Install Windows Server Update Services 3.0 Service Pack 1 Part I

In a previous set of articles, I described how to install Windows Server Update Services (WSUS). With a more recent version available, WSUS 3.0 Service Pack (SP) 1, there are a few changes. In the following series of articles, I’ll show you how to install the latest version of WSUS and point out any differences from its predecessor.

For those readers who aren’t familiar with WSUS, it is used to deploy software updates to computers on a network. The major benefit of using WSUS is that it gives administrators an opportunity to download updates to a specific server on the network and use them within a test environment before approving them for installation in the production environment. If you have ever installed updates, you are probably aware that installing them does not always produce positive results. WSUS gives administrators a chance to install the update before they are installed on production servers and workstations.

The computer running WSUS can automatically download updates (or they can be downloaded manually by an administrator) from the Windows Update web site. The updates can then be tested, published for users, and installed on network computers configured to use WSUS.

Note: In order for computers to obtain updates from a computer running WSUS, they must have the Automatic Update feature enabled. I have outlined how to configure Windows XP for WSUS. In an upcoming series, I’ll describe how to do this in Windows Vista. .

Now that you’re thinking WSUS, we’ll look at the pre-installation tasks and other important information you need to know before installing WSUS 3.0 SP1 over the next few days.