Will upcoming changes to how Microsoft provides monthly patches impact SA’s ability to import/use these patches?

  • KM02580852
  • 03-Oct-2016
  • 14-May-2021

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Summary

Microsoft will be changing how it is providing monthly fixes via its offline catalog. Will these changes impact Server Automation’s (SA) ability to import these fixes and make use of them in the various SA functions?

Question

Recently Microsoft announced that it would be changing how it was providing monthly fixes
via its offline catalog (the wsusscn2.cab file).  Rather 
than multiple KBs (fixes) being added
to the catalog each month, there will only be 
one single KB added containing all of the fixes.    

How will this impact SA and how it 
imports these fixes into its database for use by SA patch
policies and the 
like?

Answer

The primary change will be in the number of KBs (fixes) added to the offline catalog
each month.  Instead of multiple KBs being added (one for each fix), 
there instead
will be one single KB added to the offline catalog containing all of the 
fixes created
for the month.

In addition to this one “montly” KB, there will be another cumulative KB that will be
updated each month.  This cumulative KB will be similar to the rollup update seen 
at https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/kb/3125574
 
The metadata structure of the wsusscn2.cab file will not change in the near future. 
Microsoft partners like HP will be provided warning when/should these changes 
ever come about.  
 
Based on the current mechanism being used by SA to import the KBs into its database,
and the fact there is no change to the metadata, at the moment there are no foreseeable
issues with SA that will occur once Microsoft puts this change to the offline catalog in place.  
That being said, it is still very important to test new content in a non-production 
environment first prior to importing the data into a production database.