Current branch upgrade checklist

Before you start

• Read Microsoft's checklist for the version you're installing; there's one per release.
• Monitoring › Site Status and Component Status are healthy. In a hierarchy, database replication is healthy too.
• No pending restarts on the site server, SQL Server or remote site systems.
• Your SQL Server version and Windows ADK are supported by the target version.
• A current site database backup.
• A service connection point in online mode with internet access, or the service connection tool for offline mode.

+1 more prerequisites in the full article.

How it works

Each current branch version is supported for 18 months, so plan at least one upgrade a year.

Checklist

1. 1

   Get the update into the console

   In online mode, select Check for Updates in Administration › Updates and Servicing and watch dmpdownloader.log until the update shows Ready to install. Add the Package Guid column: the GUID names the update's folder under EasySetupPayload and is what the reset tool needs.

   Run -prepare and -import on the service connection point, and -connect on a computer with internet access:

   cmd

   ServiceConnectionTool.exe -prepare -usagedatadest D:\USB\UsageData.cab
   ServiceConnectionTool.exe -connect -usagedatasrc D:\USB -updatepackdest D:\USB\UpdatePacks
   ServiceConnectionTool.exe -import -updatepacksrc D:\USB\UpdatePacks

2. 2

   Run the prerequisite check

   Right-click the update and select Run prerequisite check. It installs nothing, so run it days before your window. Then read the results on the site server:

   powershell

   Select-String -Path C:\ConfigMgrPrereq.log -Pattern 'ERROR|WARN' | Select-Object -Last 20

3. 3

   Install the update

   Right-click the update and select Install Update Pack. In the wizard you can choose to ignore prerequisite warnings, pick new features (or turn them on later under Updates and Servicing › Features), and choose between Upgrade without validating and Validate in pre-production collection for clients. Then follow Show Status and the log on the top-level site server (adjust the path to your installation):

   powershell

   Get-Content 'D:\Program Files\Microsoft Configuration Manager\Logs\CMUpdate.log' -Tail 40 -Wait

   Watch out: while the update installs, don't restart the CONFIGURATION_MANAGER_UPDATE service, reinstall the service connection point, keep the CMUStaging folder open, delete anything from EasySetupPayload or CMUStaging, or run the reset tool. If the installation fails, don't restore the database or site server either: fix the cause and retry.

4. 4

   When it gets stuck

   Symptom	Check	Fix
   Update never appears	Service connection point mode, proxy and internet access, dmpdownloader.log	Fix connectivity and check for updates again, or use the service connection tool
   Downloading for hours	Download and redistributable errors in dmpdownloader.log	Fix the cause, then reset the update (below)
   Prerequisite check failed	ConfigMgrPrereq.log	Fix the failed check, then run it again
   Failed during installation	CMUpdate.log, for example files missing at the Install Files stage	Fix the cause, then select Retry installation

   For downloads or replication that are stuck before installation starts, run the update reset tool from cd.latest\SMSSETUP\TOOLS on the top-level site. The account needs read and write access to the site databases, for example db_datareader and db_datawriter. Add -I for a named SQL Server instance:

   cmd

   CMUpdateReset.exe -S sql01.contoso.com -D CM_PS1 -P <PackageGuid>
   CMUpdateReset.exe -FDELETE -S sql01.contoso.com -D CM_PS1 -P <PackageGuid>

5. 5

   Finish the post-upgrade tasks

   • Consoles: admins are prompted to upgrade when they connect, or install from <installation folder>\tools\ConsoleSetup.
   • Secondary sites: select each one in Administration › Site Configuration › Sites, choose Upgrade, and follow Show Install Status.
   • Clients: if you validated in pre-production, test that collection, then promote the client with Client Update Options in Updates and Servicing. Automatic upgrade is configured under Hierarchy Settings › Client Upgrade.
   • Boot images: after a Windows ADK upgrade, update and redistribute boot images; custom boot images aren't refreshed for you. Failed deployments afterwards? See reading smsts.log.
   • Hotfixes: run Check for Updates again later, because hotfix rollups for the new version arrive the same way.

Verify

• The update shows Installed, and every stage in Show Status is complete.
• Site Status and Component Status are healthy, with no new component install errors in sitecomp.log.
• Every site reports the new build. Help › About Configuration Manager shows it for your site, or query the SMS Provider:

Get-CimInstance -ComputerName cm01.contoso.com -Namespace root\SMS\site_PS1 -ClassName SMS_Site |
    Select-Object SiteCode, Version, BuildNumber

Over the following days, the Client Version column in Assets and Compliance › Devices should move to the new version as clients upgrade.

Tips & gotchas

• Rehearse in a lab when you can, and always run the prerequisite check ahead of the window.
• Pause maintenance tasks that would run during the installation, such as site backups, and confirm your antimalware exclusions for Configuration Manager are in place.
• Don't fall behind: the console only offers versions your site can install, and an out-of-support version no longer gets fixes.
• Never clean up update folders or SQL tables by hand unless Microsoft Support asks you to.