SharePoint 2010 SP1 and the June Cumulative Update for SharePoint 2010

Yesterday Service Pack 1 (SP1) for SharePoint 2010 was made available. SP1 contains a number of important fixes that improve the SharePoint experience for our customers. With the recommendation to install SP1 for SharePoint came a recommendation to ALSO deploy the June Cumulative Update (CU) for SharePoint simultaneously.

It’s worth explaining this recommendation in detail and answering some common questions about how / why we made this recommendation.

First, to explain the difference between SP1 and the June CU.

  • SharePoint 2010 SP1 contains all SharePoint updates published through the April 2011 Cumulative Update in addition to other fixes that were applied specifically to SP1 during its development. SP1 is a baseline, and that baseline is tied to our Service Pack Life Cycle Policy. We recommend applying SP1 to your SharePoint environment because it resets the baseline for your entire SharePoint environment, and prepares your environment for future releases such as the June CU.
  • The June Cumulative Update is the first Post-SP1 build released to customers. It contains new fixes to issues raised through various escalation channels and through our support organization. The June CU is based on Service Pack 1, but it adds new updates to some of (not all)   the packages that SP1 installs.

The recommended approach is to apply Service Pack 1 and the June CU into an environment together. Because the packages changed by the June CU supersede SP1, the order of installation isn’t critical. If you install the CU before SP1, the packages that the CU updated won’t be overwritten by SP1. Because the June CU is from a later build than SP1, many will be comfortable installing SP1 first, and then applying the CU.

A separate topic of conversation is the order in which you should apply SharePoint Foundation vs. SharePoint Server Updates. Per the guidance from the SharePoint team, when applying SP1 or the CU it is recommended to apply the Foundation packages before applying the server packages.

The recommended order of installation is as follows:

Update Foundation first:
SharePoint Foundation 2010 Service Pack 1
Service Pack 1 for SharePoint Foundation 2010 Language Pack
June 2011 CU for SharePoint Foundation 2010

Then SharePoint Server:
SharePoint Server 2010 Service Pack 1
Service Pack 1 for Server Language Pack 2010
June 2011 CU for SharePoint Server 2010

You can then run the Configuration Wizard (PSConfig) one time on all boxes.

Some links which will help in planning and executing your SharePoint 2010 SP1 and SharePoint 2010 June CU deployment:

https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/sharepoint/ff800847.aspx – Updates for SharePoint Products
https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ff806326.aspx – SharePoint Foundation Updates
https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ff806329.aspx – SharePoint Server Updates
https://support.microsoft.com/kb/2510766 – List of all SharePoint Server 2010 SP1 Packages
https://support.microsoft.com/kb/2532120 – Technical Details about the SharePoint 2010 SP1 and Office Server 2010 releases
https://support.microsoft.com/kb/2536599 – Description of the June CU for SharePoint Server 2010
https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ff806338.aspx – Install a Software Update for SharePoint Server 2010