Add New Ring
Administrators can create custom deployment rings to control how and when Windows updates are rolled out across devices. In addition to the four system-defined default rings, administrators can create up to 15 custom rings, resulting in a maximum of 19 rings (default + custom).
Accessing the Add New Ring Flow
- Navigate to SureMDM Console > OS Updates > Windows > Automated Patching > Configuration.
- Click Add New Ring.
- The Add New Ring configuration screen opens.
Add New Ring – Configuration Sections
The Add New Ring screen is organized into multiple sections. Each section must be reviewed and configured before saving the ring.
1. Ring Details
This section defines the identity and purpose of the ring.
| Field | Description |
|---|---|
| Ring Name | Enter a unique name for the ring. This name is used across the Configuration table, Overview charts, and reports. |
| Description | Optional. Provide a brief description explaining the intent or target audience of the ring (for example, pilot users or specific departments). |
2. Configuration Details
Update Settings
This section determines which Windows updates are eligible for deployment through the ring.
| Option | Description |
|---|---|
| Manage Preview Builds | Configure whether devices receive preview builds. |
| Set behavior for receiving preview builds | If Manage Preview Builds checkbox is enabled, then select from the following options:
|
| Include updates for other Microsoft products | If enabled, Windows Update will also check for updates for Microsoft Office and other products. Note: Refer for list of other Microsoft products that might be updated. |
| Allow Optional Updates | If enabled, devices will receive optional updates (including gradual feature rollouts (CFRs)). Note: Refer for details on Optional Updates. |
| Select Option Content Behavior | Select from the following options:
|
| Exclude driver updates within Windows quality updates | If enabled, the ring will not include driver updates with Windows quality updates. |
| Upgrade Channel | Select from the following options:
|
| Select the target release version | Specify the exact Windows product version to receive updates for. If this setting is enabled, please specify:
|
| Enable Temporary Enterprise Feature | If enabled, then features that are shipped via a monthly quality update (servicing) will be turned on as soon as they are available, without waiting for the next feature update. |
| Disable Safeguards for Feature Updates | Skips Microsoft’s safeguard holds that normally prevents devices with known compatibility issues from receiving a new feature update. Enabling this may expose devices to potential upgrade failures or known performance issues. |
| Automatically Download Updates Over Metered Network | Allows Windows updates to be automatically downloaded even when the device is connected to a metered network. Only applicable if automatic updates are enabled. |
Deferral Settings
Deferral settings control when updates are offered to devices after Microsoft releases them.
| Setting | Description |
|---|---|
| Defer Quality Updates | Prevents devices from automatically installing quality updates for up to 1 month after release. |
| Number of days to defer quality updates | Set the value between 0 and 30. |
| Defer Feature Updates | Prevents devices from automatically installing feature upgrades for up to 1 year after release. |
| Number of days to defer feature updates | Set the value between 0 and 365. |
Behavioral Notes:
- Canary rings have zero deferral.
- Rings with longer deferral periods may not show installation activity immediately after Patch Tuesday release.
- Deferral timers are preserved even if a ring is paused and later resumed.
Update Enforcement & Compliance Settings
This section defines how updates are installed on devices.
