The Tool Desk
Outbyte Driver Updater FREEScan for outdated or missing drivers - takes under a minuteDriver Scan →Outbyte PC Repair FREEClear out junk files and repair common Windows errorsFree Scan →Some links on this page are affiliate links: if you buy through them we may earn a commission, at no extra cost to you.
The Application Deployment Evaluation Cycle makes the Microsoft Configuration Manager (formerly SCCM) client reevaluate application deployments, requirements, detection results, dependencies, supersedence, and desired state. It does not automatically retrieve missing policy or guarantee that an application will install.
For a new deployment, retrieve the appropriate machine or user policy first. Then run application deployment evaluation when the application is missing, Software Center is stale, or the client needs to reassess an application’s state.
Application evaluation versus policy retrieval
These are separate client actions:
| Action | Purpose | Use it when |
|---|---|---|
| Machine Policy Retrieval & Evaluation Cycle | Retrieves and processes new machine-targeted policy. | A new device deployment or deployment change has not reached the client. |
| User Policy Retrieval & Evaluation Cycle | Retrieves and processes user-targeted policy in the relevant user context. | A user-targeted application is missing or has not updated. |
| Application Deployment Evaluation Cycle | Reevaluates application assignments and application state using policy already available on the client. | The client has current policy but the application state, detection result, or Software Center display is stale. |
Microsoft describes application deployment as a sequence involving policy download, application activation and evaluation, and enforcement. The client must first possess the relevant deployment and application policy before evaluation can produce a useful result. See Microsoft’s application deployment technical reference.
What the cycle evaluates
When the action runs, Configuration Manager’s application-management components reassess the client’s application assignments. Depending on the deployment and current state, evaluation can determine whether an application is:
#1 Best Overall
- Applicable to the device or user.
- Required, available, or not required.
- Installed or not installed according to its detection method.
- Compliant or noncompliant with the desired state.
- Blocked by a requirement rule, global condition, dependency, supersedence relationship, or deployment-type rule.
- Eligible for content download and enforcement.
Evaluation does not mean “install every application.” The client continues according to the deployment purpose, available time, deadline, maintenance-window rules, user-experience settings, content availability, dependencies, and detection result.
What it does not do
Running the cycle does not automatically:
- Retrieve a deployment policy the client has never received.
- Repair or reinstall a damaged Configuration Manager client.
- Download content when the application is not applicable.
- Override maintenance windows, deadlines, requirements, or user-experience restrictions.
- Correct an invalid detection method.
- Fix missing, unavailable, or incorrectly distributed content.
- Make a user-targeted deployment appear in a machine-only context.
- Install an Available application without the user selecting it in Software Center.
Available versus Required deployments
Available deployments
An Available deployment is offered to the user through Software Center. Evaluation can update whether the application is applicable and should be displayed, but merely running the evaluation cycle normally does not install it. Installation generally begins when the user selects Install in Software Center.
Microsoft’s technical reference states that Available deployments do not receive a deadline schedule; enforcement occurs when the user initiates installation.
What’s actually slowing this PC down?
Pick the symptom - the matching free tool is one click away.
Required deployments
For a Required deployment, evaluation checks whether the application is applicable and whether the desired state is already satisfied. If the application is required and the detection method reports it as absent, the client can proceed toward content acquisition and enforcement.
Installation still depends on the deployment’s available time, deadline, maintenance windows, content location, requirements, dependencies, user experience, and client health. Required-deployment activation can also be randomized by up to two hours by default to reduce load on site systems and distribution points. That is a documented scheduling behavior, not a promise that every installation waits exactly two hours.
The accurate expectation is: the cycle causes reevaluation; installation occurs only when the resulting deployment state and enforcement conditions require it.
Rank #2
When to run the cycle
Run application deployment evaluation when:
- A newly targeted application is not appearing after the relevant policy retrieval.
- Software Center shows stale application information.
- A user manually uninstalled an application that a Required deployment should restore.
- A detection method or requirement rule changed and the client needs to reassess.
- An application was revised, superseded, or replaced.
- A device moved into or out of a collection.
- A deployment was recreated or its intent changed.
- A test device needs to process an assignment without waiting for the next scheduled evaluation.
- The console’s compliance state does not match the endpoint’s apparent state.
Do not use it as the first response to every problem. First establish that the device is correctly targeted, has current policy, and can communicate with its management point.
Free tools Windows power users keep installed
One-click scans. No signup required.
Run it locally from Control Panel
- Sign in to the Windows device.
