Deployment Template: Distribution Servers Tab

Field	Description
Console push	If enabled, indicates that a distribution server will not be used and the console will serve as the source for all patches.
Use Distribution Server(s)	If enabled, indicates that a distribution server will serve as the source for all patches during deployments that use this template. The three check boxes that immediately follow are used to determine which distribution server to use, if any. The program will search for an available distribution server using only those options that you enable, and the search will be performed in the listed order (priority 1, priority 2 and priority 3). If you enable Use Distribution Server(s) but do not specify at least one of the three source options, the deployment will fail. See Configuring Distribution Servers and Assigning IP Addresses to Servers for information on configuring the distribution servers. When patches are deployed via distribution servers, patches are not pushed to the target machines. Rather, the target machines will download the patches from one or more distribution servers. Patches must be copied from the console's patch download directory to the servers before they will be available for deployment. See Synchronizing Servers for information on copying patches to your distribution servers.
By IP Range (priority 1)	If enabled, indicates that the distribution server to use will be determined by the IP address of each target machine. In order for this to work you must have previously defined one or more IP ranges and assigned the ranges to a primary distribution server and to a backup server.
Use a specific server (priority 2)	If desired, specify a specific distribution server to use if the primary and backup distribution servers defined by the By IP Range option are unavailable. If the By IP Range option is not enabled, the server specified here will become the default server.
Fallback to vendor (priority 3)	If the distribution servers identified by the first two options are not available, enabling this check box will allow the machine being patched to try to download the patch from the patch vendor's website. This option does not apply to custom patches because custom patches do not contain download URLs. Custom patches must be either pushed to the target machines from the console's patch download directory or pulled by the target machines from a distribution server.
Distribute scheduled start times (in minutes)	If you are deploying patches to a large number of machines at the same time, all the machines will begin to download the patches from the distribution server at approximately the same time. If you enable this option, the start times for the machines will be randomly distributed over the interval that you specify. This can help to reduce the peak network load.
If no patch can be retrieved from the Distribution Server, retry	If no patches can be obtained from the distribution server at the scheduled deployment time, you can specify how often you want to attempt a retry. If at least one patch is successfully downloaded, the deployment will resume without a retry, even if one or more patches are not successfully downloaded. Never: A retry will not be attempted and the deployment will fail. After the machine is rebooted: A retry will be attempted each time the target machine is rebooted, for up to three reboots. If the download process is still failing after three reboots, the deployment will fail. After the machine reboots, and also before the machine reboots -- at 15, 30, 60, and 120 minutes after the last failure: A retry will be attempted at 15, 30, 60, and 120 minute intervals after the last failure, and also if the target machine is rebooted before all the time interval retries have been attempted. Retries may also attempted after subsequent reboots. The deployment will fail after 4 timer attempts or 3 attempts that include a reboot.

Console push

If enabled, indicates that a distribution server will not be used and the console will serve as the source for all patches.

Use Distribution Server(s)

If enabled, indicates that a distribution server will serve as the source for all patches during deployments that use this template. The three check boxes that immediately follow are used to determine which distribution server to use, if any. The program will search for an available distribution server using only those options that you enable, and the search will be performed in the listed order (priority 1, priority 2 and priority 3). If you enable Use Distribution Server(s) but do not specify at least one of the three source options, the deployment will fail. See Configuring Distribution Servers and Assigning IP Addresses to Servers for information on configuring the distribution servers.

When patches are deployed via distribution servers, patches are not pushed to the target machines. Rather, the target machines will download the patches from one or more distribution servers. Patches must be copied from the console's patch download directory to the servers before they will be available for deployment. See Synchronizing Servers for information on copying patches to your distribution servers.

By IP Range (priority 1)

If enabled, indicates that the distribution server to use will be determined by the IP address of each target machine. In order for this to work you must have previously defined one or more IP ranges and assigned the ranges to a primary distribution server and to a backup server.

Use a specific server (priority 2)

If desired, specify a specific distribution server to use if the primary and backup distribution servers defined by the By IP Range option are unavailable. If the By IP Range option is not enabled, the server specified here will become the default server.

Fallback to vendor (priority 3)

If the distribution servers identified by the first two options are not available, enabling this check box will allow the machine being patched to try to download the patch from the patch vendor's website.

This option does not apply to custom patches because custom patches do not contain download URLs. Custom patches must be either pushed to the target machines from the console's patch download directory or pulled by the target machines from a distribution server.

Distribute scheduled start times (in minutes)

If you are deploying patches to a large number of machines at the same time, all the machines will begin to download the patches from the distribution server at approximately the same time. If you enable this option, the start times for the machines will be randomly distributed over the interval that you specify. This can help to reduce the peak network load.

If no patch can be retrieved from the Distribution Server, retry

If no patches can be obtained from the distribution server at the scheduled deployment time, you can specify how often you want to attempt a retry. If at least one patch is successfully downloaded, the deployment will resume without a retry, even if one or more patches are not successfully downloaded.

Never: A retry will not be attempted and the deployment will fail.
After the machine is rebooted: A retry will be attempted each time the target machine is rebooted, for up to three reboots. If the download process is still failing after three reboots, the deployment will fail.
After the machine reboots, and also before the machine reboots -- at 15, 30, 60, and 120 minutes after the last failure: A retry will be attempted at 15, 30, 60, and 120 minute intervals after the last failure, and also if the target machine is rebooted before all the time interval retries have been attempted. Retries may also attempted after subsequent reboots. The deployment will fail after 4 timer attempts or 3 attempts that include a reboot.