Endpoint Manager - Windows Update Ring Question - auto reboot before deadline

Question

We have our Windows Update setup with Deadline/Grace period settings referencing this article for best practice https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/deployment/update/wufb-compliancedeadlines

However the thing that is confusing me is the "auto reboot before deadline"

Am I correct in reading that having that auto reboot before deadline turned on, that it will attempt to restart the machine during maintenance hours if the computer is not in use, even if there are applications (word/outlook/excel/etc) open, prior to the end of the deadline?

The user experience we want to provide is that updates install during maintance window, and the user gets windows prompt to schedule or update up until the deadline/grace period where restart will be enforced if they wait too long. So it sounds like we want that option to be off.

What we do not want is for users to sign into their computer in the morning and have lost work due to restart prior to the deadline/grace period. The way these deadline options/autoreboot is worded just confused me a bit and wanted confirmation that we're understanding it correctly.

Answer 1

Am I correct in reading that having that auto reboot before deadline turned on, that it will attempt to restart the machine during maintenance hours if the computer is not in use, even if there are applications (word/outlook/excel/etc) open, prior to the end of the deadline?

Yes (although note that active application usage is never accounted for by any setting to my knowledge).

So it sounds like we want that option to be off.

Based on what you've written, correct.