Software Updates and Patching
Information Security routinely deploys software patches to the entire institution and communicates the start date of a patch window to IT partners.
IT partners will communicate to departments and ask them to follow the best practices below prior to a patching window. Software updates and patches typically occur over the weekend to prevent disruption to normal business processes. Software updates prevent infections to critical software as soon as patches or new operating system versions are available.
During a patch window, Departments are encouraged to follow best practices to ensure successful patching:
- Ensure users leave their computers powered on and configured to not sleep;
- Turn on any devices that may be in storage, such as presentation laptops. Please ensure proper network connectivity on these devices;
- All computers will automatically restart as necessary, so please ensure users save any and all work before the patching process begins.
If a computer is powered off or asleep during the patch window, it will begin attempting to update the next time it is powered on. This can be disruptive, especially if the system is being used for presentations or in a classroom setting. Ensuring the computer is turned on during the patch window could prevent much frustration.
Departments can also manually perform software updates to their workstations. Machines that are already updated should not be affected by the University-wide patch cycle.
Working Remotely
Please keep your university-owned device connected to the virtual private network (VPN) when working remotely. This persistent connection will ensure you are always connected to your applications and patches can be pushed to the system. If it is not connected, it will not receive patches.
Patching over VPN is slower than when the system is being patched at the office. Please be aware that this process can take several hours. Additionally, if the system reboots, you will need to reestablish the VPN connection for patching to continue.
Note: The VPN connection will time out and close after 12 hours. If it times out during patching, the patching process may have to start over the next time you reconnect to the VPN. If you manually patch your system, you can shorten or eliminate the time involved during the automated process over VPN.
For more resources about Software Security, click here