Software Update Objects

The Software Updates node in the Configuration Manager 2012 console is divided into four nodes, as shown in Figure

In these nodes you will find the items that are related to the Software Updates feature. Table  lists the items that are related to Software Updates.

Object	Description
All Software Updates	Every software update has a  configuration item object that is created during the software update sync cyc
Software Update Groups	These are fixed sets of software updates that can be used for delegated administration and creating software update deployments.
Deployment Packages	These host the software update source files.
Automatic Deployment Rules	Automatic deployment rules give you the ability to automatically approve, download, and deploy software updates to all or a subset of your devices
Deployment Template	This stores many of the deployment properties that may not change from one deployment to the next and are used to save time and ensure consistency when creating deployments. The deployment template is stored within the Configuration Manager database and is only accessible when creating a deployment or an automatic deployment rule.
Search	This feature provides an easy way to retrieve a set of software updates that meet the search criteria; the searches can be saved in the Configuration Manager database.

As noted in some of the preceding descriptions, software update deployment and deployment package objects are replicated from the site where they were created to all sites in the Configuration Manager hierarchy. The objects replicated to a child site will be read-only. Even though the properties for these objects must be modified at the site where they were created, the actions available for deployments at child sites are the same as those at the site where they were created. Also, deployment packages can be used to host the software updates that are deployed on the child sites.