SCCM 2012 R2 SP1 Upgrade Guide

SCCM 2012 R2 SP1 Upgrade Guide In this post you learn how to upgrade an existing ConfigMgr 2012 R2 environment to ConfigMgr 2012 R2 SP1. If you are looking for SCCM 2012 R2 SP1 Upgrade guide then this post will help you. In my previous posts we have seen installing the cumulative update for SCCM. In the mid of May Microsoft announced System Center 2012 R2 Configuration Manager SP1 and System Center 2012 Configuration Manager SP2 which are available for download on Microsoft Evaluation Center. These service packs deliver full compatibility with existing features for Windows 10 deployment, upgrade, and management. Not only this, these service packs include new hybrid features for customers using System Center Configuration Manager integrated with Microsoft Intune to manage devices. Before you upgrade your configuration manager environment check the full list of features on this Technet Article to figure it out.

When the service packs were released there was a bit of confusion regarding which service pack to be installed in what order. The important thing is to understand the upgrade process by identifying your current version and the desired final version. Here is few points that could help you.

1. If you’re running SCCM 2012 SP1 (non-R2) the upgrade process will bring your site to SCCM 2012 SP2.
2. If you want to upgrade to SCCM 2012 R2 SP1 afterward, you’ll need to run another executable which will enable the R2 features.
3. If you’re already running SCCM 2012 R2, the update process will bring your site to SCCM R2 SP1.

To make it easy I have created a table that could help you decide which Service Pack to install. I hope it helps you.

Current Version	Desired Version	SP2 Required	R2 SP1 Required
SCCM 2012 SP1	SCCM 2012 SP2	YES	NO
SCCM 2012 SP1	SCCM 2012 R2 SP1	YES	YES
SCCM 2012 R2	SCCM 2012 R2 SP1	YES	NO
FRESH INSTALL	SCCM 2012 SP2	YES	NO
FRESH INSTALL	SCCM 2012 R2 SP1	YES	YES

Before you Upgrade to SP1

1. Run the System Center 2012 R2 Configuration Manager SP1 installation at the top-tier site of a hierarchy. You run this upgrade only once at the top-tier site of your hierarchy. This action then enables System Center 2012 R2 Configuration Manager SP1 features to each site in the hierarchy.
2. Before beginning the upgrade, make sure you have a backup of your ConfigMgr 2012 R2 server.
3. To run setup for the upgrade, your account must have local administrator permission to the server.

SCCM 2012 R2 SP1 Upgrade Guide

Download the service pack from here. The below screenshot should help you to download the correct file.

In my case, the site is already R2 so we extract the SC2012_SP2_Configmgr_SCEP to a folder and execute Splash.hta. On the main page click on Install.

Upgrade this Configuration Manager site is selected by default. Click Next.

Click I accept the license terms for MS SQL 2012 Express, MS SQL 2012 Native client and Silverlight 5. Click Next.

Download required files – Select this option to download the prerequisite files.

Use previously downloaded files – If you have already the prerequisite files downloaded with you, choose the path where the files are stored.

Click Next.

Wait for the Prerequisite check to complete, once its complete click Begin Install.

You could view the upgrade process by clicking on View Log, once the upgrade process is complete click Close.

Open the Configuration Manager Console and click on the upper left corner on the blue arrow and click About Configuration Manager. You can see that the Console has been upgraded to SP1. The console version is 5.0.8239.1000 and site version is 5.00.8239.1000.

Upgrading the Clients

Once your site is upgraded to SP1, you need to upgrade the clients to SP1. Upgrading the clients can be done using various ways.

1. Automatic Client Upgrade – When you enable the Automatic client upgrade, your client will be upgraded automatically within number of days that you specify. To do this click on Administration > Site Configuration > Sites. Click on the Hierarchy Settings button on the top ribbon. Click Upgrade client automatically when new client updates are available Select the desired number of days you want your upgrade to be run and click OK. A schedule task will be created on the clients and run within the specified number of days.

2) Creating Collection and Using Client Push – You could create a collection to group the clients that need an upgrade and then using client push method you can upgrade the clients. To create a collection right click Device Collection > Create Device Collection. Provide name to the collection and choose limiting collection and click Next.

In the next page add a query rule > Provide a name to the query and click Edit Query Statement. Add criteria and Select Attribute Class as System Resource, Attribute as Client Version, Value = 5.00.7958.1000 and click OK.

You could use the below query to create a collection to group non R2 SP1 client agents.

select *  from  SMS_R_System where SMS_R_System.ClientVersion = "5.00.7958.1000"

Once the collection is ready, right click on the collection and click Install Client. Complete the remaining steps of push installation wizard. After sometime the client agents are upgraded.

To check the client version, open the control panel > Configuration Manager > General and check the Version. It should show as 5.00.8239.1000.

If you have any questions you could write in the comments.