SCCM 1710 Restart Client Feature – Use Console to Identify and Restart Clients
With the release of SCCM 1710, a lot of new features were added. Software center customization was something that i loved the most. Here is the post on customizing software center in SCCM 1710. One of the exciting feature that i wanted to try was SCCM 1710 restart client feature. So far I have used right click tools and it worked well while you wanted to restart remote computers. But now Microsoft has come up with option to identify and restart clients.
So what is this SCCM 1710 Restart Client Feature ?. Using Configuration Manager console, you can now identify client devices that require a restart. Post then you use a client notification action to restart those client devices. The client computer receives restart notification and a notification window opens to inform the user about the restart. By default, the restart occurs after 90 minutes. This can be changed under client settings > computer restart setting.
SCCM 1710 Restart Client Devices Values
When we say SCCM identifies client devices that needs a restart, it shows the following values under Pending Restart column. Let’s see what those values are and what they mean.
| Value | Meaning |
| No | If you see this value, it means no restart is pending. |
| Configuration Manager | This value comes from rebootcoordinator.log file. |
| Add or Remove Feature | You see this value when you install/uninstall any role/feature that needs a device reboot. |
| Windows Update | The value is displayed when the client computer is patched and requires a reboot. The value comes from Windows Update Agent that reports a reboot required. |
| File rename | This value comes from Windows reporting a pending file rename operation. |
SCCM 1710 Restart Client Feature
We will now test SCCM 1710 restart client feature. As mentioned earlier, you can use the Configuration Manager console to identify clients that require a restart. Then use a client notification action to restart them. I have a Windows 10 machine where I have enabled Hyper-v under features. Since we know that enabling hyper-V requires reboot, I have cancelled the restart. So there is a pending restart on Windows 10 VM.
Launch configuration manager console and navigate to Assets and Compliance > Overview > Devices. Right click on column and select Pending Restart.
Under the Pending Restart column, we see some values. These are the values that we discussed in the above table. Notice that Windows 10 device has a pending restart with value Add or Remove Feature.
Right click the device and click Client Notification. Click Restart to send restart notification to client computer.
Click OK to continue.
On the client computer you see a notification box. There are 2 options, Restart and Hide.
Review rebootcoordinator log file. This log file provides information about the process for coordinating system restarts on client computers after software update installations. Notice the last line of log file. Notified UI grace period start with 2700 grace seconds and 600 final seconds. These values are the ones that we have defined under client settings > computer restart settings.
Some of other log files that you can review are CcmNotificationAgent.log, BgbServer.log and
bgbmgr.log.
Any way to trigger that action via powershell? I mean the thing that goes after you press Client Notification – Restart in Console, can we do it via powershell on a computer localy?
Thanks!
It’s one of those ‘hidden’ system views in the SQL DB – sms_combineddeviceresources in WQL. So if you want to create a collection for systems pending a restart, you can use the following query:
select SMS_R_SYSTEM.ResourceID,SMS_R_SYSTEM.ResourceType,SMS_R_SYSTEM.Name,SMS_R_SYSTEM.SMSUniqueIdentifier,SMS_R_SYSTEM.ResourceDomainORWorkgroup,SMS_R_SYSTEM.Client from SMS_R_System join sms_combineddeviceresources comb on comb.resourceid = sms_r_system.resourceid where comb.clientstate != 0
Hi
Have a problem with the Computer restart (same with computer agent). When changing settings, the change are not happening on the client computer in our environment.
Only getting the new settings if I take a clean install and waiting for the client to get installed/policy.
In configuraion manager on a client computer, when checking the components. Some are installed but not enabled.
how do you cancel a pending reboot?
i am also looking for this answer.
please help !
hey ,
i have SCCM 1711 , I have not “Client notification tab”
Do you know if should I activate something?
FYI: This is a “required” reboot which uses the Client Settings\Computer Restart settings. By default, there is a 90 minute countdown and the user cannot cancel the reboot. Also, it ignores any maintenance windows. Users can reboot at anytime, but if they ignore all the notices the device will be restarted at the end of the 90 minute countdown, day or night.
we have defined 960 minute under client settings > computer restart settings but i am getting only 60 minute in client machine and reboot coordinator log also saying the same .. what could be the reason
Hello Prajwal,
I`ve just update SCCM to 1710 but I have not “Client notification tab”
Do you know if should I activate something?
Thanks in advance
Hello Mauro,
Client notification Tab only comes when a machine is added in a collection.
If you try it from all devices, it will not appear.
After adding the machine in a collection, right click on the machine or the collection, you will see the “Client Notification” option.
Hope it answers your question. 🙂
Client Notification option is only visible for a machine after it is added in a collection. You will not see this options in Devices. Once the machine is added in a collection, right click on the machine or the collection and you will see the option.
Hope that helps you. 🙂
Have you been able to identify the database field that corresponding to the “Pending Restart” column in the SCCM console? If possible I would like to utilize it on my reports that used to reference the last state messages field in the past which was frequently unreliable. I am hoping this option will be more consistent.
Hi Mike
That’s a great question – pulling the “machines pending a reboot” count from SQL would be a great thing to monitor. Were you able to figure that out?
Hi Gareth,
Could you please help me with SQL query for last reboot time.
thanks!