Use > Server patching > Patch management for Windows > Patch management process > Step 4 - Import applicable binaries

Import applicable Windows patch binaries

When you import the Windows patch database from the offline Microsoft Catalog or from a WSUS server in your network, SA only imports the patch metadata for the available patches.

This enables SA to save disk space, as your managed servers might not require all the patches imported from Microsoft. After importing the patch database from WSUS or from the wsusscn2.cab file, run a compliance scan on your Windows managed servers. Import patch binaries only for the patches reported as required to remediate non-compliant servers.

Patch binaries contain the Microsoft update files themselves and are stored together with associated metadata in the Software Repository (Word). When you import binaries for patches, SA maps the executables for the selected patch matadata available under Library > Patches.

Depending on your network infrastructure, you can import Microsoft patches into the SA Patch Library from Microsoft's Offline Patching Catalog or from a WSUS server.

ClosedImporting binaries in Offline Catalog patching mode

In Offline Catalog mode, you can download binaries from the SA Client or with the populate-opsware-update-library script. For information about using the script, see Download the Microsoft Offline patch catalog from the command line

To import the binaries for a patch from the SA Client:

  1. In the navigation pane, select Library > By Type > Patches.

  2. Expand the Windows tree and select an OS version.

  3. In the content pane, right-click on a patch, select Import Contents and choose:
    • From Vendor - to import the patch directly from the Microsoft website. By default, this points to the URL where the patch executable is available on the Microsoft website.
    • Import from File - to import the patch executable stored locally your local machine.

  4. Click Import.

ClosedImporting binaries in WSUS patching mode

SA uses a script to import WSUS patch binaries from the SA Client. This script is available on the SA Core under /opt/opsware/patch_importer/wsus_importer. To import WSUS patch binaries:

  1. In the SA Client, select Administration >  Patch Settings.
  2. In the Patch Downloads section, make sure the WSUS patching mode is enabled.
  3. On the General page, make sure you are WSUS Web server URL points to the correct WSUS server in your network.
  4. Check your selected Binaries Import Mode:
    • Recommended - imports required patch executables only for those patches that the WSUS Administrator has specified for your SA servers.
    • All - imports required patch executables for all patch metadata imported from WSUS. By default, SA imports metadata only for patches that your WSUS Administrator marked as Approved. You can cancel this filter to import Declined and Not Approved patches as well by changing the configuration of the WSUS Web service

  5. On the Patch Database page, click Import Binaries. This launches the Run Server Script wizard with the Import WSUS Package Binaries script selected by default.

  6. Edit the script options as required and click Start Job.
  7. Click Close when SA finishes importing the available binaries on your selected managed servers.
SA retrieves patch metadata from the upstream server where you deployed the WSUS Web service. The WSUS administrator is responsible for keeping any downstream servers synchronized with the upstream server. This ensure you always get the complete and up-to-date list of patch into SA.

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