SCCM OSD Policy Retrieval Error

If you’re using Configuration Manager for Operating System Deployment (OSD), you may hit an error where the task sequence fails to display even after a successful PXE boot — the machine simply won’t show any available task sequences to run.

The Cause

This is most commonly caused by the date and/or time on the target machine (as set in its BIOS/UEFI clock) being significantly out of sync with the SCCM Management Point. Because policy retrieval relies on certificate-based trust with a validity window, a large enough time skew makes the client’s policy request fail silently from the user’s perspective — it just looks like no task sequences are available.

The Fix

Correct the BIOS clock on the target machine (via BIOS/UEFI setup, or by checking the hardware clock battery if it’s drifting on its own) so the date and time are reasonably close to the Management Point’s time, then retry the PXE boot.

Where to Confirm It

smsts.log in the WinPE environment will typically show certificate or policy-related failures around the time this occurs — worth checking to confirm time sync is genuinely the cause before assuming it and moving on to other troubleshooting.

Still a Live Issue on Current Configuration Manager (Updated for 2026)

Nothing about this has changed on current Configuration Manager. Policy retrieval during OSD still depends on certificate-based trust with a validity window, so a large enough clock skew on the target machine still produces exactly this silent no-task-sequences symptom. It’s worth noting this particular failure mode is confirmed more through community/Microsoft-staff troubleshooting threads than a single dedicated Microsoft Learn article — the official PXE troubleshooting docs focus more on driver and network issues — but a 2024-dated Microsoft Q&A answer from a Microsoft engineer still lists checking the BIOS clock against the forest as a standard step when task sequences don’t appear, confirming the mechanism is unchanged. If BIOS clocks drift regularly on your PXE-booted hardware (common on older machines with a dying CMOS battery), it’s worth adding a clock check to your imaging pre-flight checklist rather than troubleshooting it fresh each time it comes up.

Screenshot: Certificate/Policy Failure in smsts.log