Objective 2.3: Deploy Service Packs and Hotfixes

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Utilities like the MBSA tool, covered in the previous section, can generate a list for the systems administrator of the service packs and hotfixes which need to be applied to the system. Once this list exists, and the hotfixes or service packs have been tested, it is time for the systems administrator to patch systems running on a production network. Even when you have extensively tested patches and hotfixes in a non-production lab, coming to the point where you apply them to a mission critical server can be nerve-wracking. In the back of every systems administrator’s mind is the thought, “What if something goes wrong?” In Objective 2.1 we covered how you can plan for that eventuality. Objective 2.3 deals with the practicalities of getting service packs and hotfixes out onto the systems that are being used by people in your organization. The traditional method of installing such patches is to burn them onto a CD-ROM or copy them to a convenient network share and send members of the support team out to manually update each system by hand.

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