Office 365 Channel from Current to Monthly

Matt Dillon 1,211 Reputation points
2022-02-03T15:27:21.737+00:00

I deployed Office 365 Apps for enterprise through SCCM over the past few months. Not sure if there were some deployed with a configuration XML that listed Current Channel for updates or not. The current deployment has MonthlyChannel which is what we want in our environment.

I used SCCM to create collection based on the current channel selected. I have a majority on Monthly Channel. If I look at System Resources - Office 365 Configurations in the SCCM console for an endpoint reporting Monthly Channel, it shows both the CDN BaseURL and the cfg Update Channel as "http://officecdn.microsoft.com/pr/55336b82-a18d-4dd6-b5f6-9e5095c314a6" If I look at System Resources - Office 365 Configurations in the SCCM console for an endpoint reporting Current Channel, the CDN BaseURL shows "http://officecdn.microsoft.com/pr/55336b82-a18d-4dd6-b5f6-9e5095c314a6", but the cfg Update Channel shows "http://officecdn.microsoft.com/pr/492350f6-3a01-4f97-b9c0-c7c6ddf67d60"

I tried deploying a configuration file using the Office Deployment Tool and a config file, but the Application does not run because the deployment detection method looks for the CDNBaseUrl registry key which is set to Monthly.

Am I missing a step? How do I get the cfg Update Channel to update to the Monthly setting? Do users need to run updates or something? I recently changed the update process from using SCCM to just having it check in with Microsoft automatically. It is just easier. I also verified that my Admin Console settings are enforcing Monthly Channel as well.

Do I just need some patience to let things run their course or do I simply need to push a registry key change to the Current Channels and if so, what effect will that have?

Thanks in advance.

Office Management
Office Management
Office: A suite of Microsoft productivity software that supports common business tasks, including word processing, email, presentations, and data management and analysis.Management: The act or process of organizing, handling, directing or controlling something.
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Microsoft 365 Publishing
Microsoft 365 Publishing
Microsoft 365: Formerly Office 365, is a line of subscription services offered by Microsoft which adds to and includes the Microsoft Office product line. Publishing: The process of preparing, producing, and releasing content for distribution or sale.
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Microsoft Configuration Manager
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  1. Matt Dillon 1,211 Reputation points
    2022-02-11T21:41:49.47+00:00

    A little more to add here.

    After much trial and error, in my environment, I had a bunch of Current Channels that refused to change to Monthly. I created the following script to automate and force the process: 

    # UPDATE CURRENT CHANNEL USERS TO MONTHLY CHANNEL


$RegCheck = (Get-ItemProperty "HKLM:\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Office\ClickToRun\Configuration" -Name "UnmanagedUpdateUrl" -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue)
If ($RegCheck -ne $null)
    {
    Remove-ItemProperty "HKLM:\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Office\ClickToRun\Configuration" -Name "UnmanagedUpdateUrl" -Force -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue
    }

# ODT
$ODTExecution = "C:\Program Files\Common Files\microsoft shared\ClickToRun\OfficeC2RClient.exe"
$Arguments = " /changesetting Channel=MonthlyEnterprise"
Start-Process $ODTExecution -ArgumentList $Arguments -Verb Runas -Wait

Start-Sleep -Seconds 30 

# Scheduled Task
Get-ScheduledTask -TaskName "Office Automatic Updates 2.0" | Start-ScheduledTask


# Client Update
$Arguments2 = " /update user updatepromptuser=false forceappshutdown=false displaylevel=true"
Start-Process $ODTExecution -ArgumentList $Arguments2 -Verb Runas -Wait

DO
{
$Test = (Get-ItemProperty "HKLM:\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Office\ClickToRun\Configuration") | Select-Object -ExpandProperty AudienceID
}
WHILE ($Test -ne "55336b82-a18d-4dd6-b5f6-9e5095c314a6")

    I push this trough Script sin SCCM and it works perfectly. Making an Application adn will keep the detection method the original reg keys I listed in my question. So far, this is working solid.

    1 person found this answer helpful.
  2. Rahul Jindal [MVP] 9,131 Reputation points MVP
    2022-02-03T19:45:47.413+00:00

    Hi. There are multiple ways of changing the channels. The most popular way is to use the ODT to deploy an xml. I had setup something last year, but don't have access to it right now. To put things in context, I modified the registries and used the xml to re-configure the channel of my choice. Some of it is called out officially in the link below.

    change-update-channels

  3. Matt Dillon 1,211 Reputation points
    2022-02-04T19:12:02.667+00:00

    So I was able to get this to work. I added a second detection method that looks for the additional setting in the registry. This now forces the Office Deployment Tool to run and apply the Monthly Channel setting. What has to happen after this will most likely just take its time, but what i did to force the issue was the following:

    1. Apply the Office Deployment Tool with the Monthly Channel XML settings
    2. Open Task Scheduler and kicked off all the Office Tasks (these I imagine will eventually run at a logon or at a random part of the day)
    3. I rebooted for good measure.
    4. Logged in and opened Word - File - Office Account - Update Options - Update Now
    5. Closed Word and Webex and saw the "downloading updates in the background" box.
    6. When this finished running, I was on Monthly Channel.

    I did this to convert mine to Current from Monthly manually and then used my SCCM Application to convert back to Monthly from Current.
    At the end of the day, it's patience that is needed along with the second detection method to get the application to run at all.

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