(audience applauding)
- Welcome to Microsoft Mechanics Live.
Coming up, we're gonna take a look
at an end-to-end tour of what you can do
to stay ahead of Windows and Office deployments
and updates with Configuration Manager.
We'll show you what's new, and explain your desktop
deployment options, and offer proven guidance
for automating the process to move forward
from older versions of Windows and Office.
And I am happy to be joined today by Jeremy Chapman,
no stranger to system management.
Welcome back to the show.
- It's such a treat, thank you so much.
Such a treat to be on this side of the desk as the guest,
'cause normally I'm where you're standing.
- Yeah, it's so nice to have you here
as a guest on the show.
We're very excited to be talking,
because I know many of you watching here
are probably already in the process of rolling out
Windows 10 and Office 365 Pro Plus,
and the configuration management team
has done a ton of work in adding capabilities
to help people get deployed and stay up to date.
In fact, you're seeing here this
desktop deployment process wheel.
Jeremy, can you explain a little bit about what this is,
and what's new?
- Right, so we've literally updated the wheel.
We didn't reinvent the wheel, but we've updated it,
to really go through all the different core steps
as part of a large scale desktop deployment.
You know, Configuration Manager is used throughout
all of these processes, and by far the tool
that most people are gonna use, and most organizations
are gonna use to manage updates, software distribution,
OS deployment, and client configurations.
So we keep listening and building in all the capabilities
to really make it continuously get better and faster
and more network efficient, and there are really three
different areas I want to focus on as part of the updates
to Config Manager as part of 1902
in really the last six months or so
with the builds of Config Manager.
First, network bandwidth optimization.
So, a lot of folks that are gonna start deployments,
they're gonna want to optimize how much is gonna be
passed through their network.
Second, application delivery updates.
So, things that you can do not only on the Office front,
but also for if you want to start looking at things
like MSIX packages, or other things around app delivery.
We've got a lot of great updates there,
client configuration, and then OS deployment enhancements
also that we're doing as part of that shift to Windows 10,
because one of the reasons why Config Manager
does release kind of three times a year is
to stay ahead of the semi-annual channel releases of Windows
and really make sure that we can deliver
the best deployment experiences.
- Awesome, so, let's start with
the network bandwidth optimization.
Can you tell us a little bit about what's new there?
- All right, so my favorite thing by far,
and probably the best acronym of any product
that we've ever shipped at Microsoft,
Low Extra Delay Background Transport: LEDBAT.
It's not brand new, but it really revolutionizes the way
network utilization actually works,
and if you're not using it, it's something that
you should really look at right now.
So, one of the cool things is when you think about
normal throttling, right, typically what's happening
is a percentage of the network bandwidth is getting
carved out by the throttles that you have.
So, you might have two or three different swim lanes
of traffic that are being carved out of your 100% mark.
That means that users are actually impacted by this.
So, that means that they might have only 80%
or 85% of the network to use because you've got
maybe a bunch of different throttles in place.
Now, the cool thing is LEDBAT basically lets you
utilize all the white space that you see here in the graphic
and the nice thing is if you've got background tasks
it's going to instantly yield to foreground traffic.
So, if a user does want to go to YouTube
and maybe download the current video
or do anything like that, they'll be able to watch a movie
or do whatever they need to do
that's kind of network intensive.
Maybe they're watching a stream video using Microsoft 365.
We're gonna basically yield to that traffic,
and then all those background processes are gonna use
all the gray area to where what might have taken weeks,
months sometimes, to replicate from site to site,
if you're going say from Europe to Asia
to North America for some of your deployment source,
you can do that now with LEDBAT.
So, really, really cool stuff.
- And if I understand this right, it's kind of like
you have these massive updates you've got to download,
but to make sure that you're not hogging up all the network
it's gonna yield traffic.
It's gonna let, if your users need to access the internet
for something it's gonna back off of traffic for that,
but then once that's gone it will be able to take full
advantage of the bandwidth to get that done even faster.
- Exactly, it's proper network utilization.
It's real time.
It's yielding to that foreground traffic.
So, users aren't impacted.
- So, that's obviously super useful.
How do people go about enabling this feature?
- The best part is if you're a Config Manager admin
it's one check box as part
of your distribution point properties.
So, literally here adjust the download speed to use
the unused network traffic with Windows LEDBAT,
check that, you're done.
