Microsoft’s own Jason Githens (Senior Program Manager for Configuration Manager) just posted a great article over on the Microsoft Server and Cloud Platform Blog where he talks about some of the best-practices for managing software updates in the upcoming release of System Center 2012 Configuration Manager (ConfigMgr 2012). This is one you’re definitely going to want to read:
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Recently we had a software update administrator, who we’ll call Kevin, come to us with questions about how his organization should manage software updates in the upcoming Configuration Manager 2012 release. Kevin explained that since the release of SMS 2003, he has been refining how he manages software updates, with a lot of trial-and-error to get the process right.
For example, limitations in SMS 2003 forced him to use the sustainer-package model, which he persisted into CM07. Later, realizing he didn’t really need to do that anymore, Kevin moved to a model where he added monthly updates to a deployment every month. When the number of updates got close to the 500 update limit, he’d roll those into an update-deployment grouped by year (or half-year) and then start the process over again.
Hearing about changes coming in Configuration Manager 2012, such as Auto Deployment Rules, update groups, and the new 1,000 update-limit per-deployment, Kevin contacted us wanting to know how we’d recommend using software updates in Configuration Manger 2012. Primarily, Kevin wanted to avoid months of trial-and-error in getting his process aligned to new functionality. We’ve captured the conversation with Kevin to share with other administrators, who may also be wondering about best-practices for managing software updates in the upcoming release…
You can read the rest of Jason’s article here.
J.C. Hornbeck | System Center & Security Knowledge Engineer
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