Lionel's configmgr blog : Software Updates

Checking Patch Statuses through WMI

Lionel — Mon, 02 May 2011 09:58:00 GMT

Normally the optimal and quickest way to determine if a patch has definitely been installed on a system is to use WMI. That's where the SCCM client primarily gets its information from to report back to its parent. There are several ways you can go about but the ways i've found to be ideal for me are described below:

Through the command prompt:

On the system which you wish to query, open up command prompt
Run "Wmic /namespace:\\root\ccm\softwareupdates\updatesstore path CCM_UpdateStatus get status, Article, Bulletin, UniqueId"
This will show you ALL updates on the particular system. I've added additional information for reference but you can always play around with what you wish to see returned.
This is best for an overview and you can quickly do a find or filter to determine a patch status if you pipe it to a txt file.

Through the Wbemtest User Interface:

Start "WBEMTEST" from a run prompt
Connect to the namespace "\\<computername>\root\ccm\softwareupdates\updatesstore
Select the Query button and using WQL, create a statement that suits your needs. Some examples are below:
1. - Searching for a Missing Patch that is for Web Components would be:
    - select * from ccm_updatestatus where status = "missing" and title like "%web%"
  - Searching for all installed patches would be:
    - select * from ccm_updatestatus where status = 'installed'

Depending on your requirements / needs, have fun! Wbemtest is very useful for quick references to WMI to determine patch statuses whenever you are suspecting the integrity of data received from SCCM due to possible sync issues.

Description of Software Update Services and Windows Server Update Services changes in content

Lionel — Mon, 28 Feb 2011 08:28:00 GMT

Was passed this URL by a colleague which will be useful to share around. It shows you detailed changes that are made to WSUS (includes all released updates on top of security updates) and also when updates were added to the catalog. The content is broken down by year, so 2011, 2010 etc. Very useful for quick referencing when performing synchronizations.

2011: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/894199

2010: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2492172

2009: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/979198

2008: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/961825

Install Software Updates Action Hangs on Windows 7

Lionel — Thu, 03 Feb 2011 15:23:00 GMT

**UPDATE!!!

http://blogs.technet.com/b/configmgrteam/archive/2011/01/28/known-issue-install-software-updates-action-hangs-on-windows-7.aspx

The hotfix is now available from MS : http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2509007

For anyone out there with a problem with stalled software updates (especially with large bundles), the following link will be very useful information for anyone experiencing this issue when software updates hang for no apparent reasons during a build via Task Sequence. A reinitialization may help but the issue appears to be random. Microsoft outlines more of the issue here, and more information will be made available from Microsoft when the root cause is found.

Logs affected:

No progress in the following logs when issue occurs during the running of a Task Sequence:

UpdatesStore.log
UpdatesHandler.log
UpdatesDeployment.log
CAS.log
SMSTS.log logs that it is repeatedly waiting for a Job Status Notification.

Summary of remedies:

1. Spilt up the Office updates from the main security update bulk. More information here.
2. Remove Intel Mass Storage Drivers from the Task Sequence and let Windows 7 install the default Microsoft drivers.

Credit to Brian Huneycutt for the entry below:
http://blogs.technet.com/b/configmgrteam/archive/2011/01/28/known-issue-install-software-updates-action-hangs-on-windows-7.aspx

Information on the ConfigMgr 2007 client side process for Software Updates

Lionel — Fri, 05 Nov 2010 10:25:00 GMT

[Informational]

I saw this on the Configuration Manager Support Team Blog and think it is an excellent piece done up by jchornbe. I enjoyed reading the post and also realise at the same time, that this can better empower you with knowledge on where and what to look at when troubleshooting related issues, in a step by step and systematic manner. I hope that it will prove informative to everyone here as well!

http://blogs.technet.com/b/configurationmgr/archive/2010/11/04/information-on-the-configmgr-2007-client-side-process-for-software-updates.aspx