Update 2203 for Microsoft Endpoint Configuration Manager (MECM) is now available. In this post I will show all the steps you have to take to upgrade your current MECM installation. To install MECM 2203 as an update, you must have MECM version 2010 or later installed. If you check for updates in your console and the update is not available this post also shows how to get it using the early update ring script. I personally would not install the new version when it still is in the early ring on your production environment but it would be suited for a lab or test environment. When the new version is available in the production ring usually there is an hotfix available already so that would be a good version to install on your MECM production.
Download the update
Open your MECM console and go to: \Administration\Overview\Updates and Servicing and click Check for updates.
Click Refresh a few times. If the 2203 update won’t appear in the Updates and Servicing list you will have to opt-in to the early update ring.
Download the version 2203 opt-in script and run it on your site server. A ps1 will be extracted.
Close the MECM console first. Right click the enableearlyupdatering2203.ps1 and select Run with PowerShell.
Enter your site server name and hit enter.
This script only adds your site to the early update ring for version 2203. It’s not a permanent change.
Open the console and go to: \Administration\Overview\Updates and Servicing. Now you will see the Configuration Manager 2203 in the update list in state Downloading.
Run the prerequisite check
When the State of the update is Ready to install you can run the prerequisite check. I advise to always run the check to see if there will be some warnings or errors that will prevent the update from installing.
When the prerequisite check is complete you will see one of these status notifications below.
- Successful – Prerequisite Check Passed.
- Warnings – Prerequisite Check passed with warnings.
- Failed – Prerequisite check failed.
Right click Configuration Manager 2203 and select Run prerequisite check.
You can monitor the prerequisite, go to: \Monitoring\Overview\Updates and Servicing Status. Right click Configuration Manager 2203 and select Show Status.
After a while the prereq is completed. In this check there were no warnings or errors. So there are no further actions needed before starting the upgrade.
Install the update
Go to: \Administration\Overview\Updates and Servicing, right click the CM 2203 and select Install Update Pack.
Click Next.
Select features you want to enable and click Next. I will select the Task Sequence Debugger. I also want to install the console dark theme but i haven’t got the option enabled to install preview features. So I will install the dark theme after the upgrade and show the steps later in this post.
Select the Client Update Options, If you want to deploy the new client to a pre-production collection and leave the production client package intact select Validate in pre-production collection.
If there are no issues with the new client you can promote the pre-production client, then al the other devices will get the latest client version installed.
In this post I will select Upgrade without validating.
You must accept the license terms before installing the update. Click Next.
Confirm the settings and click Next.
Click Close.
The update process can take up to 45 minutes or more.
Updating consoles
After some time the MECM console will be updated and a notification will appear that there is a new version of the console available. Click OK to install it. If you have got other servers or workstations with consoles and you start them after the upgrade the notification will also appear.
You can monitor the upgrade, go to: \Monitoring\Overview\Updates and Servicing Status. Right click Configuration Manager 2203 and select Show Status.
The status of the upgrade will show installed but it is still running some post installation actions.
Update Boot images
Boot images also have got a MECM client. But this client won’t be updated automatically. So lets update the client in the boot images.
Open your MECM console and go to: \Software Library\Overview\Operating Systems\Boot Images. Right click the Boot image (x64) and select Update Distribution Points.
Now you can see that the current production client version: 5.00.9078.1006 and the client version in the boot image is the old version: 5.00.9058.1018. To update the client version in the Boot image click Next. We don’t have to Reload the Boot image with Win PE because we didn’t update the Win PE or ADK version so leave the checkbox unchecked.
Click Next.
Click Close.
If your production client version and version in the boot image are the same, you probably deployed the new client version to a pre-production collection. In order to update the boot images with the latest version you have to promote your Pre-production Client.
To promote the client go to: \Monitoring\Overview\Client Status. Right click Pre-production Client Deployment and select Promote Pre-Production client.
Top new features and improvements
This MECM version has got a lot of new features and improvments check the link below to see whats new in MECM 2203.
What’s new in version 2203 – Configuration Manager | Microsoft Docs
Here are my top new features and improvements:
Deployment Status client notification actions
You can now perform client notification actions, including Run Scripts, from the Deployment Status view.
Use the right-click menu on either a group of clients in a Category or a single client in the Asset details pane to display the client notification actions.
Delete collection references
Previously, when you would delete a collection with dependent collections, you first had to delete the dependencies. The process of finding and deleting all of these collections could be difficult and time consuming. Starting in version 2203, when you delete a collection, you can review and delete its dependent collections at the same time.
A new Details window shows more information about the relationship types, and lets you view collection relationships in a graphical chart.
- Delete a collection that has dependent collections.
- In the Delete Collection Error window, select Details.
- Once the relationship types finish loading, select View Relationships to see the graph.
- If all of the dependent collections can be deleted, select Delete all listed collections.
- Review the list of collections and any software deployments that the site will also remove. You also can Delete each collection member from the database.
ADR scheduling improvements for deployments
The Software available time and Installation deadline for deployments created by an automatic deployment rule (ADR) are now calculated based on the time the ADR evaluation is scheduled and starts. Previously, these times were calculated based on when the ADR evaluation completed. This change makes the Software available time and Installation deadline consistent and predictable for deployments.
Added folder support for nodes in the Software Library
You can now organize software update groups and packages by using folders. This change allows for better categorization and management of software updates.
Open the Configuration Manager console and go to the Software Library workspace.
From the ribbon or right-click menu, in the Software Updates Groups or Deployment Packages nodes, select from the following options:
Create Folder
Delete Folder
Rename Folder
Move Folders
Set Security Scopes
Dark theme for the console
Starting in version 2203, the Configuration Manager console offers a dark theme. Using a console theme can help you easily distinguish a test environment from a production environment or one hierarchy from another. But also for admins that have got an eye condition and can’t handle light backgrounds a dark themed console is also really nice to have.
The console dark theme is a pre-release feature. Currently, there are certain locations in the console that may not display the dark theme correctly. So to be able to use the dark team you first have to install the Dark Theme pre-release feature.
When you first switch to a different theme, you may notice the node navigation pane doesn’t properly render when you move to a new workspace. To work around this issue, restart the console.
Enable Dark Theme Console
The dark theme feature is a pre-release feature in order to be able to install this feature we have to check if we are allow to install pre-release features.
In the MECM console go to: \Administration\Overview\Site Configuration\Sites and open Hierarchy Settings. Check Consent to use Pre-Release features and Click OK.
Go to: \Administration\Overview\Updates and Servicing\Features. Right click on Console dark theme and click Turn on.
Click Yes.
Restart the MECM console.
To use the theme, select the arrow from the top left of the ribbon, then choose Switch console theme. Select Switch console theme again to return to the light theme.
Dark mode enabled:
