- MDT has been removed – existing deployments will work, but migration is required
- No further security updates or support for future versions of the operating system will be released.
- Reddit users criticized alternative solutions
Microsoft has confirmed that it will no longer support the Microsoft Deployment Toolkit (MDT), meaning updates, support, and security patches/patches are all excluded.
Although existing MDT deployments should continue to work for the time being, no compatibility updates will be released for future versions of Windows and download packages may be removed from official channels.
Originally released in 2003, the now-legacy enterprise deployment toolset was used to deploy the Windows operating system and applications in a fully automated manner, with user input or via bootable media.
The change isn’t really a surprise: Redmond announced the deprecation in December 2024, warning that it would be retired after October 2025. “Microsoft announces the immediate retirement of the Microsoft Deployment Toolkit (MDT),” the company confirmed last week on a support page.
“MDT integration with CM and standalone is no longer supported with Configuration Manager,” the company shared on another support page. “Customers should remove the MDT TS steps, then remove the MDT integration, to avoid corruption and TS modification failures.”
Additionally, there have been few significant updates in recent years, so all signs pointed to possible depreciation.
Microsoft suggests MDT users now consider using Windows Autopilot for cloud-based deployment and provisioning, or Configuration Manager operating system (OSD) deployment for on-premises infrastructure needs.
However, Microsoft admitted that there was no “direct in-place upgrade path” and that a transition would be necessary.
While the overall impact may be limited, with many organizations having already migrated, that hasn’t stopped fans from turning to platforms like Reddit to share archived download links. Many also pointed out that MDT was free, had no telemetry, and did not mandate adoption of the Azure cloud.
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