Deploy Windows Store apps to Surface Hub using Intune

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Deploying apps to your Surface Hub is covered in the Surface Hub Admin Guide, but this post will guide you through the steps required to successfully configure the Microsoft Store for Business and deploy the offline apps to you Surface Hubs using Intune.

First things first – Enable it

If not yet enabled in your organization, you’ll have to first enable the Microsoft Store for Business to allow the installation of offline apps. Go to https://portal.azure.com, look for Intune, then Client apps. In the right pane, under ‘Manage’, click ‘Apps’:  

  Under Setup, click ‘Microsoft Store for Business’:  

  If not yet enabled, you’ll see the following:  

  Click ‘Enable’ to enable Microsoft Store for Business. The status will change from ‘Not provisioned’ to ‘Active’ as shown below:  

  Follow the instructions to associate your Microsoft Store for Business with Intune (Step 1 in the image above). If the store doesn’t open automatically go to https://businessstore.microsoft.com/en-us/manage/settings/distribute (you might be prompted to sign in again). You’ll notice that Microsoft Intune is already in the Management Tools list. Click ‘Activate’ to enable it:  

  The status will change to Active:  

  After it’s activated, click ‘Shop’ under ‘Settings’, and make sure that ‘Show offline apps’ is set to ‘on’ under ‘Shopping experience’. This is what actually makes the apps available for offline installations:  

Thanks Eric! :-)

Start shopping

Once enabled, you can then choose ‘Shop for my group’ on the left to start searching for apps to deploy to your Hubs:  

  I searched for SH Setup Helper, which is an app that helps with the deployment and troubleshooting of Surface Hub:  

  Once I click on the app’s icon, I’ll get two license options:

  • Online – that will allow me to install the app on my device using the Windows Store App.
  • Offline – that will allow me to deploy the app using Intune.

Choose ‘Offline’ and click ‘Get the App’:  

Back to Intune

After you clicked ‘Get the App’, go back to Intune and sync the Store (This is right where we left before). You’ll notice a notification confirming that the sync process has started:  

  Let it sync, then click ‘Apps’. You should see a list of all the apps that you’re licensed to install. Note that offline apps are always represented with the name of the app, followed by [Windows.Universal]. In my setup, I have two offline apps: “SH Setup Helper” and “A Surface Hub Tour”:  

Assign it

Click the app, then click ‘Assignments’. Choose the group of devices you want to deploy the app to (In my setup the group is “Surface Hub – All”), and under ‘Type’ choose ‘Required’ from the dropdown menu, then hit ‘Save’. This will force the installation of the app to all devices within that group:  

Monitor

Once assigned, you can monitor the status of the installation when you click the app’s name and choose “Device install status”: The status will change from “Not Applicable” to “Install Pending”, until finally deployed and you’ll see that it was successfully installed:  

  Once installed, the apps will show up on the Hub under ‘All apps’ and in the ‘Apps & features’ setting:

Published by Yoav Barzilay

Published