System Center Configuration Manager (SCCM) Current Branch

What’s this SCCM Current Branch (Definition of SCCM Current Branch)?

The December 2015 release of System Center Configuration Manager (SCCM) version 1511 was the initial release of the current Configuration Manager product from Microsoft. It’s typically referred to as System Center Configuration Manager current branch. The current branch indicates this version supports incremental updates to the product. It also provides a way to distinguish between this release and previous releases of Configuration Manager.

Microsoft plans to release updates for Configuration Manager current branch a few times per year. For versions of Configuration Manager released prior to 1710, support was for 12 months. Beginning with version 1710, each update version remains in support for 18 months from its general availability release date. Microsoft provides technical support for the entire period.

Since the release of SCCM version 1511,

SCCM doesn’t use a year or a product identifier in the product name, unlike past versions such as Configuration Manager 2007 or System Center 2012 Configuration Manager.

Supports incremental, in-product updates, also called update versions. The initial release was version 1511. Subsequent versions are released several times a year as in-console updates, like version 1810.

Is installed using a baseline version. While 1511 was the original baseline version, new baseline versions are also released from time to time, like in 1902. Baseline versions can be used to install a new System Center Configuration Manager site and hierarchy or to upgrade from a supported version of Configuration Manager 2012.