SCCM Client Policy Polling Interval Define Custom Policy Interval ConfigMgr

Let’s check how to change the SCCM client policy polling interval for Windows 10 and Windows 11 PCs. The ConfigMgr (a.k.a SCCM) is a client-server architecture. You can define the client policy polling interval from the server side.

There are options to manually initiate client policy from Windows 10, Windows 11, or Server operating systems. You can initiate client actions from the admin console as well using the notification channel. You can refer to more details from the following post about Machine Policy Request.

I know there are many scenarios where we need to have custom policy polling intervals, and we will discuss that also in the below sections. It’s important to understand about Hardware Inventory Collection Cycle and other important components of the SCCM client from ConfigMgr Client Component Status details.

What is SCCM Client Policy Polling Interval?

ConfigMgr Client Policy polling interval helps to define how frequently Windows client PCs check & download new client policy(s) if there are any. The SCCM client policy settings control how often the client checks in for policy updates.

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The default client policy polling interval is every 60 minutes. I always suggest keeping the interval as default because that is the recommended value. However, you can have the option to customize policy intervals using the client settings.

  • Default Client Policy polling interval is 60 minutes.
SCCM Client Policy Polling Interval Define Custom Policy Interval ConfigMgr
SCCM Client Policy Polling Interval Define Custom Policy Interval ConfigMgr

Custom Client Policy Polling Interval

The custom client policy polling interval is defined through client settings. I understand there could be several use cases where you will need more frequent policy checks and downloads. It’s ok to create a custom client settings policy to define the custom interval for policy polling.

It’s not recommended to edit the default client settings a policy to have a custom policy polling interval. The best practice is to create a custom policy, as mentioned above. Now, let’s see how to create a custom policy polling interval for Windows 10 and Windows 11 clients.

  • Launch Admin console.
  • Navigate to \Administration\Overview\Client Settings
  • Click on Create Custom Client Device Settings from the Ribbon menu.
SCCM Client Policy Polling Interval Define Custom Policy Interval ConfigMgr
SCCM Client Policy Polling Interval Define Custom Policy Interval ConfigMgr
  • Enter the Name of the policy -> HTMD Custom Client Policy Polling interval.
  • Enter the Desciption of the policy.
  • Select Client Policy option – Now the client policy will get listed on the left side of the create custom client device settings window.
  • Click on the Client Policy tab to configure the custom policies.
SCCM Client Policy Polling Interval Define Custom Policy Interval ConfigMgr
SCCM Client Policy Polling Interval Define Custom Policy Interval ConfigMgr

Now, you can change the client policy polling interval value in minutes to 30 minutes or so. This should be configured very carefully; I don’t recommend putting very short policy polling intervals. If you have a lab environment and want to test things quickly, you can use very short intervals. Otherwise, it’s a big NO.

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  • Specify how client computers retrieve policy from the below options.
  • Device Settings – In this example, we don’t need to change anyother configurations.
  • Change the value of Client Policy Polling interval (minutes) to 30.
  • Click OK to save the settings.
SCCM Client Policy Polling Interval Define Custom Policy Interval ConfigMgr
SCCM Client Policy Polling Interval Define Custom Policy Interval ConfigMgr

Deploy Custom Client Device Settings

Now, it’s time to deploy a custom client policy polling interval using newly created Custom Client Device Settings. You need to decide the set of devices this policy should go in and select the device collection to deploy.

You can see the client settings policies assigned to collections from the device or user collections node. I have written a post about the same topic a few days back. You can refer to The best method to Find Custom Client Settings for a Collection.

  • Right-click on the policy that you have created and select Deploy.
  • You can select a device collection to deploy this policy.
  • Click ok to complete the deployment process of custom client device settings.
SCCM Client Policy Polling Interval Define Custom Policy Interval ConfigMgr
SCCM Client Policy Polling Interval Define Custom Policy Interval ConfigMgr

Manual Method to Intiate SCCM Client policy Update Immidietly

There are a couple or more options to manually initiate the SCCM client policy update if you don’t want to wait for the next policy polling interval. I will quickly share two prominent methods that you can use to initiate machine policy immediately on Windows PCs.

  • You can use the SCCM admin console to initiate the client policy polling immedietly.
  • Right-click on any of the collection or device and click on Client Notification.
  • Select Download Computer policy option to quickly initiate the policy polling on Windows 10 or Windows 11 client PC.
SCCM Client Policy Polling Interval Define Custom Policy Interval ConfigMgr
SCCM Client Policy Polling Interval Define Custom Policy Interval ConfigMgr

Another option to initiate a computer policy from a Windows client is explained in the previous blog post. The background process of the machine policy cycle update is also explained there. You can read more details from Machine Policy Request Evaluation Cycle Client Action.

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