SPQuery organizes and installs service packs and hotfixes.
Track Those Hotfixes
SPQuery organizes and installs service packs and hotfixes.
If you're running servers with Windows as an operating
system, particularly if those servers are connected to
the Internet, you know that you can't just install Windows
and walk away. These days, you have to keep up with a
confusing array of service packs and hotfixes to prevent
crackers from walking all over your Windows installation.
But how do you keep track of which servers have had which
fixes installed, and what's available that you should
know about? Sure, you can keep an eye on Microsoft's web
site, but if you're a busy administrator responsible for
multiple servers, St. Bernard Software's SPQuery 4.0 offers
a much better solution.
SPQuery is a complete manager for Windows updates for
all varieties of Windows NT 4.0 and Windows 2000, including
Terminal Servers as well as regular servers. For starters,
you can use it to see the exact status of all of the computers
on your network: which operating system they're running,
which service packs have been installed, and which hotfixes
have been installed on top of those service packs. This
information can be presented in a variety of reports and
formats. One especially useful report lets you select
hotfixes that you're especially interested in and see
which servers need to have those particular hotfixes installed.
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| SPQuery can tell you which computers
on your network are missing critical hotfixes, and
then deploy those hotfixes straight to those computers.
(Click image to see larger version.) |
SPQuery also handles downloading and installing hotfixes.
You can read the appropriate KnowledgeBase articles to
determine whether you need a hotfix within the SPQuery
interface, then download that hotfix and deploy it to
as many computers as you like with just a few mouse clicks.
You can even remotely reboot those computers if you need
to do so in order to complete the installation. A nice
added feature lets you use this same deployment engine
to install your own software to servers around your network.
Finally, SPQuery will proactively track new hotfixes
for you. Each time you launch the program, it queries
a database at St. Bernard's web site, and then notifies
you if new hotfixes are found that pertain to computers
on your network. Click the "Update" button and SPQuery
will download all the relevant information to your computer.
Anyone responsible for multiple Windows servers connected
to the Internet needs to have a plan for keeping the operating
system up to date. SPQuery offers a simple solution to
the problem in an easy-to-master package. You can download
a 15-day trial version from the St. Bernard web site.
About the Author
Mike Gunderloy, MCSE, MCSD, MCDBA, is a former MCP columnist and the author of numerous development books.