Sometimes WSUS has issues synchronizing with the upstream server – usually Microsoft, but it can be a local upstream server. Why these errors happen can be for many reasons.Microsoft requires several websites to be accessible through the firewall to synchronize. These...
A WsusUtil reset does NOT reset WSUS to defaults or anything like that, contrary to what the word reset means. When you run WsusUtil reset, it goes through the metadata information stored in your WSUS database and verify that every update metadata row in the WSUS...
Quality updates are coming on March 28 for on-premises Windows 11, version 22H2 devices. The updates are coming via the Unified Update Platform (UUP) which interoperates with WSUS and Microsoft Configuration Manager. UUP quality updates are cumulative, including all...
You probably already know that backing up your Windows Server Updates Services is crucial. You want to back up because restores are faster than rebuilding WSUS. Although it’s not difficult to rebuild, it takes valuable time we know you don’t have. Your WSUS...
You probably already know that backing up your Windows Server Update Services is crucial. You want to back up because restores are faster than rebuilding WSUS. Although it’s not difficult to rebuild, it takes valuable time we know you don’t have. Your WSUS...
If you try to install WSUS on Server 2022 using the Windows Internal Database (WID) or SQL Server you may get a "WSUS Post-deployment Configuration Failed" error message. If you go look at the Post-Install log, you will see:...
I've successfully in-place upgraded a WSUS/PDQ Deploy/PDQ Inventory server from Server 2012 > Server 2012R2 > Server 2019 > Server 2022. It is a VM that is appropriately sized for the 3 roles that it has. Caveats with WSUS: After the in-place upgrades, you...
If you want to Reset the Windows Update GPO Settings because you are moving away from WSUS, or you need to for troubleshooting purposes (sometimes corruption in the registry permissions prevent expected changes from happening), the easiest way to do this is to remove...
I'm sorry.... You CAN'T import the .NET 3.5 Framework, RSAT tools, or other Optional Components into WSUS. Microsoft does not allow you to do this specifically for distributing these components through WSUS. Don't worry, there IS a way to make your life easier - it...
Sometimes your computers are to blame for WSUS crashing, more specifically, that extra data that is reported back to WSUS with regards to the hardware details of the computer. In all instances that I've seen of this extra data, the BIOS version data is the culprit for...
What is wuauclt.exe? It stands for Windows Update Automatic Update CLienT There are many switches through the years that have been found, and with the help of Strings (Sysinternals), on a current version of Windows 10, you can see that the only ones listed are:...
Windows 10 Spring and Fall Updates Microsoft has had a track record since 2017 of releasing 2 versions of Windows 10 every year - one in the spring, one in the fall. These have been feature-rich versions that have an 18 month servicing plan for security and...
How Do I Add RemoteApp Connections? Ever get sick of trying to find the right way of mass-adding a RemoteApp connection feed to a large amount of computers? There are a few ways: manually (YUCK!), and automatically using a GPO: User Configuration > Policies >...
If you Google WSUS Permissions, you may end up getting a boatload of links to support help on TechNet, Spiceworks, ExpertsExchange, Microsoft Docs, or other blogs around the Internet. Most of the links are only for specific parts - maybe the WsusContent folder, maybe...
The default Background Intelligent Transfer Service (BITS) mode for WSUS is background priority mode. As written on Docs, Unless the job is time critical or the user is actively waiting, you should always use a background priority. However, there are times when you...
2 Easy Steps: Download and install Microsoft System CLR Types for Microsoft SQL Server 2012 (https://www.microsoft.com/en-ca/download/details.aspx?id=29065) Expand "Install Instructions" below the Download button. Find "Microsoft® System CLR Types for Microsoft® SQL...
Language Packs (LPs) and Language Interface Packs (LIPs) are different than any other update that comes across WSUS. When you see a bunch of LPs and LIPs, the WSUS views may look overwhelming with the number of updates, especially on a new build of Windows is added...
Microsoft is 'trying' to make this easy. Unfortunately they've used the wrong lingo in what understandings people have of said lingo. Business Edition upgrades don't have to do with how you're using Windows 10 - in a business setting, using Pro, Pro for Workstations,...
Connecting to the Windows Internal Database (WID) can only be done LOCALLY. It cannot be done from a remote machine. This is one of the trade-offs for using WID over SQL Express (but SQL Express carries a hard database size limit where as the WID does not). Using SQL...
Windows Update for Business (WUfB) is a new method of thinking about how updates are done. It is a fundamental switch in how you look at dealing with updates. It can make your life easier if you can just get over the fundamental switch in realizing that you have...
As Microsoft changes Windows 10 to use more Features on Demand (FOD), there will be a much larger pull to have these updates come directly from Microsoft. Currently (2019.02), feature on demand updates don't flow down to WSUS specifically from 1809. I'm not entirely...
