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Windows Server Update Services 2.0

Frequently Asked Questions

Published: September 19, 2005

On This Page

General Information

WSUS and SUS

WSUS and SMS 2003

Features and Functionality

Setup and Deployment

General Information

Q. What is Windows Server Update Services (WSUS)?

 

A. WSUS (previously called Windows Update Services) is the new name for the next

version of Software Update Services (SUS). WSUS is a patch and update

component of Windows Server and offers an effective and quick way to help you

get secure and stay secure. WSUS represents an important step toward delivering

a core software distribution and update management infrastructure in Windows.

WSUS has both a server and client component.

Q. On which platforms does the WSUS client run?

 

A. • Windows 2000 Service Pack 3 (SP3) and later

• Windows XP and later

• Windows Server 2003

Q. On which platforms does the WSUS server run?

 

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A. • Windows 2000 Service Pack 4 (SP4) and later

• Windows Server 2003

Q. Why is the name changing again after it was just changed from SUS to

Windows Update Services?

 

A. Based on customer and partner feedback, the name Windows Update Services and

the associated abbreviation (WUS) did not accurately describe the functionality

and value of the product. Windows Server Update Services more appropriately

positions the product as a component of Windows Server and reflects the fact that

it can be used for updates beyond Windows itself.

Q. Will WSUS update only Windows operating systems?

 

A. No. WSUS will support updating Windows operating systems and, over time,

additional Microsoft software products. When initially released, WSUS will support

updating Windows XP Professional, Windows 2000, Windows Server 2003,

Microsoft Office XP, Office 2003, Microsoft SQL Server 2000, Microsoft SQL Server

2000 Desktop Engine (MSDE) 2000, and Microsoft Exchange Server 2003. Support

for additional Microsoft products will be added over time, without the need to

upgrade or redeploy WSUS.

Q. How can I get WSUS? 

A. WSUS is available as a download at no cost. To download the software, see the

Download WSUS page.

Q. Is WSUS free?

 

A. Yes. Windows Server Update Services is free and is available to download at no

cost. Each managed client requires a Windows Server CAL. To download the

software, see the Download WSUS page.

Q. Does WSUS require SQL Server 2000 licenses?

 

A. WSUS can use MSDE, WMSDE, or SQL Server. If you choose to use SQL Server

2000 as its datastore, then SQL Server 2000 needs to be licensed appropriately,

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with either a SQL Server 2000 CAL for every device managed by WSUS, or a per-

processor license. For more information about SQL Server 2000 licensing, see the

SQL Server How to Buy page.

Q. Does WSUS support service packs?

 

A. Yes.

Q. How can I install WSUS on a Small Business Server?

 

A. Instructions on installing WSUS on Small Business Server can be found in the

Step-by-Step Guide to Getting Started with Microsoft Windows Server Update

Services on Windows Small Business Server 2003.

Q. Is WSUS supported on 64 bit versions of win2k3?

 

A. No, the current version of WSUS is not supported on 64 bit platforms. However it

can manage/update PCs that run on those platforms.

Q. Can WSUS distribute updates to 64-bit client and server systems?

 

A. Yes, WSUS can be used to distribute critical security updates released for 64-bit

systems however, the WSUS server is not officially supported on 64-bit platforms.

Support for WSUS on 64-bit platforms is planned for inclusion in a future release of 

WSUS.

WSUS and SUS

Q. How long will Software Update Services (SUS) be supported by Microsoft?

 

A. SUS will be supported through December 6, 2006.

Q. How long will SUS continue to receive new content from Windows

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Update?

 

A. SUS will no longer receive new update content after Dec. 6, 2006.

Q. Will I still be able to download SUS?

 

A. No. SUS is no longer available for download.

Q. What are the differences between WSUS and SUS 1.0?

 

A. In addition to the current capabilities in SUS 1.0, WSUS will:

• Update more than just Windows.

• Provide reporting capabilities.

• Provide targeting capabilities.

• Give administrators more control over the update process.

For a list of the new capabilities, please refer to the WSUS Datasheet.

Q. Will the existing SUS client work with WSUS servers, or will a new client

need to be installed?

 

A. Existing SUS clients must be updated to work with WSUS. The update process is

automatic if you previously used SUS. If you never used SUS before, the latest

Automatic Update client is available as part of Windows XP SP2. The new client is

also backward-compatible with SUS 1.0 servers.

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Q. Does WSUS support migration from SUS 1.0?

