Application Upgrade through Intune

1. Checking App Detection Rules

• If the app was manually installed, Intune may not recognize it unless the detection rules match the installed version.
• When deploying the app through Intune, set up detection rules (file existence, registry keys, MSI product codes, etc.) to ensure Intune can properly detect whether the app is already installed.

2. Supersedence for Upgrades

• If you want to upgrade the manually installed apps via Intune, use the Supersedence feature (for Win32 apps).
• When defining a new app version in Intune, you can specify which previous versions it replaces and whether to uninstall the old version first.
• If the manually installed app is the same package type (e.g., MSI, EXE with proper uninstall logic), supersedence should work smoothly.

3. App Installation Type Matters

• MSI-based installs: If the app was installed via an MSI and Intune deploys the same MSI package, it will usually upgrade seamlessly.
• EXE-based installs: If an EXE installer is used, check if it supports silent upgrades (e.g., /S or /quiet switches) and ensure that the manually installed version doesn’t interfere with the Intune-deployed version.

4. Potential Issues with Pre-Installed Versions

• If the manually installed version differs significantly in installation paths or configurations, it might cause conflicts.
• Some applications may require a clean uninstall before upgrading (e.g., security software, VPN clients). In such cases, you may need to deploy a script to remove the old version before pushing the new one.

5. Intune Win32 App Deployment & Logging

• Use Win32 App deployment for better control over the upgrade process.
• Monitor installation status through Intune logs (IntuneManagementExtension.log) on the client device to ensure the upgrade applies correctly.