The Microsoft Deployment Toolkit (MDT) 2013 Update 2 (6.3.8330) is now available on the Microsoft Download Center. This update requires the Windows Assessment and Deployment Kit (ADK) for Windows 10, available on the Microsoft Hardware Dev Center. (Note that there are known issues with the v1511 release of the Windows 10 ADK and System Center Configuration Manager; these issues do not directly affect MDT although may still impact ZTI or UDI scenarios.)
MDT 2013 Update 2 is primarily a quality release; there are no new major features. The following is a summary of the significant changes in this update:
- Security- and cryptographic-related improvements:
- Relaxed permissions on newly created deployment shares (still secure by default, but now also functional by default)
- Creating deployment shares via Windows PowerShell adds same default permissions
- Updated hash algorithm usage from SHA1 to SHA256
- Includes the latest Configuration Manager task sequence binaries
- Enhanced user experience for Windows 10 in-place upgrade task sequence
- Enhanced split WIM functionality
- Fixed OSDJoinAccount account usage in UDI scenario
- Fixed issues with installation of Windows 10 language packs
- Various accessibility improvements
- Monitoring correctly displays progress for all scenarios including upgrade
- Improvements to smsts.log verbosity
There are no other new release notes or significant known issues. See the previous post for more information as much of it is still applicable (other than the fix list above).
See the following post on How to get help with MDT.
Frequently Asked Questions
In anticipation of some questions that you may have about this release (or MDT in general):
Q: Should I expect a release of MDT with every new Windows 10 and/or Configuration Manager build release?
No. We shipped multiple MDT releases this year due to the timing of Windows 10 and Configuration Manager releases, but do not intend to keep that same cadence going forward.
Q: What branches of Windows 10 does MDT support?
MDT supports both the current branch of Windows 10 as well as the long-term servicing branch.
Q: What branches of System Center Configuration Manager does MDT support?
For ZTI and UDI scenarios MDT 2013 Update 2 supports the current branch of System Center Configuration Manager (currently version 1511) for an integrated solution for deploying Windows 10 current branch as well as prior Windows versions.
Q: When is the next planned release of MDT?
We do not currently have a timeframe. We will release any tactical changes as needed which may be required to support new builds of Windows 10 or Configuration Manager, but do not currently expect this to be needed.
Q: Is this the last release of MDT?
No, we will continue to iterate and invest in the product.
Q: Why is it still “MDT 2013” when the year is almost 2016?
Two primary reasons. First, we have only made minor changes to MDT which in our opinion does not constitute a major version revision. Second, per the MDT support lifecycle, a new major version will drop support for MDT2012 Update 1 which still supports legacy platforms.