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Deploying applications as software updates

Have you ever needed to decide how to deploy an application that requires a reboot? Has a manager ever asked if you can deploy it as a software update, using the same notification and scheduling options? I've faced both, and I'm sure most SMS admins have as well. SMS doesn't lend itself to...

Posted to Steve Pruitt at myITforum.com (Weblog) by spruitt on 12-26-2007
Filed under: Patch Management, Patch deployment strategy, reboots, ConfigMgr, Configuration Manager, Software Updates
Reboot before patching

We've all experienced users that blame absolutely everything on patching. My personal favorite is the person who blamed us for the problem that started just after she received my email announcing that patches would be applied the following week. Many of the reports are more reasonable, because the...

Posted to Steve Pruitt at myITforum.com (Weblog) by spruitt on 12-20-2007
Filed under: Patching, Exception machines, Patch Management, patch scheduling, Patch deployment strategy, reboots, Software Updates
Patching in SCCM 2007

Here’s a summary of some of the most significant differences I found in patching between SMS 2003 and SCCM 2007. Note that other differences I don’t list may be significant to your deployment process. It’s vital to thoroughly test this and plan the changes you’d make to your environment. Also, these...

Posted to Steve Pruitt at myITforum.com (Weblog) by spruitt on 11-20-2007
Filed under: Distribute Software Update Wizard, Patching, Patch Management, patch scheduling, Patch deployment strategy, Baseline, ConfigMgr, Configuration Manager, SCCM, Software Updates
Patching and Communications

Patch Management is only partly a technical activity. Good communications are at least as important, if not even more so. No matter how well you designed your deployment plan to support the needs of your business, you need to communicate effectively with the right people each month to be successful....

Posted to Steve Pruitt at myITforum.com (Weblog) by spruitt on 10-21-2007
Filed under: Patching, Exception machines, Patch Management, patch scheduling, Patch deployment strategy, reboots, communications
Patch Process Design and Communications

Have you ever designed a patching process, only to find that users and managers complained after you implemented it, and no one supported you? Good planning and communications with the right people help assure that you develop a good plan, that the plan is approved by everyone concerned, and minimize...

Posted to Steve Pruitt at myITforum.com (Weblog) by spruitt on 10-21-2007
Filed under: Patching, Exception machines, Patch Management, patch scheduling, Patch deployment strategy, reboots, communications
Recurring advertisements are required for patching

My co-worker Shaun Cassells made an important discovery when we began patching with SMS 2003. When you advertise the patch update packages, you must always set up a recurring execution. The logic of the patchinstall process requires this if users are permitted to postpone the updates. See KB842717 ....

Posted to Steve Pruitt at myITforum.com (Weblog) by spruitt on 10-16-2007
Filed under: Distribute Software Update Wizard, Patching, DSUW settings, Patch Management, patch scheduling, Patch deployment strategy
Patch Management Process Overview

I've seen several postings recently from people just getting into SMS patching that don't know where to start. This article is intended to help them understand the basics of the process, and link to various web pages that either provide greater documentation or are used in normal operations....

Posted to Steve Pruitt at myITforum.com (Weblog) by spruitt on 09-28-2007
Filed under: Patching, Patch Management, patch scheduling, Patch deployment strategy
Allowing selected users to postpone patching

Someone asked an interesting question in the mssms mailing list recently. I answered it there, and thought it was worth recording in a blog as well. He wanted to know how to deploy patches so that some users could postpone the update, while the others could not. It's actually fairly simple. What...

Posted to Steve Pruitt at myITforum.com (Weblog) by spruitt on 08-26-2007
Filed under: Distribute Software Update Wizard, Patching, DSUW settings, Patch Management, Patch deployment strategy
Identifying and selecting Office patches

If you are preparing your first Office patches, you may have a hard time finding them in the Distribute Software Updates Wizard. Office patches are set up a little differently than OS patches. How differently depends on whether you are using ITMU or the SUSFP Office scanner. In each case, the main problem...

Posted to Steve Pruitt at myITforum.com (Weblog) by spruitt on 08-18-2007
Filed under: Distribute Software Update Wizard, Patching, DSUW settings, Patch Management, Patch deployment strategy, Baseline
Unexpected reboots when patching

Have you ever had users complain that their computer rebooted unexpectedly about the time you deployed patches? Maybe it gave them a brief warning, but no chance to postpone? We ran into that, and it took a fair bit of digging to get the answer. We found out that one of the first things that the patch...

Posted to Steve Pruitt at myITforum.com (Weblog) by spruitt on 08-07-2007
Filed under: Distribute Software Update Wizard, Patching, Patch Management, patch scheduling, Patch deployment strategy, reboots

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