Follow these steps to get started with using Device Update Service to manage device updates for your organization’s unified communications (UC) devices:

  1. Obtain and upload update files from Microsoft.Cabinet (.cab) files for software updates are available from Microsoft Help and Support. As a best practice, you should check for updates that apply to your organization’s UC devices on a regular basis, at least every three months, and upload them to Device Update Service for testing and deployment. For instructions, see Obtaining Software Updates for Devices. When you upload updates, they display on the Pending Updatestab of the Device Update Service Management Console.

  2. Test Updates.Use the Test Devicestab of the Device Update Service Management Console to specify UC devices to use for testing the updates for your organization. All devices check Device Update Service for new updates when they are turned on and every 24 hours thereafter by default. All devices except test devices receive approved updates, which display on the Deployed Updatestab after you have approved them. Only test devices receive pending updates, which display on the Pending Updatestab. When a test device receives a pending update, you can check to see that the device is still functioning properly and also view audit logs to verify the success of the update. You should test all updates in this manner before you approve them for deployment to the devices in your organization. For details, see Testing and Deploying a Device Update.

  3. Manage Pending Updates.Use the Pending Updatestab to approve or reject pending updates for deployment to UC devices in your organization. When you approve an update, it appears on the Deployed Updatestab and is automatically deployed to the appropriate devices when they check Device Update Service for new updates. When you reject an update, it is removed from the Device Update Service Management Console and is no longer available for deployment. As a best practice, you should test each update on a test device before you approve it. For details, see Approving Device Updatesand Rejecting Device Updates.

  4. Manage Deployed Updates.Use the Deployed Updatestab to see a list of updates that have been deployed to your organization and to roll back updates if necessary. When you roll back an update, devices that received that update will revert to the last previous update. For details, see Rolling Back Device Updates.

  5. Customize Log Settings.On the Device Update Service Management Console Toolsmenu, use the Log Settingscommand to specify how long to keep log files on your system before purging them. For details, see Changing Device Update Service Log Settings.

  6. Manually purge log and update files.On the Device Update Service Management Console Toolsmenu, use the Purgecommand to manually purge log files, rejected update files, and update files that have been replaced with more recent updates. For details, see Purging Log and Image Files.