Access the Microsoft patch database

The Microsoft patch database contains information about released patches and how they should be applied. SA requires access to this database in order to get the appropriate resources for patching your managed Windows servers.

Before Patch Management can install a patch on a managed server, the patch must be downloaded from the Microsoft web site and imported into the Software Repository.

Depending on your network infrastructure, you can get the Microsoft patching database into SA:

  • by importing the Windows patching catalog (wsusscn2.cab file) from the Microsoft website.

    The Microsoft offline catalog only contains security updates. SA provides missing and non-security updates as patch supplements via HPELN.

  • by connecting to a WSUS server on your network.

    WSUS synchronizes with Microsoft Update to regularly download both security and non-security updates to a central WSUS repository on your network. Access the Microsoft patch database via WSUS if you are working in a tightly secured environment, where you cannot connect to Microsoft and HPELN.

Once every 24 hours, the SA Agent on a Windows server compares the server’s current state against the Microsoft patch database that has been imported into SA by the patch administrator. The Agent reports the results of that comparison and then stores the data in the Model Repository. When you request a compliance scan, it can take several minutes. When you look up compliance for a server, the status information is derived from the Model Repository as well.

The Vendor patch key is currently available for Ubuntu and Windows database views. The vendor patch key is a vendor-specific value that allows users to tie a unit (patch) in SA back to the specific patch supplied by the vendor.
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