SharePoint 2010 Automated Patcher (Alpha Release)

Here is an alpha version of the source code.  There is still a lot of work to do one this one but it is a starting point.  I used AutoSPInstaller as the foundation for the launching http://autospinstaller.codeplex.com/.

USAGE:

1. Download SharePoint Foundation SP1 / SharePoint Server SP1 / Office Web Apps SP1 and put them in the SP directory
2. Download the latest cumulative update and put it in the CU directory
3. Copy files to all SharePoint Servers
4. Open Command Prompt as an administrator
5. Run Launcher.bat on each SharePoint Server
6. Run Products and Configuration Wizard on each server
7. Done

This is the end to end procedure that we follow here:

SharePoint Service Pack / Cumulative Update Procedure

The following procedure outlines the SharePoint patching process. This is appropriate for both Service Packs and Cumulative Updates. This does not include Windows Service Packs or Hot Fixes.

The procedure has been developed for a farm that has two Web Front End Servers and one Application Server. This procedure can be scaled up to suit a larger farm.

This procedure is to be used for the following SharePoint and Related Services Patches:

• SharePoint Foundation
• SharePoint Server
• Office Web Applications

SharePoint Patches will be packaged and installed via the command line. 

Upgrading a SharePoint Farm is a two phase process which consists of:

Phase	Description
Update Phase	During the update phase the farm can continue to be in production with no downtime. The update process consists of installing the binaries for the next version of SharePoint on each SharePoint server
Upgrade Phase	During the upgrade phase the SharePoint farm must be taken off line as concurrent connections during an upgrade can cause locks thus causing upgrade failures. During the Upgrade Phase the SharePoint Configuration database and Content databases are upgraded to the latest version.

Before proceeding with this procedure verify that the following conditions are true:

• All the Web Front End Servers are load balanced and are in the rotation of the TMG Load Balancer
• All the farm servers are operating correctly
• All the databases are active and operating correctly
• SQL Database backups are present from the previous evening

Do not proceed with the upgrade if any of the preceding conditions are not true. Resolve all issues before you continue.

Update Phase

The following illustration shows the sequence of steps that are required to install the update on the farm.

1. Copy installation package to all SharePoint Servers (this will be done ahead of time)
2. Drain Stop PNWB1 from rotation in the TMG Load Balancer
          a. Check to validate that all users have been relocated to PNWB2 by checking the Web Service Current Connections performance monitor variable
          b. Shutdown PNWB1
          c. Snapshot PNWB1
          d. Start PNWB1
3. Run Command Prompt as an administrator, Browse to SharePoint Patcher Location and Run Launcher.bat on PNWB1
          a. Monitor the Upgrade Status until it completes successfully
          b. Verify Upgrade
          c. Test to verify the server is operational
4. Bring PNWB1 back into rotation in the TMG Load Balancer
5. Drain stop PNWB2 from rotation in the TMG Load Balancer
          a. Check to validate that all users have been relocated to PNWB2 by checking the Web Service Current Connections performance monitor variable
          b. Shutdown PNWB2
          b. Snapshot PNWB2
          c. Start PNWB2
6. Run Command Prompt as an administrator, Browse to SharePoint Patcher Location and Run Launcher.bat on PNWB1PNWB2
          a. Monitor the Upgrade Status until it completes successfully
          b. Verify Upgrade
          c. Test to verify the server is operational
7. Bring PNWB2 back into rotation in the TMG Load Balancer
          a. Snapshot PNAP1
8. Run upgrade.bat on PNAP1
          a. Monitor the Upgrade Status until it completes successfully
b. Verify Upgrade
          c. Test to verify the server is operational
9. At this point all SharePoint Servers have been upgraded to the latest binaries

Upgrade Phase

The following illustration shows the sequence of steps that are required to finish the patching process by upgrading the farm servers. During this process, the sites that are being upgraded will not be available to users.

1. Remove both PNWB1 and PNWB2 from rotation in the TMG Load Balancer

2. Run SharePoint Products Configuration Wizard on the Central Administration Server PNAP1

3. Run SharePoint Products Configuration Wizard on PNWB1

4. Run SharePoint Products Configuration Wizard on PNWB2

5. Bring PNWB2 and PNWB2 back into rotation in the TMG Load Balancer

Upon completion of User Acceptance Testing remove the Snapshots created in the Update Phase