This post covers the steps to deploy Internet Explorer 11 using SCCM. We will download the latest version of IE11, package it as an application in SCCM and deploy it to Windows devices.
Update: Microsoft has announced that the Internet Explorer 11 desktop application will be retired and go out of support on June 15, 2022, for certain versions of Windows 10. After the IE support ends, the Internet Explorer will not receive any updates from Microsoft. What Microsoft recommends is to switch to Edge browser which receives updates very frequently.
You may have some apps and websites that work only on IE. So in such cases you can enable Internet Explorer mode in Edge and test your apps and websites for the compatibility.
You can use the following guides to disable or uninstall Internet Explorer:
- Uninstall Internet Explorer from Windows Server
- Disable Internet Explorer using Intune
- How to Disable Internet Explorer 11 using Group Policy
Ways to Deploy Internet Explorer 11
You can deploy Internet Explorer 11 using different methods, and they are listed below.
- Configuration Manager : Deploy and install Internet Explorer 11 on your user’s computers through a software distribution package.
- Windows Server Update Services (WSUS) – Download a single copy of the Internet Explorer 11 updates, caching them to local servers, so your users’ computers can receive the updates directly from the WSUS servers, instead of through Windows Update.
- Group Policy Software Installation – Deploy and install Internet Explorer 11 on your users computers through a combination of Group Policy and Active Directory.
- Microsoft Deployment Toolkit (MDT) – Add the Internet Explorer 11 update to your deployment share, using MDT to update your previously deployed Windows image.
Download Internet Explorer Administration Kit 11
The Internet Explorer 11 application can be downloaded from the Microsoft Download Center. We will download the Internet Explorer Administration Kit 11 first. Internet Explorer Administration Kit 11 (IEAK 11) simplifies the creation, deployment, and management of customized Internet Explorer 11 packages. It can be used to configure the out-of-box Internet Explorer 11 experience, and to manage user settings after deployment.
When you install Internet Explorer 11 for Windows 7, the installer program tries to install some prerequisite components automatically. Internet Explorer halts the installation process if this step of the installation is unsuccessful. We will download the prerequisites first and then install IEAK 11.
Download and Extract IE11 Prerequisite Files
The prerequisites are available for both 32-bit and 64-bit OS, download the appropriate files depending on whether you are running a 32-bit or 64-bit edition of the operating system. Download the files and extract each update to a folder using 7zip.
The below screenshot shows the updates extracted to each folder.
Install the Internet Explorer Administration Kit 11
Install the Internet Explorer Administration Kit 11 on any computer, including the SCCM server. The screenshots of the installation of IEAK 11 are shown below; if you are already familiar with the installation process, you can skip them. Click Next.
Choose Internal Distribution via a Corporate Intranet. Click Next.
Complete the installation and click Finish.
Internet Explorer Customization Wizard 11
Now the IEAK 11 customization wizard pops up. This wizard will help you to customize, deploy, and manage IE. Click Next.
Select the location where you want to store the package. Click Next.
Choose the Target Platform and click Next.
Choose the Target Language and click Next.
Package Type Selection – Click Full Installation Package. Click Next.
You can choose all the features and customize them as per your requirement. Select the IE11 features that you wish to customize and click Next.
Click on Synchronize.
Now that we know, we have already downloaded the prerequisites that IE11 needs. Let’s include them in the customized components. Click on “Add.”
For every KB update, go to the individual update folder and select the cabinet file.
Provide the name for that component (provide KB number as its easy to identify the update), choose Install before Internet Explorer (we want the updates to be installed before IE11 is installed) and click Add.
When you have added all the components, it should resemble the below screenshot. Click Next.
User Experience – Choose Completely Silent Installation and No restart. Click Next and complete the wizard.
When you open the destination folder, you will see the IE11 package. One of them is an app and other one is Windows installer package (.msi).
Deploy Internet Explorer 11 using SCCM
In this section, we will import and deploy Internet Explorer 11 using SCCM. In the above step we already got the IE11.msi file, we will now create an application and select this IE11.msi file. Click Next to continue.
Click Next. Deploy the app to the device collection.
Now on the client computer we see that the app is available. Click on Install.
Wait for some time while the installation is completed. Check the AppEnforce.log file on the client computer for troubleshooting. We see that the IE11 application is installed successfully. Though we had suppressed the reboot during the creation of the package, I would recommend rebooting the client computer once to complete IE11 installation.
Still Need Help?
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