Recast’s Endpoint Management Recap – June 2021

Welcome to the Recast Endpoint Management Recap, June 2021 – by Gary Blok.

With BBQ season upon us and the 4th of July near, I thought I’d share with you some amazing recipes and grilling tips from the Recast family. If you try any of the recipes or want to share your BBQ favorites, please tag us on Twitter or Facebook. In this edition of the June 2021 recap, I’ll also update you on the usual goings-on, and believe me when I say there’s a lot.

What’s cooking with Recast Software and ConfigMgr? Click on the quick links below to find out. By the way, if you’re new to this monthly post, you’ll want to look back at previous months to catch up on the latest.

• BBQ Recipes and Tips
• Events / Conference News
• Microsoft Product Announcements
• Hardware Vendor Updates (Tools / Security / Features)
• Community Tools / News
• Recast Updates

Watermelon, Feta, and Mint Salad

If you haven’t heard of this before, you are probably scratching your head at the combination, but if you have, you know how delicious and refreshing it is on a hot summer’s day! Here is the recipe (not originally mine, obviously). There are only a few ingredients, so choosing a nice melon and good feta is very important!
– Scott D. https://www.seriouseats.com/watermelon-feta-mint-salad-recipe

Grilled Zucchini

This is the best BBQ side! Slice up fresh zucchini the long way. Brush with olive oil, season to taste with salt and pepper, and then put it on the grill. It’s simple and oh so delicious.
– Cheryl N.

Grilled Caprice Salad

Take a head of romaine lettuce and slice it in half. Keep the core intact so everything holds together. Brush the inside of each half with some olive oil and throw it on the grill for a minute or two–char up the outside leaves a bit. Then chop it up, toss in some salt and pepper, and add some halved cherry tomatoes, mozzarella pearls, and some sliced red onion. You can even dice some avocado into the salad. This is my favorite grilling side.
– Mike R.

Snickers Salad

The most important side at ANY Minnesota BBQ is the classic Snickers Salad. Nothing compliments savory grilled meat like a sweet and sour Snickers Salad.
– Cassidy W. https://dinnerthendessert.com/snickers-salad/

Grilled Pineapple

Most people don’t think of dessert and BBQ, but one of the simplest desserts that you can BBQ is pineapple. Just put plain pineapple slices on the grill for 3-4 minutes a side. It is a nice way to complete your BBQ. If you, like me, want to spice things up – reach for some Caribbean Jerk Sauce.
-Garth J.

Gunfightin’ Avocado Chicken and Zucchini

Shifty eyes. Black hats. Gunsmoke. This grill ain’t big enough for the two of us. Are you fast enough? MEAN enough? This southwestern chicken is out for revenge. It’ll make enough to feed even the hungriest crowd of cow-punchers, and everyone will be too busy chewin’ to start fightin’.
– Christian M. https://mccallmemaybe.com/2020/03/29/gunfightin-avocado-chicken-and-zucchini/

Not only is this an awesome recipe, but Christian gives you tips on what fuel is best for grilling and how to achieve the ever-elusive crispy exterior and juicy interior grilled meat. Now git cookin’.

Beer Marinated Grilled Steak

Beer as a marinade? If you’re as curious as I am, then you’ll want to try this recipe! There are only five ingredients and the best part is you probably have them all.
– Lara E. https://www.smokegrillbbq.com/beer-marinated-grilled-steak.html

Grilled Skirt Steak Fajitas

Nothing says summer fun more than fajitas, so why not fire up the grill and check out this great recipe!
– Scott D. https://www.seriouseats.com/grilled-skirt-steak-fajitas-food-lab-recipe

BBQ – Smoked Pulled Pork

This is authentic Eastern North Carolina BBQ! Christian breaks all the rules and tells you why he prefers to use, gulp, an electric smoker. Sit back and enjoy as the daytime television drama unfolds between Chris, Barbie, and Electra, and see how the best smoked pulled pork is made.
– Christian M. https://mccallmemaybe.com/2021/06/10/2097/

• Cloud Management User Group – July Meetup – July 13
• Northwest System Center User Group – July 16
• Far West Systems Management User Group – July 22
• Workplace Ninja Virtual Edition 2021 – Aug 31 – Sept 2
• MMS Miami – Oct 25 – 28

Microsoft has posted a page with a lot of great resources during this time, to help IT professionals, educators, families, and remote businesses, along with how Microsoft is helping in the battle against COVID-19 on their Responding to COVID-19 together page.

‍Products:

Microsoft Edge Browser (Based on Chromium Engine): [Landing Page][What’s New Page][RoadMap Portal]

• Creating a Pretty Good Installer Script for Microsoft Edge – Johan Arwidmark @DeployResearch

Microsoft Defender Advanced Threat Protection – [Landing Page] [Resource Hub]

Microsoft 365 [Landing Page] [Roadmap] [Tech Community] [Youtube Channel][ODT Release]

• New Office Deployment Toolkit (ODT) on June 17th. Update your Setup.exe for your deployments!

