Windows 10 1709 Complete Upgrade Guide using SCCM

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 See the following support matrix if you’re running an outdated SCCM version and make sure to update your site.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

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.

Looking 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