FAQ on Configuration Manager 2012 Software Update Point - Changes and New Feature

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Below are some FAQ around the changes and new features introduced in Configuration Manager 2012.

1.        Superseded Rules

Q: Now SUM has a new setting – ‘superseded rule’ that can expire an superseded update after some time. When does the expiration operation happen?

A: It happens on synchronization. In most case, it will happen on full synchronization and may happen on delta sync for some updates.

2.        Deployment Templates:

Q: In v4, the Deployment Status in CM console and in report come from two different sources and sometimes the data are totally different. It caused a lot of confusion to customers. In v5, is there any improvement? Do the deployment monitoring status in UI and SUM reports come from the same source? Is there a way to view/edit existing deployment templates?

A: No the only way to Delete/Create a template is in the DSUW (Distribute Software Update Wizard) and Create ADR (Automatic Deployment Rule) wizards

3.        Deployments Monitoring and SUM reports:

Q: In v4, the Deployment Status in CM console and in report come from two different sources and sometimes the data are totally different. Sometimes, it caused confusion. In v5, is there any improvement? Do the deployment monitoring status in UI and SUM reports come from the same source?

A: They still come from different sources. The reasons for different sources in both CM07 and CM12 is not arbitrary, it is a tradeoff of precision vs. response times.
Report data deliver the results as of the time of running the report, at the expense of having to wait a bit to get it. Summarizing on a large scale deployments takes from tens of seconds to a few minutes per deployment, depending on what is being reported. Now, if you have say 10 deployments, and every time you click on the “deployments” tab you have to wait 3-30 minutes for it to show, that won’t be much of an experience. So to avoid this we periodically perform background summaries and that’s the data we show in console. Because it is done periodically, it has some latency and that’s the tradeoff. As for improvements, In CM12 new in-console monitoring the user can refresh the summaries of individual deployments to get fresh data on items of interest.

4.        Deployments & State-Based Software Update Groups:

Q: can we still add/remove update/update group in/from a deployment?

A: No. Each deployment has an associated group and instead of adding updates to the deployment, in CM12 users should be adding updates to that group. So you don’t lose functionality.

(Be aware that You can only add updates to a group after it is deployed as long as the update is already downloaded.)

The change is mainly to simplify the overall process, and make update groups state based, rather than have separate concepts of lists, and deployments.