Hey guys/gals – I just wanted to inform you of the new build we posted last week. There were a number of minor bug fixes, updates to logging and error reporting, plus a few functionality enhancements. Also, note that in the next month or so we will be publishing another release with a much more significant addition that we’re really excited about. Stay tuned for more on that. In the meantime, please see below for a description of the additions in the currently published build.
New ‘Tools > Settings > Windows Update’ server selection options: Default, Windows Update, and Microsoft Update
Previously if you wanted to bypass your default/managed WSUS server to search for updates directly on Microsoft’s public server, you couldn’t specify whether you wanted to use Windows Update or Microsoft Update. However, now we’ve given you the option to use any of the 3 search locations. Note that ‘Windows Update’ includes only updates for Windows operating systems. ‘Microsoft Update’ not only includes updates for Windows operating systems but also includes updates for other non-OS Microsoft products/applications. The ‘Default/Managed’ option will tell BatchPatch to use the target computer’s existing configuration to determine where to search for updates. This means that if the target machine is configured via GPO or manually configured to search for updates on a WSUS server, then that is what will be used. Or if the target machine is configured to use ‘Windows Update,’ then that is what BatchPatch will use. We know that quite a few of you will be pleased with this addition. Note that in order to use Microsoft Update you must first “opt-in” to the Microsoft Update service. You can do this using Actions > Windows Updates > Opt-in.
New option to Restart service by name
This action is available under Actions > Services/processes. This means you no longer have to execute ‘Stop service’ followed by ‘Start service.’ Now you can simply execute ‘Restart service.’
Improved logging and error reporting
We are continuing to improve the logging and error reporting to be easier to digest and more explicative.
Bug fixes and other minor updates
We’ve fixed numerous other bugs, and there are a number of other minor updates included in this release. Many of the updates will enable us to better provide upcoming functionality. We have some exciting stuff in the works for the next release, so stay tuned.