SCOM 1801 Is RTM!!!

Finally OM/SCOM 1801 is RTM!!!

Go here for the documentation, here for the download (eval) and here for Microsoft’s blog posting about this new release.

What’s new?

• Improved HTML5 dashboard experience
• Enhanced SDK performance
• Service Map integration
• Updates and recommendations for third-party Management Packs
• Linux Logfile monitoring enhancements
• Linux Kerberos support
• GUI support for entering SCOM License key
• System Center Visual Studio Authoring Extension (VSAE) support for Visual Studio 2017

Meet SAC & LTSC
System Center 1801 is Microsoft’s first Semi-Annual Channel release. This way Microsoft is capable of delivering new capabilities at a faster cadence.

As a result, the attached support policy required a refresh. This has resulted in two different approaches:

1. SAC: Semi-Annual Channel Release
   A: 18 months support policy for each new build;
   B: Consistent new updates
   C: All new features will be put into the SAC builds
   
   
   
2. LTSC: Long Term Servicing Channel
   A: 5 years of Mainstream Support, followed by 5 additional years of extended support
   B: Release cadence at a much lower cadency
   C: Updates will be pushed out as Update Rollups, BUT NO FEATURES ADDED(!), fixes mostly.

As you can see, this is a significant change which makes System Center more dynamic.

Can I upgrade from SCOM 2012 R2 to SCOM 1801?
Before System Center 1801 became GA, Microsoft only supported N-1 upgrade paths. Where N is the ‘latest & greatest’, which is SCOM 1801. N-1 in this case is SCOM 2016.

BUT things have changed here as well since this official Microsoft webpage states:

So YES you can upgrade from SCOM 2012 R2 (with the latest UR applied!) to SCOM 1801!