This article provides best practices for when you install a VSE patch or hotfix.
In addition to the McAfee pre-release quality assurance programs, McAfee recommends that you test before you update your existing installations with a new VSE patch or hotfix. The advice in this article:
- Reduces the risk of incurring issues that could impact your business.
- Reduces the amount of time needed to complete the deployment within your environment.
Follow these guidelines when installing either a VSE patch or hotfix:
- Read the patch or hotfix release notes.
The release notes contain information about code changes that come with the patch or hotfix. The release notes might also contain special instructions for implementation that fall outside of the normal software installation procedures. For example, installation of VSE 8.8 Patch 4 requires that you install VSE 8.8 Patch 2 before you install Patch 4 on 64-bit operating systems.
Code changes that exist within a new patch or hotfix could include, but are not limited to:
- File inventory updates (drivers, executables, DLLs)
- Feature changes
- Graphical User Interface (GUI) improvements
- Manageability from an ePO perspective
Release notes provide information to help you understand what changes to expect.
- Read the VSE Known Issues article.
Known issues articles are created at every major and patch release. (This kind of article is not created for hotfixes because any issues with a hotfix are included in the major or patch known issues articles.) Known issues articles contain details known at the General Availability (GA) stage, and also those reported and found post-release, including customer reported problems.
- Test the operability thoroughly before mass deployment.
It is impossible for McAfee to test product functionality against all operating system kernel levels, while at the same time testing against all known versions of software that exist in the world today. Testing the patch or hotfix against all operating system versions used in the environment, and all software platforms that exist, reduces any unexpected impacts that might occur after the network-wide deployment.
- Test the deployment of the patch or hotfix.
Perform this test from an ePO perspective using a deployment task on a single or small number of systems, and from a local implementation standpoint. Familiarize yourself with the deployment aspect. This action reduces the risk of failures during the window you have set aside for the deployment.
