Topic
This article discusses patch management for third-party Microsoft Windows applications in NinjaOne. It also explains how to activate, configure, and view patching activity.
Environment
- NinjaOne Patching
- Microsoft Windows
Description
NinjaOne Patch Management allows you to create patching policies that automatically scan for and apply new software patches for your Linux endpoints.
Patch Management: Windows 3rd Party Software Patch Management (NinjaOne Inc. 02:30)
Select a topic to continue.
- Patching Considerations
- Enabling Software Patch Management
- Configuring Software Patching Settings
- Software Tab Actions and Settings
- Manually Scanning for or Applying Updates
- Supported Third-Party Software
Patching Considerations
- If a patch requires a reboot that has not yet been performed on a device, as specified in the reboot options, a Pending Reboot icon will be displayed on the device. Refer to Pending Reboots for more information.
- If a reboot is pending, the patch scan and apply functions will not occur for this device until the reboot is completed and the Pending Reboot message is no longer displayed.
Enabling Software Patch Management
You must enable software patch management before you can use it to manage the patching of third-party applications.
- In NinjaOne, click Administration → Policies, then choose a Windows policy from the Agent policies list.

- Click the Software patching configuration tab, then click the Enable software patching toggle switch.

Configuring Software Patching Settings
Options in the Settings tab include scanning and patching, required software installation, and maintenance. When you finish your configuration, click Save to apply the new settings.

General Settings Explained
Use the table below to learn more about each setting.
| Setting | Description |
|---|---|
| Scan schedule | This parameter set determines when the device will scan for available new patches.
|
| Update schedule | These settings specify when NinjaOne should apply the updates found while scanning.
|
| Update notifications | Choose how NinjaOne notifies users when the system needs to update software that cannot be patched in the background. Select from the following options:
If you choose Notify the user, then close the software and update, you will be able to configure the following settings:
|
| Reboot options | These settings let you specify reboot behavior after NinjaOne patches a device. You can configure settings for both logged-in and logged-out users. If an end user interacts with a reboot prompt, NinjaOne will display an activity in the activity feed. Refer to Device and System Activity Notification Feed for more information. Reboot options: Logged-in user: Here you can configure the following settings:
Reboot options: Not logged in user: Here you can configure the following settings:
|
| Approvals | In this section, you can configure approval settings for all NinjaOne software not listed on the Software tab. Click the Critical patches and Recommended patches links to set NinjaOne to automatically approve, reject, or require manual approval for patches. Refer to NinjaOne Dashboards: Patching Software Inventory for more information. |
| Approval overrides | Here, you can set NinjaOne to override your patching policy for specific patches. Click the link to open the Overrides list, then search for the patch name. Use the second drop-down menu to select whether to approve or reject the patch. Examples of scenarios in which patches would appear under the Overrides section:
|
| winget | This option lets you automate the update process for WinGet-supported software.
For more information, read our WinGet (Windows Package Manager) Integration Guide. |
Software Tab Actions and Settings
The Software tab is where you can select which applications you would like to include in NinjaOne's third-party patching. From here, you can also configure approval settings for critical and recommended patches and specify if you wish to use the current policy when installing the updates.
When you enable software patching for a product, NinjaOne downloads all updates for that product on the machines affected by the policy. Those updates remain downloaded as long as third-party software patching is enabled for that product.
Adding Software to the Scheduled Patching List
To add new software to be installed and patched:
- On the policy configuration page, navigate to Software patching → Software → Add software.

- Select the checkbox for any new software, then click Add.

Editing Patching Settings For Added Software
After adding new software, you can configure the approval and install settings for each patch type.
- Select the software (or choose Select All), then click Edit.

In the Edit Software dialog box, configure the following options:
- Critical patches: Select Approve, Manual, or Reject. Refer to the Patch Approval Options section of this article to learn more.
- Recommended patches: Select Approve, Manual, or Reject. Refer to the Patch Approval Options section of this article to learn more.
- Install application if not present: After adding software, you can configure NinjaOne to automatically install many supported applications if they are not already found on devices in the policy. Choose Yes to automatically install the application on machines where it is missing. If you select No, the installer for that software shows in the Rejected Software tab. You can approve it at a later time.
- Enable self-service: This option makes the application available to allowed end users in the End User portal. The end users must be the assigned owners of the applicable devices.

Patch Approval Options
You can choose one of three options for Critical and Recommended patches:
- Approve: Automatically approves all patches for the next update cycle.
- Manual: Patches in this category appear in a "pending" state, requiring manual approval or rejection (for either the devices or the entire policy).
- Reject: Automatically rejects all patches for that category.
Viewing Patch Scan and Installation Attempts
Viewing by Status in the System Dashboard
You can view patches found and patches installed in the dashboard's Patching → Software patches tab. Use the flyout menu to filter by patch status (Pending, Approved, Rejected, Installed, or Failed). Once a patch has attempted to install during an update cycle, you can view its details in the Software tab of the dashboard.

