5.3

1. Verify that the correct Machine Group is active.
2. Click Patching | Windows | Assessment Templates.
3. In the list of available templates, select the template that you want to run.
4. Click Assess. VCM displays a dialog box indicating the assessment status.
5. When the Assessment finishes, click the Refresh toolbar button and view your results.
Explore VCM Patching Windows Assessment Results
To view the assessment results on Windows machines, follow these steps.
1. Click Patching | Windows | Assessment Templates, and then select the name of the template that
you just ran. VCM Patching displays a summary node containing the results of your assessment. This
view includes a graph illustrating the patch status of the machines that you assessed, as well as
additional tables listing Patch Status by Asset Classification and Bulletin Severity Rating. Machines
that require patching, or a reboot for an applied patch, are listed in the Not Patched column in the
Patch Status tables.
2. Click the link in this column to view a data grid containing a list of the affected machines.
Deploy Patches to Windows Machines
After running the assessment template and evaluating the results, you can deploy security patches on
Windows machines that are managed by VCM Patching.
To view a data grid containing your VCM Patching-managed machines, click Patching | VCM Patching
Administration | Windows | Machines Manager | Licensed Machines.
NOTE VMware recommends that you evaluate each patch on a case-by-case basis prior to deployment.
Test the patches in a pre-production setting to verify that they work successfully within your specific
environment.
When patching Windows 2008 servers and Windows 7 machines, the Windows Update service must be
running for the patch deployment to succeed. Before you begin the patch deployment, ensure that the
Windows Update service is running (set to something other than "Disabled"). Otherwise, the patch
deployment job will fail.
After completing the assessment, follow these steps to deploy patches to Windows machines.
1. Click Patching | Windows | Assessment Templates, and then select the name of the template from
which you want to deploy a patch.
2. Click View Data Grid to view the tabular representation of the affected machines.
3. Select the row or rows showing the machines to be patched.
4. Click Deploy. VCM Patching displays the Deploy Patches wizard. For information about setting the
Getting Started with VCM Patching
VMware, Inc. 165