Windows 11 deployment methods: in-place vs reimage / fresh install

We are a local government and in the process of upgrading Windows 10 to Windows 11 and need advice, guidance or best practices for deployment methods that others have used.

I am managing the W11 upgrade and the technical guy in project team have been working on in-place upgrade and have several issues. The senior management do not want us to do re-imaging or fresh installs as that may mean bringing their devices to be reimaged

Below are some details and questions I have. I will really appreciate it if anyone can help with my questions or provide guidance or best practice.

We are using SCCM for our builds, pushing out updates, that's our managed tools

We will not be using InTune to push out W11 upgrades due to our environment/infrastructure

what is the best method to push the update to users

is there a way we can push out small updates to users

currently it's taking 4 hours for the upgrade process via a VPN

Depending on the connection you are on - other test has taken about 24hrs

We tried 2 methods so far - used a 14Gb enablement package (Windows Update) which is a large file, this failed when trying to push over the VPN

Will it be good to push package out to users out of business hours (from 6pm UK time?)

Is any local council who have used in-place method for W11 upgrade reach out to me please?

Can the upgrade be speeded up in any way by pre downloading the file?

What are the impact of deploying W11 that will give a better user experience and less impact to IT staff

Are there other methods for upgrading

Most of our end-user devices are Dell Latitude 3420 - 3440

Thank you

Emelia Obiri said:

Will it be good to push package out to users out of business hours (from 6pm UK time?)

Can the upgrade be speeded up in any way by pre downloading the file?

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If you're using a task sequence and not deploying a feature update, you can pre-cache the task sequence content on the devices before users start upgrading. Details on how to set that up here: Configure pre-cache content - Configuration Manager

How is your VPN configured? Specifically, is it set for split tunnelling, and does it default to Internet first?

As usual, at least a data backup is mandatory before you begin the upgrade. Better be safe than sorry.
If all the computers are Win 11 compatible, the best way is to do an in place upgrade, that is, run setup.exe of a Win 11 installation files under running windows.
I suggest you download the Win 11 23h2 installation iso file using MCT . Then mount the iso file and copy all files and folders from the virtual ODD to flash USB drive or to a folder on the network that can be accessed from the computer to be upgraded.
After business hours, do a clean boot and disable third part AV. Copy all files and folders from Win 11 installation folder (from network or USB drive) to a temp folder on the C: drive and run setup.exe under running windows.

Use Multicast on Distribution Points to conserve network bandwidth.

Use collection queries to group Distribution Points and organize them.

Use a batch script inside a Task Sequence to copy files from a network shared location to client machines based on your requirements.

Use this method to upgrade Windows 10 to 11. Typically, it only fails on computers that do not meet the requirements to run Windows 11. Whereas the Windows Servicing method to upgrade Windows 10 to 11 is known to create various problems usually.

Multicast over the VPN sounds fun. :)

TBH, this forum is more geared to domestic consumers rather than corporate users, and any advice here could be quite variable in terms of solutions, possibly confusing you.

Deployment of the nature you seek requires significant deployment expertise.

It is difficult to suggest an optimum strategy without a detailed knowledge of your infrastructure.

No disrespect to other users here but a solution has to be well planned, taking all requirements into account.

Forums are just not the right place - you want solutions that are 100% guaranteed and work first time.

Your bosses will be totally unimpressed if things go wrong and you reply that you spoke with a guy on the internet!

I would strongly advise that you seek the services of a professional deployment specialist to assist you in finding the optimum solution.

cereberus said:

I would strongly advise that you seek the services of a professional deployment specialist to assist you in finding the optimum solution.

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I totally agree with @cereberus on this. This forum is not geared towards the corporate environment where mass deployment is involved.
Being a government entity, you cannot afford downtime or confusion. For your transition to go smoothly, you need straight-forward advice for your specific environment. You won't get that on an open forum.

a couple or three questions if i may.
1. where are you located.
2. how many systems in total need upgrading.
this is split into parts. servers, desktops, laptops.
3. what is the time scale for the upgrade.
4. what is the budget available for this upgrade.

Many thanks. Steve ..

pseymour said:

Multicast over the VPN sounds fun. :)

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It does, doesn't it? https://www.cisco.com/c/dam/en/us/support/docs/ip/ip-multicast/tcast_wp.pdf

@hdmi Yeah, I know it's possible with some vendor's equipment. Although I can't remember if Config Manager supports multicast for OP's scenario. PXE sure, but I can't remember if in-place upgrades have multicasting support.

Absolutely agree with above comments - this is NOT an appropriate environment to be relying on advice from contributors (with all due respect to the good intention of contributors). The corporate responsible for maintaining a system should not be determined on the chitter-chatter of an informal forum, specifically one geared to domestic and/or personal use of computers, as well informed as the contributors may be.

Totally inappropriate.

If you even have to ask in a forum like this you are not competent to manage this change! Get some IT professionals in.

@Emelia Obiri

Which local government do you work for? Give us a vague idea if you don't wish to be precise. Can you complete your profile on this website, please.

pseymour said:

, but I can't remember if in-place upgrades have multicasting support.

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It can be done by using BigFix OS Deployment if necessary. See "Task 205: Windows in-place upgrade - multicast" on this page.
But anyway... there exist several other things that could potentially be considered to help to conserve the network bandwidth in such a way that might help one to avoid choosing to rely on multicast (e.g., as of SCCM 1806 it also is possible to use BranchCache).

Just as an aside, as of SCCM 1806 the PXE method no longer requires WDS.

BigFix isn’t SCCM/MEMCM/whatever Microsoft calls it today, and BranchCache won’t help a single user at home on a VPN.

We’re getting off in the weeds here in 11-Forum fashion, and OP hasn’t even responded. I’m quitting this thread til OP says anything else.

pseymour said:

We’re getting off in the weeds here in 11-Forum fashion, and OP hasn’t even responded. I’m quitting this thread til OP says anything else.

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I think the OP has got the message. I have been wondering whether the OP was actually seeking advice to be able to do the task(s), or simply fishing for ammunition to be able to debate the process (with whoever)?

I wouldn't blame them. Some of the replies here were pretty hostile and ridiculous.