Let’s check the SCCM Software Center Custom Tab Setup to give users a better experience with the support portal or internal SharePoint sites, etc… I have shared the options to Customize ConfigMgr Software Center Appearance in the previous post.
I have a post that talks about the difference between SCCM Software Center and Client Applet. Five (5) default tabs are available in the software center, and those are listed down. However, you can create custom tabs in ConfigMgr Software Center to provide one-stop application access to end-users.
- Applications
- Updates
- Operating Systems
- Installation Status
- Device Compliance
- Options
Prerequisites
It would help if you made sure the following prerequisites are in place to get the best user experience with the SCCM software center custom tab. The software center custom tabs option will work with the previous version of Configuration manager as well. So the following prerequisite is only if you want to enable WebView2 browser control.
- ConfigMgr 2103 or later production version to get the latest updated custom tab experience for end-users.
- .NET Framework version 4.6.2 or later.
- Microsoft Edge WebView2 runtime (fixed version) – This will get automatically installed if it’s not installed.
- The WebView2 browser control provides improved security and user experience.
How to Setup SCCM Software Center Custom Tab
Let’s set up SCCM Software Center Custom Tab from the client settings.
- Launch SCCM Admin Console using the account that has appropriate access to change the client settings.
- Navigate the client settings node in the administration workspace – \Administration\Overview\Client Settings.
- Select the client settings that you want to add a custom tab.
- Right-click on the Client Settings policy and select properties.
- Make sure Software Center is selected from the General tab.
- Click on the Software Center tab.
- Select the User Portal -> Software Center.
- Select these new Settings to Specify Company Information -> Yes.
- Software Center Settings -> Click on Customize button to start the branding.
- Click on Tabs options.
- Click on Add Tab button to add a new SCCM Software Center custom tab.
NOTE! – Make sure you enable the checkmark near – Display custom tabs with Microsoft Edge Web Views 2 runtime option to have better security and user experience for end-users with custom tab.
- From the New Custom Tab window, specify a name and URL for the custom tab:
- Enter the custom Tab Name -> HTMD Support Forum.
- Enter the Content URL: -> https://forum.howtomanagedevices.com/.
- Click OK, OK, and OK to save Software Center custom tab settings.
NOTE! – Some website features (javascript rendering?) may not work in a custom tab in Software Center. Make sure that you have tested the results before deploying this to a large set of client devices. You might need to specify only trusted or intranet website addresses when you add a custom tab.
Result – Client Custom Tab
Let’s check the end-user experience of SCCM Software Center custom tabs. As you can see in the below screenshot, the HTMD Support Forum custom tab is available in Software Center.
When you click on the Custom Tab, it opens up the How to Manage Devices Forum website that was configured in the above client settings policy.
Resources
- Software Center settings (Microsoft Docs)
- SCCM Software Center and Client Applet
Author
Anoop is Microsoft MVP! He is a Solution Architect in enterprise client management with more than 20 years of experience (calculation done in 2021) in IT. He is a blogger, Speaker, and Local User Group HTMD Community leader. His main focus is on Device Management technologies like SCCM 2012, Current Branch, and Intune. E writes about ConfigMgr, Windows 11, Windows 10, Azure AD, Microsoft Intune, Windows 365, AVD, etc…
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