Inconsistent Status Reporting for Software Updates

Mure
Mure W/ Alumni Posts: 16 Security Scout

Hello,

This morning I sent software installation requests to a bunch of our systems and got varying responses that seem rather inconsistent. For example, if I look at a specific system that is still listed as missing critical updates, under "Operations" it says simply "Success" for the update installation. But when I look under "Protection" then "Install software updates" it still shows an uninstalled Windows update, with no notation under "Installation status." Does "Success" under "Operations" merely mean that the update request was sent successfully? As with my previous message about interpreting the dashboard numbers, it's difficult to understand the semantics of the indicators that are displayed.

Best Answer

  • MonikaL
    MonikaL W/ Alumni Posts: 206 W/ Former Staff
    Answer ✓

    Hello,

    In PSB portal, the product reports more incremental statuses about Software Updater operations and brings local user interface which allows to see what is going on on device in real time. However, sometimes remote operation statuses doesn't show the real picture of installations because of timeout for the Software Updater remote operation. New Software Updater sends the remote operation status after installation is finished and installation can be much more longer that a timeout for the remote operation.

    We would suggest you to try this troubleshooting workaround and check if it helps.

    1. Temporary workaround is to restart the host to allow the Software Updater to report correct status to PSB upstream.


    To view the status of the software updates on the PSB portal, do the following steps:

    Select the Devices tab.

    Click on a device to open the device status page.

    Under the device status page, click on "Software updates" to extend the view.

    You shall then find the button "Select updates and install".

     Click on the button to view the status of the updates installation.

Answers

  • Mure
    Mure W/ Alumni Posts: 16 Security Scout

    Just to add, under "Status" in this situation, it has "Success, operation was performed," yet the update remains uninstalled. Strange.

  • Mure
    Mure W/ Alumni Posts: 16 Security Scout

    Thanks for your note. Except for restarting the host, this is what I've been doing to get a better idea of the status of each system, but it's painful because there are a lot of systems to check. I can't restart the hosts because they are in different parts of the country, so I need to contact each of the users individually.

    Is it correct to say that, even though the timeout for reporting has expired, the update operation is still running on the host system and will be completed (or fail) normally,? It would be good if the status of an update that does not complete before the timeout could reflect that ("Report timeout" or something). Also if there were a way to extend the timeout to something very long. What I find in our remote/distributed environment is that around 80% of our systems end up in this state, where the reported status is "Success" but they still have uninstalled critical updates. In that situation I've been unsure of whether I should re-do the update or just wait...

  • MonikaL
    MonikaL W/ Alumni Posts: 206 W/ Former Staff

    Hello,

    I would suggest you to check the device in the PSB portal and the assigned profile. If the assigned profile is a Read-only default profile, you are unable to make any changes for this profile. This profile does not install any Software updates in the devices by default. You can follow the steps below to create a new profile for the device and configure the Software Updater to install the updates:

    1. Login to PSB portal.

    2. Click on Profiles.

    3. Select Computer Protection 

    4. You will see the F-Secure Server. Under Action, click on the 3 dots and select Clone profile.

    5. You can now select a name for this profile

    6. You can select any Label for this profile

    7. Select the Software updater tab

    8. Under Automatic installations, select Critical and important under "Install security updates automatically"

    9. You can select your desired Installation time (e.g. 01:00 - 02:00)

    10. On your bottom left, click Save and publish

    11. Click Done


    Now you have successfully created a new profile for your devices. Next, you will need to assign it to the hosts. Follow the steps below:

    1. Select Subscriptions in the PSB portal

    2. On Computer Protection , click on the usage to view all the clients

    3. Select the checkbox in Device name to select all the clients

    4. Click on Assign and select Assign profile

    5. Select your newly created profile and click Assign


    Now you will have all your devices assigned with the newly created profile. Once the hosts receive this new profile, they will install the Software updates according to the installation time you have configured.

  • Mure
    Mure W/ Alumni Posts: 16 Security Scout

    Thanks. I will look into this but need to review the documentation. There are a lot of settings. It looks like people have gone through several interations of redefining profiles, but all of the computers except a test system one have the same (non-default) profile, so it is clearly not read-only, and the question will just be how to tweak the settings. I'll post again (for better or worse!) if questions come up!

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