- Open Control Panel.
- Open Configuration Manager.
- Select the Actions tab.
- Select Application Deployment Evaluation Cycle.
- Select Run Now.
The displayed name can vary slightly by client version or language. In the Configuration Manager console, the corresponding client-notification action is named Evaluate application deployments.
For a new machine-targeted deployment, use this order:
- Run Machine Policy Retrieval & Evaluation Cycle.
- Allow time for policy processing.
- Run Application Deployment Evaluation Cycle if the application is still missing or its state is stale.
For a user-targeted deployment, retrieve User Policy Retrieval & Evaluation Cycle in the intended user context, then run application evaluation and check Software Center while that user is signed in.
Run it remotely from the Configuration Manager console
- Open the Configuration Manager console.
- Go to Assets and Compliance > Devices, or select a device collection.
- Select the device or collection.
- On the ribbon, select Client Notification.
- Select Evaluate application deployments.
This sends a client notification requesting the action rather than waiting for normal polling. It still depends on the client being online enough to receive notification and on the management-point and client-notification infrastructure working correctly. The action is documented in Microsoft’s client notification documentation.
Trigger it with PowerShell
For centrally managed, repeatable actions, use the ConfigurationManager PowerShell module and Invoke-CMClientAction. Run Configuration Manager cmdlets from the site drive, such as XYZ:.
Target one device
Invoke-CMClientAction `
-DeviceName "PC001" `
-ActionType ClientNotificationAppDeplEvalNowTarget a device collection
Invoke-CMClientAction `
-CollectionName "Pilot Devices" `
-ActionType ClientNotificationAppDeplEvalNowClientNotificationAppDeplEvalNow is the documented action value for application deployment evaluation. Avoid triggering very large collections during peak hours unless the resulting client and distribution-point load is understood.
See the Invoke-CMClientAction documentation for the supported parameters and targeting model.
Trigger it through CIM or WMI
The client’s SMS_Client.TriggerSchedule method can invoke lower-level application-manager schedules:
| Purpose | Schedule ID |
|---|---|
| Application manager machine policy action | {00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000121} |
| Application manager user policy action | {00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000122} |
| Application manager global evaluation action | {00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000123} |
CIM example
Invoke-CimMethod `
-Namespace "rootCCM" `
-ClassName "SMS_Client" `
-MethodName "TriggerSchedule" `
-Arguments @{
sScheduleID = "{00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000121}"
}Legacy WMI example
Invoke-WmiMethod `
-Namespace "rootccm" `
-Class SMS_Client `
-Name TriggerSchedule `
-ArgumentList "{00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000121}"Use CIM or WMI mainly for local automation and remediation. Prefer Invoke-CMClientAction for server-side remote notification. The schedule identifiers are lower-level client schedules and are not guaranteed to reproduce every behavior of the local Control Panel action, particularly for user-targeted applications. A machine schedule trigger may evaluate machine policy without fully reproducing user-context evaluation.
Microsoft documents TriggerSchedule and the schedule identifiers in its SMS_Client reference.
What happens inside the client
- Policy availability: The client must have the deployment, application, deployment-type, requirement, global-condition, dependency, and related policy.
- Scheduler activation: Scheduler creates or processes the application activation schedule.
- Application evaluation: The DCM Agent receives the activation message and creates an evaluation job.
- Applicability checks: Requirements, dependencies, supersedence, global conditions, and deployment intent are evaluated.
- Detection: The deployment type’s detection method determines whether the application is installed.
- Content decision: If enforcement is needed, the client determines whether content is available locally or must be downloaded.
- Enforcement: The CI Agent and application-enforcement components install or uninstall the application when conditions permit.
- State reporting: The client reports resulting state back to the site; console status can lag behind endpoint activity.
Evaluation and enforcement are separate phases. Microsoft’s installation technical reference describes the CI Agent’s role during enforcement.
Rank #4
Troubleshoot in the correct order
Use this sequence rather than repeatedly clicking Run Now:
Recommended Free Tools
- Policy: Did the client receive the deployment?
- Schedule: Was the application evaluation scheduled or triggered?
- Intent: Did the client determine that the deployment is applicable and required or available?
- Discovery: Did the detection method report the expected installed state?
- Content: Can the client locate and download content from an appropriate distribution point?
- Enforcement: Was installation permitted by the deadline, maintenance window, user experience, and client state?
- Reporting: Did the client send updated state to the site?
Symptom: the application is not visible in Software Center
- Confirm that the device or user is actually in the targeted collection.
