Project and Project Server February 2017 Updates Released

[Project-Support]

First published on TECHNET on Feb 22, 2017

The February 2017  Public Updates (PU) for Project Server 2013 and 2016 were released February 14th and 21st. Client updates were released February 7th.  The client updates release in the first week of the month and server in the second week release schedule.

We are now delivering as Public Updates, although Server fixes are shipped just via the Download Center and not via Microsoft Update; unless there is a security element or a fix deemed essential.  These are still all cumulative and include fixes released in all previous updates since the last baseline (Initial release for 2016 and SP1 for 2013.

Feel free to open a support case if you have any questions around this or need assistance getting these patches deployed.

We should be back to ‘normal’ install times now (I patched both my 2013 and 2016 systems in a couple of hours) – but leaving this comment here just in case…  One point to note is the installation of the Project Server 2016 package (SharePoint Server) for September 2016 and beyond can take longer to install than previous 2016 updates, on my slow server it took several hours, so you should ensure you test installation in a similar environment to production to ensure you allow enough downtime.

The 2013 PU releases also have a real prerequisite of the appropriate Service Pack 1 (SP1), and links for SP1 are given below.  SP1 is enforced in this release, so you will find out (as I did) if you really do have SP1 for all your installed components and language packs!  This also means RTM is no longer supported!  See http://blogs.technet.com/b/stefan_gossner/archive/2015/04/15/common-issue-april-2015-fixes-for-... too which describes an issue you might see if you don’t have the ‘right’ SP1.  Slipstream would work with the original SP1 – but the updates require the re-released SP1.  Since the May PU this shouldn’t be an issue – but including here just in case.

Another important point to add here is that there was in early 2013 running the SharePoint Configuration Wizard on a server with Project Server 2013 installed – this is fixed by applying the April 2013 or later– so a good practice would be to load SP1, then the current PU and then run the configuration wizard (if you didn’t already load the April 2013 through June 2014 CU).

Also worth noting that mainstream support for Project and Project Server 2010 ended October 13th 2015 – see https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/lifecycle

Also a reminder – an SP1 patched 2010 system (with no SP2) is no longer supported – see the Lifecycle site for more information – http://support.microsoft.com/lifecycle/search?sort=PN&alpha=project+2010&Filter=FilterNO

Project 2016

An overview of all the Office 2016 releases for February 2017 can be found here – https://support.microsoft.com/kb/4010765 – February, 2017, update for Microsoft Office

Project Server 2016

With the 2016 release we just have a single patch (but this month the single patch comes in two parts… a wssloc and sts2016 part). – as we have also the single msi for installation of SharePoint Server 2016 (Project Server still needs licensing separately though). Both parts need installing before the config wizard is executed.  The sts2016 part of the patch also contains security fixes so is released via Microsoft Update, the Update catalog as well as the download center.

February 14, 2017, update for SharePoint Server 2016 (KB3141515) – Includes Project fixes, like the roll-up patch in Project Server 2013.

https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/3141515/february-14-2017-update-for-sharepoint-server-...

There is a database schema update this month to 16.0.####.1000.  Remember, Project Server 2016 data is in the content database.  The version number 16.0.####.1000 can be used to control the connecting client to the January 2017 level.  For reference – the RTM build number seen for the DB schema would be 16.0.4327.1000.

Project 2016 Client Package:

February 7, 2017, update for Project 2016 (KB3141514)

https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/3141514/february-7-2017-update-for-project-2016-kb3141...

The version of Project Professional 2016 will be updated to 16.0.####.1000 in the properties for WinProj.exe.  In 2016 we don’t do a good job of displaying the version in File, Account, About Project – we only display the MSO version and not the specific Project version (You can confirm this by looking at the version of winproj.exe – in (default for 32 bit) C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Office\Office16)

If you have Click to Run and using Project Pro for Office 365 at the ‘16’ level, then your version will depend on which update frequency you have set. Take a look at https://blogs.office.com/2016/02/09/deferred-channel-build-now-available-for-the-office-365-cli... for a few changes in this area – Current Branch for Business is now called Deferred Channel. We are aware that we don’t appear to expose the full change details for Project and are looking into it – you should start seeing more here soon.

Project and Project Server 2013

An overview of all the Office 2013 releases for February 2017 can be found here – https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/4010765/february-2017-update-for-Microsoft-office – February, 2017, update for Microsoft Office

This include a number of fixes, so Microsoft strongly recommends that you test this in a test environment based on your production environment before putting this fix live in production.

The article below provides information on how to deploy the Project Server Cumulative Update.

You can read about the fixes included in the Project and Project Server January PUs from the following articles:

There is no SharePoint 2013 rollup package for February 2017 release. The next rollup is expected in the March 2017 release.

Project Server 2013 Individual Project Package – (cumulative, but only the Project Server fixes):

February 21, 2017, update for Project Server 2013 (KB3141525)

https://support.microsoft.com/fr-tn/help/3141525/february-21-2017-update-for-project-server-201...

The dbo.Versions table should show 15.0.4903.1000 after applying the February 2017 PU.  The version number 15.0.4903.1000 can be used to control the connecting client to the February 2017 PU level.

SP1 for Project Server 2013 can be found here – http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2880553

Project 2013 Client Package:

February 7, 2017, update for Project 2013 (KB3141499)

https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/3141499/february-7-2017-update-for-project-2013-kb3141...

The client version number will be 15.0.4903.1000.  The server scheduling engine is no longer blocked by version control since the November 2014 CU on the server, so providing you have November 2014 CU or above on the server you can use the 15.0.4893.1000 value to control connection of the January 2017 PU patched client.

If you are running a server CU earlier than November 2014 CU, then follow the suggested version number for the server patch level you are running.  See Project Server 2013- Controlling the version of connecting clients–and PWA edits- for more details.  As mentioned above – the version number entered no longer controls the server side scheduling engine – so from the November 2014 CU release onward you can set a higher version to control clients without blocking the server side scheduling in the schedule web part.

SP1 for Project Professional 2013 can be found here – http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2817433

Also note that Click to Run installations will be automatically patched.  Installations in Enterprise Environments that have been modified will be deployed based on the schedule determined by your Administrator.  See http://support2.microsoft.com/gp/office-2013-click-to-run .  You may also choose to update your click to run Project Pro for Office 365 to the new 2016 level – this can still connect to Project Server 2013 – see the 2016 section above for current version.

Also a note for users of the Project client connecting to Project Online – see https://blogs.technet.microsoft.com/projectsupport/2016/12/15/using-project-online-time-to-be-s... – as you will need a ‘2016’ level client to connect starting in March 2017.

Client Installation:

The instructions for installing the client patch are below.

NOTE: Microsoft strongly recommends testing within a NON-Production environment prior to rollout.

1. Download the hotfix from the link in the KB Article.


2. Extract the patch package by running the .exe file that you downloaded.


3. Run the extracted .exe file to apply the patch to your Project Professional/Standard client.

Or, from February 2015 onwards use Windows Update to download and install the patches.