KACE "Blackout period"
Our KACE SMA *really* likes to update and reboot workstations in the middle of our workday.
I generally leave my computer on, and at 5 am this morning is when the updates are supposed to push.
The expected behavior is that at 5 am, updates would push and my computer would be rebooted. Bad on me if I didn't save my stuff.
However, at 7:50 am, in the middle of a server outage I was working on, KACE pops up. Wants to patch, wants to reboot.
Is there a setting in KACE that says "Between the hours of 7 and 5, you will NOT interrupt users working?" A blackout period.
Answers (3)
There is a "Download Blackout" start and end time, not sure if this is what you're looking for. (System UI, Control Panel -> Patch and Feature Update Download Settings)
Description:
Specifies a time period during which files cannot be downloaded. For example, use an early morning stop time to prevent the process from using a large amount of network bandwidth during regular working hours. If you select this option, the appliance stops file downloads at the specified time. It does not start file downloads again until the next specified download time. When the download resumes, it starts up where it left off. Downloads that are incomplete might not appear on the Patch Catalog or Windows Feature Update Catalog page.
I appreciate the rapid response. I'm not worried about bandwidth; I want to know if there is a "kace agent" blackout period. When the agents, running on the workstations, will not take any actions on workstations within a time frame.
Comments:
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For one offs, you could snooze the agent from the notification tray. It would only stop new processes, not cancel running ones. For having a blackout for all agent connections, I'm not sure that's a thing. You could possibly do it in your firewall, if you can isolate the traffic from normal webUI traffic and set a time of day schedule to block that traffic. (not sure of ramifications of doing so)
"Snoozing an agent does not stop any ongoing agent processes on the device. It only prevents the agent from starting a new process. If an agent snooze is not possible, for example, due to configuration, an error message appears." - AmberSDNB 2 weeks ago
To put it simply, windows update has an "Active hours" setting, where it won't download/apply updates during that timeframe.
If KACE doesn't have something to that effect, it needs to.
Comments:
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That would probably be the Download Blackout I mentioned earlier. Applies to more than just bandwidth for why you would use it. Personally we don't use Kace's patching, it was never a good experience for us. (haven't tried it in a few years, maybe it's better) - AmberSDNB 2 weeks ago
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well, configure your deploy jobs correctly. You have a Start time, an end time and how it behaves if the end time reached and the system was not online during this time.
(btw since nearly 20 years)
The download blackout just stops the download of patches to the appliance to free small landlines in countries where you have issues with bandwiths. - Nico_K 2 weeks ago