Patching Virtual Machines Using VMware Update Manager

VMware provides a patch management framework for VMware vSphere through its Update Manager product. You can use Update Manager to do the following:

  • Patch and upgrade VMware ESX/ESXi hosts
  • Apply patches to Windows and certain versions of Linux in virtual machines
  • Upgrade VMware Tools and virtual hardware for virtual machines
  • Patch and upgrade virtual appliances

VMware Update Manager integrates with the Shavlik patch management technology to provide these patching capabilities. You can also patch offline virtual machines by using a special patching network for suspended or offline systems. In vSphere deployments, you can leverage the Update Manager option instead of Microsoft Software Update ...

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