‍ConfigMgr [What’s New Page] [Tech Community] [Virtual Hub][MS Q\A][Reddit]

• CM 2103 Update KB10036164
  • Quite a few bug fixes, especially for task sequences.

ConfigMgr Tech Preview [What’s New Page]

• TP 2105.2
  • Windows Update native experience for software updates
• TP 2106
  • Windows 11 Support
  • Implicit uninstall of applications
  • Convert CMG to VM Scale Set – Jörgen Nilsson @ccmexec

Intune [What’s New Page] [Tech Community]

• Filters Public Preview – Overview and Known Issues – This sounds like a pretty huge deal for Intune admins.
  • S02E40 – Using Intune Filters for Better Targeting and Grouping – (I.T) – YouTube
  • Using filters for assigning apps, policies and profiles to specific devices – Peter van der Woude @pvanderwoude
• Windows 10 Enterprise multi-session remote desktops
  • In Action Video
• MEM – All Things About USB Drive Management and Troubleshooting

Windows 10 [Landing Page] [Tech Community][Release Information][PowerToys]

• Windows 11 – On June 24 Microsoft announced Windows 11. While much of the support model used for Windows 10 will just continue on without skipping a beat, Windows 11 does have some things you’ll need to take note of.
  • Updated Hardware Requirements. UEFI with Secure Boot and TPM 2.0 is now required. Most modern hardware has this capability, but you might need to convert some machines from Legacy BIOS, and some older TPMs. I expect several community members to start blogging about their processes of doing this in the near future.
  • Introducing Windows 11
  • What Windows 11 Means for Developers
  • Building a new, open Microsoft Store on Windows 11
  • More on Windows 11 widgets – Michael Niehaus @mniehaus

Security Alerts and Info [Microsoft Security Portal – Security Update Guide]

• Building Zero Trust-ready apps with the Microsoft identity platform
• Announcing Microsoft Tunnel Gateway GA and Defender for Endpoint with Tunnel client functionality
• Finding a Process Which Sporadically Locks the Workstation
• !!! This is BIG and something you will need to deal with if you’re responsible for patching Windows 10 !!!
  • Known Issue: The June 2021 Windows 10 security update is reported as not applicable
  • Basically, the June CU requires the May CU…which makes the June CU not so CU like. There was a lot of ranting on Twitter (one thread here) and Reddit (PSA: Win 10 CUs – Do NOT Decline May’s CUs, they are a prereq for June’s).

I’m only listing changes. If you want a more complete list of their tools, check out the previous month’s posts.

For a full list of tools, blog posts, and information about the vendors, check out the ConfigMgr Manufacturers page.

** Much of this information is provided directly from the vendor, so when you see “we” think of it as, “Vendor Name,” and not Recast Software.

HP  [Enterprise Tools Landing Page] [Community / Blog Site] [Outlet Site]

• HP Image Assistant: version 5.1.1
  • Adds the ability to test internet connectivity with 3 URLs defined in the HPImageAssistant.dll.config file. Each is tested in sequence to validate access to the internet.
  • Added support for Windows 10/20H1 for supported systems (reference files).
  • Added support for the dashboard feature used in the HP MIK’s Patch Assistant module.
  • Improved proxy support (added negotiated authentication).
• HP CMSL: version 1.6.3
  • Added support for Windows 10/20H1 for supported systems. Provides better HP Sure Admin status.
  • Added report to show what got updated after an invoke-repository sync.
  • New support for TLS 1.2 or higher.
  • Several other fixes and updates (https://developers.hp.com/hp-client-management/doc/changelog).

Dell  [Enterprise Tools Landing Page] [Refurbished Sale Site] [Outlet Site]

For Command Cloud Repository Manager we continue to update for minor enhancements on a regular basis. Users can access the latest version when they log in to the cloud portal without needing to update an agent. We have had some adjustments to our schedule so will be able to provide a bigger update at the end of the summer.

• DSA-2021-106: Dell Client Platform Security Update for Multiple Vulnerabilities in the BIOSConnect and HTTPS Boot features as part of the Dell Client BIOS – AKA you’re about to need to update BIOS on all your Dell models.
• Updated Flash64w.

‍Lenovo  [Enterprise Tools Landing Page][Blog Site]

Microsoft [Surface]

One more note, I do my best to provide Twitter accounts with the blog posts, both to provide credit where credit is due, and so you can then follow them yourselves to stay in the loop as things are coming out and ideas are being discussed on Twitter.

