Overview of the Product Tree in Patch My PC Publisher
Applies to: Patch My PC Publisher V3.x
The Product Tree in Patch My PC (PMPC) Publisher is where you choose which products and updates the Publisher should publish and update for each supported management platform
It is a hierarchical view that lets you enable updates at different levels of granularity, from all products for a vendor down to individual products.
Tip
For more details on product naming conventions in the product tree, refer to Catalog Information.
Note
The majority of user interface elements are the same across all supported management platforms. However, there are some specifics which are documented in the relevant section.
Product Tree Structure
The Product Tree can be expanded or collapsed to three main levels:
All Vendors
The root of the tree.
Right-clicking this node exposes customization (right-click) options that apply globally to all vendors and products.
Vendor Level (for example, 3CX Ltd.)
Expanding a vendor shows all supported products from that vendor.
Selecting a vendor indicates that you want Publisher to manage updates for all supported products under that vendor (subject to explicit exclusions or customizations).
Product Level (for example, 3CXPhone for Windows (MSI-x86))
This is the most granular level.
Selecting an individual product means Publisher will manage updates only for that specific product.
What selecting a checkbox means
When you check a box at any level in the Product Tree, you are telling Publisher:
"I want you to publish and keep the latest version of this product up to date during the next sync cycle."
However:
Publisher does not immediately publish content when you check a box.
The selection is evaluated during the next sync, at which point:
New updates are published (if available).
Content is prepared according to your previous customizations.
Superseded updates are handled.
The checkbox states behave as follows:
Checked (✔) – All products under that node are selected.
Colored square (
) – A partial selection exists (some child products selected, others not).Unchecked (☐) – No products under that node are selected.
This visual feedback allows you to quickly understand whether you are managing a single product, a subset of products, or an entire vendor, and gives you precise control over how broadly or narrowly updates are published.
Example
In the example below, only the 3CXPhone for Windows (MSI-x86) checkbox is checked, showing a single product selection. The 3CX Ltd checkbox shows a colored square (indeterminate state) rather than a full checkmark. This indicates that Publisher will manage updates for that specific product only, and no other products from the 3CX Ltd vendor will be published at the next Publisher sync.
In contrast, 8x8, Inc. demonstrates a vendor-level selection. The 8x8, Inc. checkbox shows a full checkmark rather than a colored square (indeterminate state). This indicates that all products under the 8x8, Inc. vendor are selected.
Which Products should I select?
All Vendors Level
Important
We do not recommend selecting All Vendors for publishing in most environments. The Patch My PC catalog contains far more products than are typically installed in any single organization, and selecting everything can lead to unnecessary publishing, storage consumption, and administrative overhead.
The only scenario for selecting All Vendors is if you combine it with the right-click customization option to publish metadata-only (not full content).
In this mode:
Only update metadata is published (no installers or binaries).
Microsoft WSUS/ConfigMgr can report compliance data.
You can see exactly which third-party updates are applicable in your environment.
This allows you to make informed decisions later about which products to switch to Full Content publishing.
Vendor Level
Selecting a vendor is acceptable when you are confident that the vendor has broad coverage in your environment. For example, organizations with widespread Adobe usage may reasonably choose to select the Adobe vendor rather than managing each product individually.
Important
Products marked with Latest in the update name will always update a computer to the vendor’s latest major version.
(Latest) Version Consideration
In the example below, selecting Cisco Jabber Latest (MSI-x86) means devices targeted with this update that are running Jabber 14.x will be upgraded to 15.x automatically
This may be undesirable if:
Your organization has not validated the new major version
The upgrade introduces breaking changes
Compatibility with other systems is not yet confirmed.
In this scenario, selecting individual major versions (for example, Cisco Jabber 14) at the product level provides significantly more control over update behavior and helps prevent unintended major-version upgrades.
If your environment standardizes on Jabber 14.x, selecting a Latest product would eventually move devices to Jabber 15.x once it becomes the vendor’s current release, which may not be desirable due to compatibility, change control, or user impact considerations.
For this reason, product-level selection is often the safer and more predictable approach, especially for applications where major upgrades introduce functional changes or require additional validation.
Product Level (Recommended)
We recommend you start conservatively with product selection for your publishing intent:
Begin with a small number of familiar, well-understood products.
Observe update behavior, detection, deployment, and user impact.
Gradually expand product or vendor selections as confidence grows.
This phased approach reduces risk, improves predictability, and helps ensure that third-party patching aligns with your organization’s operational and change-management practices.
Discovery
If you’re unsure which products exist in your environment, which makes manual product selection difficult, the Scan ConfigMgr feature is often the best starting point.
In ConfigMgr environments, the Scan ConfigMgr feature leverages hardware inventory data from ConfigMgr clients, which provides accurate visibility into installed third-party software.
Note
See Scan ConfigMgr for information on the Scan ConfigMgr feature.
In WSUS-only environments, where hardware inventory data is not available, metadata-only publishing remains the recommended method for identifying applicable updates.
Note
See Customizations (Right-Click Options) and Catalog for more details on metadata-only publishing.
Iconography
Publisher's Product Tree uses visual indicators to highlight when additional attention or configuration is required before an app or update can be published successfully. These icons are designed to make potential blockers obvious at a glance.
Manage Conflicting Processes
A blue cross icon indicates that the application has processes running that conflict with the installation, upgrade, or repair of the application.
To handle these processes, the application in question must be closed.
When a product containing conflicting processes is selected, the Manage Conflicting Processes customization option is automatically enabled. By default, this is set to Skip installation when conflicting processes are in use, which ensures updates do not fail or forcibly interrupt users if the application is currently running. This default also provides a safe and predictable upgrade path and can be adjusted if different behavior is required, such as prompting the user to close the open application before the update installation begins.
Dependencies
The blue chain icon indicates that the product has one or more dependencies. Right-clicking on the product and selecting Show Dependencies opens a window showing the relevant product(s).
Customer-Provided Installer Required
The blue download arrow means Publisher cannot automatically download the installer binary from the vendor and customer intervention is required.
This typically occurs when:
The vendor hosts the installer behind a customer login or support portal.
The installer must be manually downloaded and extracted before it can be used.
In these scenarios, the customer must supply the installer using one of the supported customization options.
For step-by-step guidance, refer to:
These pages explain how to store and reference customer-provided binaries so Publisher can consume them during publishing.
Note
This feature is also referred to as Binary Free apps and leverages the Staged Content Repository.
Tip
Once you have selected an item in the Product Tree, you can further customize it by using the right-click options available. See Overview of Customizations for more details.
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