In this post we will discuss various ways to perform a sync on Windows (and non Windows) devices in Intune.
As per Microsoft’s documentation the Sync device action forces the selected device to immediately check in with Intune. When a device checks in, it immediately receives any pending actions or policies that have been assigned to it.
This feature can help us immediately validate and troubleshoot policies we’ve assigned, without waiting for the next scheduled check-in.
In this post 6 ways to perform a sync action will be presented. The first two are performed from the device’s side, which means that there should be access to the device itself. The two next methods are performed from within the Intune Portal. The last two method are performed using the Graph API and a PowerShell script.
The majority of these sync methods are available for the below mentioned platforms:
- Windows
- iOS
- macOS
- Android (Device administrator and Android for Work only)
Table of Contents
Sync though “Company Portal” application (device side)
This method works for Windows devices that are enrolled in Intune. To perform the sync following this way the target device should have company portal application installed. To perform the sync follow the below steps:
Search and open company Portal app.
Wait for the sign-in to complete and navigate to the gear icon at the bottom left corner.
Click the Sync button to initiate the sync.
Sync through “Access work or school account” (device side)
Open Windows settings and navigate to the “Access work or school account” section as shown below.
Click the Info button below.
Click Sync to initiate the synchronization action.
S
Sync through Intune Portal (Intune Portal side)
To perform a sync through Intune Portal navigate to a device from the devices blade and click the sync button.
This feature is available for Android devices only for Device administrator and Android for Work.
Sync through “Bulk device action” Intune feature (Intune Portal side)
Bulk actions in Intune allow administrators to perform several administrative action in multiple devices. These can be actions such as wipe, sync, retire etc..
To perform a bulk sync action follow the below steps.
After selecting the platform, action and devices create the Bulk action plan and the sync will take effect.
Sync through MS Graph API (Graph Explorer side)
We can perform a sync action to a device from the Graph explorer via a POST request. To access the Graph explorer navigate here.
To perform the sync action select POST as the request type and enter the below HTTP Request to perform the sync.
https://graph.microsoft.com/beta/deviceManagement/managedDevices/THISISTHEINTUNEDEVICEID/syncDevice
Press “Run query” to perform the sync.
Sync through MS Graph API (PowerShell side)
By using the above mentioned HTTP request and using the Invoke-IntuneManagedDeviceSyncDevice command we can create a PowerShell script to perform this action to many devices simultaneously. The script and the general idea of it can be found here. (PS not written by me, but used it several times and worked perfectly).
References and documentation:
- Sync devices to get the latest policies and actions with Intune
- Use bulk device actions
- syncDevice action
- Sync your Windows device manually
- Intune – Invoke sync to all devices in Intune with the Intune powershell SDK
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