Upgrading to Windows 11 using Software Management Solution

Products

Software Management Solution IT Management Suite Client Management Suite Server Management Suite

Issue/Introduction

How to upgrade the OS to Windows 11 using Managed Software Delivery

Note:
For using Patch Management instead, see:
"Windows 11 24H2 Upgrade - Patch Management Solution" (KB 381793)

Environment

ITMS 8.6, 8.7.1, 8.7.2, 8.7.3

Resolution

Upgrading to Windows 11 using Software Management Solution.

This article covers a process to upgrade a Windows 10 client (we used Windows 10 Enterprise x64 US OS (22H2) workstation (where "TPM" is added to pass Windows11 installer requirement check)) to Windows 11 using Software Management Solution.

Please note that not all environmental circumstances may have been seen during the processes, so you may experience other issues not covered here.

To obtain an ISO, please see: https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/software-download/windows11

You can determine if you need to use the media creation tool to build the .ISO file or go to the Volume Licensing Service Center if needing an Enterprise Edition.

The following process was used successfully to upgrade. Please pay attention to the notes as they cover important items to consider.

Using a Windows 11 .iso file, extract the contents to a package repository folder that you will use as the source of your Package.
Compress the contents of the folder by creating an archive file (.zip is the only supported compression type) within the folder and give it any name.
In the Symantec Management Console, browse under Manage > Software.
In the upper left pane, click on Add Software > Import Package.
In the selector dialog, browse to the folder you created. NOTE: do not only select the folder but select all the files and folders and set "Setup.exe" as the installation file before clicking OK. Select the compressed file created above. It will then prompt you to ask if you want to extract the archived content - choose yes.

Note:
In case of Software Library is used:
- You must extract all data from the ISO file.
- After that, zip all this extracted data.
- Specify this zip file for Package import and click yes to extract.
  
  This is how it looks when you specify the .zip file for package import.
  
  This is a result of extracting all files during the zip package import
Under the Package, Server tab, be sure to stage your package as needed. Since the package is very large, having it on the appropriate Package Servers will save time.
Click OK to import the Package.
On the next screen, the default should be to create a New Software Resource. Check the box to Open the Software Resource upon creation.
Under the Package tab, select the Command line and click Edit (pencil icon).
There are several options to consider when generating the command line for the upgrade. Note the following:
- Command-line option 1:
  - "setup.exe" /auto upgrade /Copylogs %SystemDrive%\ProgramData\temp
  - /auto upgrade is vital to ensure this is an upgrade scenario.
  - The /Copylogs switch was used for testing but can be used to provide data if an upgrade fails.
  - If properly configured, you can use the /Unattend:unattend.xml switch to provide an answer file to any prompts you may get.
  - The command above is suggested as a way to check that for example Windows10 21H2 x64 client computer can successfully upgrade to Windows 11 OS (Some user interactive actions will be required to accept license agreement only).
  - NOTE: If expect silent install, 2 more options are needed,
    /quiet /eula accept
    
    "/EULA accept" is to suppress the Windows Setup end user license agreement
    
    "/quiet" is to suppress any Windows Setup user experience including the rollback user experience
    So the commandline will be: "setup.exe" /auto upgrade /quiet /eula accept /Copylogs %SystemDrive%\ProgramData\temp
    
    Note:
    Customers can find all information from Microsoft on what command line to use for Windows11 upgrade/install here:
    https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-hardware/manufacture/desktop/windows-setup-command-line-options?view=windows-11
Click OK to save the Command line, and click OK to save the Software Resource.
Go under the Manage > Policies section (or click the Policies blade in the lower left-hand pane).
Browse under Software, right-click on the Managed Software Delivery (or custom folder), and choose New > Managed Software Delivery.
Provide a Name, such as “Windows 11 Upgrade”.
Under Policy Rules/Actions > Software, Click Add > Software.
Choose the new Windows 11 component created previously.
Double click on the name of the software package in the blue bar, go to the Rules tab, click * New, then create a detection rule like the following but appropriate to the version of Windows 11 being installed (double check this in the registry on a Windows 11 computer):

