Best practices controlling post-patch reboots
Not every server can be automatically rebooted at the end of a patch window; some servers need to be rebooted manually. You can accommodate this need using two server Patch Management policies: one with an automatic reboot setting and one without. You'll need to filter servers into the correct Patch Management policy using a combination of user-defined fields (UDFs) and filters.
Creating the Auto Reboot UDF
First, you'll create a UDF to hold the reboot flag via Setup > Global Settings. Refer to User-Defined Fields in Global Settings.
EXAMPLE In this example, UDF 26 is used to hold the Auto Reboot value.
To save some work, you can assume servers cannot be automatically rebooted unless this UDF contains Yes. That way, you do not have to tag servers Yes or No, and new servers added to the platform can be defaulted into the non-automatic reboot policy for safety.
Creating filters for server reboot requirements
Next, you'll create a new filter to group servers together based on their reboot options at the end of a patch window. Refer to Device filters.
Filter 1: For servers that cannot be automatically rebooted
Create the filter with the following criteria:
Operating System contains Windows
AND
Device Type contains Server
AND
Auto Reboot does not contain Yes
This filter can be used in a Patch Management policy that will not automatically reboot the devices at the end of a patch window.
For reference, the reboot options in the policy look like this:
Refer to Power in Patch Management policy.
Filter 2: For servers that can be automatically rebooted
Create the filter with the following criteria:
Operating System contains Windows
AND
Device Type contains Server
AND
Auto Reboot contains Yes
The only difference between this filter and the preceding filter is the last criterion line, as the Auto Reboot UDF must contain Yes.
You would use this filter as a target for the automatic reboot server Patch Management policy with the following reboot options:
Refer to Power in Patch Management policy.
Related best practices
You can combine several UDF fields and device types to create as many patch schedules and options as you need. Refer to the other installments of this best practices series for more details:
