# Plan a monthly patch rollout with test rings and rollback

Builds a staged patching schedule with pilot groups, checks, and a rollback plan so updates do not break the business.

- Topic: Projects & Operations
- Framework: Few-Shot
- Level: Standard
- Tags: Plan, Fill-in Template
- Source: https://www.thinkwithprompt.com/prompts/plan-a-monthly-patch-rollout-with-test-rings-and-rollback

## Prompt

```text
Help me plan this month's patch rollout.

**What needs patching:** [e.g. "Windows cumulative update, Chrome, Adobe Reader, 3 Linux web servers"]
**Device and server counts:** [NUMBERS by type]
**Patch tools:** [e.g. "Intune", "WSUS", "SCCM", "Jamf", "Ansible"]
**Critical systems and blackout windows:** [e.g. "finance closes month-end days 1-3", "POS servers cannot reboot during store hours"]
**Known problem apps:** [line-of-business apps that broke after past updates]
**Urgent items:** [anything actively exploited that cannot wait]

Design:
1. Rings: IT pilot, a representative early-adopter group, broad deployment, then critical servers. Suggest who belongs in each ring and the size.
2. Timeline with dates or day offsets, and how long to wait between rings.
3. Go/no-go checks before each ring expands (e.g. failed install rate, helpdesk ticket spike, key app smoke tests).
4. Server steps: snapshot or backup first, maintenance window, reboot order for dependent services, and post-patch verification.
5. Rollback plan per patch type and who can approve it.
6. An emergency path for urgent patches that skips the normal schedule.

Return: a schedule table (Ring | Devices | Start | Check before next ring | Owner), the server runbook steps, a rollback section, and a short employee notice about reboots.
```

## What to fill in

- NUMBERS by type
- e.g. "Intune", "WSUS", "SCCM", "Jamf", "Ansible"
- line-of-business apps that broke after past updates
- anything actively exploited that cannot wait

Free to copy and use. From ThinkWithPrompt (https://www.thinkwithprompt.com/), a library of 2,663 curated AI prompts.