Configuration Manager current branch upgrades: prerequisites, servicing and stuck installs

In-console updates keep Configuration Manager (formerly SCCM) current, but an update that sits in Downloading, fails its prerequisite check or stops during installation can hold up a whole hierarchy. In this post I'll walk through a clean upgrade, with the log to watch at each stage, what to do when it gets stuck, and the checks that prove you're finished.

How it works#

Each current branch version is supported for 18 months, so plan at least one upgrade a year. An update moves through these stages, which you can follow by selecting the update in Administration › Updates and Servicing and choosing Show Status:

Prerequisites#

• Read Microsoft's checklist for the version you're installing; there's one per release.
• Monitoring › Site Status and Component Status are healthy. In a hierarchy, database replication is healthy too.
• No pending restarts on the site server, SQL Server or remote site systems.
• Your SQL Server version and Windows ADK are supported by the target version.
• A current site database backup.
• A service connection point in online mode with internet access, or the service connection tool for offline mode.
• In a hierarchy, you install at the central administration site. Child primary sites follow automatically (subject to their service windows); secondary sites need a manual upgrade.

Step-by-step#

1. Get the update into the console#

In online mode, select Check for Updates in Administration › Updates and Servicing and watch dmpdownloader.log until the update shows Ready to install. Add the Package Guid column: the GUID names the update's folder under EasySetupPayload and is what the reset tool needs.

In offline mode, use the service connection tool from cd.latest\SMSSETUP\TOOLS\ServiceConnectionTool. Run -prepare and -import on the service connection point, and -connect on a computer with internet access:

ServiceConnectionTool.exe -prepare -usagedatadest D:\USB\UsageData.cab
ServiceConnectionTool.exe -connect -usagedatasrc D:\USB -updatepackdest D:\USB\UpdatePacks
ServiceConnectionTool.exe -import -updatepacksrc D:\USB\UpdatePacks

2. Run the prerequisite check#

Right-click the update and select Run prerequisite check. It installs nothing, so run it days before your window. Then read the results on the site server:

Select-String -Path C:\ConfigMgrPrereq.log -Pattern 'ERROR|WARN' | Select-Object -Last 20

Fix every error and run the check again. Warnings don't block the install, but read each one; pending restarts and SQL Server settings are typical examples.

3. Install the update#

Right-click the update and select Install Update Pack. In the wizard you can choose to ignore prerequisite warnings, pick new features (or turn them on later under Updates and Servicing › Features), and choose between Upgrade without validating and Validate in pre-production collection for clients. Then follow Show Status and the log on the top-level site server (adjust the path to your installation):

Get-Content 'D:\Program Files\Microsoft Configuration Manager\Logs\CMUpdate.log' -Tail 40 -Wait

4. When it gets stuck#

For downloads or replication that are stuck before installation starts, run the update reset tool from cd.latest\SMSSETUP\TOOLS on the top-level site. The account needs read and write access to the site databases, for example db_datareader and db_datawriter. Add -I for a named SQL Server instance:

CMUpdateReset.exe -S sql01.contoso.com -D CM_PS1 -P <PackageGuid>
CMUpdateReset.exe -FDELETE -S sql01.contoso.com -D CM_PS1 -P <PackageGuid>

The first command resets the update. Use -FDELETE only if that isn't enough, because it forces deletion of a downloaded package. If a package was deleted, restart SMS_EXECUTIVE on the top-level site server and check for updates again.

5. Finish the post-upgrade tasks#

• Consoles: admins are prompted to upgrade when they connect, or install from <installation folder>\tools\ConsoleSetup.
• Secondary sites: select each one in Administration › Site Configuration › Sites, choose Upgrade, and follow Show Install Status.
• Clients: if you validated in pre-production, test that collection, then promote the client with Client Update Options in Updates and Servicing. Automatic upgrade is configured under Hierarchy Settings › Client Upgrade.
• Boot images: after a Windows ADK upgrade, update and redistribute boot images; custom boot images aren't refreshed for you. Failed deployments afterwards? See reading smsts.log.
• Hotfixes: run Check for Updates again later, because hotfix rollups for the new version arrive the same way.

Verify#

• The update shows Installed, and every stage in Show Status is complete.
• Site Status and Component Status are healthy, with no new component install errors in sitecomp.log.
• Every site reports the new build. Help › About Configuration Manager shows it for your site, or query the SMS Provider:

Get-CimInstance -ComputerName cm01.contoso.com -Namespace root\SMS\site_PS1 -ClassName SMS_Site |
    Select-Object SiteCode, Version, BuildNumber

Over the following days, the Client Version column in Assets and Compliance › Devices should move to the new version as clients upgrade.

Tips and gotchas#

• Rehearse in a lab when you can, and always run the prerequisite check ahead of the window.
• Pause maintenance tasks that would run during the installation, such as site backups, and confirm your antimalware exclusions for Configuration Manager are in place.
• Don't fall behind: the console only offers versions your site can install, and an out-of-support version no longer gets fixes.
• Never clean up update folders or SQL tables by hand unless Microsoft Support asks you to.

References#

• Understand and troubleshoot Updates and Servicing (Microsoft Learn)
• Update reset tool (Microsoft Learn)
• In-console update fails at the Install Files stage (Microsoft Learn)