Windows update policies

Deployment rings for Windows 10 and later

The following policies contain settings that apply to both Windows quality and feature updates. After onboarding there will be four of these policies in your tenant with the following naming convention:

Modern Workplace Update Policy [ring name] - [Windows Autopatch]

Windows 10 and later update settings

Setting name	Test	First	Fast	Broad
Microsoft product updates	Allow	Allow	Allow	Allow
Windows drivers	Allow	Allow	Allow	Allow
Windows quality update deferral period	0	1	6	9
Windows feature update deferral period	0	0	0	0
Upgrade Windows 10 to latest Windows 11 release	No	No	No	No
Set Windows feature update uninstall period	30 days	30 days	30 days	30 days
Servicing channel	General availability	General availability	General availability	General availability

Windows 10 and later user experience settings

Setting name	Test	First	Fast	Broad
Automatic update behavior	Reset to default	Reset to default	Reset to default	Reset to default
Restart checks	Allow	Allow	Allow	Allow
Option to pause updates	Disable	Disable	Disable	Disable
Option to check for Windows updates	Default	Default	Default	Default
Change notification update level	Default	Default	Default	Default
Deadline for Windows feature updates	5	5	5	5
Deadline for Windows quality updates	0	2	2	5
Grace period	0	2	2	2
Auto restart before deadline	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes

Windows 10 and later assignments

Setting name	Test	First	Fast	Broad
Included groups	Modern Workplace Devices-Windows Autopatch-Test	Modern Workplace Devices-Windows Autopatch-First	Modern Workplace Devices-Windows Autopatch-Fast	Modern Workplace Devices-Windows Autopatch-Broad
Excluded groups	None	None	None	None

Windows feature update policies

The service deploys policies using Microsoft Intune to control how Windows feature updates are deployed to devices.

Windows feature updates for Windows 10 and later

These policies control the minimum target version of Windows that a device is meant to accept. Throughout the rest of the article, these policies are referred to as DSS policies. After onboarding, there will be four of these policies in your tenant with the following naming convention:

Modern Workplace DSS Policy [ring name]

Windows feature update deployment settings

Setting name	Test	First	Fast	Broad
Name	Current targeted version of Windows	Current targeted version of Windows	Current targeted version of Windows	Current targeted version of Windows
Rollout options	Immediate start	Immediate start	Immediate start	Immediate start

Windows feature update policy assignments

Setting name	Test	First	Fast	Broad
Included groups	Modern Workplace Devices-Windows Autopatch-Test	Modern Workplace Devices-Windows Autopatch-First	Modern Workplace Devices-Windows Autopatch-Fast	Modern Workplace Devices-Windows Autopatch-Broad
Excluded groups	Modern Workplace - Windows 11 Pre-Release Test Devices	Modern Workplace - Windows 11 Pre-Release Test Devices	Modern Workplace - Windows 11 Pre-Release Test Devices	Modern Workplace - Windows 11 Pre-Release Test Devices

Conflicting and unsupported policies

Deploying any of the following policies to a Windows Autopatch device makes that device ineligible for management since the device prevents us from delivering the service as designed.

Update policies

Window Autopatch deploys mobile device management (MDM) policies to configure devices and requires a specific configuration. If any policies from the Update Policy CSP are deployed to devices that aren't on the permitted list, those devices are excluded from management.

Allowed policy	Policy CSP	Description
Active hours start	Update/ActiveHoursStart	This policy controls the end of the protected window where devices won't restart. Supported values are from zero through to 23, where zero is 12∶00AM, representing the hours of the day in local time on that device. This value can be no more than 12 hours after the time set in active hours start.
Active hours end	Update/ActiveHoursEnd	This policy controls the end of the protected window where devices won't restart. Supported values are from zero through to 23, where zero is 12∶00AM, representing the hours of the day in local time on that device. This value can be no more than 12 hours after the time set in active hours start.
Active hours max range	Update/ActiveHoursMaxRange	Allows the IT admin to specify the max active hours range. This value sets the maximum number of active hours from the start time. Supported values are from eight through to 18.

Group policy and other policy managers

Group policy and other policy managers can take precedence over mobile device management (MDM) policies. For Windows quality updates, if any policies or configurations are detected which modify the following hives in the registry, the device could become ineligible for management:

• HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\WindowsUpdate\UpdatePolicy\PolicyState
• HKLM\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\WindowsUpdate