> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://docs.adaptiva.com/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://docs.adaptiva.com/patch/advanced-settings/deployment-channels-deployment-channel-processes.md).

# Deployment Channels

Understand and how to use Deployment Channels and Deployment Channel Process within OneSite Patch.

OneSite Patch **Deployment Channels** are used to queue updates, helping to prevent constant end-user disruptions. Deployment channels are configured with specific schedules that enable you to queue up a set of patches over a specific time frame before sending the set of patch update instructions to the Business Units.

When a Deployment Channel scheduled time occurs (for example, daily at 2 AM, or every Friday at 7 PM), the **Deployment Channel Process** is responsible for deploying the list of queued patches to the associated Business Units. This notifies the Business Units about necessary patch actions scheduled for their next maintenance or reboot window appropriately.

You can also configure a Deployment Channel to use [Deployment Waves](/patch/advanced-settings/deployment-waves.md), which enables you to do a staged deployment of patches to groups of Business Units.

Patches are still gated by the maintenance and reboot windows of the targeted Business Unit. For example, if you use an hourly deployment channel but the targeted Business Unit has a maintenance window of 10:00 PM daily, the devices will accumulate all patches deployed during the day and install them when the maintenance window opens.

### Using Deployment Channels

Deployment Channels are only used when creating a Deployment Bot Runtime as part of an advanced strategy, or in Patching Process workflows.

The main use of Deployment Channels is to group together patches that meet a certain set of criteria and should be deployed on a set schedule.

For example, you can add critical updates to a Daily channel that deploys critical patches within 24 hours and add less critical updates to a monthly channel which deploys all queued updates on a chosen date every month.

The scheduling and frequency are completely customizable. OneSite Patch includes multiple, preconfigured Deployment Channels. Administrators can modify existing configurations or create new Deployment Channels.

### Deployment Channel Processes

Deployment channel processes collect patch approvals, and then execute according to the schedule defined in the Deployment Channel. The logic in the Channel Process defines how to roll out patches to Business Units (one at a time or following the deployment waves, and so on).

#### Creating Deployment Channel Processes

If you want to create your own Channel Processes, enter a support ticket, and request help from [Adaptiva Customer Support](https://adaptiva.com/support). Customer Support will help you understand the nuances of Channel Processes and assist with creating templates that support your requirements.

### Channel Merging Rules

If you have multiple Deployment Channels that are scheduled to run at overlapping times, or in close proximity to each other, you can specify the Channel Merging Rules to combine the patch deployment into a single channel.

For example, suppose you have a daily channel that overlaps with a weekly channel on Fridays. Instead of two patch cycles on Fridays, each with their own approvals and notifications, you can choose to combine them into a single patch cycle for that day.

Channel Merging Rules are specified in the **Notifications** section of the Deployment Channels settings.

When you create a Channel Merging Rule, you must specify the following:

* **Target Channel** - *Required*. The channel to which this channel's notifications will be transferred.
* **Merging Duration** - *Required*. If any execution times of the target channel fall within this amount of time of the next execution of this channel, all the deployments will be transferred to the target channel, and this channel will skip that execution.

For example, in the case of a daily 7 PM channel and a weekly 9 PM channel overlapping, you would create a Channel Merging Rule in the daily channel that sets the weekly channel as the target channel, and sets the merging duration at least 2 hours.

You can create multiple Channel Merging Rules for a Deployment Channel to address various potential scheduling issues. The Deployment Channel evaluates the rules according to the hierarchy; therefore, place higher-priority rules before lower-priority rules in the Channel Merging Rule dialog. The Deployment Channel evaluates each rule, and evaluation stops as soon as one rule matches. Then, all submitted patches in this Deployment Channel merge with the target channel specified.

### Create a Deployment Channel

If none of the preconfigured Deployment Channels meet your needs, you can create your own custom Deployment Channels.

In the OneSite Patch menu, select **Advanced Settings > Intent Schema > Patching Scheduling > Deployment Channels** to view existing Deployment Channels or to create new ones.

The preconfigured channels are grouped in daily, monthly, quarterly, weekly, and yearly channel folders. You can create your own folders by clicking on the "..." to the right of any folder and selecting **Create Folder**.

![alt text](https://2503798551-files.gitbook.io/~/files/v0/b/gitbook-x-prod.appspot.com/o/spaces%2F7VJNM00p5XQ4pMWqCu8y%2Fuploads%2Fgit-blob-26d5d7f14eaef60a224feef595f1d25e60619e0c%2Fdeployment-channels.png?alt=media)

#### Create a new Deployment Channel

To create a new Deployment Channel, you can either create a new one from scratch, or modify an existing one and save it as a new Deployment Channel.

**Create a new Deployment Channel from scratch**

1. In the **Deployment Channels** folder menu, select the folder that you want to create your new Deployment Channel in.
2. Click the **+ New** button.
3. Fill out all required settings (marked with an orange asterisk) and any optional settings.
4. Click **Save**.