What do the following have in common for WSUS Administrators? Select when Preview Builds and Feature Updates are received (BranchReadinessLevel, DeferFeatureUpdates, DeferFeatureUpdatesPeriodInDays, PauseFeatureUpdatesStartTime) Select when Quality Updates are...
Proper domain controller DNS setup is vital for Active Directory to work properly. Best practice dictates that each domain controller should be setup with a different DNS server as it's preferred DNS server, and and the loopback address (127.0.0.1) as it's alternate...
WSUS Reporting starts and ends with the Windows Update Agent (WUA) on each individual client. If the client is not reporting properly, it can show up in many different ways. Sometimes it will be obvious (the Last Status Report column is not updating to a recent date)...
Microsoft's official system requirements are a good starting point, however, they don't give you the full picture. Let's look at this one by one. Processor: 1.4 gigahertz (GHz) x64 processor (2 Ghz or faster is recommended) So, 1.4-2.0 GHz is already in play by pretty...
Take the following questions into consideration: How can we solve the problem with controlling updates and reporting both internally and externally using WSUS? How do we make sure that all of our client systems receive updates whether they are inside or outside the...
There are 3 different types of ways to upgrade WSUS. Install the new Server OS, install the WSUS role synchronizing with Microsoft Update, creating your groups, adjusting your settings, and then changing your GPOs over to the new server. An In-place upgrade of the...
Oops! Doh! Huh? %#@*!!! These are all the words you think of in your head when you're investigating what is happening with your WSUS server and realize that WSUS just ate all of your disk space and there is 0 bytes free. What do you do next? If WSUS was downloading...
The steps to remove WSUS and reinstall WSUS are pretty standard but they do have some variances on how WSUS was installed in the first place. To remove WSUS completely, you need to: Remove WSUS Role You can remove the role through the GUI using Server Manager or You...
"Change how you think; Change your life." If you think you know how to administer a file server, maintain permissions and groups, but want to know a better way; a more efficient way, then you have to change how you think about permissions and security. Watch these...
"Change how you think. Change your life!" This 2 part guide will help you setup Redirected Folders on a DFS Namespace Share or a single server share and enable Offline Files for these redirected folders. The offline folders are set to use the Offline copy all the...
Group Policy Objects Offline Files - Force Offline Files On with Conflict Resolution Policies Scope Tab: Location: Apply to your Computers OU or the Root domain, or wherever you want these settings to take effect. They will be scoped by the security filtering....
Almost all issues related to Exchange Connectivity or usability all come down to relating to Autodiscover and its properties. You need to make sure your OutlookAnywhere and AutoDiscover settings are setup properly along with Split-DNS. OutlookAnywhere and Split-DNS...
How to Setup, Manage, and Maintain WSUSWSUS Server Maintenance It should come to you as no surprise that the WSUS server itself requires maintenance. It has a SQL database (by default using the Windows Internal Database - WID), it manages files on the file system for...
How to Setup, Manage, and Maintain WSUSWe can go on explaining why you should switch over your WSUS Server to SSL so that you can mitigate Man-In-The-Middle (MITM) attacks, but sometimes it is better to show you. The following video is worth the watch as they explain...
How to Setup, Manage, and Maintain WSUSSelecting Your Test Systems Selecting your test systems is a question of what you have in your environment at your disposal. In the past, people have always criticized those who have done ‘testing in production’, going even as...
How to Setup, Manage, and Maintain WSUSCreate Required AD Groups Create at least these groups. Yes, you want to create a deny for each of the rings – it is always good for troubleshooting if you need it and much harder to figure out where to remove the computer or GPO...
How to Setup, Manage, and Maintain WSUSCritical Thinking & Grammar When you are doing anything in Group Policy (GPOs), you must read the description and especially the requirements CRITICALLY as Microsoft has clarified which policies apply to which OS. Take note...
How to Setup, Manage, and Maintain WSUSWindows Servicing Upgrades from WSUS – Windows 10 & Windows 11 If you are going to handle Windows Servicing Upgrades, known as Windows as a Service (WaaS) with WSUS, there are some things you need to know. Windows Servicing...
How to Setup, Manage, and Maintain WSUSCreate Computer Groups Expand ‘Computers’ and then expand ‘All Computers’ and you will see ‘Unassigned Computers’ as the only computer container in there. We are going to create 4 new ones. Right click on ‘All Computers’ and...
How to Setup, Manage, and Maintain WSUSIn this 8-part series, we will go over a good strategy on setting up Windows Server Update Services (WSUS) and managing it using test groups approval processing, and more. Sometimes WSUS may also be referred to as Windows Update...
