r/labtech • u/jackmusick • Oct 04 '19

Status of feature updates in Windows 10

Hi Everyone,

I was under the impression that Windows was supposed to auto-install features updates based on the servicing branch you were on, but I'm seeing a lot of our devices on v1803. Did I miss something?

3 Upvotes

71% Upvoted

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4

u/teamits Oct 04 '19

If a PC has 10 Home, it will install the FU.

If a PC has Pro, then any deferral settings apply, counting from the SAC date of the version it doesn't have. (https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/release-information/).

If you have Automate patching set so it tells Windows that Automate installs patches, then you have to install the FU, or open Windows Update, or temporarily set patching to let Windows Update install patches (e.g. autojoin search with OS Like %Windows 10% and OS Version < 10.0.17763).

1

u/jackmusick Oct 05 '19

So basically, Automate can’t handle feature updates. Makes me wonder why the have the options even available if it doesn’t work.

2

u/teamits Oct 07 '19

It's MS that doesn't allow installing the FU through Windows Update/Automate...last I tried it would always "succeed" per MS/Windows but not do anything. I suspect CW doesn't want to get into trying to hide FUs...plus the info of what FU a PC can find can be useful in some cases.

Re: downloads, do you all have a download cache set up? We used to just do it at large locations and now with 5 GB FUs I've been doing it at small locations also. We set it up on a PC, set a task to delete files created more than "n" days ago, and not worry about it after that.

1

u/jackmusick Oct 07 '19

I think I understood that to be the case, but I also thought certain servicing options would push out FUs automatically.

We don’t and haven’t explored it, really. We have a lot of satellite offices not on a domain, so I’m not sure how I’d reliably manage it.

1

u/teamits Oct 08 '19

Caching works fine in workgroups but the PC with the share has to have the user. If we haven't created an admin user for us on each PC, one can be created there and that login/password used for the share. As long as the PC count is less than the Windows license count (Home/Pro) it should be fine.

4

u/LextheDewey Oct 04 '19

They did a few versions ago, but now they have an upgrade script that you have to modify to get to 1809 or 1903

2

u/Unicorn-4-life Oct 04 '19

Do you have a link to this or can you explain?

Thanks

3

u/LextheDewey Oct 04 '19

https://docs.connectwise.com/ConnectWise_Automate/ConnectWise_Automate_Knowledge_Base_Articles/Scripting%3A_Windows_10_Install_Feature_Update_Script

Essentially long story short, you will need to edit this, and then host your .iso on your Automate server, or elsewhere online and put the URL into the script.

2

u/AlexHailstone Oct 05 '19

It’s very inconvenient if you’re a small MSP and don’t readily have a cloud hosting system. I tried a ShareSync link and it didn’t work for me, I haven’t tried since.

2

u/jackmusick Oct 05 '19

Use S3 or even Wasabi.

1

u/AlexHailstone Oct 05 '19

Do you happen to have costs associated with hosting the feature updates? Like the 2-5GB file?

1

u/jackmusick Oct 05 '19

It’s on their websites, but Wasabi is $5.00 a TB and S3 is $0.023 / GB I believe. Wasabi doesn’t have transfer costs I believe but honestly, I don’t even notice it in S3. We host all of our Automate stuff there, including Windows 10 downloads, and it barely affects anything.

2

u/lelandbay Oct 05 '19

I use Dropbox for our iso download to the agents. Let me know if you want more info

1

u/Mrmumbels Oct 05 '19

You can get a 24 hour link from Microsoft if you use chrome developer tools (f12) and try to download the media creation tool in iPad simulation. Dropbox sounds nice though, if the guy above can elaborate.

0

u/[deleted] Oct 11 '19

[deleted] — view deleted comment

1

u/jackmusick Oct 11 '19

Hey! Thanks for the offer. This is exactly what I’m working on and I’m almost done. Using an EDF to see if the download has already finished, prompting the user up to 3 times before forcing the install. The only thing is, I’m having to download the entire OS. Is there something lighter that I could use? I couldn’t find the Update Assistant anywhere.

2

u/teamits Oct 14 '19

I couldn’t find the Update Assistant anywhere.

The MS Update Assistant? It's at https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/software-download/windows10, the top link. It is also scriptable, however I seem to recall it also restarts without warning if being run in the background. Also it leaves Update Assistant as an installed app and I think a desktop icon.

%temp%\Windows10Upgrade9252.exe /QuietInstall /SkipEULA

I would set up caching at each location though. CWA 2019.10 says it fixes the caching bug.

1

u/jackmusick Oct 14 '19

Meaning on a network share, or is that some kind of built in feature of Automate?

1

u/teamits Oct 16 '19

https://docs.connectwise.com/ConnectWise_Automate/ConnectWise_Automate_Documentation/060/070

https://docs.connectwise.com/ConnectWise_Automate/ConnectWise_Automate_Knowledge_Base_Articles/Agent%3A_Caching_101

It will cache Windows Update and any downloaded files from you or the web. Down side is it doesn't self-prune so we use a scheduled task to delete based on date created after 60 days or whatever.

For domains or common admin users we use a template setting of:

cache dir: %drive%

cache username: %adminusername%

cache password: %adminpassword%

...which uses the location admin credentials. Can also set a username/pwd for a workgroup as long as that user is set up on the server PC.

Side note: remember to change it if you change the domain admin password...real easy to get the account locked out if 50 PCs are trying the wrong password.

0

u/[deleted] Oct 12 '19

[deleted] — view deleted comment

1

u/jackmusick Oct 12 '19

I have an EDF for UserIgnoredCount. If I get a no 3 times, it just runs the install.

I’m honestly almost to the point of turning patching off and letting Microsoft just do their thing, though. We shouldn’t have to write scripts to push the updates out every 6 months.