Patching in DevOps — Part 1: Understanding the Basics
- Lency Korien
- May 26
- 2 min read
In today’s fast-paced development environments, security, reliability, and system performance are critical. One of the fundamental practices that help maintain these standards is patching. While often overlooked, patching plays a vital role in the DevOps lifecycle.
What is Patching?
Patching refers to the process of applying updates to software components, systems, applications, or dependencies to fix:
Security vulnerabilities
Bugs and known issues
Performance inefficiencies
Compatibility concerns
Patches can be minor (fixing a small bug) or critical (closing a zero-day vulnerability). They are usually released by software vendors or communities after identifying issues in their products.
Why Use Patching in DevOps?
In the DevOps world, where automation, continuous delivery, and rapid deployments are common, patching is not just a one-off task — it needs to be automated, tested, and integrated into CI/CD pipelines.
Here’s why patching is essential in DevOps:
Security Hardening: Most cyberattacks exploit known vulnerabilities. Regular patching minimizes the attack surface.
System Stability: Fixing bugs ensures stable and predictable environments.
Compliance: Many industries require systems to be up-to-date to meet regulatory compliance.
Efficiency: Patches can improve performance and resource usage.
Team Productivity: Automated patching reduces manual effort and human error.
Common issues solved by patching:
Security vulnerabilities solved by security patches.
Application crashes due to bug solved by bug-fix patches.
System slowness and memory leaks solved by performance patches.
Incompatibility with new libraries and tools solved by compatibility patches.
Failing compliance and audits solved by timely patching and updates.
High-Level Architecture for Patching in DevOps
Here’s a simple architecture to understand how patching fits into a DevOps pipeline:
Breakdown of Each Segment
1. ManageEngine Segment
External Patch Crawler:This component pulls vulnerability information from various vendor websites (like Microsoft, Adobe, Oracle, etc.).
Patch Assessment:The fetched vulnerability data is assessed to understand:
Severity
Applicability
Patch availability
Risk score
Outcome:The information is modified/formatted and sent to the central patch repository.
2. Cloud Infrastructure
Central Patch Repository:Acts as the intermediate storage and publishing platform. It:
Holds vulnerability databases
Stores security patches
Serves as a download source for customer endpoints
Function:Ensures reliable delivery of patches and vulnerability info to customer segments.
3. Customer Segment
EC Server:The Endpoint Central (EC) server sits within the customer network. It:
Downloads the vulnerability database
Communicates with customer endpoints (devices)
Managed Endpoints:
These are user machines (laptops, desktops, servers) running:
Windows
Mac
Linux
The EC server evaluates each endpoint and pushes necessary patches automatically or on schedule.
Data Flow Summary
1. Vendor Sites ➝ ManageEngineVulnerability data and patches are downloaded.
2. ManageEngine ➝ Cloud InfrastructureData is cleaned and published to the central patch repository.
3. Cloud ➝ Customer EC ServerCustomers download the latest vulnerability database and available patches.
4. EC Server ➝ Managed DevicesEndpoints receive patches to stay secure and up to date.
You can check more info about: how to implement automated patch management in devops.
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