[Unattended] Software Update Services (SUS) client config

[Alex Magnay]

Nils Østbjerg <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes:

> Hi,
>
> I was wondering why auconfig.pl sets
>
> "HKLM/SOFTWARE/Microsoft/Windows/CurrentVersion/WindowsUpdate/Auto Update"
>
> instead of using the policies in
>
> "HKLM/SOFTWARE/Policies/Microsoft/Windows/WindowsUpdate/AU"

Well, at the time I wrote auconfig.pl, there was no documentation from
Microsoft, so I relied on third-party docs and my own experiments.

Nowadays, there is documentation from MS
(http://support.microsoft.com/?id=328010), but it lists the other
registry key.

> The reason I ask is that I was planing to modify the auconfig.pl to
> include the posibility to change the windowsupdate server to a local
> SUS server, ect. and all docs I have seen says I should use the
> policies key.

Obviously, we should switch to using the documented key.  Except...
People discovered the other key by monitoring what the Control Panel
GUI tool does.  So what happens if you set the "Policies" key in the
registry, and then the user tries to change the settings with the GUI?
I would like to know before we make this change.  Anybody care to
experiment?

 - Pat

 

'Policies' always win over user 'preferences'.

A good site on SUS: http://www.susserver.com/

Also, SUS has excellent web based reports if you have SMS.

 

The following reg settings configure Automatic Updates service (SUS Client) to check SUS Server and download updates daily and install downloaded updates at night (4AM) with no automatic reboot if someone is logged on.

 

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\WindowsUpdate]
"WUServer"="http://SUSServer.Company.com"
"WUStatusServer"=http://SUSServer.Company.com

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\WindowsUpdate\AU]
"AUOptions"=dword:00000004
"NoAutoRebootWithLoggedOnUsers"=dword:00000001
"NoAutoUpdate"=dword:00000000
"RescheduleWaitTime"=dword:00000001
"ScheduledInstallDay"=dword:00000000
"ScheduledInstallTime"=dword:00000004
"UseWUServer"=dword:00000001

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\WindowsUpdate\Auto Update]
"AUOptions"=dword:00000004
"AUState"=dword:00000002

 

To make SUS Client check for updates without waiting for it's cycle (eg at end of build) stop the service, delete the LastWaitTimeout key, start the service.

 

reg delete "HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\WindowsUpdate\Auto Update\LastWaitTimeout" /force >nul

 

To make SUS client install any updates it has downloaded ASAP, without waiting for it's scheduled install time (which might be evening or weekend). Stop the service, set the scheduled install time to a date in the past, set Rescheduled=1. Start the service.

 

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\WindowsUpdate\Auto Update]
"ScheduledInstallDate"="2002.09.27 04:00:00"
"Rescheduled"=dword:00000001

 

 

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