Automox Wishlist - several feature requests and minor change improvements

  • 5 August 2021
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Automox recommendations/feedback:


1 - Add “EST” or other time zones to options

2 - Device’s “next patch window” says “Unscheduled”, even though the “Associated Policies” window shows the correct next patch window (confusing - maybe change the wording)

3 - Add the ability in a policy to auto-reboot a system (wither it is pending a reboot or not) prior to applying patches in the patch window. Also, having this option to reboot again after applying patches would be a bonus.

4 - Rename the “Update Device” button to “Update Device Info” so it’s clear that that button won’t patch the device.

5 - Add a button to “Patch device now” which takes into account the policy for patch types, but ignores the schedule if you click a button to patch it immediately - make sure there is an “Are you sure” pop-up just in case.

6 - Allow multiple selections in the “Pre-patch Report” rather than just one group (so if I have multiple groups that start the next day at different times, I can see everything that will patch without needing to pull multiple reports)


Feedback notes on the time zones: Our maintenance windows – for example – are specified in “Eastern Time Zone” in the format of “3rd Saturday of each month at 10:00pm EST”. We have addressed this in Automox by converting them to UTC. However, when we convert them into UTC, the problem arises in the previous example, it’s no longer on a Saturday – it’s now a Sunday since 10:00pm EST on Saturday is 02:00am UTC on Sunday. However, if we change the maintenance window to the UTC time on Sunday, we can’t guarantee that the adjusted UTC maintenance window will correspond to the “3rd Saturday” if the first day of the month begins on a Sunday. Use August 2021 as an example to see what I mean. The 3rd Saturday is August 21st. The very next day is the 4th Sunday. However, in July, the very next day (after the 3rd Saturday) would be the 3rd Sunday.


2 replies

Userlevel 6
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Thank you so much for the feedback! I’ve passed it along to our team.

I’m not a real power user, but obviously JBH is … and I concur. The software - while very mature and powerful - is way overdue for a “lint check” - somebody like me (but NOT me) who doesn’t know every subtlety … and how to read between the lines … should be going through all the major and some of the minor screens asking, “Is this clear? … Is it obvious what to do and how to do it?” Power users probably have everything automated, but since your future depends on noobs like me, don’t give us the feeling of being in a cockpit where the pilot has passed out … and you’re overwhelmed by the complexity of the instrument panel…. Other suggestion is more marketing oriented. You clearly serve BIG companies well, and that’s great. There ought to be a low-cost (WITH WHATEVER LIMITATIONS would deter anybody from trading down in place) alternative, because your app DOES handle the update function with MS hasn’t gotten really right in at least 20 years expertly, … but it has gotten good enough (and flexible enough via their “update catalog”) so that I’m sure a great many “trials” expire - just because the cost-benefit thing is way out of kilter. Again - for *some of us!*

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