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5 SCCM Release Rings – Behind the Scenes Story

5 SCCM Release Rings – Behind the Scenes Story

Written By Anoop C Nair
Last Updated July 1, 2024
Posted In SCCM
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Do you know about the internal testing rings of SCCM Current Branch versions? How does the SCCM release management cycle work within Microsoft? Let’s find out more details about the 5 SCCM Release Rings.

Also, let’s see the story behind the scenes about a couple of blog posts during the SCCM 1906 release.

I accidentally (NO, this is not the NDA stuff) learned about an SCCM internal test ring called ESCROW. I think this is one of Microsoft’s inner test rings.

Following are the testing SCCM Release Rings known to the outside world. I’m sure there will be several “crazily” named internal builds.

Patch My PC
Index
Behind the Scenes Story- 5 SCCM Release Rings
5 SCCM Release Rings – Behind the Scenes Story – Table.1
  1. Internal validation
  2. Escrow
  3. TP (Technical Preview)
  4. TAP (Technology Adoption Program)
  5. Production
    1. Fast Ring (enabled with PowerShell Script)
    2. Slow Ring (Available on all ONLINE installations)

Yes, these are the five SCCM release rings information that is publicly.

5 SCCM Release Rings - Behind the Scenes Story - Fig.1
5 SCCM Release Rings – Behind the Scenes Story – Fig.1

Behind the Scenes Story- 5 SCCM Release Rings

I have a lab environment running on a Surface Book. All my experiments are done using that lab environment.

As a Microsoft MVP, I had access to the SCCM 1906 production version before Friday. I started preparing the SCCM 1906 upgrade after office hours on Thursday (July 25th).

I wanted to prepare two blog posts related to the SCCM 1906 production release. The upgrade scenario was not easy for me because I needed to record the upgrade video for the SCCM 1906 Video walkthrough post.

I finished the upgrade and recorded the video by 10 p.m. After that, I spent many hours editing the video. By midnight, I was able to upload it to my YouTube channel.

I started preparing the posts “SCCM 1906 Upgrade Walkthrough Video Guide” and “What is New in SCCM 1906 New Features a Walkthrough“. At last, I completed the jobs around 4 AM.

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Author

Anoop C Nair is Microsoft MVP! He is a Device Management Admin with more than 20 years of experience (calculation done in 2021) in IT. He is a Blogger, Speaker, and Local User Group HTMD Community leader. His main focus is on Device Management technologies like SCCM 2012, Current Branch, and Intune. He writes about ConfigMgr, Windows 11, Windows 10, Azure AD, Microsoft Intune, Windows 365, AVD, etc

Written by

Anoop C Nair is Workplace Technology solution architect with 25+ years of experience in global enterprise organizations such as JP Morgan, Capgemini, etc. Microsoft Certified Trainer. Microsoft MVP from 2015 onwards for consecutive 11+ years! He also conducts Intune and modern workplace tech training for enterprise organizations. He is Blogger, Speaker, and Founder of HTMD Community and HTMD Conference. His main focus is on Device Management technologies like Intune, Windows, Cloud PC. He writes about technologies like Intune, SCCM, Windows, Cloud PC, Windows, Entra, Microsoft Security.

Discussion · 4 comments

  2. If we deploy customized images in our envt. with OSD Task Sequence and this is done every quarter. Is there a way to update older versions like 1709, 1803 to the current version and keep them updated ?

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