Smart Group Management (Dynamic Filters)

Smart Group Management allows you to create and manage groups of endpoints based on logical definitions, such as Operating System, Tags, or Hostname. Once the group is defined and a new endpoint with the same characteristics is created, it will automatically be added to the relevant Smart Group.

Viewing and Managing Smart Groups

By default, all endpoints are grouped in a default Smart Group – "Default for Patching."

• If WSUS is in use, additional default Smart Groups are created: "WSUS Server" and "WSUS Replicas."

• Default groups cannot be removed or edited.

The Column Filters represent the logical criteria that define Smart Groups, such as Operating Systems or Tags.

Creating and Deleting Smart Groups

To create a new Smart Group, click on the "Add" button in the Smart Group Management page.

Steps to Create a Smart Group:

1. Enter a group name and description.

   • Note: you cannot edit the name of the group once created.

2. Click "Add Filter" to define the group’s logical criteria.

3. Example: Select "Operating Systems" and specify relevant OS types.

4. Review the list of endpoints that match the filter.

5. Click "Save."

Once the filter has been added, the list of all endpoints that match the filter is displayed for review.

The Smart Group Status column will initially display "Creating Group" and later update to "Ready."

• The group becomes available for patching once it reaches "Ready" status (if the "Support Patch Activities" option was selected).

Note: Regex matching is not supported natively. However, you can modify our Python Script to create and assign smart groups in a more customized way, including regex.

Deleting a Smart Group

Note: if you try to delete a smart group that is used for RBAC, you first need to remove the RBAC dependency.

Smart Group Statuses (including troubleshooting)

Note for WSUS-based Smart group: These processes may take time and require synchronization of JetPatch with WSUS. During the sync, each relevant Smart Group shows the appropriate status and, if necessary, temporarily prevents any modifications of the Smart Groups until it is fully synchronized with WSUS.

Important: When you create or delete a WSUS-based Smart Group, track the status of the following system activities under Endpoints > Activities:

• WSUS Group Manipulations
• WSUS Synchronize between Primary and Replicas (if Replica is present)

Statuses:

• Ready: The group is working properly with no issues.
• Creating Group: A new group is being created, which includes Windows endpoints. If WSUS is in use, a corresponding WSUS group must also be created.
  • Note: If a group remains stuck in "Creating Group", verify that no special characters are used in its name. If special characters are present, contact JetPatch Support. (This issue is resolved in version 4.2.7.)
• Creation Failed: The group could not be created. This only occurs if the group contains WSUS Windows endpoints and an error prevents creation.
• Deleting Group: JetPatch is in the process of deleting a Smart Group.
  • Note: If a Windows patching group in WSUS remains stuck in "Deleting Group", follow these steps:
  • Wait for the WSUS Group Manipulations task in Endpoints > Activities to complete. (Note: It may be queued behind other tasks.)
  • If a WSUS Replica exists, wait for the WSUS Synchronize between Primary and Replicas task to complete.
  • If these tasks succeed but the groups still show "Deleting Group", check if the group has already been deleted in WSUS.
  • If the group still exists in WSUS, delete it in WSUS, then Disable and Re-enable WSUS Discovery source and wait for WSUS Get Groups to complete in Activities
• Deletion Failed: The group could not be deleted.
• Synchronizing Group: After the group is created, JetPatch synchronizes between WSUS Primary and Replica servers (if Replica present).
  • Note: If a Windows patching group in WSUS remains stuck in "Synchronizing Group," follow these steps:
  • Check for system task failures under Endpoints > Activities.
  • If no failures exist, wait for the next sync cycle before taking further action.
  • If the issue persists, Disable and Re-enable WSUS Discovery source in JetPatch to refresh synchronization.
• Synchronization Failed: Synchronization between WSUS Primary and Replica servers failed.

Upgrade to Smart Groups (one-time upgrade to version 4.2.2+)

• Computer Groups migration
  • A new tag is created for every Computer Group defined in the JP system, the tag name format is "[computer group name] group".
  • Based on all these Computer group tags  JP system automatically creates new Smart Groups, this way all existing Computer Groups are converted to Smart Groups.
• Existing Intigua Filters migration
  • Only the most common filters from the Intigua filters list are available on Jetpatch
• Existing Intigua Smart Groups migration
  • All Smart groups that were defined on Intigua are now available in JetPatch, the limitation is that groups that are based on filters that are not available on JP UI are not "supporting patch activities" groups.