SCCM CB 1708 Preview Upgrade Video Guide New Features Configuration Manager ConfigMgr. SCCM CB preview version 1708 has been released.
I have the pleasure of upgrading my lab environment to the SCCM CB 1708 preview version. Upgrade to SCCM CB preview version 1708 will fail when you have an SCCM primary server in passive mode.
It would help if you remembered that SCCM ConfigMgr CB technical preview version should not be deployed to a production environment. In this post, we will see SCCM CB 1708 Preview Upgrade Video Guide. YouTube video tutorial here.
What is the Importance of SCCM Preview Releases?
The SCCM CB preview version is similar to the Windows insiders program, which helps SCCM admins to test the new features of SCCM CB. Before installing this version of the technical preview, you can go through the limitations of the SCCM CB version here.
We can’t install the CAS version of SCCM CB with the preview version. The prerequisite for installing SCCM CB 1708 preview version is not changed.
How to Download SCCM CB Preview Version
The upgrade process is explained in the video tutorial here. Have you installed an SCCM CB preview version? If not, you can download the latest baseline version of ConfigMgr SCCM CB Technical Preview from here. One particular version of the SCCM preview has a maximum validity of only 3 months (90 days).
How to upgrade from SCCM CB 1707 to 1708?
The SCCM CB update and servicing process are the same as before. Once the latest version of the preview is released, the update will be available in the SCCM console.
The update will automatically get downloaded to your server. This behavior depends on the Service connection point (SCP) mode. There are two modes for SCP, and those are ONLINE and OFFLINE.
The replication of new content to secondary servers is the next upgrade process step. Once replication is completed successfully, the update component will start the prerequisite checks on the SCCM CB hierarchy. The prerequisite checks will run on all the site servers and site systems.
Once prerequisite checks have been completed, the update component will start the actual upgrade/installation process of SCCM CB 1708. After the upgrade process, the post-installation or upgrade process will begin. All these are explained in the video tutorial here.
New features of SCCM CB 1708 preview version
Create and run scripts with optional parameters is one of the newest features added to SCCM CB 1708. This script deployment is done through the new fast channel of SCCM CB.
No need to deploy the script as a package or application rather, you directly import the PowerShell script. This Script can be targeted to collection or devices without creating any deployment.
Supported scenarios of Run script option Scenarios
- Create and run PowerShell scripts on collections of devices from the Configuration Manager console
- Create and run PowerShell scripts with parameters to devices and collections from the Configuration Manager console
- Create and run PowerShell scripts with optional parameters to devices and collections from the Configuration Manager console
SCCM Infra Management insights is another option in SCCM CB 1708. This will give you valuable insights into the current state of your environment based on the analysis of data in the site database.
This will provide the details of EMPTY collections and applications without deploying your environment.
- Following is the place you can view the management insights – \Administration\Overview\Management Insights.
- Scenarios: Review a management insight to understand your environment better and take action based on the insight
The two new features added to SCCM CB 1708 are initiate Restart computers from the admin console and the pending restart column. The restart computer action is also performed through SCCM fast channel notification.
Monitoring workspace in SCCM CB 1708 console shows a different name to Restart computer action: Operation Name #17.
References
- Update 1708 for Configuration Manager Technical Preview Branch – Available Now! – here
- Capabilities in Technical Preview 1708 for System Center Configuration Manager – here
- What is SCCM CB Management Insights – here
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……………