Reboot Snooze Options for Patching (4306337)

Reboot Snooze Options for Patching

In version 10.0 of the KACE Systems Management Appliance we were able to implement a popular customer-driven enhancement request. The request was to allow users more options and control when it comes to patch reboot snoozing. If the user does not interact and choose a preferred snooze time, the old behavior still exists and each administrator can choose how long until the message times out, the action the timeout takes, and how many times the option to snooze returns.

Due to this snooze change, it may be necessary to revisit the current patch reboot options and how the new options will change overall completion of each schedule.

Points to Note:

• The Notify option that is available in Deploy and Rollback schedules sill functions the same as it did before (pre 10.0)
• The snooze options on the Notify section still work as they did before (pre 10.0) and the administrator controls:
  • How long the snooze lasts
  • How long the timeout window has
  • What action the timeout takes
  • How long until the next prompt
  • How many prompts are allowed
• The snooze options in the Reboot section have changed
  • The user is now provided with multiple snooze options if the administrator chooses to use a Prompt User method
    • Snooze for 15 minutes
    • Snooze for 30 minutes
    • Snooze 1 hour
    • Snooze 2 hour
    • Snooze 4 hour (not avl on 10.2)
    • Snooze 8 hour (not avl on 10.2)
  • There is no way for the administrator to remove any of these user snooze options
    • If the window times out without user interaction, the additional notifications will flow with the settings in the schedule
      • The administrator now only has control of how long until the next reprompt if the user is not choosing a snooze time
      • The administrator still has full control of how many times the reboot message will reprompt before forcing the timeout action or reboot

 

Prompt changes:

To get a full understanding of the changes, let's compare some options from before 10.0 and after version 10.2.

 

9.1

In 9.1 if an administrator used a reboot option of Prompt User with any timeout action, the window the user received was always the same. They were only provided with a Yes or No choice.

 

 

In 9.1, if the user clicked No as the reboot choice, the next reprompt time and how many reprompts were allowed were controlled by the settings in the schedule.

 

10.0

Similarly, in 10.0 the window is the same regardless of the timeout action, but now it allows the user to choose between multiple snooze times or clicking Reboot.

 

          

 

As of 10.0, the user chooses how long until the next reprompt with their snooze option.

If the alert times out, the timeout action still follows what is chosen in the schedule.

When using reprompts, the last prompt does not allow the option to snooze and the user can only click OK or allow the alert to timeout. The action is forced on the last reprompt.

NOTE: Reprompts refers to the number of times the alert comes up after the first prompt. This means that if an administrator chooses 2 reprompts, the user would receive 3 total prompts. Two which allow snoozing and the third which will force the action. The reprompts number is the exact number of times the user will be able to snooze and one less than the overall number of prompts the user will receive.

 

 

10.2

Similarly, in 10.2 the window is the same regardless of the timeout action, but now it allows the user to choose between multiple snooze times or clicking Reboot.

NOTE: on version 10.2 the 4hr and 8hr snooze options have been removed

 

As of 10.0, the user chooses how long until the next re-prompt with their snooze option.

If the alert times out, the timeout action still follows what is chosen in the schedule.

When using re-prompts, the last prompt does not allow the option to snooze and the user can only click OK or allow the alert to timeout. The action is forced on the last re-prompt.

NOTE: Re-prompts refers to the number of times the alert comes up after the first prompt. This means that if an administrator chooses 2 re-prompts, the user would receive 3 total prompts. Two which allow snoozing and the third which will force the action. The re-prompts number is the exact number of times the user will be able to snooze and one less than the overall number of prompts the user will receive. If no user is logged in, the prompts will still be sent to the device; since there's no user to interact with the prompt, the reboot attempt will be deferred by snoozing the reboot until the final prompt is reached. If no user is logged in and the option to "Automatically Reboot When No One Is Logged In" is enabled on the schedule, the device will be rebooted after the first prompt.