Create a Software Management policy - Legacy UI

SECURITY  Refer to ACCOUNT > Policies and SITES > Policies in Security Level Details - Permissions

NAVIGATION  Legacy UI > Account > Policies

NAVIGATION  Legacy UI > Sites > select a site > Policies

Refer to Software Management policy in Policies.

IMPORTANT  If Advanced Software Management is activated for the Datto RMM account, Software Management policies are not editable in the legacy UI and must be created and edited in the New UI. Any already configured policies may still be pushed to devices from the legacy UI. Refer to Advanced Software Management.

Software Management policies must still be able to be pushed to devices from the list page.

What is a Software Management policy?

A Software Management policy allows you to configure third-party software application updates and define when those updates should be installed. Once a policy is configured, you can use the Software Management dashboards at the account and site levels, and the Software Status page at the device level to have an overview of the software compliance status of your devices. Refer to Software Management at the account and site levels and Software Management at the device level.

NOTE  The third-party software applications you want to manage through a Software Management policy do not have to be downloaded from the ComStore. A Software Management policy can be configured independently of what's already present in your Component Library.

All new accounts are provisioned with a default Software Management policy that can be found in Account > Policies. It is configured the following way:

Field Definition
Name Default Software Management Policy
Policy Type Software Management
Targets • Default Device Filter: All Desktop O/S
• Default Device Filter: All Server O/S
Timing Options Immediately on detection
Managed Applications All Actions set to Unmanaged

You can create another Software Management policy or modify the default one. For more information, refer to Create a Software Management policy - Legacy UI.

How to...

NOTE  A Default Software Management policy is available in all new accounts. To modify the policy details or create a new policy, refer to the steps below.

IMPORTANT  Multiple global (account-level) and site-level Software Management policies can be enabled at a time, but only one Software Management policy can be enabled per device at a time. If an additional Software Management policy is configured to target a device that already has a Software Management policy enabled, the additional policy will be automatically disabled at the device level.

Software Management policies can be created at both the account and site level.

  1. At the account level, navigate to Account > Policies > New account policy.
    At the site level, navigate to Sites > select a site > Policies > New site policy.

  2. Give the policy a Name.
  3. Select the type Software Management.

  4. To copy an already existing policy to use it as a template, choose it from the Based on drop-down list. To create a new policy, select New Policy.

  5. Click Next and you will see the policy details.

  6. Click Add a target... to target your devices through a specific filter or group.

    If you want to target more than one filter or group, add another target to the policy. Multiple targets will apply the "OR" logic, that is, the policy will be run on a device if it is included in any of the targets. For more information about target types, refer to Filters - Legacy UI and Groups - Legacy UI.

    NOTE  Device filters contain all Default Device Filters and Custom Device Filters. Devices of Unknown device type will not be targeted by the policy.

  7. Click Add.
  8. Specify the following Timing Options:
Field Description
Immediately on detection An application update will be installed as soon as the Agent detects that an update is ready.
On a schedule The Agent only checks for and installs software updates on a scheduled basis.
Click the Click to change... button to set the schedule when you want the policy to run. Select one of the following:
• Daily - The policy will run every day at the time indicated in the Start field.
• Weekly - The policy will run every week on all selected days at the time indicated in the Start field.
Once you click OK, the selected schedule will be displayed next to the Click to change... button.
You can also specify the length of the policy (1-24 hours).

NOTE  Time zones will be taken into account at run times. For example, if the policy is set to run at midnight and it is applied to two devices in different time zones, one UTC and one PST, then the policy will run at midnight UTC on the UTC device and at midnight PST on the PST device. The policy cannot be scheduled to run at a time that has already passed in all time zones.

  1. Specify the policy Actions in the Managed Applications section for each application.

NOTE  For a list of supported applications, refer to Supported software applications and operating systems.

Action Description Compliance Reporting
Unmanaged Selected by default. The Agent will neither install nor update the application. The application will always be considered compliant.
Manual Approve You must manually approve individual updates for this application as they become available. If the application is not already installed, it will not be installed. The application is considered compliant either when it's absent or when it's installed and up to date.
Manual Approve + Install if not present You must manually approve individual updates for this application as they become available. If the application is not installed, you must approve its installation. The application is considered compliant only when it is both present and up to date.
Auto Approve The Agent will automatically update the application without requiring approval. If the application is not already installed, it will not be installed. The application is considered compliant either when it's absent or when it's installed and up to date.
Auto Approve + Install if not present The Agent will automatically update the application without requiring approval. If the application is not installed, it will be installed automatically. The application is considered compliant only when it is both present and up to date.

  1. Click Save and Push Changes.
    If you click Save Only, you'll be directed to your list of policies where you can click Push changes... next to the policy in question.

NOTE  If you click Save Only (legacy UI) or Save and Deploy Later (New UI) instead of Save and Push Changes (legacy UI) or Save and Deploy Now (New UI) when creating or updating a policy, the changes will still be deployed at midnight in your time zone because policies are automatically deployed every 24 hours.

  1. Locate your policy in the list of account or site policies and click its name.
  2. Edit the policy details as specified above.

  3. Click Save and Push Changes.
    If you click Save Only, you'll be directed to your list of policies where you can click Push changes... next to the policy in question.

NOTE  If you click Save Only (legacy UI) or Save and Deploy Later (New UI) instead of Save and Push Changes (legacy UI) or Save and Deploy Now (New UI) when creating or updating a policy, the changes will still be deployed at midnight in your time zone because policies are automatically deployed every 24 hours.

Although software compliance status changes are instantly displayed on Software Management pages, it may take up to 24 hours for the changes to be reflected on audit pages. Refer to View audit data at the account or site level and View audit data at the device level.