Todd,
First a disclaimer: I work for Secunia!
You are correct that customization of patches can still be challenging, and the
patches provided out-of-the-box by companies like Secunia still have some
limitations. Having said that, then what you are asking for, i.e. an easy way
to customize the patches, is just around the corner, and we will introduce this
in Secunia CSI 7.0, which is scheduled for release in Q3 this year. We are
implementing some simple check boxes in the packaging wizard that allow users
to for example disable auto-update and to remove the desktop shortcut, among
other things to make it even easier to patch without having to spend time on
modifying or repackaging the patches yourself.
I expect that we will release version 7 in beta in early July (in about two
months), so if you - or anyone else - is interested in joining the beta program
and testing the new solution, please send me a note, and I will be happy to
include you in the loop.
Thanks,
Med venlig hilsen / Kind Regards,
Morten Stengaard
CTO
Secunia
Mobile +45 3046 3945
-----Original Message-----
From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On
Behalf Of Miller, Todd
Sent: Thursday, May 09, 2013 6:48 PM
To: [email protected]
Cc: [email protected]
Subject: RE: [mssms] SCUPDates
I have used a couple of the products. What I have found is that they work OK
for finding what needs to be patched, but for actual patching, noting is that
great. The problem is that there is no customization of the patches at all.
They have made the patch package so you have to take what their packager thinks
is best.
For example, let's say you want to patch Quicktime. Basically what the
patching systems do is put a wrapper around the Quicktime installer from Apple
so that the installer can be deployed via WSUS. If you don't mind taking the
defaults, then you are OK. That means you get a Quicktime desktop icon and
Apple Automatic Updates stays enabled (or gets reenabled) among other things I
find undesirable. If you want to have any customization then you end up
needing to repackage the installer/updater/patch yourself anyway. The tool can
help with detecting and deployment, but you still have to build the patch
yourself.
I haven't found a patching system yet that lets you just sit back and enjoy
patching your third party products by clicking buttons. Even Adobe Shockwave
and Flash I had trouble with. We deployed these controls with the MSI version
originally and our patching tool deploys with the EXE. People who have patched
these probably know what I am talking about. The patches that are deployed
with the patching product leave automatic updates enabled (for adobe) and
install without the backwards compatibility included in the MSI package. When
I tried to check in the packaged patch from our vendor, it ended up leaving the
MSI install and installing the EXE along side - so two copies of Shockwave in
Add/Remove - not too cool.
Anyway, what I am getting at is the patch process is eased somewhat by a
patching tool - it helps tremendously in detecting what products are out of
date. But it is still a lot of work and testing to actually deploy an update
with any product. At least with a tool you can see how many systems need
patching for a particular software product and that can help you prioritize
your work. I don't think you will be able to buy something and then just start
checking in and deploying patches. They don't really work that way in real
life.
From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On
Behalf Of Clinton Arsenault
Sent: Thursday, May 09, 2013 11:28 AM
To: [email protected]
Cc: [email protected]
Subject: Re: [mssms] SCUPDates
Secunia gave us an impressive demo at MMS2013. We are considering purchasing
the product, but at this point we have not, so I don't have any true experience
with it save the demo.
http://secunia.com/ <http://secunia.com/>
Thank you,
Have a great day
Clinton Arsenault
Windows System Administrator
Brunswick Enterprise IT
Direct (865)582-2306
Fax (920)907-2500
[email protected]
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From: "Hermes, Todd E." <[email protected]>
To: "[email protected]" <[email protected]>,
Date: 05/09/2013 12:19 PM
Subject: [mssms] SCUPDates
Sent by: [email protected]
________________________________
We are looking to extend our SCUP environment and we are looking at third party
tools that integrate like Shavlik. Can anyone make any other recommendations
for easing the burden of applying third party updates?
Thanks,
Todd
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