Preparing the configuration file for Microsoft Windows

In the configuration file, you provide information that is used by the Patch Downloader utility.

This information includes definition of a proxy server (if one is used), identification of a local, temporary directory on the server that is used by the Patch Downloader utility during download, and filter definitions which determine the metadata and payload that is downloaded from the Shavlik Technologies website.

Before you begin

If you are using a proxy server, use the following command to encrypt the password supplied to the proxy server by the Patch Downloader utility. You must specify the resulting encrypted password in the <password></password> parameter in the configuration XML file.

If you are running the downloader on Microsoft Windows:

windows_downloader.bat -encode <passwordToEncrypt>

If you are running the downloader on UNIX:

sh windows_downloader.sh -encode <passwordToEncrypt>

To prepare the configuration file for Microsoft Windows

1. Edit the sample XML configuration file (sample-windows-downloader-config.xml) for use as the configuration file.

2. If you are using a proxy server, perform the following actions:

   Note

   If you are not using a proxy server and decide to delete the contents of the proxy-settings section, do not delete the <proxy-settings></proxy-settings> opening and closing tags. This section is required in the XML file even if you are not using a proxy server.

   1. Remove the comment indication within the proxy-settings section. That is, remove the <!-- characters that appear before the <proxy> tag.

   2. Add proxy information using the following XML tags:

      Tag	Description
      <protocol></protocol>	The protocol for which to assign the proxy configuration. Valid values are: http https ftp
      <port></port>	The port used for communication with the proxy server.
      <host></host>	The proxy server's host name or IP address.
      <username></username>	The user name required for authentication to communicate with the proxy server.
      <password></password>	An encrypted password for the specified user. Note Use the -encode command to encrypt the password before adding it to the configuration file.
      <domain-name></domain-name>	The proxy server domain name to be used for authentication.
      <proxy-type></proxy-type>	The type of proxy server. Valid values are: None — indicates that no proxy server is used NTLM NTLM-v2 Squid

3. Define download settings using the following XML tags.

   Tag	Description
   <temporary-location></temporary-location>>	Location where files can be stored temporarily during the download process (for example: C:\tmp)
   <validate-payload-certificate>true|false</validate-payload-certificate>	Indicates whether the download utility checks the certificate of the patch payload before download Valid entries are either true or false. The default is true.
   <payload-repository-location></payload-repository-location>	Local location of the patch repository where metadata and payload are stored. The following files are stored in this location: Patch Signature Information file: hfnetchk6b.xml Information file: pd5.xml Note The Patch Signature File and the Package Info File needs to be added to the Depot after each execution of the offline downloader utility. You must update the Patch Catalog definition to point to the newly added Depot Objects. For more information see, Creating a patch catalog in offline mode.
   <download-request-retries></download-request-retries>	Number of times the download utility attempts to download if the first attempt at downloading a payload fails. The default is 10 times.
   <download-request-timeout></download-request-timeout>	Number of milliseconds that the utility waits for a response before considering the attempt as failed This parameter is useful if the http response is slow. The default is 180000 milliseconds (3 minutes).
   <downloader-parallel-threads></downloader-parallel-threads>	Number of downloads that can be performed in parallel. The default is 10 downloads.

4. In the <subscription> tag, specify filters for limiting the patches that are included in the download.

   Note

   The same filters entered here must also be entered during catalog creation.

   
   For example, to create a filter that defines product category and language, use the following syntax:

   <subscription>
     <products>
       <include-product>
         <product-category>Microsoft Windows Server 2003</product-category>
         <product-category-language>English</product-category-language>
       </include-product>
     </products>
   </subscription>

5. Save the file.
   The sample-windows-downloader-config.xml file is shown below and includes sample data:

   <windows-downloader-config>
     <config>
       <proxy-settings>
         <proxy>
           <protocol>http</protocol>
           <port>8080</port>
           <host>_IPAddress_</host>
           <username>patch</username>
           <password>NWKIPRTPCWEB</password>
           <domain-name></domain-name>
           <proxy-type>ntlm</proxy-type>
         </proxy>
       </proxy-settings>
       <temporary-location>c:\tmp</temporary-location>
       <validate-payload-certificate>true</validate-payload-certificate>
       <payload-repository-location>d:\tmp\windows</payload-repository-location>
       <download-request-retries>10</download-request-retries>
       <download-request-timeout>180000</download-request-timeout>
       <downloader-parallel-threads>10</downloader-parallel-threads>
     </config>
   
     <subscription>
       <products>
         <include-product>
           <product-category>Microsoft Windows Server 2003</product-category>
           <product-category-language>English</product-category-language>
         </include-product>
         <include-product>
          	<product-category>Microsoft Office XP</product-category>
           <product-category-language>English</product-category-language>
         </include-product>
       </products>
     </subscription>
   </windows-downloader-config>

Where to go from here

Use the command in Downloading patches using defined filters for Microsoft Windows and pass the configuration file as a parameter to download the patches.