Introduction
The business of IT is in ensuring that the business system network is safe. This is not very easy to do in a world where a large population of people have become tech savvy and alert to the potential that there is on the internet. Therefore, keeping up with maintaining security and software updates as well can be a challenging task. This is where patch management come into the picture. Patch management helps you to control this problem. When we think about patch management, we should not mistake that it is a mere business of applying patches and scanning. It entails more than that. First of all, patch management is carried out in a way that it is tested in a neutral setting first in order to go through an approval process. This may require the deployment of a couple of steps. Tools as well as infrastructure are provided by Windows so as to address the challenges of software as well as security patch deployment. As far as patch management and windows are concerned, it is a fact that Windows delivers the former as a solution to keeping security holes shut as well as keep the applications updated with the click of a mouse. This ranges from the simple and fully automated software patch deployment to the script based automation for a customized deployment.
Scanning and Patching
The scanning machine plays an important role in this process. It schedules scans in order to look for missing patches on every managed machine. The beauty about this process is that scanning does not take many resources. It can be scheduled to safely run at any hour of the day. It is also important to note that the process of scanning does not affect the users at all. One of the most critical data points when maintaining and trouble shooting is the current patch status of any given machine. You can get an immediate look at the number of patches installed, as well as those that are missing or have been denied, those that are pending as well as those that have failed. This can be seen at the patch section of Windows. Most of the patch problems emanate from either configuration or permission issues. This is where the importance of the test function comes in. It is important because it exercises the whole patch deployment process without having to actually install anything on the target machine. A reboot is also no necessary in this exercise.
When it comes to leveraging Window’s automation framework and scheduling scans, we shall see that it is simple and efficient. All approved Microsoft patches are done in an initial update in a one-time process. These are applicable to a managed machine founded on Patch policy. You can use the post and also the pre procedure pages in order to run the procedures. This can be either before or after Initial Update, otherwise known as Automatic Update. For instance, you can run procedures for the automation or the preparation as well as the setup of newly added machines before or after the initial update.
Updating
The preferred method of updating managed machines with Microsoft patches on an ongoing basis is the Automatic Update page. It takes heed of the patch policies from within the Windows Automation Framework. This allows you to have total control over the machine behavior for patching.
Rollback
Sometimes when patches are installed, they have an unintended effect on the software that has been installed. This is the roll of the rollback; to remove the patches after they have been installed in the system. However, it is prudent to note that it is not all patches that can be uninstalled. The system lists only those patches that support the rollback feature. Windows 7 is the best software for patch management.
