CU16 will likely be released sometime in February or March of 2016. While Exchange CU15 introduced support for .NET framework 4.6.2, CU16 will allegedly require .NET framework 4.6.2. We will add additional details as we speculate as to what features and notable fixes CU16 will include. At this time Exchange 2013 CU15 is the current version of Exchange 2013.
I can certainly post what I’ve learned over the last few days, in hopes it can help anyone else in this position.
Apparently you have to carefully step through CU15, paying attention to your .NET version.
The reasoning is any CU prior to CU15 does NOT suppport .NET 4.6.2, however CU16 and above REQUIRES .NET 4.6.2.
If you’re running CU14 or lower you basically upgrade to CU15, then upgrade .NET, then you can upgrade AGAIN to a CU higher than CU15. And if you plan on doing this all in one “go” then after you upgrade .NET you should wait about 30-60 mins while .NET optimization takes place. Personally I would do this in stages as there are a lot of changes going on.
For example, I’m on CU12 with .NET 4.5.2. So my upgrade path is:
– Upgrade from CU12 to CU15
– Upgrade .NET from 4.5.2 to 4.6.2
– Wait at least ~30 mins while .NET optimization completes
– Upgrade from CU15 to CU16+
Of course this doesn’t take into account all the reboots, multiple nodes (DAG), and /PrepareAD work. I did read that in order to run the /PrepareAD command on your Schema Master you have to have .NET 4.6.2 running on your domain controller.
For reference, run this on Exchange to get your .NET version: Get-ItemProperty -Path “HKLM:SOFTWARE\Microsoft\NET Framework Setup\NDP\v4\Full” | Format-List Release
Then compare that value to this list: https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/dotnet/framework/migration-guide/how-to-determine-which-versions-are-installed#net_d
That will tell you what version your .NET is. If you’re lower than CU15 you shouldn’t be on .NET 4.6.2 as it is not supported.
Hopefully this helps clarify the process for anyone else looking to jump from a lower CU up to the latest.
Other helpful links:
.NET 4.6.2 -> https://support.microsoft.com/kb/3151802
Exch CU15 -> https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=54451
Great site, lots of useful info. It’s these great articles that really help us admins out!!
Did you stop posting about Exchange 2013? I was reading up on your CU posts and they were great. Looks like you stopped at CU15. I’ve been reading and it seems .NET version is very important when going from CU15 to CU16.
Maybe I’m just blind, but I can’t find any posts after CU15… :(
Hi Jim, thanks for your compliment, I’m glad you’ve been getting value from the articles. I’ve been busy with projects and fell a bit behind on CU update articles, would you like to guest post about CU15 or CU16? Opportunity to become an internet star! : )