System Center Configuration Manager is a product available from
Microsoft that allows for more sophisticated deployment and management
of software updates. System Center Configuration Manager allows you to
accomplish the following tasks that are not possible with WSUS:
-
Allows updates for third-party applications to be deployed
to client computers running the Windows 7 operating system.
-
Allows update deployment to be scheduled to occur at a
specific time rather than at the time the update is
approved.
-
Allows more flexible control of the distribution of
updates.
-
Allows use of Wake On LAN feature to wake clients at a
specific time for software update deployment.
Exam Tip
Remember what the prerequisites are for using WSUS with
BranchCache.
Practice: Verifying Update Deployment
In this set of exercises, you use different techniques to
verify the deployment of updates to client computers running the
Windows 7 operating system. Verifying the deployment of updates is
an important step in the update deployment cycle. Although you can
deploy updates from a WSUS server fairly easily, you cannot be
certain that client computers have installed those updates until you
perform some type of check.
EXERCISE 1 Manually Verifying
Installed Updates
You can use Windows PowerShell, which is installed by default
on computers running the Windows 7 operating system, to generate a
list of installed updates. It is also possible to generate a list of
updates on remote computers by running this command against a remote
computer that is specially configured for remote management through
Windows PowerShell. To complete this exercise, perform the following
steps.
-
Log on to computer WKSTN1 with the Mark Lee user
account.
-
Start a Windows PowerShell session.
-
Enter the command Get-HotFix, and then review the
results.
-
In the Search Programs And Files text box, type View Installed Updates, and then click
the View Installed Updates item. Review the list of installed
updates, as shown in Figure 1.
EXERCISE 2 Installing and Using
Microsoft Baseline Security Analyzer
The Microsoft Baseline Security Analyzer allows you to scan a
computer to see if it is missing any updates.
-
If you have not done so already, log on to computer WKSTN1
with the Mark Lee user account.
-
Locate the Microsoft Baseline Security Analyzer
installation file. Double-click this file to begin the
installation. You will receive a security warning informing you
that the file has been obtained from the Internet. Click Run to
start the installation process.
-
On the Microsoft Baseline Security Analyzer Setup page,
click Next.
-
On the License Agreement page, select the I Accept The
License Agreement option, and then click Next.
-
On the Destination Folder page, review the default
location, and then click Next. On the Start Installation page,
click Install. The Microsoft Baseline Security Analyzer begins
to install on the computer. You will be presented with another
User Account Control dialog box at which you should click Yes.
Click OK when you are informed that the Microsoft Baseline
Security Analyzer has installed successfully.
-
Double-click the shortcut to the Microsoft Baseline
Security Analyzer that has been placed on the desktop by the
installation process. At the User Account Control dialog box,
click Yes.
-
On the Check Computers For Common Security
Misconfigurations page, click Scan A Computer.
-
The default values allow for the local computer to be
scanned. Select the Advanced Update Services Options check box
and then select the Scan Using Microsoft Update Only option.
Then click Start Scan.
-
Review the generated report, and then close the Microsoft
Baseline Security Analyzer.
