Azure Update Management supports a large number of Windows and Linux systems on premises and in the cloud, but there are certain requirements to meet to utilize the service.
Administrators with a large number of Windows and Linux systems to maintain might find some assistance in this endeavor using Microsoft's Azure Update Management offering, but the tool doesn't support every OS.
The patching service covers a wide array of Windows and Linux operating systems, but admins should examine their inventory to ensure enough of their systems are supported to make Azure Update Management worth implementing in their organization.
Windows OSes supported by Azure Update Management
Within the Windows Server family, Azure Update Management works with Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1 and later versions, including Windows Server 2012 and Windows Server 2019.
Each of these systems requires the .NET Framework 4.5.1 or later and Windows PowerShell 4.0 or later, preferably Windows PowerShell 5.1. Administrators must set up Windows agents to interact with Windows Server Update Services or have access to Microsoft Update. Azure Update Management installs agents on Azure virtual machines automatically.
On earlier versions of Windows Server, such as Windows Server 2008 and Windows Server 2008 R2 RTM, Azure Update Management only performs update assessments.
Administrators must set up Windows agents to interact with Windows Server Update Services or have access to Microsoft Update.
Azure Update Management does not support Windows client operating systems, such as Windows 7 and Windows 10, nor does it work with the minimal server deployment option of Windows Server 2016 Nano Server.
Linux OSes that work with Azure Update Management
Regarding Linux distributions, Azure Update Management works with CentOS 6 x86 and x64 versions, CentOS 7 x64, Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) 6 x86 and x64 versions, RHEL 7 x64 version, SUSE Linux Enterprise Server (SLES) 11 x86 and x64 versions, SLES 12 x64 version, Ubuntu Linux 14.04 LTS, Ubuntu 16.04 LTS, and Ubuntu 18.04 x86 and x64 versions.
Azure Update Management's Linux agents must have access to a public or private update repository. Transport Layer Security 1.1 or 1.2 secures the communication with Azure Update Management. Currently, the Log Analytics agent for Linux can only support one Log Analytics workspace.
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