 

A. Yes. Although there is no upgrade, you can migrate approvals and updates to

WSUS. If you use multiple SUS servers to target updates to specific clientcomputers, the WSUS migration tool enables you to consolidate approvals from

specific SUS servers to WSUS computer groups.

Q. What update mechanism does Microsoft recommend?

 

A. Microsoft recommends that customers use the update management solution that

best meets their needs. In general, WSUS addresses simple update management

scenarios, while Systems Management Server (SMS) 2003 supports advanced

update management needs. The following table shows typical customer choices for

various organizational size segments.

Customer Type Scenario Customer Choice

Large or Medium

Enterprise

The organization wants a single,

flexible update management solution

with an extended level of control that

enables them to update (and

distribute) all Windows operating

systems and applications and also

includes an integrated assetmanagement solution.

SMS 2003

Large or Medium

Enterprise

The organization wants a solution for

update management only that

provides simple updating for Microsoft

software—initially supporting Windows

2000 and later supporting Office 2003,

Office XP, Exchange Server 2003, SQL

Server 2000, and MSDE 2000.

WSUS1

Small Business The business has at least one Windowsserver and one IT administrator.

WSUS1

Small Business All other scenarios Microsoft Update

or Windows

Update2

Consumer All other scenarios Microsoft Update

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Customer Type Scenario Customer Choice

or Windows

Update2

1

Customers can use another update tool, or a manual update process, for operatingsystem versions and applications not supported by WSUS or Microsoft Update.

2 Microsoft Update is the new Web-hosted update service that will deliver updates foradditional Microsoft software. Microsoft Update will be available in conjunction with therelease of WSUS. Windows Update will continue to be available.

Q. How long can I continue to use WUS Beta 2?

 

A. The last update to the beta Microsoft Update was made on March 8th. As a result,

Windows Update Services (WUS) Beta 2 will no longer recieve new updates. We

encourage you to download Windows Server Update Services as soon as possible

to continue receiving updates and testing the product.

Existing content on the beta Microsoft Update service will be available for server

synchronization until April 22, 2005. After that date, that service will be

decomissioned and WUS Beta 2 installations will not be able to receive any

content.

Q. What are are the supported upgrades to WSUS?

 

A. For the server:

• SUS 1.0 to WSUS server: A SUS 1.0 server can be migrated to WSUS using

the WSUSUTIL.EXE tool provided in the Tools directory of the WSUS server

installation. See Deploying Microsoft Windows Server Update Services for

complete instructions.

• WUS Beta 2 to WSUS server: As communicated at the release of Beta 2,

there is no upgrade path from WUS Beta 2 server to WSUS server. The purposeof the Open Evaluation Program (OEP) is to get feedback from customers on the

functionality of the product. Providing this upgrade path would invalidate input

provided on the installation and configuration of the release candidate (RC).

• WSUS RC to WSUS final release server: The final release of WSUS allows

migration from a WSUS RC server. This will help verify the functionality related

to the long-term maintenance of WSUS servers. After you upgrade from the RC

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version, you will need to run a script to address compatibility issues between the

RC and final release. To obtain the script go to the Downloads page.

For the client:

• SUS 1.0 to WSUS client: A SUS 1.0 client (AU 2.2) will self-update to a

WSUS client.

• WUS Beta 2 to WSUS client: A WUS Beta 2 client will self-update to a

WSUS client.

• WSUS RC to WSUS final release client: A WSUS RC client will self-update to

a WSUS final release client.

WSUS and SMS 2003

Q. If I have Systems Management Server (SMS) 2003, do I also need WSUS?

 

A. No. SMS 2003 can provide the same basic services that WSUS can, in addition to

the advanced controls for update management, so you will not need WSUS if you

have SMS 2003.

Q. If I have Windows Server Update Services, do I also need SMS 2003?

 

A. Windows Server Update Services provides basic patch and update capabilities only.

If your environment requires support for deployment of software packages,

reporting on software and hardware inventory, remote-control functionality, or

other more advanced functions, SMS 2003 includes these features.

For a more detailed comparison of your update choices, see the Compare Microsoft

Update, Windows Server Update Services, and SMS page.

Q. What does SMS 2003 provide in update management that WSUS does not?

 

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A. SMS 2003 provides a number of capabilities in the areas of advanced administrator

control and awareness that WSUS does not include. In particular, SMS users can

create collections based on inventory characteristics of machines, which enables

administrators to better target their updates and perform functions such as:

• Create collections based on service windows.

