Patch Management (under revision)

What is Patch Management?

Patch management is the regular updating and patching of Operating Systems and applications.  Keeping software up to date is important to protect users and their data.

How are Patches Delivered?

Computers at Carleton are patched in a number of ways:

1) Windows Software Update Service (WSUS)

Windows computers are configured to receive Microsoft updates from the WSUS server on campus.  This server gets Windows operating system patches, as well as patches for Internet Explorer, Office, and other Windows applications from Microsoft. Windows computers check for new updates at least once a day, and they usually find new updates to apply about twice a month, soon after the second and fourth Tuesdays of the month.

2) McAfee VirusScan

McAfee VirusScan software is set to automatically retrieve updates at least once a day, usually over the noon hour. Computers running Mac OS X get their updates from the McAfee servers. Windows computers check for updates and policies from the Carleton McAfee ePO server every 10 minutes.

3) KBOX Patch Management

The KBOX receives patches from Lumension , a security company. These patches are then delivered to campus computers. Patches in the KBOX are security related patches only.  Feature related patches and upgrades are not available from KBOX patch management.

What patches are delivered by the KBOX?

The KBOX delivers security-based patches for the following applications:

• Adobe AIR
• Adobe Acrobat and Adobe Reader
• Adobe Flash Player
• Adobe Shockwave Player
• Some Adobe CS3-CS6 patches
• Citrix Receiver
• Google Chrome (Windows)
• Apple iTunes and QuickTime (Windows)
• Apple Safari web browser (Windows)
• Microsoft Silverlight and Remote Desktop (Mac)
• Microsoft Office (Mac)
• Mozilla Firefox and Firefox ESR
• Oracle Java
• VLC media player (Windows)
• VMWare Fusion, Player, Workstation
• WinZip and 7-Zip (Windows)

When are patches delivered by the KBOX?

When software vendors release patches, Lumension and KACE test them before making them available to the KBOX. This provides more levels of review to catch any potential problems. The KBOX downloads new patch signatures and patch package files for selected operating systems nightly. Then, Carleton computers use the available patches based on the patching schedule to which each computer is assigned. Some patch schedules check for ("detect") patches at one time, and then apply ("deploy") the detected patches at a different later time. Other patch schedules check for ("detect") patches and then apply them ("deploy") immediately thereafter.

There are 10 different patch schedules to which a computer can be assigned. Each computer, virtual machine (VM), and booting operating system (e.g., dual boot), should be assigned to one and only one patch schedule. Any VM or booting operating system on a computer should be assigned to a different schedule than the computer itself, so you can make sure the correct environment is running at the time of each schedule.

Here is a list of the different patch schedules each with a different color, and next to that is a picture of when the different steps (detect or deploy) of each patch schedule runs:

What do I see when the patch schedule steps run?

When a patch schedule Detect only step runs, nothing is displayed. The computer may seem a bit sluggish, but you can keep working.

Every patch schedule Deploy step has these characteristics:

• When starting, the KBOX displays an OK/Snooze choice to you for 15 minutes, then proceeds if there was no response.
• If you choose Snooze, the KBOX waits 5 minutes and asks again.
• The KBOX displays a Patching in Progress message continuously until this step is completed.
• The actual patching process takes significant computer resources, so your other work may be noticeably affected. Also, some applications (e.g., Java) will not patch successfully if the application is running at the time the patching is attempted, so you should close any applications and Web browsers you are not actively using.
• If a reboot is needed, the KBOX displays a Reboot prompt to you for 5 minutes, and re-prompts every hour (unless auto-reboots).

This table lists the different patch schedules again with more detailed information:

Again, we know this information is hard to interpret. Please contact the ITS HelpDesk (x5999) for help.

Which patch schedule should I choose?

It depends on when the computer (or VM or booting operating system) is active and on the campus network, and whether you want patching to compete with your trying to get other work done. In general, if you don't want to be interrupted, choose an EndOfDay or Overnight schedule, and leave your computer powered on, not in sleep mode, and connected to the campus network.

If you take your laptop computer home most nights, choose instead a schedule that runs during the day at a time when you may be away from your desk (e.g., Convo).

If your laptop computer is seldom on campus at all, choose the Next Check In schedule which will try to run every time you are back on the campus network if you miss the scheduled times. But Next Check In can be very annoying, so choose it only if none of the other schedules works for you.

A note about the NOJava schedules: The patch schedules whose names contain the phrase NOJava exclude any Java Runtime Engine (JRE) updates, because a few third-party applications run correctly only when their preferred version of Java is not changed. Only if you have such an application should you choose a NOJava schedule, and in those cases, you can enhance your computer security by disabling Java in Web browsers: Look for a Java Control Panel with a Security tab and a setting titled "Enabled Java content in the browser" that you can uncheck. If doing this causes the application Web site to fail, just reverse your actions.

How do I tell if my machine is on a patching schedule?

1. Visit the KBOX user portal in your web browser
2. Log in with your Carleton username and password
3. Click the My Computer tab
4. Scroll down the page to the Activities section
5. Click on the Labels link
6. If you have a Label beginning with PatchSelf, your machine is on a patching schedule
   1. Note: If you have a VM, multiple Operating Systems, or multiple computers, you'll need to repeat this process from each VM/OS/computer

How do I join a KBOX patching schedule?

1. Visit the KBOX user portal in your web browser
2. Log in with your Carleton username and password
3. Click the Software Library tab
4. In the Search field, type Patch and click Search or scroll down the page until you see the entries beginning with Patch Schedule: 
5. Click on the desired Patch Schedule
6. Read the Installation Instructions and click Install Now
   1. Note: If you have a VM, multiple Operating Systems, or multiple computers, you'll need to repeat this process from each VM/OS/computer

What if my software is already up-to-date?

KBOX patch management should not reinstall patches that are already applied, nor should it downgrade your applications.

How do I keep my computer from sleeping when a patch schedule starts long after I leave?

KBOX patching cannot run if a computer is in sleep mode at the scheduled time. Most campus computers are configured to go into sleep mode after a period of inactivity, usually 4 hours. But if a patch schedule step runs at 4am, and you left your computer on at work at 6pm, the computer will be sleeping by 4am when patching is supposed to start.

There are 4 solutions to this problem:

1. In the power management settings on your computer, disable the computer's sleep mode entirely (but this wastes energy).
2. In the power management settings in your computer operating system or BIOS, schedule the computer to wake up about 20 minutes before patching is scheduled to start.
3. Have your computer configured to accept a Wake-on-LAN request when it is sleeping, and the KBOX will send a Wake-on-LAN packet about 10-15 minutes before patching is scheduled to start (ask the ITS HelpDesk x5999 for help with this).
4. Launch a "keep awake" utility on your computer when you leave, so it never becomes inactive and so never sleeps. For Windows, we have had good results with a free utility called Caffeine, from Zhorn Software.

Manual Updates Within Applications

Most applications on campus computers have automatic update checking turned off.  Users with the proper privileges can update their software manually, or re-enable automatic update checking. The instructions for doing this vary by application; look for the application article here in Carlpedia, or contact the ITS HelpDesk (x5999).

What About Exceptions?

If there is a technical reason that your software cannot be updated, or a custom schedule is needed, contact ITS HelpDesk (x5999).