Once the patch assessment template is ready, we need to first assess machines for missing patches and then use that to patch them. The assessment will also be used to check patch compliance in the form of reports, which we will cover at the end of this chapter.
We will need the VCM server connected to the Internet and configured as in the Configuring VCM to use Microsoft updates and Creating a patch assessment template recipes. We can either use the default machine groups created by VCM or create groups as necessary; the process was explained in the Creating machine groups recipe in Chapter 2, Configuring VCM to Manage Your Infrastructure.
We will use the default machine groups listed in the recipe just mentioned and will not create any new ones for now. So, we will start by logging in to VCM and following these steps:
Go to Patching | Windows | Assessment Template.
Select the assessment template, making sure the proper machine group is...