There's been a lot of optimizations recently
in terms of getting this to work
and make sure it works with proxy servers,
the network, and all those things.
But it really helps.
A couple of the related technologies that
I want to talk about as well is delivery optimization.
So, something else that you can do now as part
of your Windows and Office deployment by the way
is use basically cloud CDN as source,
and the nice thing is only a couple of clients
actually need to download the source files.
They can then distribute it amongst themselves on a subnet.
So, I might have instead of 10 requests going up
to the cloud to get source, I might have, in this case,
two out of eight.
The other six are gonna be delivered
through their peers effectively there,
and that's great if I've got automated deployment rules.
Related to that, we've also got Peer Cache
as part of Config Manager.
Now, if you're not using Peer Cache what that does
is it actually does, you can define a client
that's on part of a local network, maybe in a branch office.
As long as it's a well-connected client,
you can use that as the deployment source as well.
It even works in Windows PE situations for OS deployment.
So, really, really cool stuff there in terms of, again,
making the network more efficient
and as fast as it can be, basically 'cause you're moving
the traffic out to the endpoints of the network.
So, making it much better there.
- Awesome, and this latest release that's just come out
is version 1902.
Obviously not all of these updates are brand new in 1902,
but after a couple of releases
the kinks have been worked out.
Networking's always a little bit tricky.
And so, there's appliances, configurations between
that can affect these capabilities,
but it's now available in 1902.
- That's exactly right.
So, by now the team's discovered
and worked through most of the common issues.
If you look at some of the blogs from Dan Havey.
All of the things on LEDBAT have gotten much,
much better over the last couple of months,
and also, you know, 'cause it's kind of similar
and analogous to when I was working on Office 365 Pro Plus
and click-to-run packaging, this was all delivered
from a CDN, you know, over proxy servers,
and all the things that we had to work through there.
Very, very similar, and kind of, you know,
and Office-related, there's been a lot
of Office enhancements also that have landed recently
in Config Manager really from 1806 forward
that we can build as part of Office deployment
when you move to Windows 10 and Office 365 Pro Plus.
Just to show you kind of one of the really cool things
that we have now is the Office Customization Tool.
Now, what this does is actually if you look at the URL
on top it's config.office.com.
It's gonna let you create an XML file.
Now, the XML file's gonna govern,
here you can see what version of Office,
like if it's gonna be Pro Plus.
2019 volume licensing's also supported by this.
There is no more OCT or MSI-based deployment.
It's all gonna be click-to-run based,
and it's all gonna use this tool.
Now, I can sign up for whatever update channel that I want.
If I want to use the Semi-Annual Channel,
like we see here, I can do that.
I can target the version.
Now, this used to be a lookup I'd have to do
through support sites to get the actual builds
I'd want to manually target if I wanted
to put them in my XML.
Now it's just listed here.
So, really convenient.
And one of the cool things if I manage a lot
of languages, and I think probably a lot of people here do,
you can set up a primary language, and then you can do
something called match OS.
So, if it's delivered over the CDN over the cloud,
we'll actually pull that language down dynamically
to match the operating system version,
and we can do things like declare which function is
actually, or which mechanism's deploying Office,
in this case Config Manager.
We can do that.
This is set automatically and then I'll show you
in a second Config Manager through OCT,
that will be set automatically.
I can also determine how it's gonna be serviced.
So, if I want to service it through Config Manager
I can do that here, and one of the coolest things
that people have asked for is, one,
if I've got a pre-existing version of Office already
installed I want to be able to uninstall it, but two,
let's say I've got subscription Office,
but volume activation Visio or Project.
I want to keep those on the machine.
I can decide not to uninstall Visio
like we saw in this case because that might be
a perpetual license we want to keep running on that machine
for a while, and here you can see that we work, again,
on both KMS and Mac if we're using volume licensing builds
of Office, and we can even use this to set up
remote desktop services based deployment as well
using shared computer activation.
So, all these different things that we can do here.
So, I'm gonna go ahead and give this a name,
and the last thing I want to point out after this
is that I can actually set up granular policy.
So, for example, if I don't want to open up
Rich Text Format files like we see here,
I can go ahead and define a rule,
like we would have done in the OCT in the past
with the MSI builds of Office.
Now I can open that RTF file in protected view.
I can also do things like disable macros, et cetera,
as part of this, and the cool thing is
now I'm gonna output an XML file
and that's going to be there ready for me.