Note: We created a "Detection" rule to make sure that current Windows doesn't have Windows 11 build version 22000 (for 22H2), 26100 (for Windows 11 24H2), etc
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion
For the applicability rule, you need to create a checking of "TPM version" and "TPM State" to make sure that the TPM version is at least 2.x and is enabled. (See "How to get current “TPM” custom inventory information from managed Windows client computers" (KB 250792)

As a result, the Managed Delivery policy should arrive on the client computer and the Windows 11 wizard appears and only asks to 'accept' license agreement, then Windows 10 should successfully upgrade to Windows 11 version.
The default Run As is the System Account. If this will not be sufficient in your environment, please change to Specified User under the Advanced options.
Under the Applied to section, carefully target those systems to be upgraded.
Under the Schedule section, use a Scheduled Time, do not have it repeat.
NOTE: When you are done upgrading a client, remove that client from the policy to avoid any unintentional repeat run of the policy.
Click Save changes to save the policy.

The policy is now ready. However, this may not be all that is required. You may get a prompt on the client that some software installed was not compatible with Windows 11. Run a test to find out if this will be the case for you and take any appropriate actions. Options include:
   •   Add Uninstall Software components before the upgrade to remove incompatible software.
   •   Use the unattend switch to choose what the upgrade should do in those circumstances.
   •   Have someone available at the system to uninstall or skip what is not compatible.

Additional Suggestions

Due to the compatibility requirements that Windows 11 has, especially as more people starts moving to versions like Windows 11 24H2, there is the need to check further hardware specifications. For example, If you want to install Windows 11 24H2, your device should meet the basic system requirements like these ones (always check Microsoft site for more up-to-date requirements:

Processor: 1GHz or faster CPU or System on a Chip (SoC) with two or more cores.
RAM: 4GB.
Hard drive: 64GB or larger.
System firmware: UEFI, Secure Boot capable.
TPM: Trusted Platform Module (TPM) version 2.0.
Graphics: Compatible with DirectX 12 or later with WDDM 2.0 driver.
Display resolution: High definition (720p) display greater than 9″ diagonally, 8 bits per color channel.
Networking: Microsoft account and internet connectivity.

Some of the common checks that you would like to do is about processors and CPU. Even though we don't have by default every check or process that could help you to accurately identify and target compatible Windows machines eligible to upgrade to Windows 11 24H2 for example via the SMP Console, there are few options that you could explore and implement as needed:

We have already some inventory information that is collected as far as processors go that could be used as reference. See the default report:
"Count of Computers by Processor Speed, Type, and OS"
Under Reports>All Reports>Discovery and Inventory>Inventory>Cross-platform>Hardware>Processor
For collecting CPU information, please refer to this KB:
https://broadcomcms-software.wolkenservicedesk.com/external/article?articleNumber=282592
Well, first thing that we see, there is a lot of different Intel and AMD supported processors to run Windows 11.
https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-hardware/design/minimum/supported/windows-11-22h2-supported-intel-processors?source=recommendations

Just a simple way to manually verify what CPU is on targeted computers and whether they are supported for Windows 11 24H2
1. 1. If Customer has resource target with required windows 10 computers in for further upgrade to Windows 11 24H2, then open Time Critical Management page
  
  2. Click below to change scope of computers
  
  3. Find there required resource target and make sure that only this required target is selected as scope.
  
  Example:
  
  4. Now you can find information about processors that are on these computers and compare with the list of supported AMD and Intel processors for Windows 11 24H2 by Microsoft.
There is the following Forum entry with everything created and available for Windows 11 upgrade. In the mentioned forum post below you can find references in how you can create a custom inventory, use powershell and check custom report whether appropriate machines are met Windows 11 requirements or not.

Please check this discussion
https://community.broadcom.com/symantecenterprise/discussion/windows-11-upgrade-through-altiris#bm760129c1-cc24-42af-9c06-62f2879c8e2f

and blog entry:
https://epm-blog.com/2021/10/05/windows-11-readiness-with-symantec-client-management-suite/
You can go over what is provided there and adjusted as needed for your Win 11 24H2 upgrade.

Additional Information

"Upgrading to Windows 10 or upgrading an existing version of Windows 10 using Software Management Solution" (KB 178784)

"How to get current “TPM” custom inventory information from managed Windows client computers" (KB 250792)

"How can I Identify the Status of the TPM Chip on the Computers in my Environment" (KB 221244)