Podcasts / Blog Series / Video Blogs‍

• [Documentation Series] Beyond the Microsoft docs, a ConfigMgr overview:
  • Task Sequence Steps In-Depth
  •  Community Tools
• [YouTube Channel] Intune Training Series [@OnPremCloudGuy & @AdamGrossTX]
• [YouTube Channel] Namaste Techies [@anoopmannur & @Hoorge]
• [YouTube Channel ConfigurationManagerTeam] – Endpoint Protection Part 1 & Part 2
• [YouTube Channel] How to chain multiple PowerShell commands on one line – Thomas Maurer @ThomasMaurer
• Endpoint Security Series and will be about Microsoft Defender Exploit Protection – Rudy Ooms @ooms_rudy
• (ConfigMgr) Hybrid Handbook – YouTube – Dean Ellerby @dean_ellerby

Blog Posts

 Cloud Tech

• [Updated] Intune: Configure Printers for Non-Administrative Users – Rahul Jindal @rahulj1906
• How to force escrowing of Bitlocker recovery keys using Intune – Rahul Jindal @rahulj1906
• Deploy Microsoft 365 Apps with Intune – Prajwal Desai @PrajwalDesai
• Control Edge Extensions via Intune – Alex Durrant @ADurrante
• How can I learn how to use Microsoft Azure? – Luke Murray @lukemurraynz
• Create advanced dynamic groups with PowerShell & Azure Functions – Ben Reader @powers_hell
• Enhance Update Compliance with a custom Workbook in Microsoft Endpoint Manager admin center – Peter van der Woude @pvanderwoude
• How to use SCCM Cloud Management Gateway bulk registration token – Jonathan Lefebvre @JLefebvreGloben
• Microsoft 365 protection against ransomware – Jorge Pereira
• Your 5 Most Critical M365 Vulnerabilities Revealed and How to Fix Them – Niall C. Brady @ncbrady
• Lightweight LAPS solution for Intune – Jos Lieben @joslieben
• Use Intune to keep your Lenovo BIOS to the latest version directly from the website – Damien Van Robaeys @syst_and_deploy
• How to Deploy Windows 10 20H2 with Workspace ONE – YouTube Video – Brooks Peppin @brookspeppin
• Updated blog about securing or preventing access to the forgotten Microsoft App Store – Rudy Ooms @ooms_rudy
• Build a reporting solution for Autopilot device identities – Nickolaj Andersen @NickolajA
• Automatic Intune Documentation evolves to Automatic Microsoft 365 Documentation – Thomas Kurth @ThomasKurth_ch
• Proactive Remediations – Getting your message across with repeated Toast Notifications – Ben Whitmore @byteben

ConfigMgr

• Adding support for OS deployment through Wi-Fi to SCCM – Andrew @AndrewZtrhgf
• Easy method to use SCCM Application Supersedence | ConfigMgr – Debabrata Pati @DebabrataPati89
• Create SCCM Windows 10 Collections For Feature Updates Deployments – Benoit Lecours @benoitlecours
• How to Create SCCM Windows 10 21H1 Device Collection Using WQL Query – Anoop C Nair @anoopmannur
• Find Default Browser using SCCM CMPivot Prajwal Desai @PrajwalDesai
• Trigger Machine Restart, Controlled by CM, via PowerShell – @gwblok
• Co-Management Devices won’t Enroll – Stuck in Co-Existence mode – Paul Winstanley @SCCMentor
• Understanding the Software Update Chain – @patchmypc
• ConfigMgr and a Remote Content Library – Nicke Källén @znackattack

 Other SysAdmin Info

• Remove old PowerShell modules versions using PowerShell – Luke Murray @lukemurraynz
• Fully automated RDP connection using LAPS password and PowerShell – Andrew @AndrewZtrhgf
• FSLogix slow sign-in (fix) – Michael Mardahl – @michael_mardahl
• AIP Context Menu broken after Windows 10 Feature Update – Simon Dettling @SimonDettling
• Passwordless using FIDO2 security key with HoloLens 2 – Mattias Melkersen – @MMelkersen
• Querying Windows Build Version History with the Intune Data Warehouse and PowerShell – Trevor Jones @SMSagentTrevor

Tool Updates

• WIM Witch v3.1 – 21H1 Support, Some Fixes, Some Bugs – Donna Ryan @TheNotoriousDRR
• TSBackground Updated – Contains bugfixes, debugging in separate window and a new method for launch in Full OS – Johan Schrewelius @josch62
• Remote Desktop Connection Manager v2.81 – 06/24/2021 – Part of Sysinternals
  • This is exciting to me, I wasn’t expecting an updated version, this is a great tool for organizing your lab, or remote devices.
  • I also noticed other Sysinternal apps updated and not reflected on their release page, so if you use any, like Procmon (v3.83 on 6/22), which was also updated recently, bookmark them and check often!
• Retire My PC provides your users with a self service method of securing company data on soon to be disposed (or sold on…) devices. [Pre-Release] – Niall C. Brady @ncbrady
• OSDeploy – Several updates including Capture-FFU are in the works. David Segura @SeguraOSD

• Introducing Endpoint Insights: Taking Enhansoft to the Next Level!
• Watch the Webinar for ConfigMgr Problems You Didn’t Know You Had (And how to fix them).
• Right Click Tools version 4.6 is available for download now.
• Follow us on Twitter @RecastSoftware to hear the latest.

‍Thanks for checking out this edition of Recast’s Endpoint Management Recap – June 2021, and look forward to more monthly updates of what’s going on.