SA management of Debian metadata database

The Debian metadata database contains information about released packages and how they should be applied. Patch Management compares all Ubuntu servers to the Debian metadata to identify which packages must be applied.

When a server is managed by HPE Server Automation, the SA Agent installed on the server registers the server’s configuration, including its installed packages, with SA. The SA Agent repeats this registration every 24 hours. This information is immediately recorded in the Model Repository, such as data about the operating system version, hardware type, and installed software and packages. When you first provision a server with SA, the same data is immediately recorded.

When a new package is issued, you can use the SA Client to identify which servers require patching. SA provides a Software Repository to which you upload packages and other software. Using the SA Client, you can access this software to install packages on the appropriate servers.

In Ubuntu, Debian package metadata is imported automatically, but the package units are not. You have the option of importing all packages found in the Ubuntu database or importing only those packages you need for your managed servers. This feature allows you to limit the number of packages you import, which saves storage space and user time.

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.

Best Practice: After an Ubuntu server is brought under SA management, you should install all Ubuntu packages by using SA Ubuntu patch management. If you install a package manually, SA does not have data about that package until the next software registration. However, when you install packages using SA Ubuntu patch management, the Agent immediately updates the information about the server in the Model Repository.