Patching Hyper-V Hosts with SCVMM 2012 R2 – Part 3: Update Baselines

In the last post we performed additional configurations. In this post we will create and configure Update Baselines to apply updates to our Hyper-V cluster.

Update Baselines

Launch the VMM console, if it isn’t already open, and navigate to Library > Update Catalog and Baselines > Update Baselines.

You should see two built-in baselines named Sample Baseline for Security Updates and Sample Baseline for Critical Updates.

Click on the Sample Baseline for Security Updates.

In the top menu, click Properties.

In the Baseline Properties dialog, select the Updates menu from the left. This will list the updates that are a part of this baseline. From here you can Add/Remove Updates.

Next, click on the Assignment Scope menu on the left. From here you can select host groups, host clusters, and computers to add to the baseline. After you have made your changes/assignments, click OK.

You can also create your own Baseline, by clicking on Create > Baseline from the top menu.

Host Compliance

Now that we have a Baseline assigned to our Hyper-V Host, let’s examine the Host’s compliance.

Navigate to Fabric > Host Group > and select a Host.

Click on the Compliance button in the top menu, and then click Scan to initiate the compliance check.

Once the Compliance Scan has completed, the console will show the Compliance Status for the Host(s) scanned.

In my Lab example, my Host is showing as “Non Compliant”.

At this point, you can click on the Remediate button from the top menu. This will launch the Update Remediation dialog. Within this dialog, you can select the Update(s) to apply to Host(s) to bring it into compliance, and then click Remediate.

SCVMM will now initiate its automated workflow that will do the following:

1. Start Maintenance Mode on the Host, which will Live Migrate the VMs to another node in the Hyper-V Cluster
2. Install any updates required to become Compliant
3. Reboot the Host
4. Re-check if the Host computer is now compliant
5. Stop Maintenance Mode on the Host
6. Repeat all 5 steps on each node in the cluster

This concludes this series on Patching Hyper-V Hosts with SCVMM 2012. As always, if this post helped you in any way, and you would like to show your appreciation, please rate it, comment on it, and share it with others. Also, feel free to contact me (via the About Me page) with requests for future articles.

Patching Hyper-V Hosts with SCVMM 2012 R2 – Part 2: Additional Configurations

In our last article we reviewed and setup the Prerequisites. In this article, we will finish with WSUS configuration, synchronize the updates, and connect WSUS to VMM.

Synchronize Updates

Now that we have WSUS installed, we need to sync updates with Microsoft.

Start by launching the Windows Server Update Services console.

The WSUS Console may take a moment to load, but eventually you should see the following.

In the menu on the left, select Options. Within the Options menu in the center, click on Products and Classifications.

On the Products and Classifications dialog, only enable the updates you require, then click OK. For example, if you only have Windows Server 2012 R2 Hyper-V Hosts, you will not need to sync the updates for Windows Server 2003, etc. So do not synchronize these ones. The same principal applies to the Classifications as well.

Back in the WSUS Console, select Synchronizations in the menu on the left, and  then in the Actions menu on the right, click Synchronize Now. It will take a while for the metadata from Microsoft to be sync’d with the WSUS server.

Now that the Updates are synchronized, we can move onto the next part.

Install WSUS Console on VMM Server

Unless you installed WSUS on the VMM server, you will need to install the WSUS Console on the VMM Management Server in order for it to be able to communicate with, and thus use WSUS for updates.

You can download the Windows Server Update Services 3.0 Service Pack 2 installation files from the following location: http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=5216.

Important: If you are following these steps on Windows Server 2012, you cannot install the WSUS Console with this installation file. Rather, you have to use the Add Server Roles and Features option instead (Features > Remote Server Administration Tools > Role Administration Tools > Windows Server Update Services Tools > User Interface Management Console).

When you run this installation file, ONLY choose the Console option, and not any server-components.

After the WSUS Console has been installed on the VMM Management Server, you will need to restart the System Center Virtual Machine Manager Service.

Connect VMM To WSUS

Now that we have the WSUS Console installed on the VMM Management Server, and have restarted the VMM Service, start by launching the VMM Console.

Navigate to the Fabric Workspace, expand Servers > Infrastructure and select Update Server.

Either from the top menu (via Add Resources > Update Server), or by right-clicking on Update Server (Add Update Server), launch the Add Windows Server Update Services Server dialog.

On the Add Windows Server Update Services Server dialog, provide the details about your WSUS Server (FQDN Name, and TCP Port). If you performed the default installation of WSUS, and are using the default Web Site configuration, the TCP port should be set to 80. You can also specify to use an existing Run As Account, or provide credentials to the WSUS Server to SCVMM. After supplying all this information, click Add.

After the WSUS server is successfully added in SCVMM, you will be able to manage the WSUS settings from the SCVMM console (i.e. the Update Products, Classifications, etc.).

In the next part of this series, we will Create Update Baselines and apply updates.

Patching Hyper-V Hosts with SCVMM 2012 R2 – Part 2: WSUS Configurations

In our last article we reviewed and setup the Prerequisites. In this article, we will finish with WSUS configuration, synchronize the updates, and connect WSUS to VMM.

Synchronize WSUS Updates

Now that we have WSUS installed, we need to sync updates with Microsoft.

Start by launching the Windows Server Update Services console.

The WSUS Console may take a moment to load, but eventually you should see the following.

In the menu on the left, select Options. Within the Options menu in the center, click on Products and Classifications.

On the Products and Classifications dialog, only enable the updates you require, then click OK. For example, if you only have Windows Server 2012 R2 Hyper-V Hosts, you will not need to sync the updates for Windows Server 2003, etc. So do not synchronize these ones. The same principal applies to the Classifications as well.

Back in the WSUS Console, select Synchronizations in the menu on the left, and  then in the Actions menu on the right, click Synchronize Now. It will take a while for the metadata from Microsoft to be sync’d with the WSUS server.

Now that the Updates are synchronized, we can move onto the next part.

Install WSUS Console on VMM Server

Unless you installed WSUS on the VMM server, you will need to install the WSUS Console on the VMM Management Server in order for it to be able to communicate with, and thus use WSUS for updates.

You can download the Windows Server Update Services 3.0 Service Pack 2 installation files from the following location: http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=5216.

Important: If you are following these steps on Windows Server 2012, you cannot install the WSUS Console with this installation file. Rather, you have to use the Add Server Roles and Features option instead (Features > Remote Server Administration Tools > Role Administration Tools > Windows Server Update Services Tools > User Interface Management Console).

When you run this installation file, ONLY choose the Console option, and not any server-components.

After the WSUS Console has been installed on the VMM Management Server, you will need to restart the System Center Virtual Machine Manager Service.

Connect VMM To WSUS

Now that we have the WSUS Console installed on the VMM Management Server, and have restarted the VMM Service, start by launching the VMM Console.

Navigate to the Fabric Workspace, expand Servers > Infrastructure and select Update Server.

Either from the top menu (via Add Resources > Update Server), or by right-clicking on Update Server (Add Update Server), launch the Add Windows Server Update Services Server dialog.

On the Add Windows Server Update Services Server dialog, provide the details about your WSUS Server (FQDN Name, and TCP Port). If you performed the default installation of WSUS, and are using the default Web Site configuration, the TCP port should be set to 80. You can also specify to use an existing Run As Account, or provide credentials to the WSUS Server to SCVMM. After supplying all this information, click Add.

After the WSUS server is successfully added in SCVMM, you will be able to manage the WSUS settings from the SCVMM console (i.e. the Update Products, Classifications, etc.).

In the next part of this series, we will Create Update Baselines and apply updates.