Viewing Microsoft Patches

All available Microsoft patches are listed in the Patch Approval window filtered according to the options set at the top.

•  This patch supersedes other patches. Before declining superseded patches, it is recommended that you approve the superseding patch first and verify that the superseded patches are no longer needed by any computers.
•  This patch is superseded by another patch. Before declining superseded patches, it is recommended that you approve the superseding patch first and verify that the superseded patches are no longer needed by any computers.
•  This patch supersedes one or more patches and is superseded by another patch. Before declining superseded patches, it is recommended that you approve the superseding patch first and verify that the superseded patches are no longer needed by any computers.
•  This is a WSUS patch and should be approved for installation to ensure computers can be updated correctly.
•  This patch has expired. An expired update is an update that has been invalidated by Microsoft. An expired update can also be an update that has been superseded by the release of another update (new or revised) that fixes or enhances functionality or applicability offered by the expiring update. In this case, the superseding update should be approved in place of the expired update. An update that is expired can no longer be approved for detection or installation.

What You Can Do

You can:

• Approve single patches or many patches at one time.
• Search for patches by title.
• View all Microsoft patches that are not approved.
• View all Microsoft patches released after a specified date.
• Research what new Microsoft updates are available and approve them for use at your customer sites.
• Use the filtering options to locate the Microsoft patches on which you want to take action.

• Set a deadline to force Microsoft patches to be installed by a specific date and time. Setting a deadline for a patch installation supersedes all other rules that may prevent the installation.

  You can set a deadline in the past to force immediate installs.

To view available Microsoft patches

1. In Service Center, click Patch Management > Patch Approval.

2. To filter the patch list to display the patches you want to see, click the Advanced Filtering icon .
   The Advanced Filtering section includes the following options:
   Products and Classifications Shows the patches that match the product or classification type you select.
   Approval Shows the patches that match the approval status (Install, Remove, Not Approved, Mixed, or Declined).
   Status Shows the patches that are needed, failed, or are installed.
   Release Date Shows the patches that have been released within the time frame that you select.
   Title Contains Shows the patches that were declined for installation.

   Use the Release Date filter when you want to see released patches based on a time period.

3. Click the patch title to see more details.
   In the Patch Details window, you'll see detailed information about the patch.
   General Information Provides general information and installation information about the selected patch, including links to Microsoft knowledgebase articles where you can find more information.
   Status Provides the information about the selected patch with respect to each approval group.
   Revisions Provides revision information about the patch.

Viewing the Microsoft Patch Status

You can view:

• Microsoft patches for an approval group.
• Microsoft patches at a site.
• Microsoft patches based on a date.
• All needed Microsoft patches.
• All failed Microsoft patches.
• All installed Microsoft patches.
• All unknown Microsoft patches.
• All Microsoft patches that are not needed.
• When devices last checked for Microsoft updates.

Viewing the status of Microsoft patches

On the Patch Report page, you can view the status of patches that relate to sites you manage. This page displays the status of each patch so you can quickly see which patches are installed, needed, or have failed.

You can focus the list to the patches you are most interested in using advanced filtering to show only the service plan, site, approval group you want. You can also filter by release date and patch status, and also hide updates that you have declined.  You can also install patches immediately by selecting the patch and clicking the Patch Now button. This installs the patch on all affected devices.

You can also click the name of any patch to view details, including:

• General information such as release date, Microsoft KB article number, and MSRC severity rating.
• Installation information such as restart behavior, which patches it is superseded by and supersedes, and supported languages.
• Status such as which patch groups the patch applies to, approval status, and deadlines.
• Available revisions.

To view the status of Microsoft patches

1. In Service Center, click Patch Management > Reports > Patch Report.
2. Do one of the following:
   • To filter for this search only, click Advanced Filtering .
   • To save search settings as default, click Preferences .

   If you click Preferences, the options you choose are saved as a default filter. The settings will remain as the default until you change the preferences. Changing the advanced filtering options will not change the default settings.

3. Select any of the following check boxes:
   • Installed
   • Needed
   • Failed
4. Optionally, to exclude patches that you have declined, select Hide Declined Updates.
5. Click one of the following buttons:
   • If you clicked Advanced Filtering  in step 2, click Filter.
   • If you clicked Preferences  in step 2, click Save.

Viewing the Microsoft patch status of devices

On the Device Report page, you can view the status of Microsoft patches that relate to your devices. This page displays how many Microsoft patches are installed, needed, or have failed on each device, as well as the time the device last checked for new patches.

You can focus the list on the devices you are most interested in, using advanced filtering to show only the service plan, site, approval group you want. You can also filter by release date and patch statuses, and also hide updates that you have declined.

For example, if you want to show only the devices in a site that have failed patches, select the name of the site in the Site box, then select the Failed check box.

Using the Hide Superseded Updates filter, you can hide older patches that have been replaced by newer patches. For example, Microsoft releases roll-ups that contain multiple older patches. If you use the Hide Superseded Updates filter, the roll-up is displayed, and the individual patches aren't.

To view the Microsoft patch status of devices

1. In Service Center, click Patch Management > Reports > Device Report.
2. Do one of the following:
   • To filter for this search only, click Advanced Filtering  .
   • To save search settings as default, click Preferences.

   If you click Preferences, the options you choose are saved as a default filter. The settings will remain as the default until you change the preferences. Changing the advanced filtering options will not change the default settings.

3. Select any of the following check boxes:
   • Installed
   • Needed
   • Failed
4. Optionally, to exclude patches that you have declined, select Hide Declined Updates.
5. Optionally, to exclude patches that have been replaced by newer patches, select Hide Superceded Updates.
6. Click one of the following buttons:
   1. If you clicked Advanced Filtering  in step 2, click Filter.
   2. If you clicked Preferences in step 2, click Save.
7. Optionally, to see the devices that meet the filtering criteria, click the triangle beside the patch name.

8. Click Filter.

   • All devices and their patches appear in the list if the device has at least one patch that matches the selected status filter.
     For example, if you filter the list by selecting All Computers from the Approval Group list and you select the Failed check box, the table could display a summary of patches with a status of Failed. When expanding the patch in the table, only the devices with the selected status appear.
   • The Last Check for Updates column displays the date and time a patch- managed device last checked for patches.

Run Microsoft Patches on Devices Immediately

You can use the Patch Report and Device Report pages to immediately run Microsoft patches on devices that require patching, or on which the previous patch has failed.

To patch devices by filtering for Microsoft patches that are needed or failed

1. In Service Center, click Patch Management > Reports > Patch Report.
2. To filter the patch list to display the patches you want to see, click the Advanced Filtering icon .
3. Filter the report by Service Plan, Site, Approval Group, Release Date, Status (Installed, Needed, or Failed), and whether to Hide Declined Updates.
4. Click Filter.
5. Select the check box beside each patch you want to run. To run failed patches or needed patches, select the check box in the header row.
6.  Click Patch Now.

To patch devices by filtering for devices that require Microsoft patches

1. In Service Center, click Patch Management > Reports > Device Report.
2. To filter the patch list to display the patches you want to see, click the Advanced Filtering icon .
3. Filter the report by Service Plan, Site, Approval Group, and Release Date, and then select the Installed, Needed, or Failed check boxes.
4. Click Filter.
5. Select the check box beside each device you would like to patch. To install all failed or needed patches for all devices, select the check box in the column header.
6. Click Patch Now.