- Confirm whether the deployment targets a device collection or user collection.
- Verify that the deployment is enabled.
- Retrieve current machine or user policy, as appropriate.
- Check whether the intended user is signed in for a user-targeted deployment.
- Verify the client’s management-point and assignment health.
- Check application requirements and deployment-type validity.
- Confirm that content is distributed to a reachable distribution point.
- Review user-experience and visibility settings that could affect the Software Center presentation.
Run policy retrieval first, then application evaluation. A delayed Software Center refresh does not by itself prove that evaluation failed.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.Symptom: the application appears but will not install
Check the detection method, requirements, dependencies, supersedence, content distribution, boundary-group location, download restrictions, maintenance windows, maximum allowed runtime, user interaction settings, deployment purpose, deadline, and pending restart state.
An Available application generally waits for the user to select it. A Required application can still wait for a future deadline, maintenance window, content availability, or another enforcement condition.
Symptom: an uninstalled application does not reinstall
For a Required deployment:
- Confirm that the detection method now reports the application as absent.
- Confirm that the deployment remains Required and active.
- Run application evaluation.
- Review
AppDiscovery.logfor the local detection result. - Review
AppIntentEval.logfor the desired state. - Review
AppEnforce.logto see whether enforcement was attempted. - Check maintenance-window, deadline, content, and reboot restrictions.
A faulty detection method can make the client believe that the application is still installed, preventing a reinstall.
Quick wins for a faster PC:
Clear out junk files and repair common Windows errorsFree Scan →Scan for outdated or missing drivers - takes under a minuteDriver Scan →Symptom: the console says compliant but the endpoint is wrong
Possible causes include stale state messages, an incorrect detection method, a different deployment type being applied, installation outside Configuration Manager, a state message that has not reached the management point, or a conflicting deployment and supersedence relationship.
Use the endpoint’s current detection and application logs to determine what the client actually evaluated. The console can reflect older data.
Symptom: a user-targeted application ignores a machine trigger
Machine and user application schedules are separate. Retrieve user policy in the intended user context and ensure that user is signed in. Directly triggering schedule 121 is not a universal substitute for the full local application-evaluation behavior for user deployments; use the appropriate user context and schedule where low-level triggering is necessary.
Logs and the question each one answers
| Question | Primary evidence |
|---|---|
| Did the client receive the deployment policy? | PolicyAgent.log |
| Was a schedule created or fired? | Scheduler.log |
| Did application intent evaluation begin? | AppIntentEval.log |
| Was the application detected as installed? | AppDiscovery.log |
| Did installation or uninstall enforcement run? | AppEnforce.log |
| Was content located or downloaded? | CAS.log, ContentTransferManager.log, and related content-location logs |
| Did the client report state? | StateMessage.log and deployment monitoring |
| Did requirements, dependencies, or CI evaluation fail? | AppIntentEval.log, CIAgent.log, and related CI/provider logs |
Search logs using the application unique ID, assignment unique ID, or deployment-type identifier when possible. Friendly application names may not be the most reliable search terms.
Do these 3 things before closing this tab:
1Fix the driver behind crashes, sound loss and screen glitches2Clear out junk files and repair common Windows errors3Scan for outdated or missing drivers - takes under a minuteWhen the evaluation action is not the right fix
Move to client repair or reinstall troubleshooting when the Configuration Manager Control Panel applet is missing, the rootCCM namespace is unavailable, core client services are stopped, the client cannot communicate with its management point, or multiple unrelated client actions fail.
If the logs show policy-agent, WMI, certificate, registration, or client-health failures, repeatedly running application evaluation is unlikely to resolve the underlying problem.
Quick Recap
Practical help-desk runbook
- Identify whether the deployment is device-targeted or user-targeted.
- Confirm the device or user is in the intended collection and that the deployment is enabled.
- Retrieve the matching machine or user policy.
- Run application deployment evaluation.
- For Available deployments, ask the user to refresh Software Center and select Install.
- For Required deployments, verify deadline, maintenance-window, requirements, detection, dependencies, and content.
- Read logs in order:
PolicyAgent.log,Scheduler.log,AppIntentEval.log,AppDiscovery.log,CAS.log/ContentTransferManager.log, andAppEnforce.log. - If the client cannot process policy or multiple actions fail, investigate client health rather than application evaluation alone.
Product prices and availability are accurate as of the date/time indicated and are subject to change. Any price and availability information displayed on Amazon at the time of purchase will apply.
