Pilot Group Deployment

Stage your deployments with the Pilot Group Feature!

Using the Pilot Feature in Pckgr

This guide outlines the best practices for using the Pilot Group feature available for private repository apps in Pckgr. This feature allows you to manage staged rollouts of applications by assigning updates to a Pilot Group first, followed by the remaining devices (Production Group).

Step 1: Add a Private Repo App

The Pilot feature is only available for private repository apps. Ensure the application you want to manage is added from the private repository in Pckgr.

Add an application from the Private Repository

Step 2: Assign a Pilot Group ID

1. Locate the Pilot Group ID by navigating to Intune>Groups and locating the desired group.

Locate Pilot Group ID

This group will receive the updates first. The Pilot group is set as Required and will not appear in the Microsoft Company Portal.

1. Enter the Group ID in the deployment settings for the application in Pckgr Application Library.

Enter the Group ID

Step 3: Set Delay for Production Group

Use the slider to adjust the delay as needed to ensure the Pilot group receives updates immediately while the Production Group follow the scheduled delay.

Set the delay between Pilot Group and Production Group deployment.

Step 4: Configure Global Delay for Updates to Intune

Set the global delay to define when future updates for this application will be pushed from Pckgr to Intune. This is the delay between the release of the new version of the application and the beginning of your staged rollout: Pilot Group deployment.

To receive the updates immediately, this delay can be set to zero days.

Some users prefer a delay to post update release, to account for vendor changes to the application.

Set Global Delay

Step 5: Deploy the Application

1. Deploy the application to apply the settings, by clicking the 'Deploy to Intune' button.

2. Once deployed, the Pilot group will be automatically applied, allowing you to begin testing immediately.

The test has shown that the Pilot Group has been applied

Step 6: Add a Production Group for Rollout Expansion

After testing is complete, add a Production group to expand the rollout.

Add the Production group

Example Workflow

The next time the application receives an update:

• It will delay the initial push to Intune by the global delay (e.g., 1 day).

• The Pilot group will receive the update immediately.

• The Production group will receive the update after the configured delay (e.g., 3 days).

By following these steps, you can efficiently manage staged rollouts and ensure smooth application deployments using the Pilot Group feature.

The delay schedule is shown in the Availability column in Intune