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Windows feature update

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Important

The information in this article or section only applies if you have Windows Enterprise E3+ or F3 licenses (included in Microsoft 365 F3, E3, or E5) licenses and have activated Windows Autopatch features.

Feature activation is optional and at no additional cost to you if you have Windows 10/11 Enterprise E3 or E5 (included in Microsoft 365 F3, E3, or E5) licenses.

For more information, see Licenses and entitlements. If you choose not to go through feature activation, you can still use the Windows Autopatch service for the features included in Business premium and A3+ licenses.

Windows Autopatch provides tools to assist with the controlled roll out of annual Windows feature updates. These policies provide tools to allow version targeting, phased releases, and even Windows 10 to Windows 11 update options. For more information about how to configure feature update profiles, see Feature updates for Windows 10 and later policy in Intune.

Important

Windows Autopatch supports registering Windows 10 and Windows 11 Long-Term Servicing Channel (LTSC) devices that are being currently serviced by the Windows 10 LTSC or Windows 11 LTSC. The service only supports managing the Windows quality updates workload for devices currently serviced by the LTSC. Windows Update for Business service and Windows Autopatch don't offer Windows feature updates for devices that are part of the LTSC. You must either use LTSC media or the Configuration Manager Operating System Deployment capabilities to perform an in-place upgrade for Windows devices that are part of the LTSC.

Multi-phase feature update

Multi-phase feature update allows you to create customizable feature update deployments using multiple phases for your existing Autopatch groups. These phased releases can be tailored to meet your organizational unique needs.

Release statuses

A release is made of one or more phases. The release status is based on the calculation and consolidation of each phase status.

The release statuses are described in the following table:

Release status Definition Options
Scheduled Release is scheduled and not all phases created its Windows feature update policies
  • Releases with the Scheduled status can't be canceled but can have its deployment cadence edited as not all phases created its Windows feature update policies.
  • Autopatch groups and its deployment rings that belong to a Scheduled release can't be assigned to another release.
Active All phases in the release are active. All phases reached their first deployment date, which created the Windows feature update policies.
  • Release can be paused but can't be edited or canceled since the Windows feature update policy was already created for its phases.
  • Autopatch groups and their deployment rings can be assigned to another release.
Inactive All the Autopatch groups within the release are assigned to a new release. As a result, the Windows feature update policies were unassigned from all phases from within the release.
  • Release can be viewed as a historical record.
  • Releases can't be deleted, edited, or canceled.
Paused All phases in the release are paused. The release remains paused until you resume it.
  • Releases with the Paused status can't be edited or canceled since the Windows feature update policy was already created for its phases.
  • Release can be resumed.
Canceled All phases in the release are canceled.
  • Releases with the Canceled status can't be edited or canceled since the Windows feature update policy wasn't created for its phases.
  • Canceled release can't be deleted.

Phase statuses

A phase is made of one or more Autopatch group deployment rings. Each phase reports its status to its release.

Important

The determining factor that makes a phase status transition from Scheduled to Active is when the service automatically creates the Windows feature update policy for each Autopatch group deployment ring. Additionally, the phase status transition from Active to Inactive occurs when Windows feature update policies are unassigned from the Autopatch groups that belong to a phase. This can happen when an Autopatch group and its deployment rings are re-used as part of a new release.

Phase status Definition
Scheduled The phase is scheduled but didn't reach its first deployment date yet. The Windows feature update policy wasn't created for the respective phase yet.
Active The first deployment date reached. The Windows feature update policy was created for the respective phase.
Inactive All Autopatch groups within the phase are reassigned to a new release. All Windows feature update policies were unassigned from the Autopatch groups.
Paused Phase is paused. You must resume the phase.
Canceled Phase is canceled. All Autopatch groups within the phase can be used with a new release. A phase that is canceled can't be deleted.

Phase policy configuration

For more information about Windows feature update policies that are created for phases within a release, see Windows feature update policies.

Create a custom release

To create a custom release:

  1. Go to the Microsoft Intune admin center.
  2. Select Devices from the left navigation menu.
  3. Under the Manage updates section, select Windows updates.
  4. In the Windows updates blade, select the Feature updates tab.
  5. Select Create Autopatch multi-phase release.
  6. In the Basics page:
    1. Enter a Name for the custom release.
    2. Select the Version to deploy.
    3. Enter a Description for the custom release.
    4. Select Next.
  7. In the Autopatch groups page, choose one or more existing Autopatch groups you want to include in the custom release, then select Next.
  8. You can't choose Autopatch groups that are already part of an existing custom release. Select Autopatch groups assigned to other releases to review existing assignments.
  9. In the Release phases page, review the number of autopopulated phases. You can Edit, Delete, and Add a phase based on your needs. Once you're ready, select Next. Before you proceed to the next step, all deployment rings must be assigned to a phase, and all phases must have deployment rings assigned.
  10. In the Release schedule page, choose First deployment date, and the number of Gradual rollout groups, then select Next. You can only select the next day, not the current day, as the first deployment date. The service creates feature update policy for Windows 10 and later twice a day at 4:00AM and 4:00PM (UTC) and can't guarantee that the release starts on the current day given the UTC variance across the globe.
    1. The Goal completion date only applies to the Deadline-driven deployment cadence type. The Deadline-drive deployment cadence type can be specified when you configure the Windows Updates settings during the Autopatch group creation/editing flow.
    2. Additionally, the formula for the goal completion date is <First Deployment Date> + (<Number of gradual rollout groups> - 1) * Days in between groups (7) + Deadline for feature updates (5 days) + Grace Period (2 days).
  11. In the Review + create page, review all settings. Once you're ready, select Create.

Note

Custom releases can't be deleted from the Feature updates tab in the Windows updates blade. The custom release record serves as a historical record for auditing purposes when needed.

Edit a custom release

Note

Only custom releases that have the Scheduled status can be edited. A release phase can only be edited prior to reaching its first deployment date. Additionally, you can only edit the deployment dates when editing a release.

To edit a custom release:

  1. Go to the Microsoft Intune admin center.
  2. Select Devices from the left navigation menu.
  3. Under the Manage updates section, select Windows updates.
  4. In the Windows update blade, select the Feature updates tab.
  5. In the Feature updates tab, select the horizontal ellipses (…) > Edit to customize your gradual rollout of your feature updates release, then select Save.
    1. Only the release schedule can be customized when using the edit function. You can't add or remove Autopatch groups or modify the phase order when editing a release.
  6. Select Review + Create.
  7. Select Apply to save your changes.

Cancel a release

Important

You can only cancel a release under the Scheduled status. You cannot cancel a release under the Active, **Inactive, or Paused statuses.

To cancel a release:

  1. Go to the Microsoft Intune admin center.
  2. Select Devices from the left navigation menu.
  3. Under the Manage updates section, select Windows updates.
  4. In the Windows updates blade, select the Feature updates tab.
  5. In the Feature updates tab, select the horizontal ellipses (…) > Cancel to cancel your feature updates release.
  6. Select a reason for cancellation from the dropdown menu.
  7. Optional. Enter details about why you're pausing or resuming the selected update.
  8. Select Cancel deployment to save your changes.

Pause and resume a release

Important

Due to a recent change, we have identified an issue that prevents the Paused and Pause status columns from being displayed in reporting. Until a fix is deployed, you must keep track of your paused releases so you can resume them at a later date. The team is actively working on resolving this issue and we'll provide an update when a fix is deployed.

Important

Pausing or resuming an update can take up to eight hours to be applied to devices. Windows Autopatch uses Microsoft Intune as its device management solution and that's the average frequency Windows devices take to communicate back to Microsoft Intune with new instructions to pause, resume or rollback updates. For more information, see how long does it take for devices to get a policy, profile, or app after they are assigned from Microsoft Intune.

To pause and resume a release:

Important

You can only pause an Autopatch group if you have Windows Enterprise E3+ or F3 licenses (included in Microsoft 365 F3, E3, or E5) licenses and have activated Windows Autopatch features.

Feature activation is optional and at no additional cost to you if you have Windows 10/11 Enterprise E3 or E5 (included in Microsoft 365 F3, E3, or E5) licenses.

For more information, see Licenses and entitlements. If you choose not to go through feature activation, you can still use the Windows Autopatch service for the features included in Business premium and A3+ licenses.

Note

If you pause an update, the specified release has the Paused status. The Windows Autopatch service can't overwrite IT admin's pause. You must select Resume to resume the update. The Paused by Service Pause status only applies to Windows quality updates. Windows Autopatch doesn't pause Windows feature updates on your behalf.

  1. Go to the Microsoft Intune admin center.
  2. Select Devices from the left navigation menu.
  3. Under the Manage updates section, select Windows updates.
  4. In the Windows updates blade, select the Feature updates tab.
  5. In the Feature updates tab, select the horizontal ellipses (…) > Pause or Resume to pause or resume your feature updates release.
  6. Select a reason from the dropdown menu.
  7. Optional. Enter details about why you're pausing or resuming the selected update.
  8. If you're resuming an update, you can select one or more deployment rings.
  9. Select Pause deployment or Resume deployment to save your changes.

Roll back a release

Windows Autopatch doesn't support the rollback of Windows feature updates through its end-user experience flows.