| Setting | Description |
|---|---|
| Automatically Install Updates | Enable automatic installation of Windows updates on devices in this ring. |
| Auto Update Behavior | If Automatically Install Updated settings is enabled, then specify Auto Update Behavior by choosing one of the following options:
|
| Set Maximum Active Hours Range | Automatically adjusts active hours based on device usage patterns. Users can still manually set their own active hours if needed. |
| Set Active Hours | Enable this option to define active hours when Windows should not automatically install updates or restart the device for updates. |
| Active Hours Start Time (00:00 - 23:00 Hours) | Specifies the start of the active hours period during which Windows should not automatically install updates or restart the device for updates. |
| Active Hours End Time (00:00 - 23:00 Hours) | Specifies the end of the active hours period during which Windows should not automatically install updates or restart the device for updates. |
| Specify the Time of Day to Install Updates | Select the time when scheduled updates should be installed. |
| Specify the Day(s) of the Week to Install Updates | Select which day(s) of the week the updates should be installed. |
| Specify the Week of the Month to Install Updates | Select which week(s) of the month the updates should be installed. |
| Enforce Deadlines and Restarts - Quality Updates | Enable this option to set a deadline for installing quality updates. Once the deadline is reached, installation and restarts are automatically enforced to keep devices up to date. |
| Specify Deadline for Automatic Updates and Restarts | Specify the number of days users have before a quality update installs automatically. Once the deadline is reached, the device will restart automatically to complete the update, even during active hours. Specify the value between 0 and 30. |
| Specify Grace Period After Deadline for Quality Updates | Additional days after installation before the device is forced to restart and complete the installation. Specify the value between 0 and 7. |
| Auto Reboot Before Deadline | Specifies if the device should auto reboot before the deadline. |
| Enforce Deadlines and Restarts -Feature updates | Enable this option to set a deadline for installing quality updates. Once the deadline is reached, installation and restarts are automatically enforced to keep devices up to date. |
| Specify Deadline for Automatic Updates and Restarts | Specify the number of days users have before a feature update installs automatically. Once the deadline is reached, the device will restart automatically to complete the update, even during active hours. Specify the value between 0 and 30. |
| Specify Grace Period After Deadline for Feature Updates | Additional days after installation before the device is forced to restart and complete the installation. Specify the value between 0 and 7. |
| Auto Reboot Before Deadline | Specifies if the device should auto reboot before the deadline. |
| Allow Automatic Maintenance Wake-Up | If enabled, Automatic Maintenance can request the OS to wake from sleep to perform daily maintenance tasks. If the OS wake policy is disabled, this setting has no effect. The current setting for the device can be viewed or changed under Windows Settings > Security and Maintenance > Maintenance > Change Maintenance settings. |
| Skip Battery Check for EDU Devices | Allows EDU devices to restart for updates without checking battery status. By default, restarts require the device to be plugged in to avoid failures. Supported on Windows 10/11 EDU edition devices. |
| Remove Access to Pause Windows Updates | Enabling this setting prevents users from pausing Windows updates via Settings > Windows Update user interface. |
| Remove Access to Scan Windows Updates | Enabling this setting prevents users from scanning Windows updates, downloading and installing manually on their devices via Settings > Windows Update user interface. |
Additional Notification Settings
This section controls administrative notifications related to update activity.
| Setting | Description |
|---|---|
| Configure Update Notifications | Enable to configure which update notifications should be displayed to users. |
| Select Update Notification Level | Select the type of Windows Update notifications that will be shown to users, choose one of the following options:
|
| Compliance Evaluation | Determines how device compliance is calculated and reported in the Overview and Ring Details views. |
Delivery Optimization Settings
This section optimizes update delivery to reduce bandwidth usage.
| Setting | Description |
|---|---|
| Download Mode | Specifies the download method that Delivery Optimization can use in downloads of Windows Updates, Apps and App updates. Choose one of the following options:
|
| Restrict Peer Selection | Select a method to restrict Peer Selection. Choose one of the following options:
|
| Group ID Source | Specify an arbitrary group ID that the device belongs to |
| Bandwidth Optimization Type | Select the parameters to enable Bandwidth Optimization:
|
| Maximum Background Download Bandwidth (in KB/s) | Specifies the maximum background download bandwidth in KiloBytes/second |
| Maximum Foreground Download Bandwidth (in KB/s) | Specifies the maximum foreground download bandwidth in KiloBytes/second |
