When an applications must be closed in order to update (e.g. Zoom, Notepad++, SnagIT) the Automox agent will not update the application if it is open, nor will it auto-close the application. This is intentional to prevent you from randomly losing unsaved work or dropping from a Zoom call.

This Worklet can be used in conjunction with a patch policy by configuring it to run 5 minutes before the application-specific patch policy is set to run.

Example:

• PatchZoom policy runs every Friday at 3pm
• Set this policy to prompt for Zoom close to run at 2:55pm (at least several minutes prior to the PatchZoom policy execution)

This increases the likelihood that applications that cannot be running during an update are indeed closed.

Note: You need to copy the promptAppClose.ps1 code below and save it to your disk as promptAppClose.ps1 since you must upload this script into the Worklet in step 3.

Step 1:

Evaluation:

# Force the Remediation code to run regardless of machine state

exit 1

Step 2:

Remediation:

# Creates a scheduled to ask to trigger the PowerShell Script to prompt for application close. This allows you to update applications that must be closed for updates to apply.

# This Worklet deploys the promptAppClose.ps1 script to the endpoint. Make sure you upload the script into the Worklet using the "Upload File" button below. 

#Here we take promptAppClose.ps1 and drop it into the Temp folder on the local disk. 
    copy-item promptAppClose.ps1 C:\Windows\Temp\

# Set up the scheduled task 1 minute from Worklet's scheduled execution. If you want to change how long after Worklet execution the scheduled task is executed, change the (1) to a number of your choice (e.g. (3) would run 3 minutes after Worklet execution)
    $TaskStartTime =  datetime]::Now.AddMinutes(1) 

# Set up the rest of the scheduled task details
    $SchedService = New-Object -ComObject Schedule.Service
    $SchedService.Connect()
    $Task = $SchedService.NewTask(0)
    $Task.RegistrationInfo.Description = 'Description'
    $Task.Settings.Enabled = $true
    $Task.Settings.AllowDemandStart = $true
    $Task.Settings.WakeToRun = $true
    $trigger = $Task.triggers.Create(1) # https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/win32/taskschd/triggercollection-create
    $trigger.StartBoundary = $TaskStartTime.ToString("yyyy-MM-dd'T'HH:mm:ss")
    $trigger.Enabled = $true
    $action = $Task.Actions.Create(0)
    $action.Path = "c:\Windows\System32\WindowsPowerShell\v1.0\powershell.exe"
    $action.Arguments = '-NoProfile -NoLogo -NonInteractive -WindowStyle Hidden -ExecutionPolicy Bypass -File "C:\windows\temp\promptAppClose.ps1"'
    $taskFolder = $SchedService.GetFolder('\')
    $taskFolder.RegisterTaskDefinition("Prompt App Close", $Task , 6, 'Users', $null, 4)

Step 3:
IMPORTANT: Once you save the code below, make sure you edit the file and change the $process variable to the name of the application you want to request your end-user to close if it is open. The name of the process is whatever Task Manager calls the process when it is open.

Copy this code and save it to your local disk as promptAppClose.ps1: 

#Set the name of the application you want to prompt for close here:
$process = "notepad"

#Check if $process is running. If it's running, ask the user to close it, if it isn't running then exit quietly.
$process_running = Get-Process $process -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue

if ( !$process_running ) {
	#If the process is not running then there's nothing to do. Exit quietly.
	 Write-Host "$process was not running: nothing to close." }
else {
#Play a sound with the pop-up message

#Trigger the pop-up message with a Ok/Cancel option
$UserResponse = nSystem.Windows.Forms.MessageBox]::Show("$process must be updated on your system. 

Please save your work and click OK to close the application." , "Status" , 1)

#If user clicked OK, try to close the app gracefully
    if ( $UserResponse -eq "OK" ) {
	    Write-Host "Closing $process application."
	    $process_running.CloseMainWindow()

        ##Optional: Uncomment the stanza below to force kill the process after X seconds if graceful exit failed
	    #Sleep 60
	    #if ( !$process_running.HasExited ) {
	    #	$process_running | Stop-Process -Force }
    	} 
    else 
    #If user clicked Cancel, exit and do nothing
    { 
    Write-Host "$process update not applied: user chose to keep the app open." 
	Exit
    }
}