TABLE OF CONTENTS An ounce ofprevention is worth a pound of cure. Truer words have never been spoken when referringto the implementation of an enterprise product such as Windows Server Update Services (WSUS). Atthe end of this chapter, you will have all the information necessary to complete a successful WSUSinstallation. To accomplish this, a variety of topics are covered, including system requirements,installation of supporting applications and tools, and a step-by-step guide for installing WSUS onWindows Server 2003. We begin with the Microsoft system requirements for installing WSUS.
Microsoft installation requirements for WSUS are very loose, meaning that while they havecertain criteria that the server must meet, the requirements are very low and, in theory, can besupported by hardware that isn t necessarily cutting edge. The software requirements forimplementing WSUS are minimal, as opposed to a Systems Management Server (SMS) installation, whichhas much greater requirements.
The first thing you need is to obtain a copy of WSUS, which can be downloaded at www.microsoft.com/windowsserversystem/updateservices/downloads/WSUS.mspx. Keepin mind that Microsoft is always changing and moving pages within their Web site, so this link mayoccasionally change.
Next, you need an operating system (OS) to run your WSUS server. The only two supportedserver families are Windows 2000 and Windows 2003. Although WSUS runs on Windows 2000, theconfiguration of WSUS on a Windows 2003 server requires much less interaction. For example, if youplan to run WSUS on Windows 2000, you will want to run the Internet Information Server (IIS)lockdown tool, whereas Windows 2003 is already secured.
