Enable device upload when already using co-management

This week is all about the recently introduced functionality of Microsoft Endpoint Manager tenant attach. More specifically, the device sync and the device action functionalities that become available via the Microsoft Endpoint Manager admin center for Configuration Manager managed devices. This is the first big step into creating an integrated solution for managing all devices. This brings Configuration Manager and Microsoft Intune together into a single console. In this post I’ll start with an introduction to the different cloud integration options, followed by the step for enabling the device upload. I’ll end this post by having a look at what this integration brings from an administrator perspective. Introduction to cloud integration Let’s start with a quick introduction to all the different cloud integration terminologies that …

Read more

Windows 10 enrollment methods

This week is all about Windows 10 enrollment methods. The different methods to enroll Windows 10 devices into Microsoft Intune. There are many different methods to enroll Windows 10 devices, which makes it easy to get lost. In this post I’ll provide an overview of these different enrollment methods, including the use case of the enrollment method and how to perform the enrollment. This post is definitely not a complete guide through the different enrollment methods. Its main purpose is to create awareness for the different enrollment methods and to describe the main characteristics of the enrollment methods. The different enrollment methods Now let’s discuss the different enrollment methods and their use cases. Before starting, it’s good to mention that I’m aware of the existence …

Read more

Microsoft Connected Cache in ConfigMgr with Win32 apps of Intune

This week is all about an awesome new feature that was introduced with the latest version of Configuration Manager, version 1910. That feature is that Microsoft Connected Cache now supports Win32 apps that are deployed via Microsoft Intune. Microsoft Connected Cache can be enabled on a Configuration Manager distribution point and serve content to Configuration Manager managed devices. That includes co-managed devices and now also Win32 apps, which enables a Configuration Manager distribution points to serve as a content location for Win32 apps deployed via Microsoft Intune. In this post I’ll start with a short introduction about Microsoft Connected Cache, followed with the required configuration of a Configuration Manager distribution point and the required configuration of the Configuration Manager clients. I’ll end this post by …

Read more

Expired Cloud Management Gateway server authentication certificate

Let’s start this new year with a short blog post about the Cloud Management Gateway (CMG). More specifically, about replacing an (expired) server authentication certificate on the CMG. The server authentication certificate is a required certificate for the CMG. That certificate is used to build the secure channel that is used with the created HTTPS service. The HTTPS service is were the internet-based clients connect. This certificate should come from a public provider, or from a public key infrastructure (PKI). In this post I’ll have a quick look at how to prevent the expiration of the server authentication certificate and how to replace the server authentication certificate. Certificate expiration The most important thing to note is – like with everything else – that prevention is …

Read more

Enabling the ConfigMgr administration service through the cloud management gateway

This week is all about the administration service in Configuration Manager. More specifically, about enabling the Configuration Manager administration service via the cloud management gateway (CMG) to make it available over the Internet. The administration service provides API interoperability access to WMI over HTTPS via the SMS Provider. This REST API can be used in place of a custom web service to access information of the Configuration Manager site. Some really good information and starting points about this subject can be found at this blog post by Adam Gross. In this post I’ll skip the basics and specifically look at making the administration service available over the Internet. I want to provide in my own style what the configuration requirements are and why they are …

Read more

Device compliance based on custom configuration baselines

This week is all about the new feature to include a custom configuration baselines as part of a compliance policy assessment. That’s a new feature that is introduced in Configuration Manager, version 1910. That will also make this a followup on the post I did earlier this year about using the power of ConfigMgr together with Microsoft Intune to determine device compliance. This will be added functionality, as it’s now possible to make custom configuration baselines part of the device compliancy check. For both, Configuration Manager managed devices and co-managed devices. Even when the workload is switched to Microsoft Intune. Introduction This option that makes it possible to use a custom device configuration baseline part of a compliancy policy, opens up a whole new world …

Read more

Real-time application installation for devices

This week a new blog post again! During my vacation, I’ve been looking at some statistics of my blog and I noticed that my posts about app deployment related subjects are getting a lot of traction lately. That was a trigger for to make this post about a really nice application deployment feature that’s introduced in Configuration Manager, version 1906. That feature is to install applications for a device. The really nice part of this is that it uses the client notification channel to create a real-time application installation experience. In this post I’ll quickly go through the prerequisites, followed by the application deployment configuration. I’ll end this post by looking at the application installation trigger and the corresponding application requests. Optional feature Let’s start …

Read more

Another new discovery method: Meet the Azure Active Directory Group Discovery!

This week is back to the world of Configuration Manager. With the release of Configuration Manager, version 1906, a lot of new features are introduced. Even a few very nice pre-release features. One of these pre-release features is the subject of this post, the Azure Active Directory Group Discovery. The Azure Active Directory Group Discovery can be used to discover user groups and members of those groups from Azure AD. In case there are users found in Azure AD user groups that haven’t been previously discovered, those users will be added as user resources in Configuration Manager. A user group resource record is created when the group is a security group. In this post I’ll briefly show the prerequisites, followed by the configuration steps. I’ll …

Read more

Quick tip: Configure primary device via Software Center

This week a relatively short blog post about a recently introduced feature in Configuration Manager, version 1902. That feature is the option for the user to select a device as a primary device, by using Software Center. Previously the Application Catalog was still required to provide users with that specific option. That was also practically the only reason to still use the Application Catalog. From that perspective, this also provides a clear path for further simplifying the Configuration Manager hierarchy. In this post I’ll show how to enable the option for the user to configure a primary device via Software Center, followed by the end-user experience. Configuration Now let’s have a look at the configuration that enables the option for the user to configure a …

Read more

Join us at Experts Live Netherlands in Den Bosch

A bit less than a week from now, June 6, Experts Live Netherlands will be in Den Bosch. Experts Live Netherlands is one of the biggest Microsoft community events, with over 1200 visitors. I’m proud to be part of the speaker lineup again. Together with my finest colleague, Arjan Vroege, I will deliver a session about moving to a modern managed workplace at your own pace! And we hope to see you there! About our session During our session we will discus (and show) how to migrate to a modern managed workplace at your own pace. As many organizations want to make the switch to a modern managed workplace, but are currently unable to make the complete switch. Often this is related to missing specific …

Read more