Deployment Template: Custom Actions Tab

The functions on this tab are not supported by Security Controls Agent.

This tab gives you the ability to push custom files to the machines being patched, and to program customized commands that will be executed during patch deployment. A custom action may include executing a specific command or invoking a custom batch file at specified time(s) during the deployment process. You can specify custom files and actions that occur during every deployment that uses the template, or only for those deployments that install a specific patch or product level.

To program a new action, click New and the Custom Action dialog appears.

Step 1: Specify what patch deployment action will trigger the command.

  • All deployments using this template: Allows you to perform actions such as custom logging.
  • Only when deploying the patch/product level selected below: Allows you to perform actions only when pushing a specific patch or product level to a target machine using this deployment template.

Step 2: If in Step 1 you indicate that only the deployment of specific patches or product levels will trigger the command, specify those files here.

Step 3: Specify when during the patch deployment process the command will be triggered. The choices are:

  • Push File (pushes a custom batch file or custom executable file to the target machines as part of the deployment)
  • Before any patches are installed
  • Before each patch or Before the selected patch/product level is installed
  • After each patch or After the selected patch/product level is installed
  • After all patches are installed (but before reboot)
  • After reboot

Step 4: Specify the file to push or the command to execute. The command will be inserted into the patch installation batch file at the point(s) specified in Step 3. If Step 3 specifies Push File then the specified file will be copied to the target machines and put in the C:\Windows\ProPatches directory. The base folder location can be changed using the Patch drive path option on the Machine Properties dialog. You can reference the file in other custom actions by specifying %PATHTOFIXES%file_name.

Example 1: If you push the file myFile.exe, you can execute that file with the following custom command: %PATHTOFIXES%myFile.exe.

Example 2: If you push the batch file myCommands.bat to the target machines, you can invoke the batch file at the appropriate point in the deployment with the following custom command:
call %PATHTOFIXES%myCommands.bat.