Direct Download of patches to simplify WFH patching - Don't let bandwidth constraints hinder patching for remote machines

Hello everyone,

Downloading and deploying patches to remote machines is one of the significant problems faced by IT administrators during the transit to remote work. Remote agents connecting to the server and downloading patches cause significant consumption of Internet and VPN bandwidth in the server hosted network. In order to ensure regular patching in networks with bandwidth constraints, we have introduced a feature called the Direct Download option in Windows, Mac and Linux agents.

How does it work?

Once the Direct Download option is enabled on the client machines (Patch Manager Plus agents), the agents can directly download the patches from the vendor websites, without depending upon the Patch Manager Plus server for patch download.

For build versions between 100715 and above

To configure the direct download option, follow the steps below. Once the option is configured (one-time process), your remote machines (agents) will download the patches from the vendor websites, when they are out of your network or connected to VPN. Once the machines come back into the network (Intranet), the agents will automatically download patches from the Patch Manager Plus Server.

Open https://<hostname>:<port>/webclient#/uems/patch-mgmt/internal-settings

Key : addMetaParams
Payload : {"addParam":"Patch_Direct_Download_DC", "option" : "0"}

To disable the direct download option, follow the steps below

Open https://<hostname>:<port>/webclient#/uems/patch-mgmt/internal-settings

Key : addMetaParams
Payload : {"addParam":"Patch_Direct_Download_DC", "option" : "1"}

On macOS clients

To enable

Go to Patch Mgmt -> Patches -> Supported Patches. Search for the patch with Patch ID "602357 - Direct Download Enabler for MAC Patches". This patch will be listed in Server build 100546 and above.
Select the patch and deploy it to the target macOS machines in which you want to enable the direct download feature.

To disable

Go to Patch Mgmt -> Patches -> Supported Patches. Search for the patch with Patch ID "602358 - Direct Download Disabler for MAC Patches". This is Patch will be listed in Server only in build 100546 and above.
Select the patch and deploy it to the target macOS machines in which you want to disable direct download.

On Linux clients

To enable

Go to Patch Mgmt -> Patches -> Supported Patches. Search for the patch with the Patch ID "890001-Enables direct download of Linux Patches". This patch will be listed in the server, only in build 10.0.716 and above.

Select the patch and deploy it to the target Linux machines in which you want to enable the direct download feature.

To disable

Go to Patch Mgmt -> Patches -> Supported Patches. Search for the patch with the Patch ID "890002 - Disables direct download of Linux Patches". This patch will be listed in the server, only in build 10.0.716 and above.