Third-party Catalogs

Microsoft SCCM third party software update catalogs

System Center Configuration Manager (SCCM) had received one of the significant upgrades in its recent versions. With SCCM version 1806 onwards, Microsoft enhances support for third party software updates with custom catalogs. System administrators can now add custom catalogs to Configuration Manager's console and carry out their deployment, without employing an external publishing tool in conjunction with SCCM.

However, admins will still have to go through the daunting task of preparing SCCM third party updates before deployment. This involves creating custom catalogs, specifying download URLs, subscribing to the catalogs and managing certificates for every third party update. This process of gathering update catalogs as they release from individual software vendors, has been proven to consume the bulk of patch manament operations in the long run.

Patch Connect Plus - The smart way to import and manage 600+ third-party update Catalogs for SCCM.

Automating the third party patch management cycle has a positive impact on your enterprise's security posture. Patch Connect Plus has made third party software update catalog available from one place to help you save valuable time and focus on other areas that require your attention. Patch Connect Plus lets you automatically import third-party software catalogs to Configuration Manager's server on a systematic basis, similar to how the Microsoft patch catalog is released to SCCM. 

SCCM periodically synchronizes to Patch Connect Plus update catalog to make patches for over 600 third-party applications (197 unique vendors in all) available in the System Center console for deployment to client machines. With the latest edition you receive, 

  1. Support for over 600 software catalogs of non-Microsoft vendors for SCCM
  2. Eliminate the time taken and the need to manually publish catalogs when they’re released.
  3. Seamless process of uploading third-party update catalogs
  4. Automate the publishing of third-party patches in SCCM.

Avail free access to third-party update Catalogs from Patch Connect Plus

Patch Connect Plus offers a free download of catalogs for notable third-party applications, intended for evaluation. You can automatically publish them to SCCM by importing the .CAB files for applications of your choice. You can also import these update catalogs as .CAB files to publish via SCUP.

The download URL contains the following set of applications.

  1.  Adobe Reader 11
  2.  VLC player
  3.  Google Chrome
  4.  Notepad++
  5.  Adobe Flash Player
  6.  WinZip
  7.  Skype
  8.  WinRAR
  9.  TeamViewer
  10.  Winscp

Avail a free trial

How to Add third-party update catalogs to SCCM using Patch Connect Plus

Make sure to first enable third party updates from Software Update Point which is found under Site Components in the SCCM console. The next step is to select how you would like to manage the signing certificates. You can let Configuration Manager manage the certificates for you, or you can choose to manage them manually. Once these initial steps have been completed, you can now proceed to create third party catalogs, subscribe and publish them to SCCM.

Use the download URL from Patch Connect Plus in the custom catalog wizard and get instant access to a horde of third party applications ready to be deployed using SCCM. The given video gives a detailed walkthrough of how you can add SCCM third party update catalog using Patch Connect Plus. You can additionally find step-by-step documentation for how to add SCCM third party catalog from our knowledge base!

SCCM application management

Note:

  1. The free download available for these applications will expire in 30 days.
  2. The updates available for free download are the latest versions available.
  3. In free trial, you will be allowed to test up to 10 application catalogs. You have to contact support to test more application catalogs. 
  4. Click here to view the list of supported third-party applications by Patch Connect Plus.
  5. Learn how to import third party patch catalog into Microsoft SCUP by clicking here