On April 23, 2025, OS Management reaches end of life (EOL). Effective now, the service is no longer available to you in regions where you are not already using OS Management, or to new users with new tenancies. Before the EOL date, we recommend that you migrate your managed instances to the OS Management Hub service. For more information, see the Service Change Announcement.

Managing Windows Updates

Describes how to manage updates for Windows instances that are managed by the OS Management service.

Note

Ensure that you define your security lists or network rules to allow access to the Windows update server. For more information, see the prerequisites.

About Windows Updates in OS Management

OS Management uses the following categories for updates:

  • Security
  • Bug fixes
  • Enhancement
  • Other

Windows Update OS Management Category Description
Critical Bug A broadly released fix for a specific problem addressing a critical, non-security related bug.
Definition Security A broadly-released and frequent software update containing additions to a product's definition database. Definition databases are often used to detect objects with specific attributes, such as malicious code, phishing Web sites, or junk e-mail.
Drivers Bug A software component necessary to control or regulate another device.
Feature Packs Enhancement New product functionality that is first distributed outside the context of a product release, and usually included in the next full product release.
Security Security A broadly released fix for a product-specific security-related vulnerability. Security vulnerabilities are rated based on their severity which is indicated in the Microsoft® security bulletin as critical, important, moderate, or low.
Service Packs Other A tested, cumulative set of all hotfixes, security updates, critical updates and updates, as well as additional fixes for problems found internally since the release of the product. Service packs may also contain a limited number of customer-requested design changes or features.
Tools Enhancement A utility or feature that aids in accomplishing a task or set of tasks.
Update Rollups Other A tested, cumulative set of hotfixes, security updates, critical updates, and updates packaged together for easy deployment. A rollup generally targets a specific area, such as security, or a component of a product, such as Internet Information Services "IIS".
Updates Bug A broadly released fix for a specific problem addressing a noncritical, non-security-related bug.
Microsoft Other Microsoft related applications that need updates.

Installing Updates on Windows Instances

Important

If you have enabled active hours on your Windows instances, do not schedule updates during active hours. The OS Management service does not install updates that are scheduled during active hours.
Note

You can configure Windows instances in Oracle Cloud Infrastructure to receive product updates from Microsoft or through a server designated as a Windows Server Update Services (WSUS). OS Management can be used to schedule and deploy updates delivered to the instance from either source. See the Microsoft documentation for more information about deploying WSUS, including how to configure the WSUS server and Group Policy settings for automatic updates.

Using the API

For information about using the API and signing requests, see REST APIs and Security Credentials. For information about SDKs, see Software Development Kits and Command Line Interface.

Use these API operations for managing updates on Windows instances:

For a full list of API operations available for the OS Management service, see OS Management API.