Patch Management

You can use custom patches within your organization to manage clients. This allows you to issue patch alerts for packages in custom channels, schedule patch installation, and manage patches across organizations.

1. Create Patches

To use a custom patch, you need to create the patch, add packages to it and add it to one or more channels.

Procedure: Creating a Custom Patch

  1. In the SUSE Manager Web UI, navigate to Patches  Manage Patches, click Create Patch.

  2. In the Create Patch section, use these details:

    • In the Synopsis field, type a short description of the patch.

    • In the Advisory field, type a label for the patch. We recommend you devise a naming convention for your organization to make patch management easier.

    • In the Advisory Release field, enter a release number for your patch. For example, if this is the first version of this patch, use 1.

    • In the Advisory Type field, select the type of patch to use. For example, Bug Fix Advisory for a patch that fixes errors.

    • If you selected an advisory type of Security Advisory, in the Advisory Severity field, select the severity level to use.

    • In the Product field, type the name of the product this patch refers to.

    • OPTIONAL: In the Author field, type the name of the author of the patch.

    • Complete the Topic, Description, and Solution fields with further information about the patch.

  3. OPTIONAL: In the Bugs section, specify the information of any related bugs, using these details:

    • In the ID field, enter the bug number.

    • In the Summary field, type a short description of the bug.

    • In the Bugzilla URL field, type the address of the bug.

    • In the Keywords field, type any keywords related to the bug. Use a comma between each keyword.

    • Complete the References and Notes fields with further information about the bug.

    • Select one or more channels to add the new patch to.

  4. Click Create Patch.

You can also create patches by cloning an existing one. Cloning preserves package associations and simplifies issuing patches.

Procedure: Cloning Patches

  1. In the SUSE Manager Web UI, navigate to Patches  Clone Patches.

  2. In the View patches potentially applicable to: field, select the software channel for the patch you want to clone.

  3. Select the patch or patches you want to clone, and click Clone Patches.

  4. Select one or more channels to add the cloned patch to.

  5. Confirm the details to begin the clone.

When you have created a patch, you can assign packages to it.

Procedure: Assigning Packages to a Patch

  1. In the SUSE Manager Web UI, navigate to Patches  Manage Patches, and click the the advisory name of the patch to see the patch details.

  2. Navigate to the Packages  Add tab.

  3. In the Channel field, select the software channel that contains the packages you want to assign to the patch, and click View Packages. You can select All managed packages to see the available packages in all channels.

  4. Check the packages you want to include, and click Add Packages.

  5. Confirm the details of the packages, and click Confirm to assign them to the patch.

  6. Navigate to the Packages  List/Remove tab to check that the packages have been assigned correctly.

When packages are assigned to a patch, the patch cache is updated to reflect the changes. The cache update might take a couple of minutes.

If you need to change the details of an existing patch, you can do so from the Patches Management page.

Procedure: Editing and Deleting Existing Patch Alerts

  1. In the SUSE Manager Web UI, navigate to Patches  Manage Patches.

  2. Click the advisory name of the patch to see the patch details.

  3. Make the changes as required, and click Update Patch.

  4. To delete a patch, select the patch in the Patches Management page, and click Delete Patches. Deleting patches might take a few minutes.

2. Apply Patches to Clients

When a patch is ready, you can apply it to clients either singly, or with other patches.

Each package within a patch is part of one or more channels. If the client is not subscribed to the channel, the update is not installed.

If the client has a more recent version of a package already installed, the update is not installed. If the client has an older version of the package installed, the package is upgraded.

Procedure: Applying All Applicable Patches

  1. In the SUSE Manager Web UI, navigate to Systems  Overview and select the client you want to update.

  2. Navigate to the Software  Patches tab.

  3. Click Select All to select all applicable patches.

  4. Click Apply Patches to update the client.

If you are signed in with Administrator privileges, you can also perform larger batch upgrades for clients.

Procedure: Applying a Single Patch to Multiple Clients

  1. In the SUSE Manager Web UI, navigate to Patches  Patch List.

  2. Locate the patch you want to apply, and click the number under the Systems column for that patch.

  3. Select the clients you want to apply the patch to, and click Apply Patches.

  4. Confirm the list of clients to perform the update.

Procedure: Applying Multiple Patches to Multiple Clients

  1. In the SUSE Manager Web UI, navigate to Systems  Overview and check the clients you want to update to add them to the system set manager.

  2. Navigate to Systems  System Set Manager and naviagte to the Patches tab.

  3. Select the patches you want to apply to the clients and click Apply Patches.

  4. Schedule a date and time for the update to occur, and click Confirm.

  5. To check the progress of the update, navigate to Schedule  Pending Actions.

Scheduled package updates are installed using the contact method configured for each client. For more information, see Client Contact Methods.