SSM Patch Baseline | Create (Windows)

Create an AWS Systems Manager (SSM) patch baseline to define which patches are approved for installation on your instances for Windows OS. Specify existing instance "Patch Group" tag values for the patch baseline. The patch baseline is an SSM resource that you can manage with the SSM console.

Full classification: Deployment | Patching | SSM patch baseline | Create (Windows)

Change Type Details

Change type ID	ct-0kbey7hb00atp
Current version	1.0
Expected execution duration	60 minutes
AWS approval	Required
Customer approval	Not required
Execution mode	Automated

Additional Information

Create for Windows

Creating an SSM Windows patch baseline with the Console

Screenshot of this change type in the AMS console:

How it works:

1. Navigate to the Create RFC page: In the left navigation pane of the AMS console click RFCs to open the RFCs list page, and then click Create RFC.

2. Choose a popular change type (CT) in the default Browse change types view, or select a CT in the Choose by category view.

   • Browse by change type: You can click on a popular CT in the Quick create area to immediately open the Run RFC page. Note that you cannot choose an older CT version with quick create.

     To sort CTs, use the All change types area in either the Card or Table view. In either view, select a CT and then click Create RFC to open the Run RFC page. If applicable, a Create with older version option appears next to the Create RFC button.

   • Choose by category: Select a category, subcategory, item, and operation and the CT details box opens with an option to Create with older version if applicable. Click Create RFC to open the Run RFC page.

3. On the Run RFC page, open the CT name area to see the CT details box. A Subject is required (this is filled in for you if you choose your CT in the Browse change types view). Open the Additional configuration area to add information about the RFC.

   In the Execution configuration area, use available drop-down lists or enter values for the required parameters. To configure optional execution parameters, open the Additional configuration area.

4. When finished, click Run. If there are no errors, the RFC successfully created page displays with the submitted RFC details, and the initial Run output.

5. Open the Run parameters area to see the configurations you submitted. Refresh the page to update the RFC execution status. Optionally, cancel the RFC or create a copy of it with the options at the top of the page.

In the AWS Console, you can view the patch baselines you created at Systems Manager --> Patch Manager --> Patch Baselines.

Creating an SSM Windows patch baseline with the CLI

How it works:

1. Use either the Inline Create (you issue a create-rfc command with all RFC and execution parameters included), or Template Create (you create two JSON files, one for the RFC parameters and one for the execution parameters) and issue the create-rfc command with the two files as input. Both methods are described here.

2. Submit the RFC: aws amscm submit-rfc --rfc-id ID command with the returned RFC ID.

   Monitor the RFC: aws amscm get-rfc --rfc-id ID command.

To check the change type version, use this command:

aws amscm list-change-type-version-summaries --filter Attribute=ChangeTypeId,Value=CT_ID

Note

You can use any CreateRfc parameters with any RFC whether or not they are part of the schema for the change type. For example, to get notifications when the RFC status changes, add this line, --notification "{\"Email\": {\"EmailRecipients\" : [\"[e-mail]\"]}}" to the RFC parameters part of the request (not the execution parameters). For a list of all CreateRfc parameters, see the AMS Change Management API Reference.

INLINE CREATE:

Issue the create RFC command with execution parameters provided inline (escape quotes when providing execution parameters inline), and then submit the returned RFC ID. For example, you can replace the contents with something like this:

aws amscm create-rfc --title Patch-Baseline-Create-Win-RFC --change-type-id ct-0kbey7hb00atp --change-type-version 1.0 --execution-parameters '{"ApprovalRules": [{"ApproveAfterDays": 7, "Classification": ["SecurityUpdates"], "Severity": ["All"]}], "OperatingSystem": "Windows", "Name": "TestBaselineWindows", "PatchGroupTagValues": ["MyWindowsPatchGroup"]}'

TEMPLATE CREATE:

1. Output the execution parameters JSON schema for this change type to a JSON file; this example names it CreateWinPatchBaselineParams.json:

   aws amscm get-change-type-version --change-type-id "ct-2taqdgegqthjr" --query "ChangeTypeVersion.ExecutionInputSchema" --output text > CreateWinPatchBaselineParams.json

2. Modify and save the CreateWinPatchBaselineParams file. See examples below; make sure to modify these parameters to meet your specific needs.

   In this example, all critical security updates are approved for installation five days after release. KB2032276 is approved immediately even if it is not a critical severity. Finally, KB2124261 will not be installed, even if it matches an approval rule.

   {
   "ApprovalRules":[{
       "ApproveAfterDays": 5,
       "Severity": [
           "Critical"
           ],
       "Classification": [
           "SecurityUpdates"
           ]
       }],
   "ApprovedPatches":["KB2032276"],
   "Description": "Patch Baseline",
   "Name": "PatchBaseline-Unit-test",
   "OperatingSystem": "Windows",
   "PatchGroupTagValues": [
       "test1"
       ],
   "RejectedPatches":["KB2124261"],
   "Tags": [
       {
       "Key":"patchGroupWin",
       "Value":"test1"
       }
   ]

3. Output the RFC template to a file in your current folder; this example names it CreateWinPatchBaselineRfc.json:

   aws amscm create-rfc --generate-cli-skeleton > CreateWinPatchBaselineRfc.json

4. Modify and save the CreateWinPatchBaselineRfc.json file. For example, you can replace the contents with something like this:

   {
   "ChangeTypeVersion":    "1.0",	
   "ChangeTypeId":         "ct-0kbey7hb00atp",
   "Title":                "Patch-Baseline-Create-Win-RFC"
   }

5. Create the RFC, specifying the CreateWinPatchBaselineRfc file and the CreateWinPatchBaselineParams file:

   aws amscm create-rfc --cli-input-json file://CreateWinPatchBaselineRfc.json --execution-parameters file://CreateWinPatchBaselineParams.json

   You receive the ID of the new RFC in the response and can use it to submit and monitor the RFC. Until you submit it, the RFC remains in the editing state and does not start.

6. To view the SSM patch baseline, look in the execution output: Use the stack_id to view the patch baseline in the Systems Manager console.

Tips

Note

There are five change types for creating an SSM patch baseline, for the various operating systems.

Important

At least one of ApprovalRules or ApprovedPatches is required.

If you create a patch baseline, it must have at least one approval rule and/or approved patch defined. An approval rule allows you to specify which classification (for example, SecurityUpdates) and severity (for example, Critical) patches will be installed. In your approval rules, you can define how many days after a patch is released it may be installed. A patch specified in the approved patches list will be installed irrespective of whether it is matched by an approval rule. Finally, items in the rejected patches list will exclude those patches from being installed, even if they match an approval rule and/or approved patch. For more information, see About predefined and custom patch baselines.

To create an SSM patch window, see Create SSM Patch Window.

Execution Input Parameters

For detailed information about the execution input parameters, see Schema for Change Type ct-0kbey7hb00atp.

Example: Required Parameters

Example not available.

Example: All Parameters

Example not available.