Patch Management use case

The goals of the Patch Management use case are:

• Service-based patching policies
• Business-driven prioritization
• Automated patch analysis and deployment
• Unified but flexible physical and virtual patching

The following diagram shows the flow of information and the components involved in the use case. The steps that follow the diagram define the abbreviation used in the diagram.

This use case has the following steps:

1. A BMC Server Automation (BSA) operator starts a patching operation by defining a patch subscription. A patch subscription allows an operator to create a self-updating repository of patches that conform to a patch policy. For instance, the operator could create a subscription that updates the repository with all Microsoft Windows 2008 patches that fix a critical security vulnerability. All patches that conform to this policy are automatically available in the repository on a continuous basis.
   The patch repository view allows the operator to view vendor metadata information, such as knowledge base articles and criticality, for every patch available in the repository.
   
2. The operator defines a patch policy to be applied across servers in the data center by creating a Patching job to be executed. The job is based on a patch repository. The operator can include patches of interest or exclude patches that are not relevant.
3. If the Patching job requires change approval, the operator initiates the Operator Initiated Change use case.
4. The operator deploys patches using one of the following modes:
   • Manually selects the patches to be deployed
   • Instructs BMC Server Automation to automatically deploy the patches with no manual intervention, thus providing a one touch deployment of missing patches on servers

An operator can also schedule the patching process in phases. If a server can be patched only during a maintenance window, an operator can set up the patching policy so that the server is prescanned and ready for patching. This ensures minimum downtime when patching the server.

BMC Server Automation does not distinguish between physical and virtual servers for patching. A single policy can be applied across both physical and virtual servers in the environment. Through the use of smart groups, patching policies can be defined at the service level.