SCCM Technical Preview 2405 New Features

Microsoft has released the latest Technical Preview 2405 for Configuration Manager. It comes with new features, such as BitLocker support in ARM devices, SQL Extended Protection for Authentication, performance enhancement of policy processing and collection evaluation, and many other enhancements.

This year’s second Technical Preview release (TP) is version 2405. The previous technical preview version was 2401. If you are running TP version 2401, you can upgrade to version 2405 from the updates and servicing node of the ConfigMgr console.

As per the new release cadence by Microsoft, there will be only four ConfigMgr Technical Preview (TP) releases per year.  One technical preview release will serve as a baseline release, and two will be made available before each current production branch release.

In this article, we’ll go over the steps to install the SCCM technical preview 2405 and go through the new features included with this release. Take a look at the official announcement by Microsoft on Features in Configuration Manager technical preview version 2405.

Installing Configuration Manager Technical Preview 2405

• Launch the Configuration Manager console.
• Go to Administration\Overview\Updates and Servicing.
• Right-click Configuration Manager Technical Preview 2405 update and select Install Update Pack.

You can ignore the prerequisite check warnings and directly install the update. Click Next.

The Features tab displays the new features included in this release, as well as those that have not yet been enabled. You can ignore that and continue, as we will enable them later. Click Next.

On the Client update options tab, select a way to update the configuration manager client. Since this is a technical preview build, you can go with Upgrade without validating it. Click Next.

On the License Terms tab, select I accept these license terms and privacy statement. Click Next.

Complete the remaining steps and, on the Summary window, click Next. Finally, close the Configuration Manager updates wizard.

TP 2405 Console Upgrade Fails

When you upgrade your technical preview version from 2401 to 2405, the console upgrade fails because of a known issue in the extension installer. To resolve this issue, after you update the site from version 2401 to a later version, manually uninstall the previous console and run ConsoleSetup.exe.

After you install TP Update 2405, make sure you upgrade the clients to the latest version. For any errors during the upgrade, review the SCCM logs for troubleshooting.

New Features in SCCM Technical Preview 2405

The following new features and enhancements have been added to the Configuration Manager technical preview 2405 release:

• Configuration Manager now supports SQL Extended Protection for Authentication
• Support for BitLocker on Arm devices
• Performance Enhancement of policy processing and collection evaluation
• Introducing Centralized Search – Desired Workspace Selection

1. SQL Extended Protection for Authentication

Starting in technical preview 2405, Configuration Manager supports SQL Extended Protection for Authentication. When connections are established with Extended Protection, this security feature strengthens defenses against MITM attacks, enhancing SQL Server’s security. All of these improvements work together to lower the possibility of unwanted access and safeguard private information stored on the SQL Server Database Engine.

2. BitLocker Support for ARM devices

Configuration Manager now supports BitLocker Task Sequence steps for Arm devices. I am hoping to see this feature in the upcoming ConfigMgr 2409 CB release. In BitLocker Management, policies that include OS Drive encryption with a TPM protector and Fixed Drive encryption with the Auto-Unlock option are supported on Arm devices.

3. Desired Workspaces in Centralized Search box

The centralized search box in TP 2405 now enables the option to select the desired workspace for searching. Users can easily refine their search results by selecting the desired workspace from the drop-down menu.

4. Performance Enhancement of policy processing and collection evaluation

The performance of policy processing and collection evaluation has been enhanced. Blocking chains from sp_ProcessPolicyChanges, which PolicyPv called, used to run for hours at a time, interfering with several workloads, such as processing policies and collection management.

Important Notes

As of now, the SCCM 2405 technical preview only has one known bug, which is the inability to import or establish a console connection with the PowerShell ConfigMgr module. Hopefully, the upcoming TP version will fix this problem.

Users receive the following error message when attempting to import or connect to the Configuration Manager Powershell module via the CM console:

PS C:\Build\AdminConsole\bin> Import-Module .\ConfigurationManager.psd1 Import-Module : The module manifest 'C:\Build\AdminConsole\bin\ConfigurationManager.psd1' could not be processed because it is not a valid Windows PowerShell restricted language file. Remove the elements that are not permitted by the restricted language