New Unattended Setup Requirements in ConfigMgr 2203

For those of you that likes to install ConfigMgr automatically, please note that starting in ConfigMgr 2203, you must also specify two of the keys in the SABranchOptions section: SAActive and CurrentBranch.

If you fail to do so, the setup will fail with the following error:

ERROR: Error reading branch status. SAActive and CurrentBranch needs to be specified when installing a CAS or standalone primary site.

Note: The ConfigMgr documentation incorrectly states these keys are not required. I have submitted a pull request to the ConfigMgr docs team.

The new required keys

To make the ConfigMgr unattended setup happy again, add the following lines to your configuration file.

[SABranchOptions]
SAActive=1
CurrentBranch=1

Full Configuration File Sample

Below you find a full example of a configuration file to run the ConfigMgr 2203 unattended. This is the same configuration we now use in the Windows Server 2019 and Windows Server 2022 Hydration Kits for ConfigMgr.

[Identification]
Action=InstallPrimarySite

[Options]
ProductID=EVAL
SiteCode=PS1
SiteName=Primary Site 1
SMSInstallDir=E:\Program Files\Microsoft Configuration Manager
SDKServer=CM01.corp.viamonstra.com
RoleCommunicationProtocol=HTTPorHTTPS
ClientsUsePKICertificate=0
PrerequisiteComp=1
PrerequisitePath=D:\Deploy\Applications\Install - ConfigMgr\PreReqs
MobileDeviceLanguage=0
ManagementPoint=CM01.corp.viamonstra.com
ManagementPointProtocol=HTTP
DistributionPoint=CM01.corp.viamonstra.com
DistributionPointProtocol=HTTP
DistributionPointInstallIIS=0
AdminConsole=1
JoinCEIP=0

[SQLConfigOptions]
SQLServerName=CM01.corp.viamonstra.com
SQLServerPort=1433
DatabaseName=CM_PS1
SQLSSBPort=4022
SQLDataFilePath=E:\SQLDB\
SQLLogFilePath=E:\SQLLOG\

[CloudConnectorOptions]
CloudConnector=1
CloudConnectorServer=CM01.corp.viamonstra.com
UseProxy=0

[SystemCenterOptions]

[SABranchOptions]
SAActive=1
CurrentBranch=1

[HierarchyExpansionOption]
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Johan Arwidmark

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