Windows System Center Update Publisher aligns with third-party updates

This sentence has become the mantra of IT administrators and has been deeply engraved in their hearts. Given the current rapid discovery of software vulnerabilities and their high potential for use, administrators need to install them as soon as they are released.

Pushing Microsoft-licensed patches with Windows Server Update Services (WSUS) is a great way. However, there are some issues when dealing with third-party software or upgrading applications that are used internally.

Fortunately, Microsoft has developed another tool to help administrators solve this problem, allowing imports of third-party software directories and updates via System Center Configuration Manager (SCCM). . The tool, called System Center Updates Publisher (SCUP), is currently version 4.5 (as of 11/23/2009), and the latest 2011 release is coming soon.

Microsoft SCUP requires computers to run WSUS 3.0 management console (at least SP1 version), SCCM2007 or System Center Essentials 2007 and SQL Server 2005 Express SP2, SQL Server 2005 SP3 or SQL Server 2008 SP1. All Windows servers or clients need to run Windows XP SP2 and higher.

System Center Update Publisher provides the following four basic functions

Creating Software Update Definitions

Importing Software Upgrade Directory to SCUP

Exporting Software Updates from SCUP Directory

Posting update information to a patch update server

You can import one or more software catalogs and also automatically check the update catalogs provided by third-party software by specifying a location. You can also set a dependency for a particular update to ensure that the update won't be published.

Upgrades that are packaged and released via the System Center Update Server are generally available in three formats: .EXE, .MSI, or .MSP. These upgrades must have a certificate signed on the client computer or they will not be available.

Almost all versions of System Center Update Publisher support only publishing updates, publishing only metadata related to updates, or both. This feature is used to deploy an update in stages or to test compatibility before a true deployment. This feature can also come in handy if the updates issued by the update provider are poorly compatible or completely incompatible.

Some other high-level Microsoft partners -- Dell, HP, Intel, and Citrix -- created and released their own update catalogs for servers and clients. With these catalogs, you can acquire and publish hardware and software updates released by these companies while deploying them in your enterprise. Please note that these directories are updated regularly, so you should contact each company to find out how often they are updated.