Signature Redistribution Jobs

  • Article

 

Applies to: Forefront Server Security Management Console

The signature redistribution job is used to deploy antivirus signature updates to all (or selected) servers in an environment. The engine updates are downloaded to a single staging server from which they are deployed to all the other servers in the environment.

If the signature redistribution job is scheduled, it will start automatically at the scheduled time. If it is not scheduled, you must click Run Now (on the Manage Jobs work pane) to start it.

Note

When using the signature redistribution job to update the scan engines, scheduled updates should be disabled (using the Forefront Server Security Administrator), so that the engines are not updated twice. For more information about scheduled updates, see “File Scanner Updating” in any Forefront Security product user guide.
If you update your Forefront Security servers using a UNC share, you will need to cancel the selection of Use UNC Credentials in Forefront Security General Options. For more information, see General Options Jobs). If this setting remains selected, engine updates will fail because the Forefront Server Security Management Console does not support the use of credentials when accessing staged engine updates.

The best practice is to download the latest signatures immediately, after you create a signature distribution job (rather than wait for the Start Time of the schedule you set up). To create a signature redistribution job, see the initial procedure steps in the section Configuring Engine Signature Updates - the Redistribution Job.

To immediately download signatures

  1. Select the new job in the Signature Redistribution Jobs section of the Manage Jobs work pane.

  2. Click Run Now. The Run Job Now work pane appears.

  3. Click Start Download. A new window opens to show you the status of the download. As soon as the download of an engine's new signatures is complete, distribution to the various servers begins.

    Note

    The Start Distribution button on the Run Job Now work pane allows you to distribute already-downloaded updates, usually to newly-added servers, without checking for new updates. While this is faster, it is always a better practice to check for new updates.

  4. Click Close after all the distributions have ended to close the download status window.

Viewing the Status of a Signature Redistribution Job

To view the status of a signature redistribution job, select it in the Signature Redistribution Job section of the Manage Jobs work pane, and then click View. Each signature redistribution job and its current status is shown in a new window. To return to Manage Jobs, click Close.