Time for another feature highlight in Configuration Manager Current Branch (CB) 1606. For this post we will focus on the pre-release feature consent which is required as of update 1606.
As you will learn later in this post this just requires you to tick one single checkbox but before doing so there are some important things (and consequences) to take into account.
What are pre-release features?
As stated by Microsoft : Pre-release features are included in the product for early testing in a production environment, but should not be considered production ready. Also – according to the docs - there is no guarantee these features will be stamped production ready – there is a chance they never evolve beyond the pre-release state.
In the updates and servicing node the feature type column will indicate whether a feature is pre-release or not.
Note 1: yes – I did also notice the anomaly with the Conditional Access for Managed PC’s feature. Not sure why the name indicates pre-release and the feature type says release.
Note 2: the Windows Store for Business Integration feature is listed as a release feature but you cannot enable it. Bottom line: it behaves like a pre-release feature so you can only enable it if you have giving consent to pre-release features.
How to give consent to use pre-release features?
Giving consent is done through the hierarchy settings as shown in the screenshot below.
Important: this is a one time action which cannot be undone. Once enabled the entire section of the dialog box is greyed out – you can not uncheck the box.
Once you have given consent you can enable pre-release features in 1606 from within the Updates and Servicing node. For future releases this can then also be done through the wizard when you are actually installing the update
What happens if we do not give consent?
When installing an update in the future, the pre-release features will be visible in the Updates and Servicing Wizard but will be greyed out. They cannot be enabled.
Once the update is installed the pre-release features will be visible as well – but we cannot turn them on until consent has been given in the hierarchy settings. This is shown in the screenshot below.
That’s it for this feature highlight – up to you to decide whether or not to enable this in your production environments.
Until next time!
Tim
