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Identifying patches for Intune installations

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08-21-2023 02:40 AM
JamesLongGWCT
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New Contributor
‎08-21-2023 02:40 AM

I am deploying ArcGIS Pro using our Microsoft Intune device management platform.

I use the Microsoft Win32 Intune Prep Tool to create package to add to Intune and make the application available for users to install it. Part of adding this to Intune is that you have to specify an identifier that the application has installed to prevent it trying to install again if you have deployed it to a device. For a vanilla installation, this is easy because I just choose a file that is installed as part of the installation, so I choose the application .exe.

For patches, its proving very difficult. I thought I could choose a registry key, so went hunting in HKLM/Software/ESRI and found the keys. The build number seemed the obvious key to choose, but I've looked up build numbers FAQ: What Are the Build Numbers for Releases of ArcGIS Pro? (esri.com) and found that ESRI haven't changed the build number for the patches (why?).

Can anyone suggest a registry key or a unique file to identify each patch?

2 Replies
DeniseVachon
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New Contributor III
‎11-28-2023 08:44 AM

Hey James. Did you ever figure this out? I was about to post a similar question. We are having a hard time getting Intune to recognize that a patch has been successfully installed.

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JamesLongGWCT
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New Contributor
‎12-05-2023 04:54 AM

I'm afraid I didn't and frankly its a mess.

I tried a manual method of making the latest patch into a Win32 app with the Intune Prep Tool and making it install as follows -

  1. Setup the patch so that the full package is a pre-requisite (ie. it has to install the full app before it installs the patch).
  2. Remove the full package so its not listed in the Intune Company Portal.
  3. Publish the patch into the Company Portal, but give it a name of "ArcGIS Pro". Then users see ArcGIS Pro in the company portal and install that. It will install the full package and the patch.

That fixes the problem for staff who want to install the app from scratch as it will patch them to the latest build. But it doesn't provide automatic patching for existing installations. I have published the patches into the company portal and tell staff to patch their own software. I have requested PatchmyPC to provide ArcGIS Pro patches, but they only seem to be keen on publishing non-commercial applications for patching.

Hopefully, Microsoft will implement their promised software patching module in Intune soon and it will provide patches for ESRI and the licensing for the add-on won't be too expensive.

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