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Offline Virtual Machine Servicing Tool 2.1

  • Article

Being a heavy user of virtual machines, this utility sounded useful so thought I would share.

Offline Virtual Machine Servicing Tool 2.1 - Now Available!

Every day, attackers attempt to invade customers’ networks and access their servers—to infect them with viruses or steal information about their customers or employees. Because offline machines are often not kept up to date with the latest security patches, the moment these machines are brought back online, they become instantly vulnerable to penetration.

The Offline Virtual Machine Servicing Tool 2.1 has free, tested guidance and automated tools to keep customers’ virtualized machines updated and safe from attackers.

What’s New in OVMST 2.1 – Benefits

Release 2.1 of OVMST is a direct response to customer requests to support the R2 wave. OVMST 2.1 now supports the following products:

  • Microsoft Hyper-V R2
  • System Center Virtual Machine Manager 2008 R2
  • System Center Configuration Manager SP2
  • Windows Server Update Services 3.0 SP2
  • OVMST 2.1 also supports updates to Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 virtual machines.

In More Detail

Using the Offline Virtual Machine Servicing Tool

The Offline Virtual Machine Servicing Tool 2.1 manages the workflow of updating large numbers of offline virtual machines according to their individual needs. To do this, the tool works with Microsoft® System Center Virtual Machine Manager (VMM) 2008 or 2008 R2 and with either of the following software update management systems:

  • Windows Server Update Services (WSUS) 3.0 SP1 or WSUS 3.0 SP2
  • System Center Configuration Manager 2007, Configuration Manager 2007 SP1, SP2 or Configuration Manager 2007 R2.

 

The following figure illustrates the workflow.

 

 

How information flows between the tool and other system components

The tool uses “servicing jobs” to manage the update operations based on lists of existing virtual machines stored in VMM. Using Windows Workflow Foundation technology, a servicing job runs snippets of Windows PowerShell™ scripts to work with virtual machines. For each virtual machine, the servicing job:

  • “Wakes” the virtual machine (deploys it to a host and starts it).
  • Triggers the appropriate software update cycle (Configuration Manager or WSUS).
  • Shuts down the updated virtual machine and returns it to the library.

Next Steps