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Maintenance Rules

Overview

Location: Rules → Maintenance Rules

Creating a Maintenance Rule will auto-assign group endpoints to a maintenance schedule, so users can define Smart Groups that will be patched according to a set maintenance schedule.

Maintenance Rules Table

The Maintenance Rules table displays the following information for each rule:

ColumnDescription
Maintenance Rule NameThe name assigned to a given Maintenance Rule. Example: US Windows MW Rule.
DescriptionOptional notes you can write in for each Maintenance Rule.
Maintenance ScheduleThe Maintenance Schedule that applies to the Maintenance Rule.
Smart GroupThe Smart Group(s) that define the endpoints that apply to the Maintenance Rule.
StatusOn/Off – dictates whether or not the Maintenance Rule is active.
Last ModifiedThe last date a change was made to the Maintenance Rule.
Affected EndpointsThe endpoints defined within the given list of Smart Groups.
ActionsView Schedule, Edit, Delete.

Filters

In the Maintenance Rules table, you can sort the table using the following filters:

  • Search – Filters the table by Maintenance Rule Name.
  • Maintenance – Filters the table by Maintenance Schedule.
  • Smart Group – Shows Maintenance Rules that apply to a given Smart Group.
  • Status – Allows you to filter by Enabled/Disabled Maintenance Rules.

Adding a New Maintenance Rule

Clicking on the ‘Add’ button will open a window for adding the requested Maintenance Rule (same properties as above).

Note: The ‘Add’ button for both the Smart Group and Maintenance properties will allow you to conveniently add new Smart Groups and Maintenance Schedules, respectively.

For any Maintenance Rule, you can find the following information:

  1. Name
  2. Description
  3. Maintenance Schedule
  4. Smart Group
    • Clicking on a Smart Group will filter the Table results accordingly.
  5. Status
  6. Last Modified

  7. Affected Endpoints – Number of Endpoints that are affected by this Rule.

    • Clicking on that number will navigate the user to the Endpoint → Maintenance screen filtered by the relevant Maintenance Schedule.
    • Pay Attention: The quantity can be different if some assignments are changed manually.
    Note: As of version 4.2.8, you can now duplicate existing Maintenance Rules. This allows you to quickly create new rules with similar configurations without starting from scratch. To do this, look for the Duplicate icon in the Actions column of the Maintenance Rules table.

Set Rules Priority

  • Users can drag rules up and down to set priority (based on order).
  • When a user drags a rule, a confirmation is displayed:

“Are you sure you want to change the Priorities of the rules? This will affect the assigned MW on all relevant endpoints!” (Yes / Close)

  • When the user confirms, all relevant endpoints will be auto-assigned to the Maintenance Window according to the updated Rules Priority.
  • Endpoints that are assigned to several Smart Groups that are set to Rules will be auto-assigned to the Maintenance Window of the highest rule (based on Rules Order).

Maintenance Rules and WSUS-less Windows Endpoints

If you are utilizing the WSUS-less feature (introduced in 4.2.8), please note that Windows endpoints will not pre-download patches.

  • Behavior: The Maintenance Schedule assigned via your Maintenance Rule must cover the entire duration for both the download and installation of patches (similar to Linux patching behavior).

  • Requirement: Ensure your Maintenance Window is long enough to accommodate the download speeds from the Microsoft Cloud to your endpoints.

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