• SQL Server 2005 SP1 update in WSUS

    Posted over 8 years ago
    by WSUS Team}

    Hi Folks;  Got a lot of feedback today on the size of the SQL Server 2005 SP1 update released to WSUS 5/23.  Most folks were reporting approx 6.7GB download size.   After digging into this issue we found there was an issue with the metadata where the per language filters were failing to be 'caught'.   So as many of you have reported, regardless of what language filters you had selected in the WSUS synchronization options, you still synched the entire package for all languages. This did not repro in our pre-publication testing which was why it's taken all day to determine the reason.

    I'm sure most of you would have appreciated having a heads up with respect to the overall size of the update coming down the pipe so you could adjust your synch and auto-approval options accordingly. Had I known this was the overall size you would have certainly recieved that heads up!  While I published the info on the SP1 coming to the WSUS TechCenter content page, the size was incorrect &  for just one update in the package - and not the overall update. That will be corrected.  The size for teh overall package is ~ 6.7 GBs, your language selections will reduce that size (for example English only will be ~ 1.8 GB).   We have revised the update with corrected metadata and are republishing tonight. The revision is only to the metadata, so if you have synched the files for the update, they will not synch again.  Likewise, if you have installed the SP on any clients, there is no need to reinstall as there have been no binary changes.

    thnks - Bobbie

     

  • Demystifying Exchange Updates for the WSUS Admin

    Posted over 8 years ago
    by WSUS Team}

    Hi folks,

     

    I am a member of the team that releases Microsoft Exchange updates out to the general public (my previous introduction), and I wanted to explain a bit about WSUS (Microsoft Windows Server Update Services) and how we treat cluster vs. non-cluster installs.

     

    • Exchange does offer updates via the WSUS server
    • Exchange updates to be installed on a cluster must be manual installed after stopping the cluster service on the node being updated
    • Previous Exchange updates downloaded to the WSUS server do not offer the ‘deadline’ capability

    I understand that lack of ability to ‘deadline’ packages can cause WSUS administrators grief, especially when they have many computers to update. Previously, Exchange updates could not offer the ‘deadline’ ability because WSUS turns it off globally if it detects that any package in the bundle requires a manual install. So Exchange updates would contain both the cluster and non-cluster packages. Yes, I had to place the same package twice in an update to handle the two different scenarios. Given that I wanted to enable WSUS administrators to have automated installations for non-clusters, I decided to tackle the problem by breaking up these two scenarios and begin releasing two separate updates for Exchange 2003 updates. I have not done this for Exchange 2000, as we would have had to re-release the Exchange 2000 post-SP3 Rollup. Moving forward, for every Exchange 2003 update that is pushed out, WSUS admins will see two versions of the update. We will still target each update to a specific release/service pack of Exchange. The non-cluster version will be labeled “Non cluster” and ‘deadline’ will be possible. The cluster version will be labeled “Cluster” and will still not have the ability of ‘deadline’ because of the manual installation requirement.

     

    So here it is:

     

    Exchange 2000 Server Service Pack 3 (KBXXXXXX)

                    Will target both cluster and non-cluster

     

    Exchange Server 2003 Service Pack 1 (KBXXXXXX) - Cluster

                    Will target cluster installations

     

    Exchange Server 2003 Service Pack 1 (KBXXXXXX) – Non Cluster

                    Will target non-cluster installations

     

    Exchange Server 2003 Service Pack 2 (KBXXXXXX) - Cluster

                    Will target cluster installations

     

    Exchange Server 2003 Service Pack 2 (KBXXXXXX) – Non Cluster

                    Will target non-cluster installations

     

    Note: IMF updates are not addressed with this blog.

     

    Scott Roberts

  • New Product Category appearing in WSUS

    Posted over 8 years ago
    by WSUS Team}

    After synchronizing your WSUS server today there will be a new product category in your WSUS Synchronization Options dialog.  This new product category, part of the Windows family, will be Windows Media Dynamic Installer.  This category will allow Windows Media Player 11 setup to download and install updates as the Windows Media Player 11 is being installed. Windows Media Dynamic Installer updates will only be available to clients running the Beta Windows Media Player 11 setup and only during the beta installation process.  These dynamic installer updates will not be available via WSUS during this beta. Currently, checking this product category in the WSUS Admin UI add/remove products dialog for the synchronization options, will not cause Windows Media Dynamic Installer updates to be available to WSUS.  However, Windows Media Dynamic Installer updates may be available to WSUS in the future.   For more information on Windows Media Player 11 see http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windowsmedia