Running SUS on MS Windows Server 2003

[Jay Bollyn]

We plan to run SUS on Windows Server 2003. Anyone doing this already, pointers?

(I know there is a Windows Server 2003-specific forum, but it gets so little traffic its scary.)

http://www.microsoft.com/smserver/techinfo/administration/20/using/suspackhowto.asp

Of course, points assigned.

:-) Jay

[John Collier]

Jay,

Nice thought if you are running in a network that is completely Win2K or above. If you have anything older than that, I don???t see where that is supported.

Am I misreading this or is the software to do this actually a free download? I notice that it takes 6 GIG of HD space minimum to install, so I guess even if they don???t charge for the software it still has it???s costs so maybe that???s a redundant question.

On the other hand, I don???t see where it states that it won???t run on ???03 Svr. My thoughts are that if you can get the OS to load, then the only other thing you have to worry about is the initial bandwidth hit when it is time to do the updates.

Perhaps Gigabit fiber is called for in this instance (at least to the core)???

[Jay Bollyn]

I am leaving the office for the weekend, so I will post more detail from home.

We are now running SUS. I have been testing it this morning. Looks like it will work fine for us. My clients are all win2k and winxp.

:-) Jay

[Jay Bollyn]

John,

SUS is appropriate for my network because we want to apply (only) "Critical Updates" to (only) "win2k SP3/SP4 and winxp SP1 clients." If you want to apply more than CU (e.g. Windows Updates, Driver Updates, Office updates, Windows Service Packs, etc.), then you need SMS, which I don't have any experience with.

My network is 100mbps; I think 10mbps would be OK for SUS. We are not running AD.

SUS is a free 32MB download, here is the link:

http://makeashorterlink.com/?G6B7420B5

There is a 93-page deployment guide, here is the link:

http://www.microsoft.com/windows2000/windowsupdate/sus/susdeployment.asp

Here is what I did to get SUS running:

1. Install IIS on server 2003;

2. Install SUS 32MB download on the server;

3. Configure SUS on the server (the interface is IE6, simple and quick). This includes downloading all the CU to the server, called "synchronize";

4. Configure the clients (5 minutes each). On each client, use gpedit.msc to add the WUAU.adm template. (Page 52 of the deployment guide).

5. See the screen capture on page 53 to finish the client install. We are using option "4. Auto download and schedule the install", once per week.

:-) Jay

[Jay Bollyn]

Back to top.

We are still testing SUS, with good results. First live production date is Sept. 10, 3am. We intend to have users leave their PCs logged on Tuesday night, with the software lock on (ctrl-alt-del, "lock computer").

Anyone have any experience with SUS?

Thanks.

:-) Jay

[Jay Bollyn]

FYI:

MS hosts a Usenet newsgroup specifically for SUS. Gets pretty heavy traffic, so most questions regarding SUS have already been answered there:

news:microsoft.public.softwareupdatesvcs

:-) Jay

[Rob Brown_8]

I just wanted to say that the requirement is 6 gig, but only if you download updates for all locales supported.

With that being said I have just started a test deployment of SUS and the download to the client works great, but the updates are not installing as they should. I have auto download and auto install the updates, but the installs are not starting. I've tried rebooting a test client, as I set the client to install downloaded updates 4 minutes after the client is powered back on.

Any suggestions?

Thanks.

Rob

[Jay Bollyn]

Rob,

I suggest check the deployment guide, at the link above. There is a 20-page section on client configuration.

The MS newsgroup is a great resource. Reading that ng, most of the questions I had were answered. I think it is required reading for anyone who wants to run SUS.

If you are not running Active Directory, you will probably need to make registry changes on each client, to get SUS working the way you want.

:-) Jay

[Rob Brown_8]

Jay,

I read the document to find the settings that I needed to make. In my testlab I am running AD, but in the environment I will be deploying I will not be running AD for some time, therefore I made the changes as if I were in my production environment. My clients show all of the correct information on the Autoupdates tab. It is set to download at 2:00 a.m. and install without prompting the user.

The download occurs, but the install doesn't happen.

It's acting almost as if the AUOption was set to (3) instead of (4). Becuase after the download occurs, I get the ballon popup notifying me the updates are ready to install.

I'm re-reading through the document, but if I'm missing something obvious, :) please point me in the right direction.

Thanks.

Rob

[Rob Brown_8]

All is working now.... I was just not being patient enough. :)

And now, for the production testing!

Thanks for the information.

Rob