Scheduling: Best Practices
The advertisements for the various software update management components are designed to run independently of each other. However, you can improve the performance, responsiveness, and reliability of your software update management process by optimizing the schedule of these advertisements.
For detailed information about the daily, weekly, monthly and as-needed tasks that are required to optimize software update deployment, see the white papers on software update management that are listed in Table 6.2.
Table 6.13 lists the tasks associated with software update management and their recommended frequencies.
Table 6.13 Software Update Management Tasks and Frequencies
Task |
Performed by |
Frequency |
|---|---|---|
Security scan on SMS client computers |
Automated, determined by package advertisement |
Weekly |
Office scan on SMS client computers |
Automated, determined by package advertisement |
Weekly |
Synchronization (Security Update Inventory Tool) |
Automated task on synchronization host |
Weekly |
Synchronization (Microsoft Office Inventory Tool for Updates) |
Automated task on synchronization host |
Weekly |
Update Distribution Points (Security Update Inventory Tool) |
Automated task, configured in package properties (see procedure below) |
Weekly |
Update Distribution Points (Microsoft Office Inventory Tool for Updates) |
Automated task, configured in package properties (see the following procedure) |
Weekly |
Run Distribute Software Updates Wizard to modify Security update packages and add newly released or requested software updates |
Administrator |
Schedule determined by needs of IT organization. Should be performed at least weekly. |
Run Distribute Software Updates Wizard to modify Office update packages and add newly released or requested software updates |
Administrator |
Schedule determined by needs of IT organization. Should be performed at least weekly. |
Security updates distributed to SMS client computers (workstations) |
Automated; determined by package advertisement |
Daily/nightly depending on needs of enterprise. |
Microsoft Office updates distributed to SMS client computers (workstations) |
Automated; determined by package advertisement |
Approximately twice a week, day or night, depending on needs of enterprise. |
Security updates distributed to SMS client computers (servers) |
Automated; determined by package advertisement |
Schedule determined by server team. Should not configure automatic restarts. |
Client hardware inventory regular schedule |
Automated; determined by SMS hardware inventory configuration |
Weekly for sites with more than 10,000 clients. |
Table 6.14 shows a sample weekly schedule for these processes.
Table 6.14 Software Update Management Processes Sample Schedule
Task |
M |
T |
W |
Th |
F |
S |
Su |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Security Update Inventory Tool synchronization task |
|
|
|
|
|
9:00 A.M. |
|
Update Distribution Points (Security Update Inventory Tool) |
3:00 P.M. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Security Scan on clients |
|
Saturday night - Sunday morning |
|
|
|
|
|
Microsoft Office Inventory Tool for Updates synchronization task |
9:00 A.M. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Update Distribution Points (Microsoft Office Inventory Tool for Updates) |
3:00 P.M. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Office Scan on clients |
Sunday night - Monday morning |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Run DSUW to modify Packages to add new security updates |
Monday morning |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Office Update Advertisements (Workstations) |
|
Daily (see below) |
Daily (see below) |
|
|
|
|
Security Update Advertisements (workstations) |
Nightly (see below) |
Nightly (Run daily every two weeks) |
Nightly (see below) |
Nightly (see below) |
|
|
|
Security Update Installations (Servers) |
|
|
|
|
Run on schedule determined by server team. No automated restart; restart schedule to be determined by server team. |
|
|
Client hardware inventory schedule |
Weekly run date for SMS sites with more than 10,000 clients |
|
|
|
|
|
|
For More Information
Did you find this information useful? Please send your suggestions and comments about the documentation to smsdocs@microsoft.com.