• Better manage the user experience by displaying a customizable user

interface and maintain fine-grained control over enforcement settings such as

restart and install.

• Fully understand compliance of their environment through inventory

information and get detailed status about the system state with respect to an

update.

Q. Will WSUS and SMS be integrated in the future?

 

A. In the Windows Server Update Services release timeframe, SMS will use the

Windows Server Update Services scanning engine to detect updates for Windows

2000, Windows Server 2003, Windows XP Professional, Office 2003, Office XP,

Exchange 2003, SQL Server 2000, and MSDE 2000.

The Windows Server Update Services scanning engine is built into the Windows

Update agent which is included with Windows and is the same component that

enables Automatic Updates from Windows Update. The Windows Server Update

Services scanning engine will continue to broaden its catalog to encompass all

Microsoft products and will become the single update scanning engine from

Microsoft.

SMS, as well as other Microsoft technologies such as Microsoft Operations Manager

(MOM) and Microsoft Baseline Security Analyzer (MBSA) will use the scanning

capabilities of thee Windows Update agent to generate consistent update scanning

results.

Features and Functionality

Q. What languages are currently supported by WSUS?

 

A. The full version will be localized for all languages supported by Windows server

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and client operating systems.

Q. Can I add my own updates to Windows Server Update Services?

 

A. No. Only updates synchronized from Microsoft Update or another Windows Server

Update Services server are supported.

Q. What hardware is required to run the WSUS server?

 

A. See the Windows Server Update Services System Requirements page.

Q. Does WSUS run on Windows Small Business Server 2003?

 

A. Yes.

Q. Does WSUS provide extensibility options for administrators?

 

A. Yes. WSUS provides extensibility options through both client-side and server-side

APIs.

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Q. Will Microsoft Internet Security and Acceleration (ISA) Server updates be

handled by WSUS?

 

A. Over time, WSUS will support all Microsoft updates, including ISA Server.

However, at release, the plan is for WSUS is to support Windows, Office XP, Office

2003, SQL Server 2000, MSDE 2000, and Exchange Server 2003.

Q. Is there a way to disable the balloon alert when an update from WSUS is

ready to install?

 

A. No, there is no way to disable the balloon alert. However, you can configure the

frequency of its appearance. If the concern is to prevent the alert from

interrupting end users, you can configure updates to install at a scheduled time,

which has no associated balloon alert.

Q. What does Windows Server Update Services use to scan and evaluate

necessary updates for computers? Is it MBSA?

 

A. Windows Server Update Services will use its own scanning engine. Windows Server

Update Services does not use any MBSA code.

Q. Is the database on the "master" or upstream WSUS server meant to be

the database for all downstream servers, or will a SQL Server database

need to be set up individually for each downstream server?

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updates; configure clients to install updates from WSUS; and approve, test, and

distribute updates.

• Deploying Microsoft Windows Server Update Services. Recommended for

administrators requiring comprehensive information about WSUS, this guide

describes how to deploy WSUS. You will find step-by-step installation and

configuration procedures, as well as details on how WSUS functions, its

scalability, and bandwidth. Additionally, there is how-to information for updating

and configuring Automatic Updates on client workstations and servers, steps for

migrating from SUS to WSUS, and steps for setting up a WSUS server on an

isolated segment of your network, and then manually importing updates.

Q. Will WSUS support deployment of updates across domains on the same

forest?

 

A. Yes. WSUS is not tied to domain hierarchies. However, you must plan your WSUS

implementation to cover scenarios where machines in one domain may not have

network access to an WSUS server in another domain.

Q. What do the different update approval options mean, such as Detect Only,

Not Approved, Install, Declined, and Remove?

 

A. Only updates that have the approval status Install will be downloaded to

computers served by WSUS. By default, Critical and Security updates are already

approved for detection (Detect Only), which means WSUS will determine if these

updates are needed by any of your computers. These updates will still need to be

approved for Install before WSUS downloads them to your computers.

All other new updates will show up as Not Approved until you decide to approve

them for Install or decline them with the Declined approval. (You can also

approve them for Detect Only or Remove). If you decline an update, it will no

longer appear in your list of updates unless you filter by All updates or Declined

updates. Remove will remove updates from computers that already have the

update installed, providing that the update is compatible with this feature. Fordetails, see the Installation Information on the Details tab of the update.

For details about approval options, see the "Viewing Updates and Approving

Updates" section in the Windows Server Update Services Operations Guide.

