This Slideshare will help you with step by step procedures for installing, registering and configuring SolarWinds Patch Manager Automation Role Server.

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Installing and Configuring a Patch
Manager Automation Role Server
© 2013, SolarWinds Worldwide, LLC. All rights reserved.

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Agenda
This slideshare will help you with step by step procedures for
installing, registering and configuring SolarWinds Patch Manager
Automation Role Server
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INSTALLING AND CONFIGURING SOLARWINDS PATCH MANAGER
Installation
Configuration
Registration

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SolarWinds Patch Manager
» SolarWinds Patch Manager is an affordable, easy to use tool
for simplifying and automating patch management across
tens of thousands of servers and workstations.
» It lets you leverage and extend the capabilities of Microsoft®
WSUS and SCCM to report, deploy, and manage Microsoft
and third-party patches.
INSTALLING AND CONFIGURING SOLARWINDS PATCH MANAGER
Feel free to try out the SolarWinds Patch Manager

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Installation
» The first step is to install the server. Installation of an additional Automation Role
server is very similar to how you installed the original Patch Manager Primary
Application Server (PAS), with only a couple of minor variations.
» Launch the Patch Manager installer, and on the Express/Custom screen, select
Custom.
INSTALLING AND CONFIGURING SOLARWINDS PATCH MANAGER

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Installation (Contd..)
» Proceed through the installer screens as you did for the original server. When you
arrive at the database selection screen, select Use a LOCAL instance of SQL Server
Express Edition.
» Each Patch Manager server requires its own instance of SQL Server, and there’s
no need to use anything except SQL Server Express Edition for an Automation
Role server.
INSTALLING AND CONFIGURING SOLARWINDS PATCH MANAGER

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Installation (Contd..)
» When you arrive at the role selection screen, select the “Automation
Server” option.
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INSTALLING AND CONFIGURING SOLARWINDS PATCH MANAGER

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Registration
» When the installation reaches the point where it needs to register the new
Automation Role server with the PAS, it will prompt you to provide the name of
the PAS (again) as well as the credentials to authenticate with the PAS.
» The logon account must have membership in the Enterprise Administrators
security role. Typically the local administrator account of the PAS, or a domain
administrator account will serve this purpose.
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INSTALLING AND CONFIGURING SOLARWINDS PATCH MANAGER

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Registration (Contd..)
» When the installation is completed, the final screen will offer you the opportunity
to launch a local console and connect to the PAS.
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INSTALLING AND CONFIGURING SOLARWINDS PATCH MANAGER

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Configuration
» To begin configuration of the Automation Role server, connect a console session to the PAS.
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Configuration (Contd..)
» Navigate to the Patch Manager System Configuration -> Patch Manager Servers
node. You should see your new Automation Role server listed in the details pane
of this node.
» Note that the Automation Role server is not yet assigned to a Management
Group, and it displays an icon with a red exclamation mark indicating that the
configuration is not yet complete.
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INSTALLING AND CONFIGURING SOLARWINDS PATCH MANAGER

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Configuration (Contd…)
» Launch the Patch Manager Server Wizard utility from the Action Pane.
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INSTALLING AND CONFIGURING SOLARWINDS PATCH MANAGER

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Configuration (Contd…)
» Select the option “Edit an existing Patch Manager Server’s configuration settings”.
Click on Next.
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INSTALLING AND CONFIGURING SOLARWINDS PATCH MANAGER

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Configuration (Contd…)
» Select the new Automation Role server from the “Server Name:” dropdown
menu, and click on Resolve if the remainder of the dialog does not automatically
populate with the server’s attributes. Click on Next.
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INSTALLING AND CONFIGURING SOLARWINDS PATCH MANAGER

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Configuration (Contd…)
» Assign this Automation Role server to a Management Group. In most instances,
there will only be one management group, the default group “Managed
Enterprise”; however, if you have multiple management groups defined, the
Automation Role server must be assigned to one of them.
» It will manage tasks only for members of that management group. Select the
correct management group from the “Management Group:” dropdown menu.
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INSTALLING AND CONFIGURING SOLARWINDS PATCH MANAGER

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Configuration (Contd…)
» The “Server Role:” value should be automatically set to Automation. The option is
used to add or remove roles from a Patch Manager server after deployment and
registration. “TCP/IP Port:” default to 4092 and should not be changed.
» Set the option “Include this Patch Manager server in the default round-robin
pool” depending whether the Automation Role server is being deployed for a
specific purpose, or just as an additional server for load-sharing.
» If the option is disabled, only tasks matched by an Automation Server Routing
Rule (ASRR) will be assigned to this Automation Role server.
» If the option is enabled, any task that does not match an existing ASRR may be
assigned to this Automation Role server.
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INSTALLING AND CONFIGURING SOLARWINDS PATCH MANAGER

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Configuration (Contd…)
» The last set of options is useful when the Automation Role server is being
deployed across a bandwidth constrained connection such as a slow WAN link or
a site-to-site VPN connection.
» It allows you to restrict the maximum amount of bandwidth used by the
Automation Role server, and you can set the values differently for
incoming/outgoing (i.e. download/upload) traffic.
» Click on Next. You'll then be presented with the configuration summary screen.
» Review the configuration options and click on Finish.
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INSTALLING AND CONFIGURING SOLARWINDS PATCH MANAGER

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Configuration (Contd…)
» After clicking the Finish button from the wizard’s summary screen, you will be
presented an information dialog reminding you about the service restart
requirement for the Patch Manager server.
» After the changes are synchronized to the Automation Role server (e.g.
management group assignment, round-robin option, and bandwidth restrictions),
it is necessary to restart the Data Grid Service (or reboot the Automation Role
server).
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INSTALLING AND CONFIGURING SOLARWINDS PATCH MANAGER

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Configuration (Contd…)
» You should wait approximately five minutes after completing the wizard before
initiating the restart. There are three ways you can restart the service:
• Using the Services MMC.
• From the command line using “net stop ewdgssvc” and “net start
ewdgssvc”.
• From the Services tab of the Computer Explorer in the Patch Manager
console.
» The last step is to create any needed Automation Server Routing Rules. ASRRs are
not required, unless you want to dedicate an Automation Role server to a specific
machine or group of machines (by domain, workgroup, organizational unit, or IP
subnet).
» You can also assign a WSUS server to an Automation Role server, but please note
this rule only assigns WSUS Administration tasks to the Automation Role server, it
does not assign computer management tasks, nor does it assign clients of the
WSUS server.
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Configuration (Contd…)
» Navigate to the Management Groups -> Managed Enterprise node (or the node
representing the management group that this Automation Role server was
assigned to), and select the Automation Server Routing Rules tab.
» From here you can create, edit, and delete ASRRs.
» In a future article I'll talk in more detail about using ASRRs. In the meantime, for
more information, and examples, of the use of ASRRs, please see the Product
Blog article Patch Manager Architecture – Deploying Automation Role Servers.
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INSTALLING AND CONFIGURING SOLARWINDS PATCH MANAGER

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Thank You!
SOLARWINDS PATCH MANAGER