Patching for cloud-based 5G networks

An automated process for patching in a cloud-based environment, comprising:

• creating a first maintenance window for execution at a first scheduled time, wherein the first maintenance window comprises a list of target instances;
• querying a plurality of agents to identify a plurality of active instances;
• filtering the active instances in response to tags associated with the active instances to identify a plurality of filtered instances;
• adding the filtered instances to the list of target instances;
• invoking a patching function in response to the first maintenance window running at the first scheduled time;
• and
• creating, by the patching function, a task to run a patching executable that applies a patch to a first instance from the list of target instances in response to the patch being undetected on the first instance.

An automated patching system for a cloud-based network, the automated patching system comprising:

• an instance of a network function running on cloud-based hardware;
• an agent associated with the instance and configured to retrieve a baseline for the instance and a list of installed software on the instance;
• a patching function running on cloud-based hardware and in communication with the agent,
• wherein the patching function runs at a first scheduled time in response to a first maintenance window starting at the first scheduled time,
• wherein the first maintenance window comprises a first target list of instances running in a first availability zone,
• wherein the patching function runs at a second scheduled time in response to a second maintenance window starting at the second scheduled time, and
• wherein the patching function is configured to retrieve a set of target instances by querying managed instances in response to detecting that the first target list is empty;
• and
• a first task launched by the patching function to run a patching executable that applies a patch to the instance from the first target list during the first maintenance window,
• wherein the first task applies the patch in response to the patch being present on the baseline and absent from the list of installed software on the instance.