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Title
Kace SMA - Patching Microsoft 365 Apps -
Description
Understanding Microsoft 365 Apps patching to keep devices up to date. -
Cause
With Microsoft 365 Apps there are different update channels and each of them have a different update tree for the supported versions.
There are three primary update channels: -
Resolution
When using Current channel and Monthly channel there are usually no issues, as the major version is always upgraded with the latest patch, also Microsoft releases patches for these channels more often. However Semi-annual channel works differently as Microsoft releases two versions per year.
Updates to Semi-Annual Enterprise Channel are released on the second Tuesday of the month. In January and July.
Whenever using this update channel it is important to verify the lifecycle for the supported versions, as Microsoft will release patches for each version as long as they are still supported.
It is important to note that the devices on semi-annual channel don't update the version but the build number with regular patches.
The link below will explain the Microsoft 365 Apps lifecycle and supported versions by date.
Microsoft Apps supported versions by date
What happens if a device reaches Microsoft 365 EoL on semi-annual channel?
There might be situations were a device that have been set to be on semi-annual channel reaches the EoL like 2008 which ended support on 03/08/22, the last patch released for this version was "Version 2008 (Build 13127.21886)" released on 02/08/22 since there are no new patches for version 2008 this device has 2 options (this also applies for any older version):
- Change to Current or Monthly channel and receive the latest patch from that one of the those channels, then switch back to Semi-annual channel.
The following link explains how to change the update channel for your devices:
Change the Microsoft 365 Apps update channel for devicesSwitch between Office update channels on demand
- Execute the "click to run" installer for Microsoft 365 Apps on top of the existing installation, at checking in to Microsoft servers the device will be upgraded to the latest version in this case 2108 at the moment this article is been created.
The following image has an example of a Patching smart label query that can be used to bring active patches available in the Kace catalog for the different channels for Microsoft 365 Apps.
For any questions or assistance required on this topic please contact our Support Team