Update: Eval site is now restored with improved user experience and is accessible via Microsoft Evaluation Center .The new improved eval center does not require any sign-in to download the media files. This is quick post on the recent inquiry on various forums such as Twitter, reddit and Microsoft forums about the download of configuration manager build (Evaluation) from the evalcenter. if you try to download the Configuration Manager current branch or technical preview from the evalcenter using https://www.microsoft.com/evalcenter/evaluate-system-center-configuration-manager-and-endpoint-protection-technical-preview , you will be redirected to https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download and end up seeing the following screen. Currently, the evaluation center links for downloading of…
Author: Eswar Koneti
Updated: 27-May-2022 Windows Autopilot is a collection of technologies such as Azure AD, Microsoft Intune etc., used to set up and pre-configure new devices, getting them ready for productive use. When working with windows autopilot, there is one common question that keep rising in the forums is, account setup stuck and takes longer time while the device preparation and device setup are completed. If you are doing hybrid AAD joined, you must have experienced this already. If you are doing hybrid azure ad join, please read this article to supercharge the process https://oofhours.com/2020/07/26/supercharge-the-hybrid-azure-ad-join-device-registration-process/ Account setup is the last phase in…
Microsoft recently announced that, Starting April 2022, certificate connectors earlier than version 6.2101.13.0 will be deprecated and will show a status of Error. This status does not affect functionality. Starting June 2022, such connectors will not be able to issue certificates. This includes both the PFX Certificate Connector for Microsoft Intune and Microsoft Intune Connector, which on July 29, 2021 were replaced by the Certificate Connector for Microsoft Intune. Microsoft Intune connector validity is 6 months from the time it is released and after that, the connector is not longer supported and your functionality might be impacted. So it is…
I was approached by a customer who had issues deploying the March 2022 windows 10 cumulative updates. The error code and the screenshot is provided below. The software updates are failed with error code 0x87D00664 (-2016410012). The error code 0x87D00664 translates to ‘Updates handler job was cancelled’. There could be several reasons why the updates are failed. In this blog post, we will see how to troubleshoot the issue based on the information available in the client logs. This is not one-stop solution for every issue that has been reported with the error code 0x87D00664 . Let’s dive into the…
Microsoft Endpoint Manager (ConfigMgr & Intune) allows us to configure and deploy the Microsoft Store apps. For more information, please read through ConfigMgr and Intune . In my recent engagement with customer, there is need to deploy Microsoft store app (offline) using Configuration Manager as there is no integration with store for business. Online: This license type requires users and devices to connect to the store to get an app and its license. Devices running Windows 10 or later should be Azure Active Directory (Azure AD)-joined or hybrid Azure AD-joined. They can also be Azure AD-registered. Offline: This type lets you…
Long ago, I wrote a blog post on a report for finding the devices with pending reboot, more information is available on https://eskonr.com/2019/01/sccm-report-get-list-of-devices-with-pending-reboot-in-a-collection-with-different-states/ I was recently working on checking the compliance of the devices in SCCM for windows patching and I could see that the software update compliance is not that great due to various reasons. Before I start to dig deeper into it, the first thing was to check the pending reboot of the devices. In this blog post, I will provide 2 collections that will be useful for identifying the pending reboot devices. The following WQL collection query…
This week, I have another real-time use case about the audit of all azure AD app registrations and notify the application credential (secret key or certificate) near to expiration. Registering an application in Azure AD establishes a trust relationship between your app and the Microsoft identity platform, The application registration can be used to authenticate on behalf of a user and request access to resource applications. I was asked to have a mechanism to monitor the azure ad app registrations and notify the app owner (if exist) if the secret key or certification expiration is nearby (x days). When I…
Conditional Access in Azure Active Directory needs no introduction. To read more information about Conditional Access, please refer to https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/active-directory/conditional-access/overview In my recent assignment, there was an ask to back up the conditional access policies every day and also notify through email for a list of conditional policies that are created or modified in the last 24 hours. I know that there are many blog posts out there to monitor the conditional access policies by enabling the diagnostic settings (export the audit logs), creating logic apps, power automate and other tools in a programmatic way and alert instantly, but that…