Creating an operation - Patches

The Patches page of the Create Operation wizard lets you select the patches to analyze. 

To identify the patches used in a Patch Analysis operation, you specify patches to include and exclude. You can specify individual patches, patch groups, and patch smart groups that are based on patch characteristics. The Patch Analysis operation compiles an "include" list and an "exclude" list and removes any patch from the include list if it also appears in the exclude list. Some organizations call the include list a "white list" and the exclude list a "black list."

This approach lets you use smart groups, which can be powerful tools for collecting patches. (Patch smart groups are defined in BMC Server Automation.) However, because smart group content is generated dynamically, multiple groups can potentially include the same patch. If the same patch appears in both an include and an exclude list, the patch is not included in the Patch Analysis operation. Remember, the include list minus the exclude list determines the list of patches to analyze.

To select patches for analysis

The behavior of the Patches page changed in version 2.2.00.002. The following sections describe the current behavior and the behavior in older releases.

Version 2.2.00.002 and later

1. In the drop-down list at top left, select the patch catalog that contains the patches you want to analyze.
   Patch catalogs must be created in BMC Server Automation. 
2. When you make a patch catalog selection, you are prompted to select a job group. Navigate to the job group in BMC Server Automation where you want to store this operation. Select it and click OK.
   The window displays all patch groups, including custom groups, that are included in the patch catalog.
   If necessary, you can run a patch analysis against the entire patch catalog. The Finish and Next buttons become enabled when you select a catalog.

3. To select particular patch groups for the operation (and not individual patches, as described in the next step), include or exclude patch groups. For each group, click the slider to the right to include it  or to the left to exclude it .
   The Selected Patches list shows the groups you have chosen to include or exclude.

   Note

   If you exclude a patch group, you must also include one or more patch groups or patches.

   If you include patch smart groups, be aware that the patches evaluated are those included in the smart group at the time the operation executes rather than the time you define the operation. In some situations, patches could be added to or removed from a smart group between the time the operation is defined and the time it actually runs.

4. To include or exclude individual patches, take the following actions:
   1. Select a patch group. A blank list and a search box appear below the selected group.
   2. Find patches to include or exclude by entering text in the search box and clicking Search. To show all patches in the selected patch group, leave the search box empty and click Search .

   3. Select Include , Exclude , or Cancel for the patches you want to include.
      When you exclude one or more patches, all other patches in the patch group are included.
      
      

      

      
      

5. Optionally, you can modify the Selected Patches list by clicking the the row for that item, which removes the item from the list.
   

   

   You can also cancel an exclude or include of a patch group by clicking the slider in the center to set the status of that group back to neutral. You can cancel an include or exclude for a particular patch by clicking Cancel  on the row for that patch.

Version 2.2.00

1. In the drop-down list at top left, select the patch catalog that contains the patches you want to analyze.
   Patch catalogs must be created in BMC Server Automation. 
2. When you make a patch catalog selection, you are prompted to select a job group. Navigate to the job group in BMC Server Automation where you want to store this operation. Select it and click OK.
   The window displays the patches, organized by patch group, that are included in the patch catalog.

3. Select the patches and patch groups you want to include or exclude. If necessary expand a patch group to see the patches it contains. For each item you want to include or exclude, click the slider to the right to include it and click the slider to the left to exclude it.
   The Selected Patches list shows the patches you have chosen.
   If necessary, click in the Search box and enter a text string to show only patches with names that contain that text string.

   Note

   If you select patch smart groups, be aware that the patches evaluated are those included in the smart group at the time the operation executes rather than the time you define the operation. In some situations, patches could be added to or removed from a smart group between the time the operation is defined and the time it actually runs.

4. Optionally, you can modify the Selected Patches list by clicking the row for that item, which removes the item from the list.
   

   

   You can also click the slider in the center to remove an include or exclude selection and return it to a neutral status.