Installation guide

The patch assessment and deployment process for Linux and UNIX does not use remote commands. If
you deploy a patch using a user-created remote command, the patch is not assessed until you run another
assessment.
When VCM deploys patches to managed machines, a job is created for each machine. When a reboot of
the managed machine is required, VCM creates a deployment job and a reboot job for the machine. The
deployment occurs either immediately or when scheduled. After the deployment is finished, the reboot
job begins either immediately or at the scheduled time. If the scheduled time has passed, the reboot job
fails.
Depending on the number of managed machines being patched and the number of jobs, the time allowed
for the patching window might expire before the patching jobs are finished, because the request might
become stale or the number of maximum concurrent VCMAgent installations might be set too low. If
patching jobs time out, see the troubleshooting topic in the VCM Troubleshooting Guide.
Patch Deployment Wizards
To have VCM deploy patches to Linux, UNIX, and Windows managed machines, use the patch
deployment wizards or use the automatic patch deployment feature.
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Linux and UNIX Patching Deploy Wizard
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Windows Patching Deploy Wizard
Deploying patches to Linux, UNIX, or Windows managed machines requires that you create a patch
assessment template and assess the patch state of managed machines.
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To assess the patch state of Linux and UNIX managed machines, collect patch assessment data, create
the patch assessment template, run the patch assessment on managed machines, explore the patch
assessment results, and deploy patches to the managed machines.
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Before you assess the patch state of Windows managed machines, use the VCM patching filter sets to
collect patch data from managed machines. Then create the patch assessment template, run the patch
assessment, explore the patch assessment results, and deploy patches to the managed machines.
To deploy patches on Linux and UNIX managed machines, use the Deploy wizard in one of the following
Patchinglocations.
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User-created patching assessment templates
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Imported patching assessment templates
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Assessment results for all bulletins
To deploy patches on Windows managed machines, use the Deploy wizard in one of the following
Patchinglocations.
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User-created patching assessment templates
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Imported patching assessment templates
An imported template is a text file patch deployment utility that contains one or more managed machines,
patches, or combinations of managed machines and patches. You can include command-line options in
imported templates for Linux and UNIX machines.
CAUTION VMware does not translate or validate any command-line options used during patch
deployment.
Patching Managed Machines
VMware, Inc.
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