Windows Autopilot requirements – Deploy and upgrade operating systems
Windows Autopilot requirements
There are several requirements and prerequisites that you need to put in place before you can use Windows Autopilot with your Windows 10 devices. If your organization already has a Microsoft 365 subscription, then you will already meet the licensing requirements:
Licensing Requirements
The following licensing requirements must be met:
- Devices must be pre-installed with Windows 10 Pro, Pro Education, Pro for Workstations, Enterprise, or Education.
- Azure AD Premium P1 or P2.
- Microsoft Intune or another MDM solution to manage your devices.
Exam Tip
You can use the Microsoft Store for Business to manage Windows Autopilot profile deployments.
Networking Configuration
The following network configuration requirements must be met:
- Devices must have access to the internet.
- Devices must be able to access cloud services used by Windows Autopilot:
- Using DNS name resolution.
- Firewall access through port 80 (for HTTP), port 443 (for HTTPS), and port 123 (for UDP and NTP).
- The following URLs must be accessible:
Azure AD Configuration Prerequisites
The following Azure AD configuration prerequisites must be met:
- Azure AD company branding must be configured.
- Azure AD automatic enrollment must be configured.
- A device must be registered with Azure AD.
- Users must have permissions to join devices into Azure AD.
Windows Autopilot Configuration
The following Windows Autopilot configuration prerequisites must be met:
- Devices must have their device hardware IDs known by Windows Autopilot.
- Devices must have a Windows Autopilot deployment profile assigned.
Implement pilot deployment
Windows Autopilot is not complex to configure and use, although there are several services that need to work together for your users to see a seamless OOBE. After completing the prerequisites needed for Windows Autopilot, you may want to practice using Windows Autopilot to provision Windows 10 in your test lab using virtual machines.
Once you have the basic functionality working, you can explore the additional features that are available; these features can be used to streamline the deployment process or personalize the experience for the user. These enhancements currently include the following:
- Device Groups Creating device groups with Azure AD allows you to separate devices into logical groupings.
- Dynamic Groups You can use Azure AD Dynamic Groups to simplify device group management. Devices are automatically added to the dynamic group if they meet the group membership criteria outlined in the rules. Dynamic groups are an Azure AD premium feature.
- Deployment Profiles You can create a single default deployment profile for your whole organization, or you can create additional deployment profiles and assign them to device groups.
- Personalization Windows Autopilot allows you to assign a username and a friendly name to a specific device. During OOBE, the friendly name is then shown to the user.
- Enrollment Status Page During device enrollment into Microsoft Intune, users can be shown a progress status page. This is configurable.
After you have configured your Windows Autopilot processes and successfully provisioned devices in your test lab, you are ready to deploy Windows Autopilot in your production environment. You should follow best practices for any new technology deployment, and you should first pilot the processes to a small group of new devices and their users.
The pilot phase of the Windows Autopilot rollout should be closely monitored, and feedback should be sought from all stakeholders. Any problems with the pilot deployment should be thoroughly resolved before proceeding to a larger scale rollout.
Note Windows Autopilot Roadmap
Windows Autopilot is a comparatively new technology and is likely to have additional functionality added frequently. To ensure that you are up to date with the most recent Windows Autopilot features, you should review the reference information on the Microsoft website at https://docs.microsoft.com/mem/autopilot/windows-autopilot.