Analyzing the Impact of Installing Microsoft Operating System Patches

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Collin Fitzgerald
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1 Analyzing the Impact of Installing Microsoft Operating System Patches OS Security Patch Wizard is an AdminStudio tool you can use to import Microsoft operating system patch information into your Application Catalog so that you can analyze the full impact of installing these patches on user machines. Based on the analysis results, you can determine the level of testing you need to perform before distributing a Microsoft OS patch throughout your enterprise. About Microsoft Operating System Patches Each month, Microsoft releases patches to address security vulnerabilities that are discovered in Microsoft operating system software. Microsoft publishes a monthly Microsoft Security Bulletin Summary that lists the patches released that month with a link to each patch s associated Security Bulletin. Patches can be downloaded from the Security Bulletins. Security Bulletin Summaries, Security Bulletins, and patches can be accessed from the Microsoft TechNet Security Center Web site: Page 1 of 9

Using OS Security Patch Wizard to Import Microsoft OS Patches You can use the OS Security Patch Wizard to import Microsoft operating system patch information into the AdminStudio Application Catalog.

2 Using OS Security Patch Wizard to Import Microsoft OS Patches You can use the OS Security Patch Wizard to import Microsoft operating system patch information into the AdminStudio Application Catalog. To use OS Security Patch Wizard to import a Microsoft OS patch file into the Application Catalog: 1. Open OS Security Patch Wizard. The Welcome panel opens. 2. Click Next. The Patch File Selection panel opens. 3. Click Browse and select a Microsoft patch file that you have downloaded from the Microsoft TechNet Security Center. 4. Click Next. OS Security Patch Wizard reads and verifies the patch file and displays progress messages in the Processing Status area of this panel. When processing of the patch file is successfully finished, the Patch Bulletin Information panel opens. Page 2 of 9

5. Enter the Bulletin ID and the Bulletin Title from the patch s associated Security Bulletin. You should also enter the Bulletin Summary and Bulletin Release Date. 6.

Review and edit the following information: Name By default, this field displays the name of the selected patch file, such as: Windows2000-KB38827-x86-ENU.EXE.

3 5. Enter the Bulletin ID and the Bulletin Title from the patch s associated Security Bulletin. You should also enter the Bulletin Summary and Bulletin Release Date. 6. Click Next. The Additional Patch Information panel opens, displaying some data that was extracted from the patch file. 7. Review and edit the following information: Name By default, this field displays the name of the selected patch file, such as: Windows2000-KB38827-x86-ENU.EXE. You should edit this name to make it easier for you to identify this patch when it is listed in the Application Catalog. Associated KB Article The KB article number is extracted from the patch file and automatically entered in this field. Page 3 of 9

Effected Product Optionally, enter the name of the product that this patch effects. This information is typically something like Windows XP, Windows Vista, etc.

4 Effected Product Optionally, enter the name of the product that this patch effects. This information is typically something like Windows XP, Windows Vista, etc. Additional Comments Comments are extracted from the patch file and are automatically entered in this field. You can edit these comments. 8. Click Next. The Patch Import Summary panel opens, listing the selections you have made. 9. Click Import to initiate the patch import. When import is complete, the Import Process Results panel opens, listing the results of the import of the selected patch file. The results displayed on this panel, along with the summary information shown in the previous panel, are output to a log file. 10. To import another patch, click < Another to return to the beginning of the OS Security Patch Wizard. 11. When you have finished importing patches, click Finish. Page 4 of 9

Analyzing the Impact of Installing a Microsoft Operating System Patch After you have imported a Microsoft operating system patch into the AdminStudio Application Catalog, you can use the

5 Analyzing the Impact of Installing a Microsoft Operating System Patch After you have imported a Microsoft operating system patch into the AdminStudio Application Catalog, you can use the ConflictSolver Patch Impact Analysis Wizard to identify conflicts between Microsoft operating system patches and the packages and OS Snapshots in the Application Catalog. This helps you determine how specific MSI packages or OS Snapshots would be affected when a Microsoft operating system patch is installed. To perform patch impact analysis: 1. On the ConflictSolver Patches tab, select Patch Impact Analysis Wizard from the Conflicts menu. The Welcome panel opens. 2. Click Next. The OS Snapshot Panel opens. 3. Optionally, select an OS Snapshot to include in your analysis. The selected OS Snapshot will be used to identify specific file information for any patch impacts that are discovered. Note: The OS Snapshot serves as a representation of the underlying baseline system in your enterprise. If you include an OS Snapshot in your Patch Impact Analysis, then the file version information displayed in warning messages is derived from that OS Snapshot. If an OS Snapshot is not included in the analysis, the file version information will be displayed as unknown. As such, it is recommended to include an OS Snapshot in your analysis because this allows a finer-tuned evaluation of impacts based upon file and version information. Page 5 of 9

