In this blog post, we’ll explore the process of scheduling reboot for Windows 10 and Windows 11 devices through Intune. Options include rebooting the target Windows devices once or establishing a daily or weekly recurring schedule.
Rebooting a Windows device restarts all system services, refreshing the application process. If any process is stuck or if an application is not functioning properly, a device reboot can resolve these issues.
There are various methods to reboot a Windows device. Let’s explore these methods, with a primary focus on creating a reboot schedule using the Intune admin center. Now, let’s dive in.
Table of Contents
Ways to Schedule a Reboot of Windows Device
There are various methods to create a reboot schedule for a Windows device, and the list below outlines these methods:
- Intune admin center.
- Active Directory Group Policy.
- Third-party tools (e.g. ManageEngine, SCCM, etc.).
- Manually creating a task for rebooting Windows devices using Task Scheduler.
Create a Windows Reboot Schedule Using Intune
Please use the following steps to create a Windows Reboot schedule using the Intune admin center:
- Sign in to the Intune admin center
- Click on Devices > Configuration profiles
- Click on Create > New Policy
- Platform: Windows 10 and later
- Profile type: Settings Catalog
Basics Tab
Provide a Name and Description of the profile. For Example:
- Name: Windows Reboot Schedule Policy
- Description: This device configuration profile is created to set the Windows Reboot Schedule
Configuration settings
- Click on + Add settings and then search for “Reboot” in the settings picker. Select “Reboot” category.
- Select any of the below Reboot settings:
- Daily Recurrent – Value in ISO8601, time is required. A reboot will be scheduled each day at the configured time starting at the date and time. Setting a null (empty) date will delete the existing schedule.
- Single – Value in ISO8601, both the date and time are required. A reboot will be scheduled at the configured date time. Setting a null (empty) date will delete the existing schedule.
- Weekly Recurrent – Value in ISO8601, time is required. Either setting DailyRecurrent or WeeklyRecurrent is supported but not both at the same time. A reboot will be scheduled every week at the configured time starting at the date and time. Setting a null (empty) date will delete the existing schedule.
I will select Daily Recurrent to configure a reboot schedule of Windows devices every day at a specified time. Depending upon your requirement, you can also choose Single for a One-time system reboot or Weekly Recurrent to schedule a Windows reboot every week.
- Provide the date and time in ISO8601 format. The daily recurrent schedule will start from the specified date and run at the specified time every day. For example, if I want to schedule a Windows reboot every day at 11:00 AM starting from December 19, 2023, the date and time I would specify is 2023-12-19T11:00:00Z. Click on Next to proceed.
Scope tags
Click on Next.
Assignments
Assign this profile to an Entra Security group containing Windows 10/Windows 11 devices. Click on Next to proceed.
Review + create
Review the Summary of device configuration profile settings and click on Create.
Sync Intune Policies
The device check-in process might not begin immediately. If you’re testing this policy on a test device, you can manually kickstart the Intune sync from the device itself or remotely through the Intune admin center.
Alternatively, you can use PowerShell to force the Intune sync on Windows devices. Another way to trigger the Intune device check-in process is by restarting the device.
Monitoring Profile Assignment Status
To monitor the deployment progress of a Device configuration profile, follow below steps:
- Sign in to the Microsoft Intune admin center.
- Click on “Devices” and then select “Configuration profiles“.
- Choose the Device Configuration profile you want to work with, and at the top of the page, you’ll see a quick view of the Success, Failure, Conflict, Not Applicable, and In Progress status.
The status of the profile results in Error even though the reboot schedule was created successfully and the system is rebooting as per the Windows reboot schedule configured.
- Click on “View report” to access more detailed information about the error message.
- Click on the device name to find more information about the error. As indicated in the screenshot below, the error code is 65000. It’s a known bug with RebootCSP policy settings and can be safely ignored since the RebootCSP policy has been applied successfully to the target devices.
RebootCSP Scheduled Task
After applying this profile to the target Windows devices, a scheduled task will be created with the same reboot schedule as configured in the device configuration profile. Follow the steps below to check and confirm:
- Go to Start and search for Task Scheduler.
- Navigate to the folder below to locate the RebootCSP task. The task’s name will be “RebootCSP scheduled reboot“.
\Microsoft\Windows\EnterpriseMgmt\{EnrollmentID}\RebootEnd-User Experience
Once this policy has been successfully applied to target devices, users will receive a pop-up message stating, ‘You’re about to be signed out. Your device administrator has scheduled a reboot‘. To close this window, click on the ‘Close‘ button.
The device will undergo a restart, requiring you to sign in again. Since we’ve configured a daily recurring reboot schedule for this Windows device, it will restart every day at the specified time configured in the device configuration profile.
To change the scheduled time for device restart, edit the device configuration profile and update the configured time.
RebootCSP Reference
It’s easier to use Setting Catalog policies to configure reboot schedules for your Windows 10 and Windows 11 devices. However, you can also use OMA-URI settings if you prefer. Please note that RebootCSP applies to Windows 10, 1607 or later. These settings apply to Windows 10 or 11 Pro, Enterprise, Education, Windows SE, and IoT Enterprise/IoT Enterprise LTSC.
RebootCSP Microsoft documentation provides further guidance into these settings. You can refer to the link: Reboot CSP – Windows Client Management | Microsoft Learn to read about the below settings:
Configuration is fine but the reboot did not work on the devices got the same error as you mentioned in the artilce. Is there a way to see the logs from intune instead of checking with the laptop??
Yes, Sign in to Intune admin center > Devices > Windows > Click on the device > click on Collect diagnostics from the Overview page.