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Update 2008 for the Technical Preview Branch of Microsoft Endpoint Configuration Manager has been released.

 

Based on your feedback, you can now preview the query results when you’re creating or editing a query for collection membership. Preview the query results from the query statement properties dialog to validate collection membership. When you select Edit Query Statement, select the green triangle on the query properties for the collection to show the Query Results Preview window. You can stop and resume a long running query.

 

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Learn more about Collection query preview.

 

This preview release also includes:

 

Analyze SetupDiag errors for feature updates – With the release of Windows 10, version 2004, the SetupDiag diagnostic tool is included with Windows Setup. If there’s an issue with the upgrade, SetupDiag automatically runs to determine the cause of the failure. Configuration Manager now gathers and summarizes SetupDiag results from feature update deployments with Windows 10 servicing. The Windows 10 Servicing dashboard in the Software Library workspace of the Configuration Manager console now includes a tile for Collection Errors.

 

Collection evaluation view – We’ve integrated the functionality of Collection Evaluation Viewer into the Configuration Manager console. This change provides administrators a central location to view and troubleshoot the collection evaluation process. The console now displays the following information:

  • Historic and live information for full and incremental collection evaluations
  • The evaluation queue status
  • The time for collection evaluations to complete
  • Which collections are currently being evaluated
  • The estimated time that a collection evaluation will start and complete

 

Delete Aged Collected Diagnostic Files task – You now have a new maintenance task available for cleaning up collected diagnostic files. Delete Aged Collected Diagnostic Files uses a default value of 14 days when looking for diagnostic files to clean up and doesn’t affect regular collected files. The new maintenance task is enabled by default.

 

See task sequence size in the console – This release continues to iterate on changes in technical preview version 2004 and version 2007 to help you manage the size of task sequences. When you view the list of task sequences in the Configuration Manager console, add the Size (KB) column. Use this column to identify large task sequences that can cause problems.

 

Monitor scenario health – Configuration Manager is complicated to troubleshoot. It’s especially complex to understand system latency and the backlog between components. Cloud service-attached features increase that complexity. You can now use Configuration Manager to monitor the health of end-to-end scenarios. It simulates activities to expose performance metrics and failure points. These synthetic activities are similar to methods that Microsoft uses to monitor some components in its cloud services. Use this additional data to better understand timeframes for activities. If failures occur, it can help focus your investigation.

 

Import objects to current folder – Based on your feedback, now when you import an object in the Configuration Manager console, it imports to the current folder. Previously, Configuration Manager always put imported objects in the root node. This new behavior applies to applications, packages, driver packages, and task sequences.

 

 

Update 2008 for Technical Preview Branch is available in the Microsoft Endpoint Configuration Manager Technical Preview console. For new installations, the 2007 baseline version of Microsoft Endpoint Configuration Manager Technical Preview Branch is available on the Microsoft Evaluation Center. Technical Preview Branch releases give you an opportunity to try out new Configuration Manager features in a test environment before they are made generally available.

 

We would love to hear your thoughts about the latest Technical Preview!  Send us Feedback about product issues directly from the console and our UserVoice page for ideas about new features.

 

Thanks,

The Configuration Manager team

 

 

Configuration Manager Resources:

Documentation for Configuration Manager Technical Previews

Try the Configuration Manager Technical Preview Branch

Documentation for Configuration Manager

Microsoft Endpoint Manager announcement

Microsoft Endpoint Manager vision statement

Configuration Manager Forums

Configuration Manager Support

 

Brought to you by Dr. Ware, Microsoft Office 365 Silver Partner, Charleston SC.