Viewing Patches by Release Date
Check the Release date column to learn the patch release date. If the manufacturer does not provide the release date, NinjaOne will use the first detected date instead.

Viewing Applicable Devices for a Patch
At the System or Organization dashboard level, you can click the number in the Devices column to generate a list of the devices to which the patch status applies. For example, clicking the number for a patch in the Approved tab shows the devices for which it is approved (but not yet installed).

Viewing Installed Applications
Once configured, the applications will appear when you select Expand All. An 'N/A' install status indicates that the manufacturer does not support installation for that software. Refer to the list of supported products below for more information on which options support installations.

Figure 11: Unsupported software in the Software list (click to enlarge)
Manually Scanning For or Applying Updates
On a Single Device
You can run a manual patch scan and update cycle on demand from any endpoint. To do so, navigate to the Device Overview, place your cursor over the Play action button, and select Patching → Software scan (to scan for new patches) or Software update (to apply existing patches).

On Multiple Devices
To scan and apply patches on multiple devices:
- The devices must be the same type.
- Software patch management must be enabled for the policy that governs the device.
- Selected devices must be online.
Procedure
- In the Devices tab, select the checkboxes for the devices on which to run the scan and update cycle.
- Place your cursor over the Run button, then select Patching → Software Update → Software scan (to scan for new patches) or Software update (to apply existing patches). NinjaOne will show the third-party patching status at the device level. If you have patches set to approve or reject manually, you can take those actions from the device overview.

