Installation guide

Table Of Contents
Getting Started with VCM Manual Patching
You can use VCM to manually assess the patching state of Linux, UNIX, and Windows managed machines,
and manually deploy patches to those machines.
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"Getting Started with VCM Manual Patching for Linux and UNIX Managed Machines" on page 143
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"Getting Started with VCM Manual Patching for Windows Managed Machines" on page 150
To configure your environment for automated patching with VCM 5.7, see "Configuring An Automated
Patch Deployment Environment" on page 156.
Getting Started with VCM Manual Patching for Linux and UNIX Managed
Machines
Use VCM to manually assess the patch status of Linux and UNIX machines, and deploy patches to those
machines.
Linux and UNIX patch assessments require you to collect new patch status data from managed machines.
These patch assessments operate differently from VCM patch assessments on Windows managed
machines, which run on previously collected data.
To configure your environment for automated patching with VCM 5.7, see "Configuring An Automated
Patch Deployment Environment" on page 156.
Prerequisites
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Understand the actions in the patch deployment and perform several prerequisite tasks. See
"Prerequisite Tasks and Requirements" on page 138.
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Verify that VCM supports your Linux and UNIX managed machines and operating systems for patch
deployment. See the VCM Installation Guide.
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Configure the Red Hat patching repository machine. See "Configuring the Patching Repository for
Manual Patching" on page 144.
Procedure
1. "Check for Updates to Linux and UNIX Bulletins" on page 144
To assess the patching state of Linux and UNIX machines, check for updates to patch bulletins.
2. "Create Linux and UNIX Patch Assessment Filters" on page 145
Patch assessment filters identify patch bulletins that meet user-defined filtering criteria. These filters
narrow the scope of bulletins to use in the assessments, which improves the efficiency of the patch
assessment.
3. "Collect Patch Assessment Data from Linux and UNIX Machines" on page 145
To collect Linux and UNIX patch assessment data, you can use bulletins, a patch assessment template,
or the Collect wizard.
4. "Review Patch Assessment Results" on page 147
You can view the results of the patch assessment of Linux and UNIX managed machines.
5. "Deploy Patches to Linux and UNIX Machines" on page 148
You can use VCM to manually install the patches on Linux and UNIX managed machines.
Patching Managed Machines
VMware, Inc.
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