Patch Sources

A Patch Source allows you to view the software currently installed on the computers in your environment, to notify when new software is available, and to distribute the new software to target computers. When software titles are configured and available, they are hosted on a Patch Source. This allows you to distribute the title to the computers in your environment. There are two types of Patch Sources:

  • Patch Internal Source—The Patch Internal Source is configured for you by Jamf Pro and hosts the software title definitions that are provided by Jamf Pro. For the list of software titles provided by Jamf Pro, see the Patch Management Software Titles list.

  • Patch External Source—Jamf Pro provides a framework for integrating with a Patch External Source. You can use a server application in your environment or connect to a source hosted by the community. Integrating with a Patch External Source involves adding the server information (hostname or IP address for the server application) to Jamf Pro. You can add as many Patch External Sources that fit your environment. One of these Patch External Sources is Title Editor, a Jamf-hosted service used to provide custom software titles, override existing patch definitions, and create custom patch definitions. For more information, see the Title Editor Documentation.

You can use both Patch Sources to customize a solution for your specific environment.

General Requirements

The server application you use for your Patch External Source must meet the requirements in the Jamf Pro External Patch Source Endpoints article to enable Jamf Pro to properly generate a list of software titles hosted on the source, check for updates, and download the software title definition.

Adding a Patch External Source to Jamf Pro

  1. In Jamf Pro, click Settings in the top-right corner of the page.
  2. In the Computer Management section, click Patch Management .
  3. To add a Patch External Source, click New.
  4. Configure the settings on the pane.

    Depending on your environment, the following settings may be applicable:

    • Enabled—This setting enables Jamf Pro to generate the list of software titles hosted on the Patch Source and allows the title to be automatically updated.

    • Use SSL—This setting must be enabled if your environment is configured with a TLS certificate and is sending traffic over HTTPS from your Patch External Source.

    • Validate Software Title Definitions—This setting ensures that software titles are signed by a publicly trusted certificate before they are downloaded from the server.

      Note:

      If this setting is enabled and a software title is not signed, Jamf Pro does not download the title.

  5. Click Save .

After the Patch External Source is added to Jamf Pro, Jamf Pro can download and display the software titles available on the source.

Testing a Patch External Source Connection

  1. In Jamf Pro, click Settings in the top-right corner of the page.
  2. In the Computer Management section, click Patch Management .
  3. Click the Patch External Source you want to test the connection for, and then click Test.
  4. Click Test again.

Jamf Pro communicates with the server hosting the External Patch Server to return status information about the server and validate the connection to the server endpoints.