Supported Third-Party Software
| Manufacturer | Software | Supports Install | Supports Background Updates |
|---|---|---|---|
| Adobe Systems, Inc | Acrobat | No | Yes |
| Adobe Systems, Inc | Digital Editions | Yes | No |
| Adobe Systems, Inc | Reader | Yes | Yes |
| Amazon | Correto. If you enable patching for Amazon Corretto, machines under the policy that currently have Oracle JDK SE 8 installed will automatically be upgraded to the latest version of Corretto. | Yes | No |
| Apache Software Foundation | OpenOffice | Yes | No |
| Apple Inc. | Bonjour | Yes | No |
| Apple Inc. | Mobile Device Support | Yes | No |
| Apple Inc. | iTunes | Yes | No |
| Audacity Team, The | Audacity | Yes | No |
| Box, Inc. | Box Sync | No | No |
| Canneverbe Limited | CDBurnerXP | Yes | No |
| Cisco Systems, Inc. | WebEx Productivity Tools | Yes | No |
| Citrix Systems, Inc | GoToMeeting | Yes | No |
| Document Foundation, The | LibreOffice | Yes | Yes |
| Dominik Reichl | KeePass | Yes | No |
| Don Ho | Notepad++ | Yes | No |
| dotPDN LLC | Paint.NET | No | No |
| Dropbox Inc. | Dropbox | Yes | No |
| Evernote Corporation | Evernote | Yes | No |
| Foxit Corporation | Enterprise Reader | Yes | No |
| Foxit Corporation | PhantomPDF | No | No |
| Foxit Corporation | Reader | Yes | No |
| GIMP Development Team, The | GIMP | Yes | No |
| GlavSoft LLC. | TightVNC | Yes | No |
| Google Inc. | Chrome | Yes | Yes |
| Google Inc. | Earth Pro | Yes | No |
| Igor Pavlov | 7-Zip | Yes | No |
| Inkscape Team, The | Inkscape | Yes | No |
| Jens Klingen | Greenshot | Yes | No |
| Martin Prikryl | WinSCP | Yes | No |
| Microsoft Corp. | .NET Framework | No | No |
| Microsoft Corp. | ASP.NET Web Frameworks | No | No |
| Microsoft Corp. | Exchange Server 2007 | No | No |
| Microsoft Corp. | Exchange Server 2010 | No | No |
| Microsoft Corp. | Exchange Server 2013 | No | No |
| Microsoft Corp. | Exchange Server 2016 | No | No |
| Microsoft Corp | Exchange Server 2019 | No | No |
| Microsoft Corp. | Forefront Endpoint Protection 2010 | No | No |
| Microsoft Corp. | Internet Explorer | No | No |
| Microsoft Corp. | Lync | No | No |
| Microsoft Corp. | Microsoft Advanced Threat Analytics | No | No |
| Microsoft Corp. | Microsoft Azure Information Protection Client | No | No |
| Microsoft Corp. | Microsoft Azure Site Recovery Provider | No | No |
| Microsoft Corp. | Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011 | No | No |
| Microsoft Corp. | Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2013 | No | No |
| Microsoft Corp. | Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2015 | No | No |
| Microsoft Corp. | Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2016 | No | No |
| Microsoft Corp. | Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2016 SHS | No | No |
| Microsoft Corp. | Microsoft Edge | Yes | Yes |
| Microsoft Corp. | Microsoft Lync 2010 | No | No |
| Microsoft Corp. | Microsoft Lync Server 2010 | No | No |
| Microsoft Corp. | Microsoft Lync Server 2013 | No | No |
| Microsoft Corp. | Microsoft Monitoring Agent | No | No |
| Microsoft Corp. | Microsoft SQL Server 2008 | No | No |
| Microsoft Corp. | Microsoft SQL Server 2008 R2 | No | No |
| Microsoft Corp. | Microsoft SQL Server 2012 | No | No |
| Microsoft Corp. | Microsoft SQL Server 2014 | No | No |
| Microsoft Corp. | Microsoft SQL Server 2014-2016 Product Updates for Setup | No | No |
| Microsoft Corp. | Microsoft SQL Server 2016 | No | No |
| Microsoft Corp. | Microsoft SQL Server 2017 | No | No |
| Microsoft Corp. | Microsoft SQL Server 2019 | No | No |
| Microsoft Corp. | Microsoft SQL Server 2022 | No | No |
| Microsoft Corp. | Office 2003 | No | No |
| Microsoft Corp. | Office 2007 | No | No |
| Microsoft Corp. | Office 2010 | No | No |
| Microsoft Corp. | Office 2013 | No | No |
| Microsoft Corp. | Office 2016 | No | Yes |
| Microsoft Corp. | Office 2019 | No | Yes |
| Microsoft Corp. | Office 2021 | No | Yes |
| Microsoft Corp. | Office 2024 | No | Yes |
| Microsoft Corp. | Office 365 | No | Yes |
| Microsoft Corp. | Office Live Meeting | No | No |
| Microsoft Corp. | SQL Server 2008 | No | No |
| Microsoft Corp. | SQL Server 2008 R2 | No | No |
| Microsoft Corp. | SQL Server 2014-2016 Product Updates for Setup | No | No |
| Microsoft Corp. | Service Bus for Windows Server 1.1 | No | No |
| Microsoft Corp. | Silverlight | No | No |
| Microsoft Corp. | Skype | Yes | No |
| Microsoft Corp. | Skype (Business) | No | No |
| Microsoft Corp. | Skype for Business Server 2015 | No | No |
| Microsoft Corp. | System Center 2012 R2 - Operations Manager | No | No |
| Microsoft Corp. | System Center 2012 R2 - Orchestrator | No | No |
| Microsoft Corp. | System Center 2012 R2 - Virtual Machine Manager | No | No |
| Microsoft Corp. | System Center 2012 SP1 - Operation Manager | No | No |
| Microsoft Corp. | System Center 2012 SP1 - Virtual Machine Manager | No | No |
| Microsoft Corp. | System Center 2016 - Operations Manager | No | No |
| Microsoft Corp. | System Center 2016 - Orchestrator | No | No |
| Microsoft Corp. | System Center 2016 - Virtual Machine Manager | No | No |
| Microsoft Corp. | Visual Basic | No | No |
| Microsoft Corp. | Visual Studio | No | No |
| Microsoft Corp. | Visual Studio 2010 | No | No |
| Microsoft Corp. | Visual Studio 2010 Tools for Office Runtime | No | No |
| Microsoft Corp. | Visual Studio 2012 | No | No |
| Microsoft Corp. | Visual Studio 2013 | No | No |
| Microsoft Corp. | Visual Studio Code | Yes | No |
| Mozilla | Firefox | Yes | Yes |
| Mozilla | Firefox (ESR) | Yes | Yes |
| Mozilla | SeaMonkey | Yes | No |
| Mozilla | Thunderbird | Yes | No |
| Opera Software ASA | Opera Browser | Yes | No |
| Pidgin Team | Pidgin | Yes | No |
| Piriform Ltd | CCleaner (Business) | Yes | No |
| RealNetworks, Inc | RealPlayer | Yes | No |
| RealVNC Ltd. | Server | Yes | No |
| RealVNC Ltd. | Viewer | Yes | No |
| Simon Tatham | PuTTY | Yes | No |
| Stefan Küng | TortoiseSVN | Yes | No |
| TechSmith | Snagit | No | No |
| Tim Kosse | FileZilla Client | Yes | No |
| Tim Kosse | FileZilla Server | Yes | No |
| UltraVNC | Server | Yes | No |
| UltraVNC | Viewer | Yes | No |
| VMware, Inc. | Horizon View Client | Yes | No |
| VMware, Inc. | Player | Yes | No |
| VMware, Inc. | VMware Tools | No | No |
| VMware, Inc. | Workstation | Yes | No |
| VideoLAN | VLC media player | Yes | No |
| win.rar GmbH | WinRAR | Yes | No |
| Wireshark Foundation | Wireshark | No | No |
| Zoom Video Communications | Zoom Client for Meetings | Yes | No |
Additional Resources
For a list of frequently asked questions about 3PP, refer to 3rd Party Software Patch Management: FAQ.