Large Download Notification for April

Hello Jonathan_IT,

please let's stick to the "official" terms, otherwise it could be confusing. Allow me to add a few comments to make sure I understand you correctly.

If I'm connected to AD

AD shouldn't come into play here unless you use active sync and the existing group structure is not appropriate for a staged deployment. But then it's unlikely that you can move the computer objects around in AD at will.

setup new Update group with preview subscription

Unless you really need to and can set up groups in AD all necessary steps are done working with the Console:

1. In the Update Managers view in the Software Subscriptions pane Add a subscription and select the Preview package
2. Select the update manager in the Update managers pane, View/Edit Configuration, tab Subscriptions move the new subscription from Available: to Subscribed to:, click OK
3. In the Endpoints view, pane Policies, add or duplicate an updating policy and give it suitable name
4. View/Edit this policy, tab Subscription select the newly added subscription in the subscription dropdown. Please note that the name of the subscription has nothing to do with its contents (it is good practice to use a name which gives at least an idea what's in it - but you could also set Recommended to whatever package is available)
5. Now you can start assigning the new subscription to the desired groups: change 'Updating:' dropdown to new Updating Group  policy

Then after April 15 change them all back to current Updating group which is set to Recommended?

Again, it's the policy you are likely referring to. It is not necessary to reassign policies though. But before I go on a word about April 15 : The roll-out is staged and not on the exact date for all customers. Thus you should make sure that 10.3.7 is actually already available in Recommended for you. Either in View/Edit Subscription click the Details ... button or from the menu-bar View select Bootstrap Locations ....  

Depending on the number of groups reassigning the updating policy can be rather tedious. Instead you can just edit your new updating policy and set the subscription back to Recommended (good practice would be to also rename it to reflect the change - don't worry, all assignments are done by internal IDs). If you do not intend to make use of Preview in the near future you can unsubscribe the update manager (the reverse of step 2) to avoid downloading a package you don't use.

You might want to use the same procedure when the next larger update is due. IMO the easiest way is to use two updating policies (other than Default as you can't rename it) exchanging the "roles" of the policies.

HTH

Christian   

Hello Jonathan_IT,

please let's stick to the "official" terms, otherwise it could be confusing. Allow me to add a few comments to make sure I understand you correctly.

If I'm connected to AD

AD shouldn't come into play here unless you use active sync and the existing group structure is not appropriate for a staged deployment. But then it's unlikely that you can move the computer objects around in AD at will.

setup new Update group with preview subscription

Unless you really need to and can set up groups in AD all necessary steps are done working with the Console:

1. In the Update Managers view in the Software Subscriptions pane Add a subscription and select the Preview package
2. Select the update manager in the Update managers pane, View/Edit Configuration, tab Subscriptions move the new subscription from Available: to Subscribed to:, click OK
3. In the Endpoints view, pane Policies, add or duplicate an updating policy and give it suitable name
4. View/Edit this policy, tab Subscription select the newly added subscription in the subscription dropdown. Please note that the name of the subscription has nothing to do with its contents (it is good practice to use a name which gives at least an idea what's in it - but you could also set Recommended to whatever package is available)
5. Now you can start assigning the new subscription to the desired groups: change 'Updating:' dropdown to new Updating Group  policy

Then after April 15 change them all back to current Updating group which is set to Recommended?

Again, it's the policy you are likely referring to. It is not necessary to reassign policies though. But before I go on a word about April 15 : The roll-out is staged and not on the exact date for all customers. Thus you should make sure that 10.3.7 is actually already available in Recommended for you. Either in View/Edit Subscription click the Details ... button or from the menu-bar View select Bootstrap Locations ....  

Depending on the number of groups reassigning the updating policy can be rather tedious. Instead you can just edit your new updating policy and set the subscription back to Recommended (good practice would be to also rename it to reflect the change - don't worry, all assignments are done by internal IDs). If you do not intend to make use of Preview in the near future you can unsubscribe the update manager (the reverse of step 2) to avoid downloading a package you don't use.

You might want to use the same procedure when the next larger update is due. IMO the easiest way is to use two updating policies (other than Default as you can't rename it) exchanging the "roles" of the policies.

HTH

Christian