Introduction

  • 3 minutes

Keeping operating systems current helps protect servers from known vulnerabilities and supports stable workloads. Azure Update Manager provides a unified service for assessing and patching Windows and Linux machines in Azure, on-premises, and in other clouds.

Scenario

Contoso operates Windows Server workloads in Azure and in its on-premises datacenters. The IT team uses different tools and schedules across these environments, which makes it difficult to understand update compliance and apply urgent security updates consistently.

As Contoso's lead system engineer, you must evaluate Azure Update Manager. Your solution must provide a single view of pending updates, support immediate and recurring deployments, respect the update sources configured on each machine, and include the company's non-Azure servers by connecting them to Azure with Azure Arc.

In this module, you learn how Azure Update Manager assesses machines and deploys operating system updates. You also learn how to use Windows Server Update Services (WSUS) as an update source, configure maintenance schedules, and review deployment results.

Learning objectives

After completing this module, you can:

  • Describe Azure Update Manager.
  • Prepare Azure virtual machines and Azure Arc-enabled servers for update management.
  • Assess update compliance.
  • Deploy one-time and recurring updates.
  • Monitor update operations across multiple machines.

Prerequisites

To get the best learning experience from this module, you should understand:

  • Windows Server administration in on-premises and Azure environments.
  • Common Windows Server management tools.
  • Azure virtual machines (VMs) and Azure Arc-enabled servers.
  • Azure role-based access control (RBAC).
  • Windows Update and WSUS concepts.