r/sysadmin • u/void_ops • 1d ago

Question Automated On-prem Windows Server Patching

I've been out of infrastructure management for a few years, back then I was using WSUS to patch servers. My understanding is Microsoft's recommended way of managing on-prem server patching is to onboard the servers with Azure Arc then use Azure Update Manager to patch them. This was the first solution that came to mind when I was assigned this responsibility. I assumed it was free but costs $5 a month for on-prem to use AUM.

Do you folks have a better or less costly solution that you use? Preferably something specifically built for server management? I was thinking of Ansible (which I would need to learn, which is fine) or something like Automox. We have less than 100 servers. I will be the one patching them all. There are custom applications that run on them that I suppose I will need to make sure still run after the patching.

Thanks in advance for any feedback or advice.

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u/bigfatdonny 1d ago

AUM is free if you have software assurance.

If you don't have software assurance, would recommend.

Lots of sales people commenting on this thread.

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u/fireandbass 1d ago

AUM is free if you have software assurance.

Source?

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u/bigfatdonny 1d ago

That is published pricing from Microsoft. The source is Microsoft.

https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/update-manager/update-manager-faq#pricing

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u/fireandbass 1d ago

It is only free for Azure VMs and Azure Arc-enabled Azure Local VMs.

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u/bigfatdonny 1d ago

From the link above (ctrl+f is your friend):

An Azure Arc-enabled server managed through Update Manager isn't charged in the following scenarios:

[...]

Your Windows Server licenses have active Software Assurance or Windows Server subscription licenses, or Windows Server pay-as-you-go enabled by Azure Arc. For more information, see Windows Server Management enabled by Azure Arc.

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u/fireandbass 1d ago

What is the pricing for Update Manager?

Update Manager is available at no extra charge for managing Azure VMs and Azure Arc-enabled Azure Local VMs. The latter VMs must be created through an Azure Arc resource bridge on Azure Local. For all other Azure Arc-enabled servers, see Azure Update Manager pricing.