Deploy Windows 11 now using Intune and Windows Insider for Business

Quick note – Windows 11 is now out! There’s an update at the end of this article detailing the improved way to deploy Windows 11.

Updated on 10/5/21

If you’re eager to start testing Windows 11 inside your organization, you’re in luck! For Intune managed devices, you can deploy Windows 11 right now by using Update for Business rings and Windows Insider for Business. Let’s jump right to it.

Go to https://insider.windows.com/en-us/for-business and under Step 1, click Register:

Then click Register and sign in to the AAD prompt:

Accept the terms:

And now you’re registered! With the registration in place, your corporate AAD credentials can be used to sign in to the Windows Insider Program pane in the Settings app. But more importantly, you can now deploy insider update rings.

Go to Microsoft Endpoint Manager Admin Center > Devices > Windows 10 update rings > + Create profile:

Create a new profile, and provide a descriptive name:

Then under the update ring settings, select Windows Insider – Fast. I did try Slow, since a beta for Windows 11 has been released, but this distributed a Windows 10 release preview update instead. If you don’t know what to select for the rest of the settings, take a look at our previous blog post: Windows 10 update rings – the best user experience.

Then assign the update ring to your target users:

And you’re done! On the Windows 10 client, notice under Settings > Update & Security > Windows Insider Program, that it shows the Dev Channel and makes reference to Windows 11. Note that the user didn’t need to log in or approve any prompt, and that Windows Insider account is their corporate credential. If you’re testing this in Hyper-V and receive the prompt that your PC doesn’t meet hardware requirements, be sure to enable 2 cpu cores and the virtual TPM.

In Windows Update, if you check for updates you’ll see that Windows 11 Insider Preview is downloading:

A prompt should also appear after it has started installing the update, either stating Almost ready or that the PC is incompatible:

And then it will prompt to install Windows 11!

Once quick heads up. I’m not entirely sure that this will be a supported deployment method going forward, as the Docs makes reference to requiring the Target Version CSP rather than Feature Update Deferrals CSP for Windows 11 deployment. The Windows 10 Update Rings profile from MEM leverages the deferrals CSP. To use the Target Version CSP, we’d want to deploy a Feature Updates policy (which users the Target Version CSP setting, despite the mismatched names), but those do not currently support Windows 11.

It’s always exciting when a new OS is released, so be sure to comment below if you have any questions. Happy upgrading! 🪟

Update after the release of Windows 11

As expected – the day that Windows 11 was released, we were shown the proper way to deploy Windows 11 using a Feature Updates policy. This does not require Windows Insider for Business, it is a native functionality in the MEM console.

Go to Devices > Feature updates for Windows 10 or later (Preview) > +Create Profile:

And then (you’ll notice immediately), Windows 11 will be the default option under Feature update to deploy:

So we simply need to provide a name and assign the feature update, and our Windows devices will update to Windows 11!