

If you haven’t installed them in 1606 Technical Preview they would show “unchecked” and will be select-able. The manage duplicate hardware identifiers feature needs your consent in the Hierarchy Settings prior to being activated.

Refer to the release notes for info about the new features.

features included in this pack

Before clicking next at the Client update settings please see this post

clicking next gives you… the good old fashioned EULA.upgrade without validating

clicking next gives you… the good old fashioned EULA. Accept it to continue.

eula

review the summary

Summary

and click close when done.

close

While waiting for System Center Configuration Manager Technical Preview 1607 to install.. you can review the logs or have a cup of coffee or a beer or just wait.

Note: The CMUpdate.log will take some time to start logging the installation of the update, so be patient if nothing appears to happen, it will.

cmupdate log

You can also refer to the Hman.log for details of the installation.

At this point, the console will list the state as Installing.

Installing

In the ConfiMgr console, click on Show Status to reveal the in console status of the installation, the Update Pack Installation Status screen has been updated and now even refers you to the correct log in the description (bottom of screenshot)

show status

Once the update is installed the following will be written in the CMUpdate.log, look for the line:

INFO: Successfully dropped update pack installed notification to HMan CFD box.

as shown here:

hman box

the state will be listed as Installed.

installed

clicking anywhere in the console should popup a message

new console

so click OK to let it install, and after a wee while the new 1607 console is revealed

1607 console

 

 

 

This entry was posted in 1607, Intune, Manage Duplicate Hardware Identifiers, System Center Configuration Manager Technical Preview. Bookmark the permalink.

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