Deployment ordering
Deployment ordering decides when each item runs inside a maintenance session. This page explains the order a session follows, the three groups you place items in, and how to choose a group for each item.
What deployment ordering is
A maintenance session is one complete, ordered pass over one computer. Several deployments usually apply to the same computer, so a session has many items to work through. Deployment ordering decides which comes first.
Most of the time the order does not matter. A browser and a PDF reader can be installed in either order. Ordering exists for the cases where it does matter, where one item must be in place before another can succeed.
An item must have a deployment before you can order it.
The order a session follows
A session works through its items in this sequence:
- 1Items limited to onboarding run first, in the order they are listed. These are the deployments with Onboarding enforcement, which apply once when a computer is first set up.
- 2Everything else then runs, also in the order it is listed.
Within that sequence, items are placed in one of three groups: the beginning, unordered, or the end.
The three groups
| Group | When its items run | What belongs here |
|---|---|---|
| Beginning | At the start of the session, in the order you set | Computer configuration, where each step depends on the one before |
| Unordered | In the middle, in no particular order | Items that do not depend on anything else |
| End | At the close of the session, in the order you set | Items that need other software to be present first |
Beginning
Place an item here when it must run early and its position relative to other early items matters. Computer configuration is the usual case.
For example, a task that turns on BitLocker belongs after a task that brings Windows to an edition that supports it. Put both in the beginning group and set the edition task above the BitLocker task.
Unordered
Place an item here when you do not mind when it runs. Most everyday software belongs in this group, along with tasks that stand alone.
Leaving an item unordered tells the next person that nothing depends on it.
End
Place an item here when it relies on something else having been installed. Typical cases are add-ins that need their host application, security software and tasks that change the registry.
For example, an add-in for an accounting package fails if the package is missing. Put the add-in in the end group and leave the package in the beginning or unordered group.
Changing the order
Each item has controls for moving it. Use them to move an item up or down inside its group, or across to a different group.
The beginning and end groups run in the order you set. The unordered group has no set order.
Choosing well
- Order only what needs it. The more items you pin to a position, the harder the list is to reason about.
- Keep the beginning group for configuration. It is the one place where you control the sequence step by step.
- Use the end group for dependants. If an item fails when something else is missing, it belongs at the end.