SCCM 1906 Step-by-Step Upgrade Guide

This post is a SCCM 1906 upgrade guide. There are several new features in SCCM 1906 update. The update 1906 for Configuration Manager current branch is available as an in-console update and comes with lots of new features. You can install SCCM 1906 update on sites that run version SCCM 1802,  SCCM 1806, SCCM 1810, or SCCM 1902.

Before you begin the SCCM 1906 upgrade, ensure you are running supported version of SCCM. After after you install SCCM 1906 update, do not forget to update the client agents to latest version. SCCM 1906 is only available as an in-console updates and not a baseline version.

Here is a video tutorial the covers the steps to perform SCCM 1902 to SCCM 1906 upgrade.

Note – You can also upgrade SCCM 1906 to SCCM 2010. Here is the SCCM 2010 Upgrade Guide.

Configuration Manager 1906 Servicing Support

SCCM 1906 is the second current branch release of this year. When you see a new update version, it remains in support for 18 months from its general availability release date.

With Configuration Manager 1906, the product will receive Security and Critical updates for first months. And for next 14 months, it will receive only Security Updates. The below SCCM servicing support pic should give you a clear idea of servicing phases.

SCCM 1906 New Features

There are several new features in SCCM 1906 update. In addition to that, the update 1906 also contains fixes and improvements over previous version (SCCM 1902). To know more about what’s new in version 1906 of Configuration Manager current branch and all new SCCM 1906 features, refer this guide.

For now I will be just listing the new features. I have covered top 10 SCCM 1906 features here.

• Site server maintenance task improvements
• Configuration Manager update database upgrade monitoring
• Management insights rule for NTLM fallback
• Azure Active Directory user group discovery
• Synchronize collection membership results to Azure Active Directory groups
• Readiness insights for desktop apps
• CMPivot standalone
• Added permissions to the Security Administrator role
• Delivery Optimization download data in client data sources dashboard
• Use your distribution point as an in-network cache server for Delivery Optimization
• Support for Windows Virtual Desktop
• Support Center OneTrace (Preview)
• Improvements to co-management auto-enrollment
• Multiple pilot groups for co-management workloads
• Filter applications deployed to devices
• SCCM Application groups
• Retry the install of pre-approved applications
• Improvements to app approvals
• Task sequence debugger
• Clear app content from client cache during task sequence
• Pre-cache driver packages and OS images
• Improvements to OS deployment
• Improvements to Software Center tab customization
• Direct link to custom tabs in Software Center
• Additional options for WSUS maintenance
• Configure dynamic update during feature updates
• Office 365 ProPlus upgrade readiness dashboard
• Improvement to Asset Intelligence
• Role based access for folders

SCCM 1906 Upgrade Prerequisites Checklist

Here are some of the SCCM 1906 prerequisites that you need to look into before you install Configuration Manager 1906 update.

1. To install ConfigMgr 1906 update, you must have installed at least SCCM 1806, 1810 or SCCM 1902.
2. Ensure that you are running a supported Operating System and SQL Server version.
3. Run a Windows Update and install the latest updates on the server.
4. If you’re running a multi-tier hierarchy, start at the top-level site in the hierarchy. First perform the CAS upgrade, later you can begin the upgrade of each child site. Complete the upgrade of each site before you begin to upgrade the next site.
5. I always recommend to run prerequisite check step before you directly install the update.

SCCM 1902 Hotfixes

After the release of SCCM 1902, there were several hotfixes released. Each hotfix comes with certain fixes and probably you may not have installed any or installed just few hotfixes. Due to this, we get confused whether to install these hotfixes first and then install SCCM 1906 or can we skip these hotfixes.

You can skip the previous SCCM 1902 hotfixes and directly install SCCM 1906 update.

• SCCM 1902 Hotfix KB4500571
• SCCM 1902 Hotfix KB4500232

If you have already installed the above hotfixes, proceed with installing SCCM 1906.

SCCM 1906 Upgrade Guide

This step-by-step upgrade guide contains all the information that should help to upgrade to SCCM 1906. I have split the big process into steps. This should make it easy for you to perform the SCCM 1906 upgrade.

This guide will be added to SCCM Current Branch Guides and you can download the PDF file soon.

How to get Configuration Manager 1906 Update

First of all the SCCM 1906 update is not available for everyone yet. Therefore you must perform an extra step to get the update in your console.

