Centralized control of the patching process by the IT team is common. Using these facts, it is possible to write queries such as this: This task patches all nodes assigned to the patch window Week3 that are not blocked and have patches ready to apply. What is patch management (and automation). It also provides a role-based access control (RBAC) system and the ability to trigger ad-hoc jobs on nodes. Patches can also impact hardwarelike when we released patches that altered memory management, created load fences, and trained branch predictor hardware in response to the Meltdown and Spectre attacks of 2018 that targeted microchips. They also must make sure that all stakeholders have access to the patch state of the servers with data that is both timely and accurate. Its considered more polished, professional, and fully featured than Ubuntu. systems promise to automate patching to save you work, including on Linux systems. THE PROMISE: Virtualization, management, and cloud-native computing tools, along with the operating system, in a single support offering.. He is now leading the DevOps practice for Katana 1, a Puppet partner in Sydney Australia. Here are a few reasons why you should be: Your Red Hat account gives you access to your member profile, preferences, and other services depending on your customer status. : Probably the biggest drawback when it comes to patching in Ubuntu is that advisories only address security issues. In practice, there are also issues with the installer and software updating; some users report that they are simply unable to get SUSE to work for them at all. This distribution has earned a bad name for itself for causing things to break when it comes to OS updates; for this reason, some organizations prefer to stick with long-term support (LTS) updates, which are stable releases every two years. What well discuss: A way to utilize ad-hoc manual task orchestration, such as with Bolt, to patch systems at scale consistently and confidently. This distribution has earned a bad name for itself for causing things to break when it comes to OS updates; for this reason, some organizations prefer to stick with long-term support (LTS) updates, which are stable releases every two years. At the end of the OS versions lifetime, the repository shifts to an archive that must be configured manually. : As with Ubuntu, advisories are only released for security patches, so youre on your own for other updates. Red Hats approach to hybrid cloud security, Red Hats approach to security and compliance: the job is never done, A layered approach to container and Kubernetes security, Red Hat Insights: Predictive analytics for Red Hat Enterprise Linux, Improving cyber compliance with infrastructure automation. Why Cloud Isn't Enough: Patching Hybrid, Distributed & Legacy Environments, OpenSUSE and SLES (SUSE Linux Enterprise Server), JetPatch: Working for You Behind the Scenes. Some automated configuration management systems promise to automate patching to save you work, including on Linux systems. In this section, well explore five of todays most popular Linux distributions, their pros and cons, and focus, in particular, on how well they handle patching. When it comes to Linux, JetPatch manages updates at the repository level, meaning it will identify all applicable updates and automate deployment across all your Linux endpoints, no matter which distributions youre using across your organization. However, CentOS does translate advisory announcements from RHEL to CentOS and distributes this content via email lists, giving system administrators one more source to track and yet another manual process, since most patching tools are fairly crude and cant make use of this information. The author writes that while patching is crucial for security, unfortunately, many Linux users neglect to put these patches into action. The good news is that with the demise of CentOS, RHEL has increased its free offerings to up to 16 systems, apparently with no strings attached. SUSE used to have a strong reputation for user-friendliness and customizability, although Ubuntu has overtaken it in the last few years. What do we do with this potential newfound time? PATCHING (CentOS): There are no advisory-level patches that can be deployed directly to the machine. When patching a base image, rebuild and redeploy all containers and cloud resources based on that image. However, these vulnerabilities can be hard to manage and fix. Patching has always been a major pain point for IT. Do any applications or services need to be restarted? , RHEL has increased its free offerings to up to 16 systems, apparently with no strings attached. Advisories provide some additional information to help prioritize patching, such as the ranked severity of the vulnerability. They answer the following questions: Together, state and control facts provide all of the information needed to audit the nodes and control patch automation. Ensure that base images are compliant with organization-wide security baselines. CONS: This distribution is still a fairly obscure choice, though gaining in popularity due to its strong ties to other AWS products. While patch deployment and remediation across all servers would have taken up to two weeks, it took only four hours. Patches are usually shipped once a month or sooner. Typically, when it comes to patching, the Linux community can be very DIY and hands-on, with administrators happily diving in and creating scripts to automate and simplify the process. This module is now fully functional on Linux (RedHat, Debian