Endpoint Services, MECM, Windows 10 to Windows 11 upgrade strategy for MECM endpoints
Overview
This article suggests a strategy for upgrading MECM-managed Windows 10 endpoints to Windows 11.
Systems
Microsoft Endpoint Configuration Manager (MECM)
Intended Audience
University of Illinois IT Pros leveraging MECM, hosted by Technology Services' Endpoint Services team
General Information
This article is intended to provide guidance to IT Pros as they design a Windows 10 to Windows 11 upgrade plan for their units. Microsoft will discontinue Windows 10 support on October 14, 2025.
Where possible, EPS recommends a full re-image of machines to move from Windows 10 to Windows 11. This article outlines a method for in-place upgrades for those machines that cannot be easily re-imaged.
Preparation
- Reference this article to identify MECM-managed endpoints that are running Windows 10.
- It may be helpful to create a collection of all Windows 10 machines. Following the instructions in the referenced article, you can use the following query language:
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select SMS_R_SYSTEM.ResourceID,SMS_R_SYSTEM.ResourceType,SMS_R_SYSTEM.Name,SMS_R_SYSTEM.SMSUniqueIdentifier,SMS_R_SYSTEM.ResourceDomainORWorkgroup,SMS_R_SYSTEM.Client from SMS_R_System where SMS_R_System.OperatingSystemNameandVersion like "%Microsoft Windows NT Workstation 10%" and SMS_R_System.Build < "10.0.22000"
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- It may be helpful to create a collection of all Windows 10 machines. Following the instructions in the referenced article, you can use the following query language:
- Reference this article to install the MECM client on Windows 10 endpoints that are unmanaged.
- Reference this article to prepare for deployment of MECM software updates.
- Verify hardware is compatible with Windows 11 - view system requirements here.
- This article has further information on several methods for verifying system compatibility within MECM.
- Please note that EPS can only support devices that fully meet Microsoft's posted system requirements.
- Run the 'Device Audit by Collection' and 'Summary of computer hardware by collection' reports located in \Monitoring\Overview\Reporting\Reports\Useful Reports to view hardware information.
- This article has further information on several methods for verifying system compatibility within MECM.
- Create a device collection for update deployment, ideally single-purpose and named specifically, e.g. "UIUC-Unit Windows 11 24H2 Upgrade"
- For initial testing, we recommend starting out with one or two devices manually added to this collection before moving to broader membership methods, like queries or included collections.
- Please note that once updates are deployed to the collection, the collection should not be deleted without first notifying EPS.
- For initial testing, we recommend starting out with one or two devices manually added to this collection before moving to broader membership methods, like queries or included collections.
- Contact Endpoint Services at https://go.illinois.edu/EPSHelp to deploy your selected upgrade version to your device collection.
Testing
Once your collection is made and you see your upgrade deployment in the MECM console, devices will start receiving the deployments according to your requested settings. Depending on your deployment settings, the update may or may not be visible in MECM - if you've elected to make it visible, it should appear like this:
Deployment
Once you have confirmed that your upgrade deployment is visible to you in the MECM console, is behaving as expected in Software Center, and installs successfully, you can increase the collection membership to apply the deployment more broadly. Typically this is done three ways:
- Creating collection membership queries as outlined in the Preparation section
- Adding 'Include Collection' membership
- Adding members directly (not recommended in general, but may be the best option for manual applying upgrades to small numbers of machines)
Please note that the upgrade will apply not only to Windows 10 machines, but also those with older Windows 11 versions (e.g. a 24H2 upgrade will apply to a Windows 11 23H2 machine).
Also note that any machines that do not satisfy the Windows 11 requirements may appear as "Compliant" in Monitoring, and the update will be marked as non-applicable.
If you have any questions or concerns, or if you'd like to request an upgrade deployment, please contact us at https://go.illinois.edu/EPSHelp.