**Create a new Deployment Channel from an existing one**

1. In the **Deployment Channels** folder menu, select the folder that contains the Deployment Channel that you want to use as a base for your new Deployment Channel.
2. On the right panel, you should see a list of all existing channels. Click on a channel to open its settings page.
3. Modify the settings as needed for your new channel.
4. In the top of the dialog, select **More**, and then select **Save As**.
5. Enter a new name for the channel, and then select **Save as**. This returns you to a copy of the template with the new name.
6. Modify the settings as needed.
7. Click **Save**.

This will save your new channel in the same folder as the original channel. In the channels list view, you can select the "..." next to your new channel to move it to a different folder if you desire.

### Deployment Channel settings

#### General Settings

* **Name** - *Required*. The name of the Deployment Channel.
* **Description** - A description of the channel.

#### Deployment Process Settings

* **Schedule** - A list of Schedules to control when the channel will execute the Deployment Channel Process workflow. You must specify at least one Schedule for the Deployment Channel to execute the deployment workflow.
* **Deployment Channel Process** - *Required*. The workflow responsible for deploying the patches to the business units. For more information, see [Deployment Channel Processes](#deployment-channel-processes).

#### Deployment Control

* **Restrict Patches to Deployment Wave** - *Toggle*. Indicates whether or not patch deployments will be restricted to a Deployment Wave or be allowed for all Business Units. Each Business Unit will only receive patches that have been specifically approved for it. For more information about Deployment Waves, see [Deployment Waves](/patch/advanced-settings/deployment-waves.md).

If you enable **Restrict Patches to Deployment Wave**, then the following setting appears:

* **Deployment Wave** - *Required*. The Deployment Wave that will be used to control patch deployments to Business Units for this Deployment Channel. Each Business Unit will only receive patches that have been specifically approved for it, in the sequence specified in the Deployment Wave.

#### Approval Chain

Approval Chains define and manage the approvals required before the Deployment Channel deploys patches to Business Units. Including an Approval Chain in a Deployment Channel requires selecting an existing Approval Chain and saving it in the Deployment Channel. For more information about Approval Chains, see [Approval Chains](/patch/advanced-settings/chains/chains-approval.md).

* **Approval Chain** - The Approval Chain that the Deployment Channel Process workflow can use for obtaining patch approvals.
* **Approval Merging Behavior** - Determines how approvals are merged in Deployment Cycles when multiple approvals target the same patch. Options are:
  * **None** - No approval merging.
  * **Earliest Approval** - The preferred approval is determined by the earliest approval time.
  * **Latest Approval** - The preferred approval is determined by the latest approval time.
  * **Smart** - The preferred approval is determined by the highest desired state, highest urgency, and latest approval time.

#### Notifications

Notification Chains send notifications to the administrator roles you specify, informing them about upcoming deployments. For more information about Notification Chains, see [Notification Chains](/patch/advanced-settings/chains/chains-notification.md).

* **Notification Chain** - The Notification Chain that the Notification Cycle Workflow can use to send Patch Notifications.
* **Notification Settings** - The notification settings for each Notification Urgency that is supported by the Deployment Channel.
* **Patch Notification Bots** - The list of Patch Notification Bots that are used to submit new Patch notifications to a Notification Cycle for this Deployment Channel.
* **Channel Merging Rules** - Rules that determine when to merge patches between Deployment Channels that may overlap, such as a daily channel and a weekly channel. Higher priority channels should be added before lower priority channels. For more information, see [Channel Merging Rules](#channel-merging-rules).

#### Content Prestaging Settings

The Content Prestaging feature deploys content to devices ahead of the scheduled deployment, either pushing content to a location or allowing a client to pull content. By prestaging content, you make it available to devices locally *before* the scheduled deployment time. This reduces the deployment time and minimizes the chances of missing service windows or having devices going offline before a content download finishes.

For more information, see [Defining Content Prestaging Settings](/patch/advanced-settings/content-prestaging.md#defining-content-prestaging-settings).

* **Server Content Push** - Determines if the Adaptiva server can push patch content to local devices before deployment.
* **Client Content Pull** - Determines if clients can download patch content locally before deployment.

#### Customer Extension Data

Customer Extension Data is an advanced feature of Adaptiva. The Customer Extension Data fields allow advanced users to specify different key/value pairs for use in customized Patching Strategies, Deployment Chains, or Business Units when necessary to achieve different results.

* **Customer Extension Data** - A list of key/value pairs that relate directly to fields in a customized template. If you do not have customized templates with key/value pairs you can modify, you do not need to configure or use this feature.

If you want to create customized templates that use key/value pairs for some settings, contact [Adaptiva Customer Support](https://www.adaptiva.com/support).