Now, if I go into Config Manager,
the nice thing with Config Manager is I can go through
exactly what we just saw, all those different screens.
Now, with Config Manager one of the, one kind of quirk
is it says Office 365 Client Management
is where you find this.
Again, 2019 VL also is accessed through here.
Now, I'm gonna go ahead and give this package a name.
I'll open the Office Customization Tool
and it's basically gonna open an iframe
with the same config.office.com laid out
for Config Manager in this case.
You know, it changes some of the column widths a little bit,
pre-configures some of the things we saw earlier,
like the Config Manager controls, if we want to build
a new one, or I can just import the XML file I just created.
Now Office gets installed, and it's ready to go there.
So, very, very cool stuff in terms of making sure that,
making sure that you can actually get
that running inside of Config Manager,
and get those packages built and deployed.
Now, a couple other things related to Office deployment
that I think are very cool is now I can actually
use the Readiness Toolkit for Office.
Now, the Readiness Toolkit for Office,
what you're seeing here, if you're not familiar with it,
it actually lets you determine if your add-ins,
your macros, if those are gonna be compatible
with the version of Office that
you're targeting for deployment.
So, here I've got a pretty typical 100%
of my stuff is compatible score.
The nice thing is if I run this across my entire
estate of desktops I'm gonna want to see
all the data to make sure that I'm targeting machines
that are gonna be compatible throughout.
So, all the stuff here is gonna be
listed through Config Manager.
I get a nice dashboard as well, but here I can create
collections based on machines that are compatible
with the new version of Office.
So, it's all very automated in terms of using data
to see what the compatibility looks like,
and then target those machines for deployment later.
- And that's good, that's all optimizing
and making sure that, you know,
your users at the end of the day if they're leveraging
add-ins that might not be available,
you can make sure you're protecting them,
or at least planning for them to keep them having
a productive experience.
- [Jeremy] Right, right.
- That's awesome, and obviously Office is gonna be
one of the most important apps that you're gonna be
deploying across your business, but what other updates
are there with Config Manager when it comes
to desktop and application deployment?
- Yeah, so, one of my favorite things right now
for migration and kind of file sync
is the ability to actually use OneDrive Known Folder Move,
and what that does is it basically syncs your files
for your documents directory, your desktop,
and your pictures into OneDrive.
Personally, I do this on three different devices,
so I never have to think about, hmm, did I save that
on my machine in my office, or on my laptop,
or on my tablet that's at home.
They're always gonna be able to get to these files.
Also, on my phone I can securely authenticate.
I'm protected by multi-factor authentication,
all the security obviously, but if I've got something
like let's say ransomware, OneDrive lets me
roll the files back if I need to.
So, get a lot of protections here as well.
Now, we've had the ability really since I think October
or so to be able to do group policy configuration
to be able to get this to run silently in the background.
If you have your tenant ID, and you actually get this
set up and configured, you've got Office 365 licensed,
everything's ready to go, you can actually set up
that silent sync in the background without prompting
your users to do it, and you can do it whether you want
to prompt them with a, you know, with a toast
that says we're syncing the files in the background or not.
Those are all configurations you can make.
So, the great thing is now if you're a Config Manager admin
and you don't want to use GPO, or group policy objects,
to do this, you can actually do this natively
within the Config Manager console.
So now, like I would with any other client policy,
I can go ahead and fire that up, open a new policy
around OneDrive, OneDrive for Business Known Folder Move,
and that's going to actually get that synced,
organized, and create that handshake between the machine
and the OneDrive service for all of the users that I target.
So, really cool stuff, and easy to do within Config Manager.
- Yeah, I can see why that'd be super useful
when your users, you want to make sure that
their desktop, their pictures, their documents
are all being securely backed up
on the cloud through OneDrive.
Now you're able to set that up all here
through Configuration Manager.
Now, let's shift.
Many of us are working our way to get Windows 10
deployed out into our businesses.
So, what's the team been doing around OS deployments?
- Right, the OSD capabilities, they're super complete now
in Config Manager, and I've been with them since day one,
since before there was actually OSD
and task sequencing-based technology,
but you know, we've made it even better,
because we can't stop now.
So, one of the things that a lot of people are gonna start
using is in place upgrades and upgrade sequences.
Now, we've actually created
a templatized task sequence here.
