Audience: Faculty and staff supported by Endpoint Support - President's Office, Provost's Office, Athletics, VPFP, VPUA, CEG

Source:  Endpoint Support team

Why updates are important

Operating systems (Microsoft Windows and MacOS) and applications require continual updates – these updates deliver new features, but they also serve a critical function in keeping your computer running smoothly and the university data on your computer secure. Attempts to take advantage of the vulnerabilities that are resolved with updates can happen very quickly, and thus it is important that updates are installed quickly as well. The University's Patch Management Standard provides further detail on the purpose and scope of managing system updates.

Many updates now require restarts to complete the installation, and it is understood that this can be a disruptive experience. Please see below best practices for applying updates and getting back to work on your computer as soon as possible.

Recommendations for the best experience updating your computer

Endpoint Support manages the updates for your computer using Software Center (Windows), and Jamf Self Service (MacOS and iOS), ensuring that your operating system and applications are updated regularly so that your data is secure and your computer performs as expected. Updates are released as needed through Software Center and Jamf Self Service, and once they are available you will have up to two weeks total to apply them.

1. The best experience for applying updates to your computer is to let the automatic process do the work. If you follow this method, you will significantly reduce the number of update notifications you receive. 
   1. Log off your computer completely at the end of your workday and leave your computer powered on and connected to the network (or VPN if at home). Picking a regular day to do this each week is an easy way to stay ahead of updates and prevent having to do a forced restart.
   2. Pending updates will install automatically overnight.
   3. As with any update, you might be prompted to restart your computer the following day to complete the installation of some update(s). Doing that restart right away will limit the number of subsequent pop-up notifications you receive.
   4. Getting back to work quickly
      1. Most browsers have a feature that re-opens recently open tabs, a convenient way to resume work in your browser. This article includes instructions reopening tabs in common browsers.
      2. Microsoft Office (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, etc.) that were open when a restart occurred should reopen automatically, but not all types of files will do this. 
2. You can also install updates from Software Center or Jamf manually, when convenient for you
   1. This article describes how to install updates through Software Center for Windows devices. 
   2. For MacOS devices, refer to this article for information on installing updates. 
   3. If you have multiple updates to install it is recommended to choose the operating system update(s) (Windows, MacOS, or iOS) first as application updates may rely upon those updates being installed.
   4. Multiple restarts may be necessary to apply multiple updates at once as some of the updates must go in order - this is especially likely if you have operating system or Microsoft Office updates installing.

Restarts are now required for pending updates  

Updates to operating systems and applications are only effective when they are fully installed, and many updates require restarts to complete the process. To protect university data and the performance of your computer, restarts will now be required soon after the initial installation. All University-owned computers are subject to the Patch Management Standard, and any computers that do not restart within the specified times may be disabled to ensure their security. Please see the appropriate section below for which notifications you will see on your computer specifically. 

How to Get Help

Endpoint Support customers with questions about updating their Windows, Mac, or iOS device should contact the Endpoint Support team by:

• Phone: (309) 438-1818
• Submit a Ticket via the ServiceNow Portal