6 4. Click Next. The Source Patches Panel opens. 5. Select the patches that you want to include in your analysis and then click Next. The Target Products panel opens. 6. Select the products or groups of products that you want to perform patch impact analysis on. The Patch Impact Analysis Wizard will analyze the products you select here against the patches you selected on the Source Patches Panel for impacts. Page 6 of 9

When analysis is complete, patch conflicts are listed on the Patch Impact tab of the Output Window in table format.

7 7. Click Next. The Summary Information panel opens, listing a summary of the options you selected in the Patch Impact Analysis Wizard. 8. Click Finish to accept these options and begin the Patch Impact Analysis. Analysis messages are listed in the Output tab of the ConflictSolver Output Window. When analysis is complete, patch conflicts are listed on the Patch Impact tab of the Output Window in table format. The following information is included in Patch Impact Analysis results: Item Patch Product Type Description Name of a Windows Installer Patch. Name of a Package or an OS Snapshot in the Application Catalog. Identifies the type of the impact as either a File or a Registry impact. Windows Installer Patches rarely impact Registry Entries, so most of the identified impacts will be identified as File. Page 7 of 9

8 Item Description Description Description of how the Windows Installer Patch impacted with the package or OS Snapshot. For example: File 'CdrGfx.dll' in Package 'Coreldraw v1.0' uses version 'Unknown' of file 'SystemFolder\RPCRT4.dll', but Patch 'WindowsXP-KB x86-ENu.EXE' uses version ' 'of the same file. This warning message means that: The Windows Installer Patch, WindowsXP-KB x86-ENu.EXE, installs version of RPCRT4.dll, an operating system file, and Corel Draw, Coreldraw v1.0, installs a file that is dependent upon the same operating system file: RPCRT4.dll. Therefore, this warning message means that you should evaluate Corel Draw on a system that includes this Windows Installer Patch to insure that you can safely distribute this package within your enterprise. Tip: The OS Snapshot serves as a representation of the underlying baseline system in your enterprise. If you include an OS Snapshot in your Patch Impact Analysis, then the file version information displayed in warning messages is derived from that OS Snapshot. If an OS Snapshot is not included in the analysis, the file version information will be displayed as unknown. As such, it is recommended to include an OS Snapshot in your analysis because this allows a finertuned evaluation of impacts based upon file and version information. Generating the Patch Report In Application Manager and ConflictSolver, you can generate a Patch Report which lists detailed information about each patch that has been imported into the Application Catalog, including patch impact analysis information. The Patch Report is generated in Web Archive format (.mht), a single, stand-alone HTML file that can be easily viewed in a Web browser and copied and ed throughout your organization. The report is also printerfriendly. To generate a Patch Report: 1. Launch ConflictSolver and click on the Patches tab. The Patches Group View opens. 2. Expand the patch listing and select the patch that you want to generate a report on. The Patch View opens. 3. Select Generate Report from the context menu. The Save Patch Report As dialog box opens, prompting you to select a location for the.mht file. Page 8 of 9

4. Confirm the report name and location and click Save. The report will be generated and will open in a new browser window. 5. Click on the icons to expand or contract that section of the report.

9 4. Confirm the report name and location and click Save. The report will be generated and will open in a new browser window. 5. Click on the icons to expand or contract that section of the report. The report includes the following sections: Name General Information Products Updated Files Registry Entries Impacts Description Includes patch title, Microsoft Security Bulletin ID, URL of the Microsoft Security Bulletin, patch summary, and the date the patch was released by Microsoft. Products updated by the patch. Files included in the patch. Registry entries that are added or modified by the patch. Products that were checked for impacts during Patch Impact Analysis, and impacts that were detected during Patch Impact Analysis. 6. To print the report with all sections expanded, click the Print Page icon. Page 9 of 9

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