As of April 24, 2023, MECM 2303 is globally available for all customer to install. You can read more about the changes on the Microsoft Docs website.

Prerequisite Checks

  1. Review the MECM 2303 release notes and upgrade documentation for specific prerequisites and requirements.
  2. Open MECM Console and Navigate to Administration > Updates and servicing.
  3. Right-click Configuration Manager 2303 in the list and select Run Prerequisite Check.
MECM 2303 prerequisite check
  1. After a few minutes the prerequisite check will begin, and you can monitor the progress by navigating to Monitoring > Updates and Servicing Status > Configuration Manager 2303, and right-click and show status.

Address each warning if you get any during the prerequisite check.

Prerequisite Check Log File

By default, a log file will be created on your C:\ called ConfigMgrPrereq.log which you can use for troubleshooting.

MECM 2303 Upgrade Process

  1. Review the MECM 2303 release notes and upgrade documentation for specific prerequisites and requirements.
  2. Open MECM Console and Navigate to Administration > Updates and servicing.
  3. Right-click Configuration Manager 2303 in the list and select Run Install Update Pack.
  1. Tick the Ignore any prerequisites check warnings box if you have any (in my case I had one for the CMG which I am not utilizing and safe to ignore). Click Next.
  1. Select any additional features you want to install (these can be enabled at a later time. Click Next.
  1. Select your validation option, in my case I won’t be validating on my lab. Click Next.
  1. Agree to the License Tarms & Conditions, set your Software Assurance Expiration Date, and click Next.
  1. You can Enable Cloud Attach now or at a later time, I will be doing this at a later time. Click Next.
  1. Review the summary of your configurations and click Next.
  1. Close the Wizard and the upgrade will commence in the background.

After a few minutes the MECM Upgrade will begin, and you can monitor the progress by navigating to Monitoring > Updates and Servicing Status > Configuration Manager 2303, and right-click and show status.

The upgrade process can take anywhere between an hour to eight hours depending on the size of the environment. It’s important to review the logs during the upgrade process to ensure the upgrade is running smoothly. Don’t stress if a process hangs for an hour, it will generally kick back off after a time-out of the particular process thread.

MECM Upgrade Logs

During the upgrade the key log files to watch are:

cmupdate.log – This is stored in the default MECM installation directory specifed during \Program Files\Microsoft Configuration Manager\Logs\CMUpdate.log

hman.log – This is stored in the default MECM installation directory specified during \Program Files\Microsoft Configuration Manager\Logs\hman.log

sitecomp.log – This is stored in the default MECM installation directory specified during \Program Files\Microsoft Configuration Manager\Logs\sitecomp.log

ConfigMgrSetup.log – This is stored on the default OS directory. C:\ConfigMgrSetup.log

MECM Upgrade Post Action Tasks

Microsoft Official Checklist

After performing the MECM upgrade, it is important to review the Microsoft Documentation to confirm if any post-Action tasks are necessary. Note that not all items in the list are required and will vary depending on the environment.

MECM Console Upgrade

Close the console if you still have it open and reopen it to be prompted for the console to be upgrade. You will need to perform this on all servers if you have the console installed on. This can typically take up to fifteen minutes to complete.

MECM Boot Image Update

MECM will automatically upgrade the native boot images during the upgrade process, while any custom boot images will require manual updating.

  • Navigate to Software Library > Overview > Operating System > Boot Images
  • Right-click the boot image and select Update Distribution Ponts
  • Tick Reload this boot image with current WindowsPE version and select Next.
  • Once the boot image has been updated, it will automatically re-distribute to the distribution points.
  • Click Next and Close the wizard.

Endpoint Client Upgrades

Depending on your MECM configurations, the MECM clients will either receive automatic upgrades based on your configurations or require manual deployment of the upgrade package to endpoints.