VMware Update Manager: A Call for Local Patch Repositories
When I wrote an article back in August 2010 about VMware Update Manager losing its fat, I little anticipated the impact it would have. The article prompted Beth Pariseau, Senior News Writer for searchservervirtualization.techtarget.com, to reach out to me for insights on VMware’s changes to Update Manager. In light of recent discussions, I’d like to expand upon a particular aspect of the article that resonates with me even more so today: the need for local patch repositories in remote ROBO environments.
In many small ROBO environments, limited bandwidth and high latency make it challenging to update sites using VMware Update Manager. The sheer size of the patches, coupled with the time required for installation, can lead to potential failure rates and prolonged downtime for hosts. To address these issues, I suggested downloading patches manually to a local vMA installation and applying them from a local repository. This approach minimizes host downtime and utilizes existing network infrastructure.
While using vMA or local NAS storage as the patch repository is feasible, I would like to see VMware Update Manager gain the ability to tell a remote host to apply patches from a local file repository. By leveraging DNS magic, hosts could fetch updates from _\patchrepo\vmware_ (or a similar naming convention) and still use a local repository. This approach would eliminate the need for a centralized update manager and reduce reliance on the network.
The benefits of using local patch repositories are numerous. Firstly, it alleviates network congestion and reduces latency issues by minimizing the amount of data transferred between sites. Secondly, it enables more flexible patch management, allowing administrators to stage updates locally before applying them to hosts. Finally, it provides an additional layer of control over update deployments, ensuring that critical patches are applied promptly without relying on a centralized update manager.
VMware Update Manager could handle replication of patches to remote sites, and the underlying network infrastructure could be used to move patches from a central location to the remote locations. However, I argue that the ability to specify a local patch repository would greatly enhance the product’s functionality in ROBO environments.
In conclusion, my original call for VMware Update Manager to lose its fat still holds true. By dropping OS patching and focusing on core virtualization management features, the product has become more agile and responsive to customer needs. I now extend that call to include the ability to specify local patch repositories in remote ROBO environments. Surely, this feature cannot be too much to ask for, considering the benefits it would bring to VMware’s customer base. As a vNinja.net contributor, I will continue to advocate for practical and effective solutions that empower virtualization administrators to manage their environments with ease and efficiency.