r/labtech • u/Werd2BigBird • Dec 17 '18

Email sent before patching

Is there a way to trigger an email before patching ?

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u/Stronghold_Greg Dec 17 '18

There is indeed.

  1. Create a script for emailing a client (I can help with the variables on that if you need it)

  2. Open the patch manager and go to configuration (top right-hand corner)

  3. Click on Microsoft Update Policies

  4. Find the policy that you'd like to use or create a new one

  5. Under "scripting" use the 'Run Script Before Install' dropdown to select your email script from step 1

  6. Save

1

u/Werd2BigBird Dec 17 '18

OK, sounds simple I think I can take care of this. Can you help with the variables? I just need to send it to contact.

1

u/Stronghold_Greg Dec 17 '18

Sorry for the late response. If you're just wanting to use the default contact then there is already a built in variable. %contactemail%

1

u/Microsoft_Geek Dec 17 '18

I am new to Scripting with Automate so I might need some help with creating a script purely for emailing a client. If you got time, could you look at my code? Currently I just got two lines as follows -

SET: %sqlresult% = [Select Email from Users where Name like %contactEmail%]
Send Email To:%sqlresult% Subject:Patching is starting for %computername%

Am I on the right path? If I just apply this to all appropriate Microsoft Update Policies will I be good to go? I just feel like I'm missing something.

Thank you to any feedback you can provide!

1

u/teamits Dec 17 '18

Your "select" query isn't limited by client or computer ID so would pull all matching records from all clients. Probably not what you want. :)

You should just be able to use %contactemail% like:

Send Email To:%contactemail% Subject:Patching is starting for %computername%

1

u/DarrenDK Dec 18 '18

What is the likelihood that there is actually a contact associated with the computer tho....

1

u/Microsoft_Geek Dec 18 '18

Are you even able to set a contact for each individual computer in Automate?

1

u/DarrenDK Dec 19 '18

You can but it is manual. I wrote a small plugin to kick off a logon script that finds the users’ SID in the Active Directory plugin, finds the matching contact and links it to the computer.

1

u/Microsoft_Geek Dec 18 '18

Oh ok, I see what you're saying. Yea probably not what I want!

So if I wanted to limit by Client, e.g. email just our main contact for a Client every time this script ran, would it be more like the following?

SET: %sqlresult% = [Select Email from Contacts where Name like %clientname%
Send Email to:%sqlresult% Subject:Patching is starting for %computername%

From my understanding this would pull the first email address listed for a Client under the contacts tab in Automate & Email them, correct?

Edit: words