All the things that you might want to do as part
of pre-flight check in, post deployment tasks,
one, you know, and I'm looking at say battery checks,
wired network configurations, if I want to supersede
drivers to a newer version, then the upgrade happens,
and it does post-processing.
So, maybe I want to replace the driver.
I want to add new applications.
I want to get rid of an old version of Office
and put a new version of Office on.
All those I can do, and my favorite part though
is actually if you look towards the bottom, the roll back.
So, let's say a task, or let's say
an upgrade actually fails.
Now, what we can do with roll back is actually have it
run the app that I uninstalled prior to the in place upgrade
happening, so I get back to the same state, you know,
if setup does decide not to cooperate
and get through the entire in place upgrade.
Really cool stuff.
And additionally to that, something else that's brand new
to 1902 is the ability to get a progress, you know,
progress status during an in place upgrade,
'cause before you'd have a nice progress status
until that upgrade setup, you know, Windows setup started,
and then it was just basically standard setup,
and nobody knew what was going on,
and if you're the Config Manager admin
you're used to seeing these screens.
Now you can actually see them as part
of the in place upgrade as well.
- Now, when it comes to operating system updates though
I'm always thinking about, as a user,
am I gonna know an update's happening?
Am I gonna interrupt it?
What if all of the sudden I'm working on a document
and it's like, hey, I'm restarting?
So, what updates have been done in that space
to make sure that these deployments can roll out smoothly?
- Yeah, this is something else that's, that we hear a lot.
So, for example, you know,
you want to have a good experience,
want to make sure that users, if they want to hit
the snooze button, you know,
like maybe they're working on something.
It's tax season, like it almost is right now in the U.S.
They don't want to have that update maybe happen
right then and there.
So, what we can do now is actually defer an update
for a little bit based on your policy.
I can say update right now.
Maybe it's the right time to do it,
or I can say snooze and remind me later to do that.
So, this is a new dialog, better than those
kind of cryptic or smaller text toasts that we had
in the past, where it was like Config Manager's updating
your machine, deal with it, you know?
We're gonna be done in a few minutes.
Now I can actually have a little bit of control here.
Obviously, you probably don't want to give them
too much control, 'cause they'll hit the snooze button--
- Forever. - For months and months
and months, so there has to be a limit to it.
But these are the things that you can
set now through policy.
Something else that you can do is if your machine
wants to reboot, we can actually indicate that
to the user and schedule the reboot as well.
So, kind of cool fit and finished things here
in terms of servicing that's gonna make it a lot easier
to really deliver updates through Config Manager,
and hopefully reduce help desk calls.
- Yeah, a ton of updates across the board
for preparing your devices and apps,
readying your networks and app delivery.
So, this should help accelerate your deployments
to Windows 10 and Office 365 Pro Plus.
Of course, remember you do need to be on the current branch
for Config Manager to take advantage of these updates.
Jeremy, any closing thoughts?
- Yeah, yeah, I've got a couple of insider tips
actually for everyone here.
You should all be insiders.
So, a couple of things.
CM Tech Preview, that's your AKA link.
So, go there to get all of the early builds
of Configuration Manager.
Make sure that you're staying on the current branch.
Use Tech Preview though in a lab environment.
It's a good thing to do.
One other cool insider tip that not a lot of people
actually know about, and it's got kind of a cool
code name that's public, is Olympia V2.
So, this is something that lets you get access
to Windows and Office insider builds
and also, you know, if you pair that with Config Manager
updates, because they happen three times a year,
you'll always have the kind of the newest stuff
as part of your insider experience.
You can go to olympia.windows.com if you're an insider
and grab the lab builds there.
Now, if you're not on the bleeding edge,
and you want to kind of play things a bit more
safe and sane and kind of in the here and now
in terms of production bits, you can always use
the Desktop Deployment Center.
You know, we've done a lot of work.
I've personally done a lot of work here on this,
at aka.ms/howtoshift.
All the written documentation, videos if you prefer
that stuff, or Microsoft Mechanics is there,
and of course links to all the labs, some of the things
that, you know, that you can do here literally to get
trained up and ready for a large scale deployment.
It's all here.
It's all free.
It's all stuff that you can grab right now.
- Awesome, thanks so much Jeremy.
This has been a fantastic update,
and of course for everyone here, keep watching
Microsoft Mechanics for the latest tech updates,
and be sure to follow us on Twitter.
Thank you so much, and bye for now.
(electronic music)