Forefront Endpoint Protection 2010 Update Rollup 1 Available

Microsoft has released the first collection of updates for Forefront Endpoint Protection 2010 RTM.

Live on the Microsoft Download Center since June 28th, 2011, Forefront Endpoint Protection 2010 Update Rollup 1 is up for grabs free of charge to all customers running the gold version of FEP 2010.

With Forefront Endpoint Protection 2010 Update Rollup 1, Microsoft introduces a range of fixes, some of which have been produced thanks to feedback provided by customers, but also additional preconfigured policy templates, the Signature Update Automation Tool and expanded platform support.

The two new policy templates preconfigured by the software giant are tailored to server workloads including Microsoft Forefront Threat Management Gateway and Microsoft Lync 2010.

Adwait Joshi, Sr. Technical Product Manager Forefront Endpoint Protection also highlighted an additional change that the Redmond company delivered with Update Rollup 1 for Forefront Endpoint Protection 2010 (KB KB2551095):

“Support for Windows Embedded 7 platforms: With this update, the FEP client software is supported on certain Windows Embedded 7 platforms and Windows Server 2008 Server Core.”

On top of the upgrades included in the first refresh collection, Microsoft is also offering FEP customers the Forefront Endpoint Protection (FEP) 2010 Update Rollup 1 Tools.

“Signature Update Automation Tool used with Configuration Manager Software Update: This tool automates downloading FEP definition updates using Configuration Manager 2007 Software Updates,” Joshi said.

“This is a command line tool that uses Configuration Manager APIs to get new definitions from Microsoft Update via the Configuration Manager software update feature, distribute the content to distribution points, and deploy the updates to Endpoint Protection clients on a recurring schedule. The automation of the tool is done through the Windows task scheduler.”

According to the software giant, the tools are set up to streamline administrative tasks related to Forefront Endpoint Protection 2010 Update Rollup 1 via Group Policy.

Among the simplified tasks, Microsoft mentioned centralized management, the optimization of server roles settings, but also diagnosing and troubleshooting issues.