Reassign DPs Offset Days Phased Deployments with SCCM 1801

Let us learn Reassign DPs Offset Days Phased Deployments with SCCM 1801. Microsoft SCCM product group released SCCM CB preview 1801 with loads of new features. I think they are getting all set for the big bang SCCM CB 1802 production release with loads of new features.

The video tutorial “Reassign DPs Offset Days Phased Deployments” here can give you a visual experience of all of my favorite features of 1801.

My Favorite Features of SCCM 1801 Preview

  • Reassign DPs
  • ADR Offset Days schedule
  • Phased Deployments for Task Sequences
  • Software Center Live Preview

Reassign DPs and Phased deployment features are only limited to SCCM admin console experience. The SCCM CB 1801 client-side is NOT ready to test these features.

How to Reassign DPs in SCCM?

Reassign DPs Offset Days Phased Deployments
Reassign DPs Offset Days Phased Deployments with SCCM 1801 1

Reassign DPs is my favorite feature of SCCM 1801. I know from ages SCCM admins struggle to migrate TBs of content from one DP server to another DP server. In most cases, this could be because of changes or redesign of SCCM hierarchies.

Patch My PC

SCCM 1801 has additional functionality to move a distribution point (DP) from a primary site to another primary site or from under a secondary spot to a primary site.

  • \Administration\Overview\Distribution Points

SCCM ADR Challenge of 2nd Tuesday

It’s always a challenge to create ADRs when part of ASIA and Australia. Because Microsoft released patches every 2nd Tuesday, but it won’t be Tuesday for some parts of the world (ASIA continent).

Hence, a special script of manual intervention is required for patch Tuesday ADR to work correctly.

Offset Days option in custom Automatic Deployment Rule (ADR) schedule. Improvements to the Automatic Deployment Rule evaluation schedule are helpful, as I mentioned above. You can now schedule an ADR evaluation to be offset from a base day.

Adaptiva

Check if a created custom schedule that deploys updates offset from a base day. More details are available in the video tutorialReassign DPs Offset Days Phased Deployments“.

\Software Library\Overview\Software Updates\Automatic Deployment Rules
Custom – Monthly – 2nd Tuesday – Offset (days)

Reassign DPs Offset Days Phased Deployments
Reassign DPs Offset Days Phased Deployments with SCCM 1801 2

Software Center “Live Preview” from SCCM Client Settings

Improvements to Client Settings for Software Center, and this is really modern stuff from the SCCM team. You don’t need to deploy NEW software center client settings to devices and test changes.

Instead, you can see the live preview in the SCCM console itself. Thank you for making the SCCM admin’s life easier!!

You can get more details of the Software center customization live experience from the video tutorialReassign DPs Offset Days Phased Deployments“.

Another option provided in the new software center client settings is to enable the ‘Hide unapproved applications in Software Center’ setting. 

The client settings for Software Center now have a Customise button where users can preview their customization before deploying them to machines. Users also can hide unapproved applications in Software Center.

  • \Administration\Overview\Client Settings
Reassign DPs Offset Days Phased Deployments
Reassign DPs Offset Days Phased Deployments with SCCM 1801 3

Phased Deployments for SCCM Task Sequences

SCCM Phased deployments automate a coordinated, sequenced roll-out of software without creating multiple implementations. This is available only for Task Sequences in this version of SCCM. I hope this will be useful for Windows 10 servicing models.

I assume phased deployments are getting input from status filtering rules. Status filter rules will check the criteria for phased rollout, and if the deployment failure is more than 5% (this % can be customized), it will automatically STOP the deployment.

  • \Software Library\Overview\Operating Systems\Task Sequences

In this Technical Preview version, the phased deployment wizard can be completed for task sequences in the admin console. However, deployments are not created. Following is the example of phased deployment from my lab environment. 

More details available in the video tutorialReassign DPs Offset Days Phased Deployments“.

Phased Deployment Configuration
• Phased Deployment Name: Phase Deployment
• Phased Deployment Description:
Collections in this Phased Deployment
• Collection(s): TP100017
• Collection(s): SMSDM003

Resources

Capabilities in Technical Preview 1801 for System Center Configuration Manager

Author

Anoop is Microsoft MVP! He is a Solution Architect in enterprise client management with more than 20 years of experience (calculation done in 2021) in IT. He is Blogger, Speaker, and Local User Group HTMD Community leader. His main focus is on Device Management technologies like SCCM 2012, Current Branch, and Intune. He writes about ConfigMgr, Windows 11, Windows 10, Azure AD, Microsoft Intune, Windows 365, AVD, etc……………

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