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Use Group Policy to enable an update that is disabled by default

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This article describes how to configure Group Policy to use a feature preview policy definition that activates a preview update on managed devices.

Summary

Certain updates are shipped in a disabled state with the intent to enable them in a later update. While in a disabled state, enterprises can enable these updates via Group Policy to preview the change and confirm that it works as expected. This preview is temporary. After a new update is released to enable the change by default, the preview is no longer necessary.

Important

This preview only applies to non-security updates. Security updates aren't available for preview.

Microsoft manages the deployment process for non-enterprise devices. For enterprise devices, Microsoft provides policy definition files (the Windows Installer files (*.msi)). Enterprises can then use Group Policy to deploy in hybrid Microsoft Entra ID or Active Directory Domain Services (AD DS) domains.

Note

You must restart the affected computers for the Group Policy change to take effect.

Apply a preview to a single device using Group Policy

To use Group Policy to apply a preview to a single device, follow these steps:

  1. Download the policy definition .msi file to the device as instructed by Microsoft Support.

    Important

    Make sure that the operating system (OS) that is listed in the .msi file name matches the OS of the device that you want to update.

  2. Run the .msi file on the device. This action installs the policy definition in the Administrative Template.

  3. Open the Local Group Policy Editor. To do this, select Start, and then enter gpedit.msc.

  4. Select Local Computer Policy > Computer Configuration > Administrative Templates > KB <#######> Feature Preview > Windows 10/11, version <YYMM>.

    Note

    In this step, <#######> is the KB article number of the update where the change is shipped, and <YYMM> is the Windows 10 or Windows 11 version number.

  5. Right-click the policy, and then select Edit > Enabled > OK.

  6. Restart the device.

For more information about how to use the Local Group Policy Editor, see Working with the Administrative Template policy settings using the Local Group Policy Editor.

Apply a preview to devices in a hybrid Microsoft Entra ID or AD DS domain using Group Policy

To apply a velocity policy definition to devices that belong to a hybrid Microsoft Entra ID or AD DS domain, follow these steps:

  1. Download and install the .msi files.
  2. Create a Group Policy Object (GPO).
  3. Configure the GPO.
  4. Monitor the GPO results.

1. Download and install the .msi files

  1. Obtain the .msi file from your Microsoft Customer Service and Support (CSS) counterpart as instructed by Microsoft Support when applicable.

  2. Download the velocity policy definition .msi files that you require to update to the computer that you use to manage Group Policy for your domain.

  3. Run the .msi files. This action installs the velocity policy definition in the Administrative Template.

    Note

    Policy definitions are installed in the C:\Windows\PolicyDefinitions folder. If you have implemented the Group Policy Central Store, you must copy the .admx and .adml files to the Central Store.

2. Create a GPO

  1. Open Group Policy Management Console, and then select Forest: <DomainName> > Domains.
  2. Right-click your domain name, and then select Create a GPO in this domain, and link it here. Alternatively, you can create and apply it to the preferred container in the domain based on the location of the target computer accounts.
  3. Enter the name of the new GPO (for example, Preview <######>), and then select OK.

For more information about how to create GPOs, see Create a Group Policy Object.

3. Configure the GPO

To edit your GPO:

  1. Right-click the GPO that you created previously, and then select Edit.
  2. In the Group Policy Editor, select <GPOName> > Computer Configuration > Administrative Templates > KB ####### Issue XXX Feature Preview > Windows 10, version <YYMM>.
  3. Right-click the policy, and then select Edit > Enabled > OK.

For more information about how to edit GPOs, see Edit a Group Policy object from GPMC.

4. Monitor the GPO results

In the default configuration of Group Policy, managed devices should apply the new policy within 90 to 120 minutes. To speed up this process, you can run gpupdate on affected devices to manually check for updated policies.

Make sure that each affected device restarts after it applies the policy.

Important

The feature preview will be enabled after the device applies the policy and then restarts.

Deploy a preview using Microsoft Intune ADMX policy ingestion to the managed devices

Note

To use the solutions in this section, you must install the cumulative update that was released on July 26, 2022 or a later one on the computer.

Group policies and GPOs aren't compatible with mobile device management (MDM) based solutions, such as Microsoft Intune. These instructions will guide you through how to use Intune custom settings for ADMX ingestion and configure ADMX backed MDM policies to enable a preview without requiring a GPO.

To enable a preview on Intune-managed devices, follow these steps:

  1. Download and install the .msi file to get ADMX files.
  2. Create a custom configuration profile in Microsoft Intune.
  3. Monitor preview enablement.

1. Download and install the preview .msi file to get ADMX files

  1. Download the required velocity policy definition .msi files on the machine you use to sign in to Microsoft Intune.

    Note

    You need access to the contents of an ADMX file.

  2. Run the .msi files. This action installs the velocity policy definition in the Administrative Template.

    Note

    Policy definitions are installed in the C:\Windows\PolicyDefinitions folder.

