david.dennis (5/3/2011)
I like the idea of scripting the tasks. I do not like the idea of putting passwords in batch files. Can the scheduled tasks be set through the GUI? I think your article is great. I am going to see if these same methods can be applied with other servers (Exchange, Share point,etc) I am just concerned from a security perspective.
You can certainly schedule them through the GUI. Since we do it on so many systems, our installation repository is locked down to my 6 team members, and we're cleaning up the materials after the installation is complete, we sort of accept the risk of having the PW in the batch file.
One approach could be to have an active directory account created simple to perform this patching, provision the account only for access on systems that you are patching, and the risk of the PW being in the batch file would be decreased.
Thanks for checking out the article!
Regards,
Steve