Delaying patch auto approvals

Delaying patch auto approvals enables you to configure auto approvals for patches and set a time post-release when they are approved for installation.

Automatic patch approvals ensure that typical system patches or system critical patches are downloaded and installed without waiting for review. However, you may want a patch to "sit" for a duration as other users work with it, to ensure there are no issues with the new patch. This enables you to catch and decline problematic patches before they have a chance to reach your customers. N-able recommends a delay of up to 15 days. This allows for time to review and install the patch before the update is superseded by the next month's release.

Delaying a patch auto approval is not the same as approving a patch for installation, which occurs during a future maintenance window. When approving a patch for installation, you approve a patch and configure when it should be installed. For the delayed patch approval, you select the patch and hold back the approval for a set time before it is approved for a future maintenance window.

Note that once you approve a patch, the approval is processed as a background task that may take some time to complete, depending on a number of factors. Because of this, the N-able N-central screen may not immediately reflect your selection.

The number of days delayed starts from the patch release date, not the day you create the rule or download the files.

If there turns out to be an issue with the new patch, you can decline the patch using manual approval, or delete it from the pending approvals list. This leaves the patch in a state of No Approval.

When deleting a patch approval rule, N-able N-central provides you an option to purge patches that are currently pending approval. You can choose to delete these patches or keep them. Keeping patches that are pending approval means these approvals will execute once the configured delay time, at the time of deletion, has expired.

If a patch is re-released/published/superseded and the patch is currently still in "no approval" state, the delay will apply to the updated patch.

To create automatic approvals, ensure at a minimum, the role permissions are:

  • Patch: Patch Approval and Patch Configuration
  • Monitoring: Filters and Rules

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