    If you want to extract the ADMX files to another location, use the msiexec command with the TARGETDIR property. For example: msiexec /i c:\admx_file.msi /qb TARGETDIR=c:\temp\admx.

2. Create a custom configuration profile in Microsoft Intune

To configure devices to perform activation, you need to create a custom configuration profile for each OS of your managed devices. To create a custom profile, follow these steps:

  1. Select properties and add basic information of the profile.
  2. Add custom configuration settings to ingest ADMX files.
  3. Add custom configuration settings to set the new policy.
  4. Assign devices to the custom configuration profile.
  5. Review and create the custom configuration profile.

A. Select properties and add basic information about the profile

  1. Sign in to the Microsoft Intune admin center.

  2. Select Devices > Configuration > Create > New Policy.

  3. Select the following properties:

    • Platform: Windows 10 and later
    • Profile type: Templates > Custom

  4. Select Create.

  5. In Basics, enter the following properties:

    • Name: Enter a descriptive name for the policy. Name your policies so you can identify them later. For example, a possible policy name is "Preview <######> – Windows 10 21H2."
    • Description: Enter a description for the policy. This setting is optional but recommended.

    Note

    Platform and Profile type should already have values selected.

  6. Select Next.

Note

For more information about creating custom configuration profiles and configuration settings, see Use custom device settings in Microsoft Intune.

Before proceeding to the next two steps, open the ADMX file in a text editor (for example, Notepad) where the file was extracted. The ADMX file should be in the path C:\Windows\PolicyDefinitions if you installed it as an MSI file.

Here's an example of the ADMX file:

  <policies>  
    <policy name=" KB5034129_240124_0305_3_FeaturePreview" … >  
      <parentCategory ref=" KnownIssueRollback_Server_2022" />  
      <supportedOn ref=" SUPPORTED_Windows_10_0_Server_2022_Only" />  
      <enabledList…> … </enabledList>  
      <disabledList…>…</disabledList>  
    </policy>  
  </policies>

Record the values for policy name and parentCategory. This information is in the policies node at the end of the file.

B. Add custom configuration settings to ingest ADMX files

This configuration setting is used to install the policy on target devices. Follow these steps to add the ADMX ingestion settings:

  1. In Configuration settings, select Add.

  2. Enter the following properties:

    • Name: Enter a descriptive name for the configuration setting. Name your settings so you can identify them later. For example, "ADMX Ingestion: 04/30 Preview – Windows 10 21H2."

    • Description: Enter a description for the setting. This setting is optional but recommended.

    • OMA-URI: Enter the string ./Device/Vendor/MSFT/Policy/ConfigOperations/ADMXInstall/KIR/Policy/<ADMX Policy Name>.

      Note

      Replace <ADMX Policy Name> with the value of the recorded policy name from the ADMX file. For example, " KB5034129_240124_0305_3_FeaturePreview ".

    • Data type: Select String.

    • Value: Open the ADMX file with a text editor (for example, Notepad). Copy and paste the entire contents of the ADMX file you intend to ingest into this field.

  3. Select Save.

C. Add custom configuration settings to set the new velocity policy

This configuration setting is used to configure the preview policy, which is defined in the previous step.

Follow these steps to add the activation configuration settings:

  1. In Configuration settings, select Add.

  2. Enter the following properties:

    • Name: Enter a descriptive name for the configuration setting. Name your settings so you can identify them later. For example, "Velocity Preview: 04/30 Preview ###### – Windows 10 21H2."

    • Description: Enter a description for the setting. This setting is optional but recommended.

    • OMA-URI: Enter the string ./Device/Vendor/MSFT/Policy/Config/KIR~Policy~KnownIssueRollback~<Parent Category>/<ADMX Policy Name>.

      Note

      Replace <Parent Category> with the parent category string recorded in the previous step. For example, "KnownIssueRollback_Win_11". Replace <ADMX Policy Name> with the same policy name used in the previous step.

    • Data type: Select String.

    • Value: Enter <enabled/>.

  3. Select Save.

  4. Select Next.

D. Assign devices to the preview activation custom configuration profile

After you've defined what the custom configuration profile does, follow these steps to identify which devices you'll configure:

  1. In Assignments, select Add all devices.
  2. Select Next.

E. Review and create the preview activation custom configuration profile

Review the settings of your custom configuration profile and select Create.

3. Monitoring the preview

Follow these steps to monitor the configuration profile progress:

  1. Go to Devices > Configuration profiles, and select an existing profile. For example, select a macOS profile.

  2. Select the Overview tab. In this view, the Profile assignment status includes the following statuses:

    • Succeeded: Policy is applied successfully.
    • Error: The policy failed to apply. The message typically displays an error code that links to an explanation.
    • Conflict: Two settings are applied to the same device, and Intune can't sort out the conflict. An administrator should review the conflict.
    • Pending: The device hasn't checked in with Intune to receive the policy yet.
    • Not applicable: The device can't receive the policy. For example, the policy updates a setting specific to Windows Server 2022, but the device is using Windows 11, version 23H2.

For more information, see Monitor device configuration profiles in Microsoft Intune.