Check for and install software patches and updates

Esri periodically releases software patches and updates for all components of ArcGIS, including ArcGIS Enterprise. Email notifications are sent for each update and announced on the Patches and Service Packs page on the Esri Support website. You can also check if updates are available using a patchnotification utility installed with the software.

The patchnotification utility will report update information for ArcGIS Server and its extensions, for Portal for ArcGIS, and for ArcGIS Data Store. Other products are not supported. It will also display a list of installed patches and QFEs at the bottom of the dialog box. If more than one of these products are installed on the machine, update information for those products will also be reported.

Starting at 10.6, you can also download and install software patches and updates using the patchnotification utility. You can install specific patches of your choice, security patches only, or all available patches.

Note:

The utility tool running in console mode does not support individual patch installation.

To check for and install updates, see the steps below.

1. Log in to the machine hosting Portal for ArcGIS.
2. From the list of installed programs, click ArcGIS > Portal for ArcGIS > Check for ArcGIS Enterprise Updates. Alternatively, you can start the utility from the command line (./patchnotification). To start the tool in console mode, use the -c command (./patchnotification -c). The utility is located in the <Portal for ArcGIS installation directory>/tools/patchnotification directory.

   Note:

   If your system does not include a display, the utility automatically opens in console mode.

   If your machine is offline or does not have direct access to the Internet, an error message will display. If your machine uses a forward proxy server to access the Internet, you'll need to specify the proxy server in the utility:

   • If you're running the utility from the user interface, follow these steps:
   1. Click the gear icon at the bottom of the utility dialog box.
   2. In the Proxy Settings dialog box, select Connect through a Proxy Server.
   3. Specify the host name, port, and user credentials (if necessary) of the proxy server.
   4. Click OK to connect to the proxy server.
   • If you're running the utility from the command line or in console mode, specify the proxy server using the -p command (./patchnotification -p http://<user>:<password>@forwardproxy.server.com:<port>).
3. Review the Portal for ArcGIS update information. If ArcGIS Server or ArcGIS Data Store products are installed on the machine, information for those products also displays. Installed patches are available at the bottom of the dialog box. Click any link in the dialog box to obtain more information and instructions for downloading and installing the update.
4. To apply a specific patch, click on the download icon beside the patch you want to install from the utility dialog box. The patch downloads automatically and the patch installation dialog box opens when the download is complete. Follow the instructions to complete patch installation. Optionally, click on the Install Security Patches or Install All Patches buttons on the right side of the dialog box to apply the corresponding updates. If you're running the utility from the command line or in console mode, use -i sec to install only security patches, and -i all to apply all available patches.
5. By default, all downloaded files will be saved and kept in the system temp location, and downloaded patch folders will never be deleted. To change either of these properties, click the gear icon at the bottom of the utility and click the Install Settings tab.
   1. To change the default download location for patches, specify the new download location in the Download folder path. If you're running the utility from the command line or in console mode, use -d to specify a new download location.
   2. To specify that downloaded files and folders be deleted after a successful patch install, click on the Delete patch folder menu and select Always delete after successful installs. If you're running the utility from the command line or in console mode, use -o always to delete the patch folder after each successful patch installation. By default, this setting is set to -o never.
6. If your portal is configured for high availability, apply the same patch or update to each machine.

Click OK to close the patchnotification dialog box.