System Center Configuration Manager (SCCM) had received one of the significant upgrades in its recent versions. With SCCM version 1806 onwards, Microsoft enhances support for third party software updates with custom catalogs. System administrators can now add custom catalogs to Configuration Manager's console and carry out their deployment, without employing an external publishing tool in conjunction with SCCM.
However, admins will still have to go through the daunting task of preparing SCCM third party updates before deployment. This involves creating custom catalogs, specifying download URLs, subscribing to the catalogs and managing certificates for every third party update. This process of gathering update catalogs as they release from individual software vendors, has been proven to consume the bulk of patch manament operations in the long run.
Automating the third party patch management cycle has a positive impact on your enterprise's security posture. Patch Connect Plus has made third party software update catalog available from one place to help you save valuable time and focus on other areas that require your attention. Patch Connect Plus lets you automatically import third-party software catalogs to Configuration Manager's server on a systematic basis, similar to how the Microsoft patch catalog is released to SCCM.
SCCM periodically synchronizes to Patch Connect Plus update catalog to make patches for over 600 third-party applications (197 unique vendors in all) available in the System Center console for deployment to client machines. With the latest edition you receive,
Patch Connect Plus offers a free download of catalogs for notable third-party applications, intended for evaluation. You can automatically publish them to SCCM by importing the .CAB files for applications of your choice. You can also import these update catalogs as .CAB files to publish via SCUP.
The download URL contains the following set of applications.
Make sure to first enable third party updates from Software Update Point which is found under Site Components in the SCCM console. The next step is to select how you would like to manage the signing certificates. You can let Configuration Manager manage the certificates for you, or you can choose to manage them manually. Once these initial steps have been completed, you can now proceed to create third party catalogs, subscribe and publish them to SCCM.
Use the download URL from Patch Connect Plus in the custom catalog wizard and get instant access to a horde of third party applications ready to be deployed using SCCM. The given video gives a detailed walkthrough of how you can add SCCM third party update catalog using Patch Connect Plus. You can additionally find step-by-step documentation for how to add SCCM third party catalog from our knowledge base!