and SUSE). Were the worlds leading provider of enterprise open source solutions, using a community-powered approach to deliver high-performing Linux, cloud, container, and Kubernetes technologies. Centralized information rarely exists, which makes coordination of downtime difficult. THE PROMISE: Secure, stable, and high-performance execution environment to develop and run cloud and enterprise applications.. CONS: Hardcore users claim that this distribution has been damaged by its association and continued ties with Novell and Microsoft. And even fewer of these tools let you automate and streamline patch management to truly eliminate manual patching. Today, there are more than one and a half times more web servers running on Linux (42.7% for Linux, compared to 24.9% for Windows, according to stats gurus W3Techs ). However, for other distributions, only package-level updates are available, which are less predictable in terms of their impact on the endpoint. to our, facts.os_patching.patch_window = "Week3" and, facts.os_patching.package_update_count > 0 and, Report the patch state on a server, via custom facts, back into PuppetDB, If possible, report on which updates are security-related, Assign servers to patch window groups to facilitate scheduling, Set blackout times for servers, preventing any patching activity, Trigger post-patching reboots when necessary. With more than 500 servers using Red Hat Enterprise Linux under their charge, Emorys IT team knew they had a difficult road ahead if they had to install the patch manually, which would expose the universitys infrastructure to cybersecurity threats. Each extension requires its own repository, and when remediating an advisory, there is a need to make sure it is done for every extension deployed. True, for some distributions, advisories are available. Manually patching systems is labor-intensive and error-prone. Many Linux distributions have their own tools to help with patch management. Gone are the days when security was less of a problem for Linux usersback when hackers focused on what they saw as more commercial OSes. Its a modern patching tool that simplifies patching, no matter what environment youre operating in. With so many businesses running mission-critical data and operations on this operating system, unfortunately, hackers. : Application choice is very limited with this distribution, and as a relative newcomer to the serious web server market, it remains to be seen how it compares relative to more established players. : There are no advisory-level patches that can be deployed directly to the machine. To enable the module, simply declare the os_patching module onto each node. Take the hassle and guesswork out of Linux patchingget JetPatch on your team. : The biggest plus of Oracle Linux is its 100% compatibility with and similarity to RHEL, with additional compatibility advantages for customers using other Oracle products. Some of these facts are generated by scheduled jobs and others by the os_patching class itself. Hence, SLES patching process is fairly complex and requires time and expertise. Puppet has already provided much of the framework necessary to create a strong patch deployment and reporting tool. Do you also want to be notified of the following? This guide on patching Linux systems at scale is just one way of many for engineers and developers to stop doing soul-crushing manual work and innovate on automation and processes to give us valuable time back. Each flavor has its own strengths and weaknesses, and this is nowhere more true than when it comes to patching and updates.

In practice, there are also issues with the installer and software updating; some users report that they are simply unable to get SUSE to work for them at all. If youre looking for a way to bring all your Linux patching together in one place, youll want to check out JetPatch. THE PROMISE (RHEL): The worlds leading enterprise Linux platform, THE PROMISE (CentOS): Community-driven free software effort focused on delivering a robust open-source ecosystem around a Linux platform.. OpenSUSE, a desktop OS, and SLES, its hardened enterprise product, are both distantly related to RHEL and represent one of the oldest and most stable Linux distributions. The reboot parameter accepts the following values: The os_patching.reboot_override fact can be used to customize behavior on a granular level. A single console, with built-in security policies, for controlling Kubernetes clusters and applications. Also, patch rollback is extremely difficult and not always possible. It is also available as a downloadable virtual machine so it can be run locally. Is this node overriding the reboot parameter? contributed,sponsor-puppet,sponsored,sponsored-post-contributed. JetPatch works with Windows, Unix (Solaris, AIX), and all these flavors of Linux: The version number of your Linux distributions. : SLES uses multiple extensions that are required for multiple environments and applications. : The worlds leading enterprise Linux platform, : Community-driven free software effort focused on delivering a robust open-source ecosystem around a Linux platform.. View the contents of the os_patching fact on the nodes you classified: puppet-task run facter_task fact=os_patching nodes centos.example.com, puppet task run os_patching::patch_server query=nodes[certname] { facts.os_patching.package_update_count > 0 and facts.os_patching.blocked = false }. All your open source, from cloud to edge.. That means that youre on your own when it comes to other types of updates, such as bug fixes.