March 2020 CU for SharePoint Server 2016 is available for download

The product group released the March 2020 Cumulative Update for SharePoint Server 2016 product family.

This CU also includes Feature Pack 1 which was released with December 2016 CU and Feature Pack 2 which was released with September 2017 CU.

The KB articles for March 2020 CU are available here:

  • KB 4484272 – March 2020 Update for SharePoint Server 2016 (language independent) – This is also a security update!
  • KB 4484275 – March 2020 Update for SharePoint Server 2016 (language dependent) – This is also a security update!

The download for March 2020 CU is available here:

Important: It is required to install both fixes (language dependent and independent) to fully patch a SharePoint server. This applies also to servers which do not have language packs installed. The reason is that each SharePoint installation includes a language dependent component together with a language independent component. If additional language packs are added later (only) the language dependent fix has to be applied again.

It is irrelevant which language you pick on the drop down in download center. Even the language dependent fixes are all in the same package for all languages.

After installing the fixes you need to run the SharePoint 2016 Products Configuration Wizard on each machine in the farm. If you prefer to run the command line version psconfig.exe ensure to have a look here for the correct options.

SharePoint 2016 March 2020 CU Build Numbers:

Language independent fix: 16.0.4978.1000
Language dependent fix: 16.0.4978.1000

To understand the different version numbers please have a look at my article which explains the different SharePoint build numbers.

Please ensure to have a look at the SharePoint Patching Best Practices before applying new fixes.

Related Links:

9 Comments


  1. Hi Stefan, I was reading your Patching Best Practices and there is a recommendation “Keep Workflow Manager patching in sync with SharePoint patching”. With March 2020 CU, do I have to do anything additional for workflow manager patching? Thanks

    Reply

  2. Two questions:

    1) My SP2016 build is 16.0.4351.1000. Is it ok to deploy March 2020 CU straightaway, or an intermediate CU should be deployed before that?

    2) Does March 2020 CU includes any Workflow Manager patching which is in sync with SharePoint patching?

    Thanks
    Ramen

    Reply

      1. Thanks Stefan

        Are both WFM server and WFM client included in the same WFM 1.0 CU5 installer?

        In other words, if I install the WFM 1.0 CU5 installer, will that take care of both WFM server and WFM clients?

        (WFM 1.0 CU5 installer: WorkflowManager-KB4055730-x64-ENU.exe)

        I have a SharePoint 2016 farm with WFM 1.0 CU3 installed

        Reply

  3. Have others reported exceptionally long server reboot times with this CU? We’re seeing servers taking up to 1 hour to process after binary installs

    Reply

    1. That’s a long time … this could be a serious problem since I have a 6 servers farm in Live environment. I am planning to upgrade the Test Farm (with 3 servers). Any areas I should be aware of?

      Reply

  4. Hi Stefan,
    Getting error after installing update – failed to initiate the upgrade sequence. Ps config getting fail

    Reply

    1. Hi Deepak,
      this can be caused by various different issues.
      Please review the details in the psconfig log file. If you need assistance to resolve this issue, please contact Microsoft support.

      Cheers,
      Stefan

      Reply

  5. Thanks Stefan.
    PSconfig completed successfully after re-installation of wcf data services (part of pre-requisite)

    Reply

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