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Manage Windows updates on Surface Hub

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This page explains best practices for managing updates for Surface Hub devices.

Windows Update for Business

Windows Update for Business provides enterprises with more control over how and when Windows Update installs releases, while reducing device management costs. Using this method, Surface Hubs are directly connected to Microsoft’s Windows Update service.

  • Receive updates directly from Microsoft's Windows Update service, with no extra infrastructure required.
  • Defer updates to provide more time for testing and evaluation.
  • Deploy updates to select groups of devices.
  • Define maintenance windows for installing updates.

Tip

Use peer-to-peer content sharing to reduce bandwidth issues during updates. See Optimize Windows update delivery for details.

Note

Surface Hub does not currently support rolling back updates.

Surface Hub servicing model

Surface Hub uses the Windows servicing model, referred to as Windows as a Service (WaaS). Traditionally, new features were added only in new versions of Windows that were released every few years. Each new version required lengthy and expensive processes to deploy in an organization. As a result, end users and organizations don't frequently enjoy the benefits of new innovation. The goal of Windows as a Service is to continually provide new capabilities while maintaining a high level of quality.

Microsoft publishes two types of Surface Hub releases broadly on an ongoing basis:

  • Feature updates - Updates that install the latest new features, experiences, and capabilities. Microsoft expects to publish two new feature updates per year.
  • Quality updates - Updates that focus on the installation of security fixes, drivers, and other servicing updates. Microsoft expects to publish one cumulative quality update per month.

In order to improve release quality and simplify deployments, all new releases that Microsoft publishes for Windows 10 or Windows 11, including Surface Hub, will be cumulative. This means new feature updates and quality updates will contain the payloads of all previous releases (in an optimized form to reduce storage and networking requirements), and installing the release on a device will bring it completely up to date. Also, unlike earlier versions of Windows, you cannot install a subset of the contents of a Windows 10 quality update. For example, if a quality update contains fixes for three security vulnerabilities and one reliability issue, deploying the update will result in the installation of all four fixes.

Surface Hub receives updates on the Semi-Annual Channel. Like other editions of Windows 10 or Windows 11, the servicing lifetime is finite. You must install new feature updates on machines running these branches in order to continue receiving quality updates.

For more information on Windows as a Service, see Overview of Windows as a service.

Use Windows Update for Business

Surface Hubs, like all Windows 10 devices, include Windows Update for Business (WUfB) to enable you to control how your devices are being updated. Windows Update for Business helps reduce device management costs, provide controls over update deployment, offer quicker access to security updates, as well as provide access to the latest innovations from Microsoft on an ongoing basis. For more information, see Manage updates using Windows Update for Business.

Important

Microsoft generally releases one mandatory Windows security update per month (released on the 2nd Tuesday and often referred to as a "B" release). Together with out-of-band security updates, these are the only updates made available to devices using WUfB. However, Surface Hub improvements are generally delivered through optional non-security updates on the 3rd Tuesday of each month ("C" release). As a result, customers using Windows Update for Business with their Surface Hubs will have wait until the following month's "B" release to see the latest improvements on these devices.

To set up Windows Update for Business:

  1. Group Surface Hub into deployment rings
  2. Configure when Surface Hub receives updates.

Note

You can use Microsoft Intune, Microsoft Endpoint Configuration Manager, or a supported third-party MDM provider to set up WUfB. Walkthrough: use Microsoft Intune to configure Windows Update for Business.

Group Surface Hub into deployment rings

Use deployment rings to control when updates roll out to your Surface Hubs, giving you time to validate them. For example, you can update a small pool of devices first to verify quality before a broader roll-out to your organization. Depending on who manages Surface Hub in your organization, consider incorporating Surface Hub into the deployment rings that you've built for your other Windows 10 or Windows 11 devices. For more information about deployment rings, see Prepare servicing strategy for Windows client updates.

See the following table for examples of deployment rings.

Deployment ring Ring size Servicing branch Deferral for feature updates Deferral for quality updates (security fixes, drivers, and other updates) Validation step
Preview (e.g. non-critical or test devices) Small Windows Insider Preview None. None. Manually test and evaluate new functionality. Pause updates if there are issues.
Release (e.g. devices used by select teams) Medium Semi-annual channel None. None. Monitor device usage and user feedback. Pause updates if there are issues.
Broad deployment (e.g. most of the devices in your organization) Large Semi-annual channel 120 days after release. 7-14 days after release. Monitor device usage and user feedback. Pause updates if there are issues.
Mission critical (e.g. devices in executive boardrooms) Small Semi-annual channel 180 days after release (maximum deferral for feature updates). 30 days after release (maximum deferral for quality updates). Monitor device usage and user feedback.

Configure when Surface Hub receives updates

Once you've determined deployment rings for your Surface Hubs, configure update deferral policies for each ring:

Note

If you encounter issues during the update rollout, you can pause updates using Update/PauseFeatureUpdates and Update/PauseQualityUpdates.

If you use a proxy server or other method to block URLs

Add the following Windows update trusted site URLs to the “allow list”:

  • http(s)://*.update.microsoft.com
  • http://download.windowsupdate.com
  • http://windowsupdate.microsoft.com

Once the Windows 10 Team Anniversary Update is installed, you can remove these addresses to return your Surface Hub to its previous state.

Maintenance window

To ensure the device is always available for use during business hours, the Surface Hub performs its administrative functions during a specified maintenance window. The Surface Hub automatically installs updates through Windows Update during the maintenance window, and reboots the device 20 minutes before the end of the window.

Surface Hub follows these guidelines to apply updates:

  • Install the update during the next maintenance window. If a meeting is scheduled to start during a maintenance window, or the Surface Hub sensors detect that the device is being used, the pending update will be postponed to the following maintenance window.
  • If the next maintenance window is past the update’s prescribed grace period, the device will calculate the next available slot during business hours using the estimated install time from the update’s metadata. It will continue to postpone the update if a meeting is scheduled, or the Surface Hub sensors detect that the device is being used.
  • If the next maintenance window is not past the update's grace period, the Surface Hub will continue to postpone the update.
  • If an additional reboot is needed, the Surface Hub will automatically reboot during the next maintenance window.

Tip

Allow time for updates when you first setup your Surface Hub. For example, a backlog of virus definitions may be available, which should be immediately installed.

A default maintenance window is set for all new Surface Hubs:

  • Start time: 2:00 AM
  • Duration: 2 hours

To manually change the maintenance window:

  1. Open Settings on your Surface Hub.
  2. Navigate to Update & security > Windows Update > Advanced options.
  3. Under Maintenance hours, select Change.

To change the maintenance window using MDM, set the MaintenanceHoursSimple node in the SurfaceHub configuration service provider. See Manage settings with an MDM provider for more details.