The increasing use of virtual machines—for purposes ranging from support of older operating system environments to power savings—has created new challenges for IT.In particular, virtual machines may be left offline (stored in a non-operating state) for extended periods of time. Storing virtual machines in this manner conserves resources when the server capacities of the virtual machines are not needed.

However, offline machines do not automatically receive operating system, anti-virus, or application updates that would keep them compliant with current IT policy. An out-of-date virtual machine poses a risk to the IT environment. If deployed and started, the out-of-date virtual machine may be vulnerable to attack or may be capable of attacking other network resources. Therefore, IT groups must take measures to ensure that stored virtual machines remain up-to-date and compliant.

At present, these measures involve temporarily bringing the virtual machines online, updating them, and storing them again. Future image updating solutions may be able to update virtual machines while they remain offline. Until such solutions become available, the Offline Virtual Machine Servicing Tool provides a way to automate the process of deploying, updating, and storing virtual machines.

Download the Offline Virtual Machine Servicing Tool Beta at Microsoft Connect.

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