Q. Can WSUS tell me if an update is needed on a computer?

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A. All updates can be approved for detection (using the Detect Only approval option—

Critical and Security updates are approved for detection by default), which gives

you needed status for updates on your computers.

The table below shows the possible status (as viewed in the Status column of a

computer).

Status Meaning

Installed The update is already installed on the computer.

Needed • You have approved the update for installation, but the client

computer has not yet contacted the WSUS server since you made

this change.

• You have not yet approved the update for installation,

although the detect-only action has been performed.

• The update has already been downloaded and installed, but

the client computer has not contacted the WSUS server since the

update was installed.

• The update has already been downloaded and installed, but

the update requires that the client computer be restarted before

changes take effect, and the client computer has not yet been

restarted.

• The update has been downloaded to the computer but not

installed.

Not

Needed

The update is not needed by the computer.

Unknown The detection process has not been completed for the update on the

computer—typically because the computer has not contacted the

WSUS server since the new update became available after

synchronization.

Failed an error occurred with either detection or an installation of the

update on the computer.

For details about understanding which updates are applicable to your computers

managed by WSUS, see the "Monitoring Windows Server Update Services" section

of the Windows Server Update Services Operations Guide.

Q. How can I prevent updates from rebooting my server?

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A. You have an option to either "Download and Install" or "Download and Notify".

"Download and Notify" allows you to avoid reboots, but it is risky to install an

update on a machine without rebooting as recommended by an update. Consider

using the SDK to create a script that approves and restarts servers on a regularbasis if you choose the "Download and Notify" option. The SDK information is

available on MSDN.

Q. How can I automatically download and locally store all updates on my

WSUS server?

 

A. By default, updates are downloaded to your Windows Server WSUS server only

when they have been approved for installation. You can choose to download and

store all updates regardless of approval, or you can choose not to download and

store any updates locally. (updates are downloaded to computers directly from the

Windows Update Web site after being approved for installation.) To change the

default settings, go to Advanced Settings in the Options screen of your WSUS

console.

For details about how updates are stored on WSUS, see the "Configuring Update

Services Server" section of Deploying Windows Server Update Services.

Q. What are the prerequisites for installing WSUS on Windows Server 2003?

 

A. For Windows Server 2003, WSUS requires the following:

• Microsoft Internet Information Services (IIS) 6.0

• Background Intelligent Transfer Service (BITS) 2.0. To obtain this software,

see the Download WSUS page.

• Microsoft .NET Framework 1.1 Service Pack for Windows Server 2003. You

can also obtain this software from the Windows Update site: Scan for Critical

Updates and Service Packs. Install Microsoft .NET Framework 1.1 Service Pack 1

for Windows Server 2003.

To view all hardware and software requirements and to learn how to configure

these requirements for WSUS, see Deploying Windows Server Update Services.

Q. What are the prerequisites for installing WSUS on Windows 2000 Server?

 

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A. For Windows 2000 Server, WSUS requires the following:

• IIS 5.0

• BITS 2.0. To obtain this software, see the Download WSUS page.

• Database software that is fully compatible with SQL Server. Microsoft

recommends MSDE 2000 Release A.

• Microsoft Internet Explorer 6.0 SP1 

• .NET Framework 1.1 Redistributable Package 

• .NET Framework 1.1 SP1. You can also obtain this software from the

Windows Update site: Scan for Critical Updates and Service Packs. Install

Microsoft .NET Framework 1.1 Service Pack 1 for Windows 2000 Server.

To view all hardware and software requirements and to learn how to configure

these requirements for WSUS, see Deploying Windows Server Update Services.

Q. How do I choose the language of the updates I download?

 

A. By default, updates are downloaded in all languages. To change this setting to

download updates in languages of your choice, go to Advanced Settings in the

Options screen of your WSUS console. For details about changing language

setting for updates, see the "Configuring Update Services Server" section of the

Deploying Windows Server Update Services.

Q. How can I automatically download and locally store all updates on my

WSUS server?

 

A. By default, updates are downloaded to your Windows Server WSUS server only

when they have been approved for installation. You can choose to download and

store all updates regardless of approval, or you can choose not to download and

store any updates locally. (updates are downloaded to computers directly from the

Windows Update Web site after being approved for installation.) To change the

default settings, go to Advanced Settings in the Options screen of your WSUS

console.

For details about how updates are stored on WSUS, see the "Configuring Update

Services Server" section of Deploying Windows Server Update Services.

Q. Can WSUS run on a SQL Server cluster?

 

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A. This is not a supported deployment scenario