Streamlining Patch Management with the Latest Atera UI Update

Key Takeaways

• Atera’s patch management flow has been redesigned for improved visibility and control.
• Granular device-level patch statuses help IT pros take quicker actions.
• New bulk actions and scheduling improvements simplify patch deployment across large fleets.
• Patch approval policies now support more flexible testing workflows.
• Automation rules can queue missed patches for offline agents.

Introduction

Patch management is at the heart of secure and stable IT environments. With Atera’s latest UI updates, IT teams now get a more intuitive, centralized, and proactive way to manage patches across their entire ecosystem. Whether you're overseeing hundreds of endpoints or a hybrid set of Windows and macOS devices, these new features help streamline workflows, reduce risk, and improve compliance tracking.

Let’s walk through what’s changed and how you can make the most of it.

1. Unified Patch Status Dashboard

The new Patch Management UI offers a central dashboard where technicians can instantly see:

• Number of devices fully patched
• Devices with pending or failed updates
• Patch statuses filtered by OS, severity, or last scan time

This consolidation replaces the fragmented views of earlier versions, improving decision-making in real-time.

Job to Be Done: An IT manager handling a multi-branch setup can now triage devices by urgency, filter by critical security patches, and generate one-click reports.

2. One-Click Remediation with Bulk Actions

Bulk remediation has been streamlined. From the dashboard, you can now:

• Select all vulnerable devices—even across pages
• Apply patching actions or reboots in a single click
• Queue updates for offline agents automatically
  
  

This means fewer manual steps and more consistency across the board.

3. Scheduling Flexibility and Automation Enhancements

The latest update enables more granular control over patch scheduling, including:

• Time zone–aware deployment (device-local time)
• Recurring patch cycles with exception handling
• Auto-rescheduling if a device misses a patch cycle due to downtime

You can define policies that ensure critical security updates go out weekly while feature updates occur monthly—or even delay feature patches until they're verified.

4. Patch Approval Workflows and Testing Mode

For environments requiring staged deployment (e.g., healthcare, finance), you can now:

• Manually approve or block patches before deployment
• Assign test devices to evaluate updates before full rollout
• Track approval history with audit-ready logs

Example Use Case: A finance company tests all Windows updates on a QA group of machines. Once verified, the same updates can be deployed to all production devices using one approval command.

5. Improved Device Grouping for Patch Campaigns

With better device grouping capabilities, you can:

• Create dynamic groups based on OS, patch history, or custom tags
• Run campaigns targeting only unpatched or non-compliant machines
• Apply different patching policies to each group (e.g., VIP devices vs. dev environments)
  
  

6. Visibility into Missed or Failed Patches

Failed patch installations now come with actionable insights, including:

• Failure reason (e.g., device shutdown, OS mismatch, policy conflict)
• Suggested resolution or retry options
• Retry queue for next available connection (offline support)
  
  

This allows you to proactively fix patching gaps without micromanaging each endpoint.

7. New Reports and Compliance Views

The Reporting module now includes:

• Patch compliance over time (per customer/site/device)
• SLA tracking tied to patch timelines
• Exportable audit trails for ISO, HIPAA, or SOC2 compliance reviews
  
   
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Final Thoughts

Patch management shouldn’t feel like a never-ending fire drill. With Atera’s updated UI and automation options, your team can stay ahead of vulnerabilities without the manual grind. These enhancements are a game-changer for MSPs and IT departments aiming for tighter security, better compliance, and more efficient operations.

Ready to simplify patching at scale? Book a free consultation with our experts and see Atera’s patch management in action.

FAQs

1. Can I test patches in Atera before they are deployed to production?

Yes. Atera’s new patch approval workflows allow you to assign test devices to verify updates before mass deployment. You can manually approve or block patches based on testing results.

2. What happens if a device is offline during a scheduled patch in Atera?

Atera now supports automated patch queuing. If a device is offline during its patch window, Atera queues the patch and automatically installs it once the device reconnects.

3. Can I filter Atera patch statuses by severity or type?

Yes. Atera’s unified patch dashboard allows you to filter patches by OS, severity, category, or last scan time, giving you targeted visibility into what needs action across your environment.

4. Does Atera support patch scheduling based on the device’s local time zone?

Yes. Patch deployment in Atera can now be configured to follow the local time zone of each device, making it ideal for managing global endpoints without manual time conversion.

5. How can I group devices in Atera for targeted patch campaigns?

You can use Atera’s dynamic grouping feature to organize devices by:

• Operating system
• Patch compliance status
• Custom tags (e.g., VIP, QA, Remote)
  These groups can then be used to apply different patching rules or schedules.

6. Can I export Atera patch compliance reports for audits or clients?

Yes. Atera’s reporting module includes exportable patch compliance views, which track:

• Update timelines
• SLA adherence
• Audit-ready logs for ISO, HIPAA, or SOC2 reviews

7. How do I view failed patches and retry them in Atera?

In Atera, failed patch installations now come with:

• Clear failure reasons (e.g., device shutdown, OS mismatch)
• Suggested resolutions
• A retry queue that will automatically reattempt patching when conditions are met

8. Can I automate patching in Atera with exception handling?

Yes. Atera now supports recurring patch cycles with:

• Auto-rescheduling for missed cycles
• Device time zone awareness
• Separate schedules for critical vs. feature updates
  This gives you granular control over automated patch workflows.

9. Does Atera allow bulk patching actions across multiple pages or filters?

Absolutely. The updated Atera UI enables:

• Select-all across pages
• Bulk remediation for patching or rebooting
• One-click actions for entire filtered groups, no matter how large

10. Where do I find the new Atera patch dashboard and assign policies?

Go to Patch Management > Dashboard in the Atera console. From there, you can:

• View unified patch statuses
• Assign patch policies per customer, site, or group
• Launch remediation or approval workflows in a few clicks