| Maximum Background Download Bandwidth (in %) | Specifies the maximum background download bandwidth that Delivery Optimization uses across all concurrent download activities as a percentage of available download bandwidth. |
| Maximum Foreground Download Bandwidth (in %) | Specifies the maximum foreground download bandwidth that Delivery Optimization uses across all concurrent download activities as a percentage of available download bandwidth. |
| Set Business Hours to Limit Background Download Bandwidth | Specify the maximum background download bandwidth that Delivery Optimization uses during and outside business hours across all concurrent download activities as a percentage of available download bandwidth. |
| Business Hours Start Time | Select values between 12 AM to 11 PM. |
| Business Hours End Time | Select values between 12 AM to 11 PM. |
| Download Bandwidth During Business Hours(in %) | Select values between 0 and 100. |
| Download Bandwidth Outside Business Hours(in %) | Select values between 0 and 100. |
| Set Business Hours to Limit Foreground Download Bandwidth | Specify the maximum foreground download bandwidth that Delivery Optimization uses during and outside business hours across all concurrent download activities as a percentage of available download bandwidth. |
| Business Hours Start Time | Select values between 12 AM to 11 PM. |
| Business Hours End Time | Select values between 12 AM to 11 PM. |
| Download Bandwidth During Business Hours(in %) | Select values between 0 and 100. |
| Download Bandwidth Outside Business Hours(in %) | Select values between 0 and 100. |
| Monthly Upload Data Cap (GB) | Specifies the maximum total bytes in GB that Delivery Optimization is allowed to upload to Internet peers in each calendar month. |
| Minimum QoS For Background Downloads (KB/Second) | Specifies the minimum download QoS (Quality of Service or speed) in KiloBytes/sec for background downloads. Specify values between 0 and 500. |
| Delay background HTTP Download (in seconds) | Allows admin to delay the use of an HTTP source in a background download that's allowed to use P2P. |
| Delay foreground HTTP Download (in seconds) | Allows admin to delay the use of an HTTP source in a foreground (interactive) download that's allowed to use P2P. |
| Minimum RAM For Device To Use Peer Caching(GB) | Specifies the minimum RAM size in GB required to use Peer Caching. |
| Minimum Disk Size For Device To Use Peer Caching (GB) | Specifies the required minimum disk size (capacity in GB) for the device to use Peer Caching. |
| Minimum Content File Size That Can Use Peer Caching (MB) | Specifies the minimum content file size in MB enabled to use Peer Caching. |
| Minimum Battery Required For Peer Uploads (%) | Specifies any value between 1 and 100 (in percentage) to allow the device to upload data to LAN and Group peers while on battery power. |
| Drive Location Used For Peer Cache | Specifies the drive that Delivery Optimization should use for its cache. |
| Maximum Cache Size Type | Select Maximum Cache Size Type from the options:
|
| Maximum Time Each File Is Held In The Delivery Optimization Cache (Seconds) | Specifies the maximum size in GB of Delivery Optimization cache. |
| Maximum Cache Size That Delivery Optimization Can Utilize (GB) | Specifies the maximum size in GB of Delivery Optimization cache. |
| Maximum Cache Size That Delivery Optimization Can Utilize (%) | Specifies the maximum cache size that Delivery Optimization can utilize, as a percentage of disk size (1-100). |
| VPN Peer Caching | Specifies whether the device is allowed to participate in Peer Caching while connected via VPN to the domain network. |
| Cache Server Hostname | Configure one or more Microsoft Connected Cache servers. To add multiple values, separate each FQDN or IP address by commas. |
| Delay foreground cache server fallback (Seconds) | Specifies the time in seconds to delay the fallback from Cache Server to the HTTP source for foreground content download. |
| Delay background cache server fallback (Seconds) | Specifies the time in seconds to delay the fallback from Cache Server to the HTTP source for a background content download. |
3. Assign Devices
This section defines the device scope for the update ring.
Use this step to associate devices with the newly created ring so that updates are deployed according to the ring’s configuration.
- The left pane displays the device group hierarchy, enabling administrators to navigate and filter devices based on organizational structure.
The right pane lists the available devices within the selected group in a tabular view, displaying:
- Device Name
- Device Model
Assignment Controls
- Search: Locate specific devices by name.
- Refresh: Reload the device list to reflect the latest device inventory.
- Selection Checkbox: Select one or more devices to assign them to the ring.
Assignment Behavior
- Each device can be associated with only one update ring at any given time.
- Assigning a device to this ring automatically removes it from any previously assigned ring.
- Once reassigned, the device is governed exclusively by the configuration of the newly assigned ring.
Save Action
- Click Save to finalize the ring creation and apply device assignments.
- The ring becomes active immediately after saving, and assigned devices begin following the configured update policy.
- Click Previous to return to earlier steps and revise ring details or configuration settings before saving.