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.
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.
Open the navigation menu, click Compute, and then click Instances.
Find the instance and click its name.
On the Instance Details page, under Resources, click OS
Management.
Click the Actions icon (three dots) and click View OS Management Details.
Under Resources, click Available Updates.
In the Available Updates section, find and select the updates you want
to install.
Each update entry lists the name of the update, the type of update (Bug
fix, Enhancement, Security, or Other), and
whether the update requires a reboot.
You can optionally expand each row in the update table to view additional
information about an update before installing it. The following additional
information fields are displayed:
Installable: Indicates whether the update can be installed
(Yes or No). If the field indicates that the
update is not installable (No), see the Requirements
field for more information.
Size: The file size of the update.
Requirements: Indicates whether there are additional requirements
for installing the update, such as the acceptance of an End-User License
Agreement (EULA), additional software media, or user interaction.
KB Articles: Lists any related Microsoft Knowledge Base (KB)
articles associated with the update. KB articles are referenced by KB ID
number.
Click Install Updates.
In the Install Updates panel, under Install Schedule: choose when
you want to install the updates.
To install the updates immediately, choose Install Now and
click Install Updates.
To schedule a job to install the updates:
Choose Custom Schedule.
(Optional) For Job Name, enter a description of the job.
For Date and Time, click the calendar icon and select the
date and time when you want the job to run.
Click Install Updates.
Important
If the update requires a reboot, a reminder message appears on the
instance detail page and managed instance detail page, indicating
that one or more of the updates requires a reboot of the
instance.
You can either manually reboot the instance in the Console or use
the Compute API to programmatically trigger the reboot.
Open the navigation menu, click Compute, and then click Instances.
Find the instance and click its name.
On the Instance Details page, under Resources, click OS
Management.
Click the Actions icon (three dots) and click Install Security Updates.
In the Install All Security Updates dialog box, click Install Updates to confirm the action.
Important
If the update requires a reboot, a reminder message appears on the
instance detail and managed instance detail pages, indicating that
one or more of the updates requires a reboot of the instance.
You can either manually reboot the instance in the Console or use
the API to programmatically trigger the reboot.
Open the navigation menu, click Compute, and then click Instances.
Find the instance and click its name.
On the Instance Details page, under Resources, click OS
Management.
Click the Actions icon (three dots) and click Install All Updates.
In the Install All Updates dialog box, click Install Updates to
confirm the action.
Important
If the update requires a reboot, a reminder message appears on the
instance detail and managed instance detail pages, indicating that
one or more of the updates requires a reboot of the instance.
You can either manually reboot the instance in the Console or use
the API to programmatically trigger the reboot.
Open the navigation menu and click Compute. Under OS Management, click Managed Instance Groups.
In the List Scope section, select the compartment that contains the
managed instance group that you want to update.
On the row of the managed instance group, click the Actions icon (three dots),
and click Install Update.
In the Install Update panel, find and select the updates you want to
install on the managed instance group.
Each update entry lists the name of the update, the type of update (Bug
fix, Enhancement, Security, or Other), and
whether the update requires a reboot.
You can optionally expand each row in the update table to view additional
information about an update before installing it. The following additional
information fields are displayed:
Installable: Indicates whether the update can be installed
(Yes or No). If the field indicates that the
update is not installable (No), see the Requirements
field for more information.
Size: The file size of the update.
Requirements: Indicates whether there are additional requirements
for installing the update, such as the acceptance of an End-User License
Agreement (EULA), additional software media, or user interaction.
KB Articles: Lists any related Microsoft Knowledge Base (KB)
articles associated with the update. KB articles are referenced by KB ID
number.
Under Install Schedule: choose when you want to install the updates.
To install the updates immediately, choose Install Now and
click Install Updates.
To schedule a job to install the update:
Choose Custom Schedule.
(Optional) For Job Name, enter a description of the job.
For Date and Time, click the calendar icon and select the
date and time when you want the job to run.
Open the navigation menu and click Compute. Under OS Management, click Managed Instance Groups.
In the List Scope section, select the compartment that contains the
managed instance group that you want to update.
On the row of the managed instance group, click the Actions icon (three dots),
and click Install All Updates.
In the Install All Updates panel, for Select Update Type, select
the type of Windows updates to install.
You can install all available updates by selecting All (the
default type) or you can install the available updates for a particular
category by selecting Security, Bug Fix, Enhancement,
or Other.