What is vSphere Update Manager?
vSphere Update Manager or VUM for short is a compliance and automation patch management application used in VMware vSphere environments.
VUM compares the state of ESXi hosts with its own default or in some cases user-created baselines to check compliance and allows a user to automate updates, patches and even full upgrades to newer versions of ESXi.
Why should I be using it?
With VUM you gain visibility of the patch/update state across your whole virtual infrastructure through an easy to use patch compliance dashboard.
VUM works with vSphere DRS to allow for non-disruptive host patching and upgrading by placing hosts into maintenance mode and migrating live virtual machines to other hosts.
Patches/updates can also be staged to hosts at remote sites for remediation at a later date and time which can be scheduled to suit your business needs.
Key Benefits
Increase the security and stability of your virtual infrastructure by quickly and easily applying patches as and when they are released rather than waiting for a major update.
Schedule VMware Tools and virtual machine hardware version updates to be automatically applied outside of normal business hours to avoid disruption.
Automatic snapshotting of virtual machines with a user defined retention period so that if any issues with patching do occur the virtual machine can be rolled back.
Automatic notification when new patches are available to be applied to your environment.
For more secure environments VUM allows offline updating by downloading patch bundles directly from VMware or your vendor’s website.
Upgrading to a new major release of ESXi
VUM can also be used to upgrade hosts to a new major release of ESXi by simply downloading the latest ISO image from VMware or your vendor and using it to create a new baseline which can then be applied automatically to your hosts in the same way a patch or update would.
If you are interested in learning more about vSphere Update Manager please contact your Celerity representative or email us your enquiry.
Barry Knox, Technical Consultant, Celerity Limited
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