Looking for the latest release notes? View release notes for Software Updates.

The Software Updates module is located in the Administrator Panel and provides updates specific to your Blackboard Learn installation, including major releases and cumulative updates, as well as building block updates and newly released building blocks. The module lists the number of updates that are available. You can select which updates to download.

Get Blackboard Learn updates

The Software Updates module lists the number of updates available for your installation.

  1. On the Administrator Panel, under Software Updates, select Blackboard Learn Updates Available.
  2. Select Get It Now! to go the Blackboard Learn Downloads page and select the desired update.
  3. Download the update and the release notes, which provide warnings, tips, and installation instructions.

Get building block updates

The Software Updates module lists the number of updates available for your installation.

  1. On the Administrator Panel, under Software Updates, select Building Block Updates Available.
  2. On the Managed Building Blocks page, in the Update Status column for the building block that you want to update, select New Update Available.
  3. On the Plugin Details page, select Install.
  4. Read the download message and select Submit. The building block update is installed.

    Do not navigate away from the page while the building block is installing.

  5. If a message about permissions or activation displays, read the message and then select Submit. The building block update is downloaded and installed without any system restart.

If you don't want to download the building block update, select the delete icon next to the name of the building block.

Manage new building blocks

The Software Updates module lists the number of updates available for your installation. If a building block is pushed to your system, the message New Building Block Installed will display next to the name of the building block on the Managed Building Blocks page. New building blocks are set to Inactive and Unavailable by default.

  1. On the Administrator Panel, under Software Updates, select Building Block Updates Available.
  2. To activate the new building block, select the check box for the building block, point to Availability, and then select Set Active.
  3. To control whether the new building block is available by default in courses, select the check box for the building block, point to Availability, and then select Set Available or Set Unavailable.
  4. To dismiss the notification in the Software Updates module, select the X in the Update Status column for the building block.

Featured building blocks are those that Blackboard recommends you install. When they become available, a Featured Building Blocks Available notification displays in the Administrator Panel under Software Updates. Select this notification to see the newly available featured building blocks, followed by a list of all featured building blocks that you haven't yet installed. You can also access the list of featured building blocks from the Administrator Panel by selecting Building Blocks > Featured Building Blocks.

  1. On the Administrator Panel, under Software Updates, select the Featured Building Blocks Available notification, or in the Building Blocks section, select Featured Building Blocks.
  2. For the desired building block, select Install.
  3. On the Plugin Details page, read the release information about the building block and select Install.
  4. Read and Accept the license agreement terms to start the installation.

To simply dismiss the notification, on the Featured Building Block page, select the X in the top-right corner for the desired building block.

Download patch sets

The Software Updates module lists the number of updates available for your installation.

Patch Set Updates are available only with Blackboard Learn SP 8 and later.

  1. On the Administrator Panel, under Software Updates, select Blackboard Learn Updates Available.
  2. Select Get It Now! to go Patch Set Release Notes page. You can view the updates prior to installing the patch using the BbPatch Utility.

More on BbPatch - Blackboard Patch Utility

System requirements

The Software Updates module requires secure HTTP access (port 443) OUT to the following servers:

  • handle.blackboard.com
  • softwareupdates.blackboard.com

If your Blackboard Learn instance is blocked from HTTP access OUT, you must configure your firewall to allow access to the servers.