Patch Management Solution

Hi,

Currently using 7.1 SP2 Patch Management.  We basically create a policy for certain patches, targetting all of our servers.  The plug-in policy is set up to allow us to manually run the software updates.  We are in the pilot stage and moving servers over from WSUS to Altiris.

Question #1:  How much is Altiris "intertwined" with the regular Windows Updates or WSUS?  What happens when both patching programs are on the same system?  Do they interfere with each other?  I saw Altiris patch a server but Windows Updates state that the server needed a reboot.  We are using both to make sure all the patches are appearing, and then after patching, disappearing...

Question #2:  Sometimes I see the Altiris icon in the system tray, sometimes I don't.  I read something that said something about local login vs remote login.  What's that all about and what is the best way to see the console?  Right now, I'm simply restarting the service so the icon appears.  Is there a better way?

Question #3:  I am getting reports that patches are not showing up in the Software Updates tab, but showing up in WSUS as being needed.  And then, when I log in (this might be another local vs remote issue) I see the patches there in the Software Updates tab.

I manually release the WSUS patches and create the Software Update policies, so I know the same patches are being applied.

Can some of this be explained?  Is there any other weirdness I should know about?

Thanks,

Scott.....

1.  They don't interfere but if you have WSUS configured it will detect that there is a reboot required no matter how Windows Updates get installed.  You cannot suppress that notification even if you have the WU client to not reboot the computer.

2.  When you remotely connect to these servers are you connecting as session 0?  I've not seen this behavior that you're talking about except on our Citrix servers where we intentionally hide the AeXAgentHostUI.exe from running.

3.  I also haven't seen this issue before.

What version of the platform are you running?  The most current is 7.1 SP2 MP1 with Rollup 6.

....and two days later the most current version is Rollup 7.  There is a sticky thread at the top of the forum that includes a link to the details.