Sample Plan: Patching a VMware Windows Template

This sample plan automates patching of VMware templates on Microsoft® Windows® platforms. The automation process works by first creating a virtual machine from the template that you want to patch, then patching the newly created virtual machine, removing the BigFix client identity data, and then converting the virtual machine back to a VMware template. All sample plans are read-only. To use a sample plan, you must copy it, rename it, and then update the placeholder Fixlets with Fixlets, Tasks, or Baselines as per your requirements.

Before you begin

  • This patching solution supports only VMware virtual machines and templates.
  • The VMware management extender or the VMware plugin must be installed and configured correctly. For information about installing the management extender, see Installing the management extender and for installing the VMware plugin, see Installing the VMware plug-in.
  • Remote Connector must be installed on the computer that has the VMware management extender or the VMware plugin installed. Use Server Automation Task 1680 Install BigFix Remote Connector Tool for SA v9.5 to install Remote Connector.
    Note: RXA module is getting deprecated. The Remote Connector module provides the same level of functionality as the existing RXA module. From Server Automation 9.5.61 onwards, BigFix does not support installation or maintenance of RXA module.
  • The VMware template that you are patching must have the BigFix client installed and you must provide the host name or IP address, user name and password of the target computer (virtual machine) that is created from the template in step 1 of the plan.
  • If necessary, activate both Virtualization analyses VMware Host Overview and SSL Encryption Analysis for Windows Administrator Password.

About this task

Each phase in the patching process completes the following actions:
  • Step 1 creates a new virtual machine from the template that you want to patch. Make a note of the name you enter for the new virtual machine and after it is created, note its IP address or host name.
  • Step 2 applies the operating system patches to the newly created virtual machine.
  • Step 3 removes the BigFix client identity data from the newly created virtual machine using Remote Connector (or RXA). For this step, you must target the computer on which Remote Connector (or RXA) and the management extender or the VMware plugin are installed from the Targets tab and from the Parameters tab, you must enter the IP address and host name of the virtual machine created in step 1.
  • Step 4 powers off the newly created virtual machine.
  • Step 5 converts the newly created and patched virtual machine back to a template with the same name as the newly created virtual machine in step 1.
Important: The targeting for this plan is different to most sample plans. For the third step, on the Targets tab, you must target the computer on which Remote Connector (or RXA) is installed and on the Parameters tab, you must enter the IP address or host name of the virtual machine that is created in step 1. Read the targeting information carefully before running the plan.

Complete the following steps to use this sample Automation Plan.

Procedure

  1. Open the Server Automation domain.
  2. From the navigation tree in the Domain Panel, click Automation Plans.
  3. In the Automation Plans dashboard, enter 161 for the plan ID to search for the sample plan and press Enter.
  4. Select the sample plan from the list of Automation Plans. Click Copy to copy it, enter a name, and then save the copy that you have just created.
  5. To run the copied Automation Plan, click Take Action.
  6. For steps 1, target the host that contains the template that you are using to create a virtual machine. On the Parameters tab, enter the parameters as described in Creating a Windows virtual machine from a template.
  7. For steps 2, on the Targets tab, use The computers specified in the list of names below option and enter the name of the virtual machine that you created in step 1. Replace the placeholder Fixlet with a Fixlet, Task, or Baseline to patch the VMware virtual machine.
  8. For step 3, on the Targets tab, select the Use applicability option and target the computer on which Remote Connector (or RXA) and the management extender or the VMware plugin is installed and on the Parameters tab, enter the IP address or host name, user name, and password for the newly created virtual machine.
  9. For step 4, on the Targets tab, use The computers specified in the list of names below option and enter the name of the virtual machine that you created in step 1.
  10. For step 5, on the Targets tab, use The computers specified in the list of names below option and enter the name of the virtual machine that you created in step 1. On the Parameters tab, enter the parameters as described in Converting a virtual machine to a template.
  11. Click OK to run the plan.