Introduction

Windows Software Update Services (WSUS)has a client-server relationship; therefore, client software must be configured and rolled out inorder for clients to properly communicate and eventually become updated by the server. Clients canbe rolled out to your target audience in a few different ways. The differences in topology, ActiveDirectory design, and layout, whether to use Active Directory or not, and the physical location ofclients are factors in deciding how to activate client machines in your WSUS environment. Thischapter focuses on the different options you have for configuring your clients for automaticupdates, and once configured, updating these clients at regular intervals. We touch on the actualmechanics of the client software piece, called the Automatic Update (AU) client, and its job in theupdating process. We offer insight into some of the steps and processes it takes to update yourclients and servers, pointing out some of the gotchas we have seen in the WSUS community. Wepoint out some of the new functionality WSUS has included over its predecessor, System UpdateServices (SUS), offering not only operating system (OS) updates for a number of versions ofWindows, but also Microsoft Office products such as Word and Excel as well as the server productsfrom Microsoft (e.g., Structured Query Language [SQL] Server and Exchange). Lastly, we discussseveral different measures you can take when investigating client connectivity and troubleshootingupdating issues.