You can automate software patching (via WinGet and Chocolatey patch managers for Windows and Homebrew patch manager for Mac) within your patch management and IT automation profiles.
Automate software patching
- Maintaining installed software: If software is already installed on a device and exists in WinGet, Chocolatey, or Homebrew, adding it to a software bundle in an automation profile will ensure it is maintained via Atera's WinGet, Chocolatey, or Homebrew integrations.
- Latest version installation: The latest version of each software in the bundle will be installed.
- Chocolatey rate limitation: Chocolatey patching is rate-limited to 20 installs per minute, per IP address. To circumvent this limitation, running the profile on smaller batches of devices is recommended. Learn more
- Homebrew authentication requirements: Some Homebrew software patches require password authentication or additional permissions and therefore cannot be installed via Atera. If this is the case, a message will appear to inform you.
- Excluding software: You can exclude specific software updates via WinGet, Chocolatey, and Homebrew under Excluded Software Patches.
- Handling error 429 (too many requests): If you receive this error, you have triggered the rate limit. The rate limit will be in place for one hour. Triggering it again will reset the limit for another hour. Learn more
To automate patch management via an automation profile:
1. Go to Admin > Monitoring and automation > Patch management and IT automation.
The Patch Management and IT Automation page appears.
2. Select an existing profile or click Add Profile to create a new automation profile.
The Profile page appears.
3. Check the box next to the package manager you want to use for managing your software updates:
- Chocolatey (Windows) and Homebrew (Mac)
- WinGet (Windows)
Note: This will install updates for software installed via the selected package manager(s). Additionally, the following software will be updated by Chocolatey and Homebrew, regardless of their installation source.
Windows:
- 7-Zip
- Adobe Acrobat Reader DC (multi-language version only)
- Adobe AIR
- Adobe Flash Player 32
- CCleaner
- Cisco Webex Meetings
- CutePDF Writer
- Dashlane
- Dropbox
- Evernote
- Foxit Reader
- Google Chrome
- GoToMeeting
- Java 8 Runtime
- LogMeIn
- Microsoft Edge
- Microsoft Edge WebView
- Microsoft Teams
- Mozilla Firefox
- Notepad++
- PuTTY
- Skype
- SQL Server Management Studio
- SQL Server Express (version 2014, 2016, 2019, 2022)
- TeamViewer
- Thunderbird
- Veeam Agent
- VLC media player
- VMware Tools
- WinRAR
- WinSCP
- Zoom
Mac:
- CCleaner
- Dashlane
- Dropbox
- Evernote
- Firefox
- Foxit Reader
- Google Chrome
- LogMeIn
- Microsoft Edge
- Skype
- TeamViewer
- Thunderbird
- VLC
4. Click Save to update your profile.
Software bundle update
You can add a software bundle to the automation profile to update applications that aren't listed in the software list. For more information, see Software bundles
Note: Some software applications may not fully support updating through this method. As a result, there may be instances where the software appears twice on your devices—once with the old version and again with the latest version. This duplication can occur because the older version was not uninstalled automatically, and the new version was installed separately. We recommend verifying a software's update compatibility and considering manual intervention to avoid duplication.