It should take few weeks while the Configuration Manager update 1906 gets rolled out globally. Until then you can either wait for the update or run the EnableEarlyUpdateRing script and get the update quickly.

In my lab setup, I had to run a fast update ring script to quickly get the 1906 update. The EarlyEarlyUpdateRing PowerShell script can be downloaded by clicking this link. After you run the script, the update 1906 will show up in the console.

On your SCCM server, run the PowerShell as administrator and run the script. Enter the site server name and script gets the update in console for you.

In my lab, I didn’t even check for updates and I saw Configuration Manager 1906 update in Updates and Servicing node. If you don’t see the update, restart the SCCM services once.

Grab a cup of coffee and relax, the SCCM downloads the update. Wait until you see the update 1906 appear in console. If you see the state of the update as Ready to Install, proceed further.

SCCM 1906 Prerequisite Check

To run SCCM 1906 Prerequisite check

• Launch SCCM console.
• Navigate to Administration > Overview > Updates and Servicing Node.
• Right click Configuration Manager 1906 update and click Run Prerequisite check.

In my case the prerequisite check completed but with a warning. You can either open ConfigMgrPrereq.log or go to Monitoring workspace to get more details about the warning.

Opening the ConfigMgrPrereq.log file shows the warning. “Potential SQL server performance issue caused by change tracking retention period. Configuration Manager detects the site database has a backlog of SQL change tracking data“.

You can ignore this warning because it doesn’t halt the installation in anyway. However if you want to fix this warning, refer this article.

Perform SCCM 1906 Upgrade / Install SCCM 1906 Update

To begin the SCCM 1906 Upgrade Process

• Launch SCCM console.
• Navigate to Administration > Overview > Updates and Servicing Node.
• Right click Configuration Manager 1906 update and click Install Update Pack.

Note that SCCM version 1906 includes updates for following :-

• Configuration Manager site server updates
• Configuration Manager console and client updates.
• Fixes for known issues.
• New Features.

Since I got a warning during prerequisite check, I will check the box “Ignore any prerequisite check warnings and install this update regardless of missing requirements“. Click Next.

Click Next.

Choose the appropriate client update settings and click Next.

Finally on the Completion page, click Close.

Monitor SCCM 1906 Update Installation Status

To monitor the update 1906 installation

• In SCCM Console, go to Monitoring node.
• Click Overview > Updates and Servicing Status.
• Select the Configuration Manager 1906 update and click Show Status.

You can now see the detailed status for SCCM 1906 installation. Keep clicking Refresh button until you see all the steps marked with green check.

I didn’t notice any issues while installing this update. Almost at the last step in Post Installation stage and next step should be console upgrade.

SCCM 1906 Console Upgrade

Notice the notification bar that shows the new version of console is available. To begin the SCCM 1906 console upgrade, click Install the new console version.

At this step I encountered an issue and my console installation failed. Maybe something wrong with my installation. If you notice any issues with console install, close and re-open the console and then upgrade it.

Refresh the console or re-open the console. A box appears that says new version of console is available. The console will be upgraded from version 5.1902.1085.2600 to 5.1906.1096.1500.

Click OK to begin the console upgrade.

Verify Configuration Manager 1906 Update Install

The console upgrade completed successfully. Click drop-down at top left corner of console and click About Configuration Manager. This should show following details.

• SCCM Version 1906
• Console Version – 5.1906.1096.1500
• Site Version – 5.0.8853.1000

Check the site properties. The version should be 5.00.8853.1000 and build number 8853.

Update SCCM Boot Images

Seems like we have successfully installed Configuration Manager 1906 update. After you complete the above steps, you must update SCCM boot images.

• Update Boot Images to all the distribution points.
• Update Configuration Manager client package to all DP’s. You can check the content status to see last update.

Upgrade Configuration Manager Client Agents

Once you install SCCM 1906 update, you must upgrade the client agents in the hierarchy. You can upgrade client agents using client upgrade feature.

To upgrade SCCM client agents to latest version.

• Go to Administration > Site Configuration > Sites.
• Click the Hierarchy Settings on top ribbon.
• Select Client Upgrade tab.
• Ensure Upgrade all clients in hierarchy using production client box is selected.
• Click OK.

You can use the below query to find out the devices without the latest SCCM client version 5.00.8853.1006.

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 where SMS_R_System.ClientVersion != '5.00.8853.1006'