A systems administrator applies a critical security update to a production Linux web server that is also a virtual machine. After the mandatory reboot, the main application service fails to start. System logs show "dependency error: incompatible shared library version" for a core library updated by the patch. The administrator confirmed a VM snapshot was successfully created immediately before applying the update. Which of the following is the BEST immediate action to take?
Immediately search for and install an updated version of the web application that is compatible with the new library.
Revert the VM to the pre-update snapshot to restore service, then analyze the patch in a development environment.
Attempt to manually downgrade only the specific shared library that is causing the incompatibility.
Create a symbolic link from the new library name to the name the application expects.
The correct action is to revert the virtual machine to the pre-update snapshot. When a patch or update causes a critical service failure in a production environment, the top priority is to restore service as quickly and safely as possible. Reverting to a known-good snapshot is the most reliable and fastest method to reverse the change that caused the problem. After restoring service, the administrator should then create a plan to test the failed patch in a non-production environment to diagnose the dependency issue without affecting live users. Attempting to manually downgrade a single library or find a new application version on a live production server is risky and time-consuming. Manually creating a symbolic link is an unstable workaround that can cause further system instability and should be avoided in production environments.