The previous article provided you with a brief overview of Software Update Services, outlined the requirements, and walked you through the installation process. The next part of the article will look at some of the options that are available when configuring an SUS server.

If you perform a typical installation of SUS server, it will be configured with default settings. The preset configuration options with a typical installation are as follows:

• The SUS server is configure to retrieve software updates from the Microsoft Windows Update servers.

• The proxy server configuration is set to automatically select settings.
• Content that is downloaded is stored locally.
• All packages are available in all supported languages.
• Any approved packages that are later updated are not automatically approved.
• Clients locate the server using its NetBIOS name.

Once you install SUS, an administrative component is added that is used to configure your SUS server. You can access the administrative utility in one of two ways. You can open your Web browser and type in the address to the admin site (http:///SUSAdmin). Conversely, you can click Start, Administrative Tools, and select Microsoft Software Update Services. You should see a Set Options link. You can select this option to begin configuring the following settings:

• The proxy server configuration – specify how the SUS server accesses the Internet. There are four options you can choose from. The Do not use a proxy server option should be selected if the server does not connect to the Internet through a proxy server. The Use a proxy server to access the Internet option should be selected if the server connects to the Internet through a proxy server. The Automatically detect proxy server settings option should be selected if your network supports automatic discovery of proxy server settings. The Use the following proxy server should be selected if the network does not support automatic configuration of proxy settings, specify the address of port number of the proxy server. If credentials are required to connect through the proxy server, specify the username and password the SUS server will use.

• The name clients use to connect to the server – specify the name that clients on the private network will use to connect to the SUS server. If your network supports NetBIOS, you can specify the NetBIOS name of the server. If DNS is being used, you must specify the DNS name or the IP address of the SUS server.
• Where the SUS server retrieves updates from – You can configure where the SUS server will retrieve updates from. Here you have two options. The updates can be downloaded directly from the Microsoft website or they can be retrieved from another SUS server. For example, you can have one SUS server that pulls updates from the Internet. All other SUS servers on the network can be configured to retrieve the updates from this local server (instead of having all SUS servers on the network retrieve updates from the Internet). Select Synchronize directly from the Microsoft Windows Update Servers to have the SUS server retrieve updates directly from the Windows Update website. Select Synchronize from a local Software Update Services server to have the SUS server retrieve the updates from another local server. If you select this option you must also specify the name of the local server
• How new versions of previously approved updates are handled – You can configure how new versions of previously approved updates are handled. There are two options available: Automatically approve new versions of previously approved updates and Do not automatically approve new versions of previously approved updates. I will manually approve these later.
• Where updates are stored – You can also configure where you want the updates to be stored. When an SUS server connects the Microsoft Windows Update it can download two types of content. First it downloads a file (Aucatalog1.cab) that describes the list of packages. Second, is the actual software packages. You can configure the SUS server to only download the catalog. Then clients on the network will connect to the Windows Update Web site and only download those updates that have been approved. Conversely, you can have all the updates stored on your local SUS server.

Now that you have configured the SUS server, your next step will be to configure the Automatic Update clients.