Managing your Windows 11 security should soon be much easier with the official launch of Microsoft Autopatch.
Initially announced in April 2022, general availability has arrived for Windows Enterprise E3 and E5 licenses for the service that’s set to automate updates for Windows 10 and 11, Microsoft Edge and Microsoft 365 software, including Office.
The tool will use Windows Update for Business to roll out important updates automatically, and even roll back changes “where possible,” according to Microsoft.
Microsoft Autopatch
Regular monthly Windows ‘B release’ updates will be applied as standard, alongside out-of-band security patches and updates from within Autopatch, while Office updates will follow a similar monthly update pattern using the Monthly Enterprise Channel.
Updates to the company’s Edge browser and Teams video conferencing platform will follow a less structured release pattern, and are not managed through Autopatch which means no rollbacks, however issues can be raised from within the Autopatch portal.
Automatic security updates
Microsoft recognizes that this may case some IT admins to have doubts, but it emphasizes that updates are pushed “around the clock,” and that its system can “detect potential issues among an incredibly diverse array of hardware and software configurations.” There is also a dedicated team to help with any compatibility issues which should be free of charge to “eligible customers.”
The company is also open to evolving the procedure to appeal to more customers, particularly those who are already implementing update deployment rings.
There are certain prerequisites to be able to use Autopatch. They are:
- Windows Enterprise E3 license or above
- Windows 10 and 11 Enterprise versions, and virtual machines including Windows 365 Cloud PCs
- Managed with Intune or via Configuration Manager co-management
- Accounts managed by Azure Active Directory or Hybrid Azure Active Directory Join
To enable Microsoft Autopatch, users should navigate to the Tenant Administration section of the Microsoft Endpoint Manager admin center and enroll.
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