Unable to promote pre-production client in ConfigMgr Current Branch

Today I did an upgrade on ConfigMgr Current Branch from version 1602 to 1606. During the upgrade I choose to validate the client package in pre-production first. After the upgrade however, there was no possiblity to promote the ConfigMgr client to the latest version. I restarted the ConfigMgr server and console, but without any luck. After that I decided to install Update Rollup 1, which was successful again, but still the same behaviour. No possibility to promote the ConfigMgr client to the latest version again.

Lucky me I found the following thread: Microsoft TechNet
It mentioned: I solved my problem. It seems to be a RBAC problem. The user I used in ConfigMgr was "Full Administrator" but assigned though an AD group and not directly assigned. When I added my user directly as a user account in the ConfigMgr console and gave him "Full Administrator" rights then I could promote the client to production.

In my case (customer location) this was the same situation. The user which did the upgrade and was logged on is part of an security group. That's a nasty situation for sure! Long story short: I added the user directly as Full Administrator in the console, and the "Promote Pre-production Client" button became available again. Hope that Microsoft will fix this for future builds, because adding users instead of groups is not the way to go. Hope it helps!

Doing an in-place upgrade from Windows 10 Build 1511 to 1607

This month Windows 10 Build 1607 (Anniversary update) is released. This is the third Windows 10 Build, next to 1507 (RTM) and 1511 (November update). Where servicing within ConfigMgr wasn't possible from 1507 to 1511, this is possible now. Expect some notes from the field soon, where systems in my company will be updated from 1511 to 1607. Hope to have some good results again :)

From a customer I got some update cons already. Let's have a look at few disappointments so far:

-Drivers working in 1511 doesn't have to be working in 1607. Maybe some hardware must be replaced, because it's not supported anymore. Think about some VGA or NIC drivers;

-Universal apps removed in the Operating System before, will be back after an in-place upgrade. They must be removed in the image before upgrading or removed again after the upgrade;

-Default apps set for Webbrowser, Email or PDF (for example) will be reset after an in-place upgrade. They must be configured again after the upgrade or set by an User Environment solution;

But the hardest thing: some Group Policy set in Pro edition earlier, is available for Enterprise edition only now.
-Configure Spotlight on lock screen
-Turn off all Windows Spotlight features
-Turn off Microsoft Consumer features
-Do not display the lock screen
-Do not require CTRL+ALT+DELETE & Turn off app notifications on the lock screen
-Do not show Windows Tips
-Force a specific default lock screen image
-Start Menu layout
-Turn off the Store application
-Only display private store within the Windows Store app
-Don't search the web or display web results

So when using Pro 1511 already, and you want to manage some features above, you need Enterprise 1607 in future. That's the biggest disappointment for some companies I guess.

Hope to experience the in-place upgrade myself soon. On two home systems I did an rollback earlier because of driver malfunction. There will be some benefits added later too I guess :)

Sources:

Group Policies that no longer apply to Windows 10 Professional Version 1607

Group Policies that apply only to Windows 10 Enterprise and Education Editions

Update 25-8: Windows 10 users moving from version 1511 to version 1607, dubbed the "anniversary update," may find applications installed on their systems that they'd previously removed.
Windows 10 Anniversary Update Restores Deleted Apps
Windows 10 1607: Keeping apps from coming back when deploying the feature update