Hotfix and Service Packs Management The process of keeping your computers up-to-date with the latest fixes has always been somewhat difficult. Microsoft actually offers different types of fixes, which many administrators choose to deal with in different ways: -
Hotfixes Also called quick-fix engineering (QFE) or simply updates , these offer fixes for bugs and other anomalous conditions. Generally , these fixes aren't fully regression- tested , which means they haven't been subjected to an extensive beta-testing process to ensure full compatibility with all operating environments. Microsoft usually recommends that you apply a hotfix only if you're experiencing the specific problem the hotfix corrects. Note Microsoft doesn't usually make hotfixes as easily available as other updates. Hotfixes that correct common problems are often available for download from Microsoft's Web site but aren't often included in Windows Update (which we'll discuss momentarily). Many additional hotfixes are available only from Microsoft's Product Support Services (PSS), after Microsoft determines that the hotfix will correct a problem you're experiencing. | -
Security hotfixes Now called security updates , these correct specific security flaws in Windows. Because they address security issues, these updates are almost always considered critical and Microsoft recommends that they be deployed to all your computers as rapidly as possible. These updates are generally available from Windows Update (and are, in fact, listed in the "Critical Updates" section of Windows Update). Deploying these fixes has been a major nightmare for most organizations: Unfortunately, Microsoft has had to release a lot of these for Windows 2000 and Windows XP, and hasn'tuntil recently offered great tools to make the deployment process easy and automatic. -
Service packs These are collections of hotfixes, security updates, new features, and other product improvements that are released periodically. Service packs go through a complete beta-testing process, making them more stable than individual hotfixes. Service packs are cumulative, which means they contain all fixes from prior service packs, hotfixes, and security updates. Service Packs: Not Just For Fixes, Anymore At one time, Microsoft planned to include only fixes in service packs, saving new product features for some other type of update. The idea was to ensure that organizations could deploy a service pack without affecting the functionality of their existing servers. Unfortunately, that plan never came to fruition, and almost every new service pack for Windows 2000 has contained at least minor new functionality. By including new functionality in service packs, Microsoft effectively changes the version of Windows running on your servers after the service pack is applied, which means you'll need to think of a service pack more as a minor version upgrade and not just a collection of bug fixes. As with any other version upgrade, you should pilot the service pack in a lab environment to ensure its compatibility with your production environment prior to full deployment. | Managing these updates involves two distinct tasks: Deploying updates and inventorying updates. Windows Server 2003 includes tools that assist with both tasks . Note Windows Server 2003 doesn't include any tools for easy enterprise-wide deployment or inventory of updates. The tools we cover here are included with the product and are suitable for smaller networks. However, these tools don't scale especially well, making them less suitable for larger networks. Microsoft Systems Management Server (SMS) is Microsoft's recommended solution for software management in the enterprise; if you're working in a large environment and find that Windows Server 2003's built-in tools aren't meeting your needs, you should evaluate SMS to see whether it can help. | Software Update Services You can think of SUS as a corporate internal version of Windows Update, Microsoft's Web-based application for software update management. In fact, SUS was originally named Windows Corporate Update, reflecting its Windows Update origins. | To learn more about Windows Update and how it works, visit www.samspublishing.com and enter this book's ISBN number (no hyphens or parentheses) in the Search field; then click the book's cover image to access the book details page. Click the Web Resources link in the More Information section, and locate article ID# A011402 . | Windows Update enables users to easily check for updates to their operating systems, download the updates, and install them automatically. Unfortunately, Windows Update has several major drawbacks in a corporate environment: -
Most updates require users to be administrators of their computers That was fine on Windows 98 (where Windows Update debuted), which had no concept for administrative privileges. However, in Windows 2000 and Windows XP, administrative privileges aren't usually provided to end users, making Windows Update less useful. -
Windows Update provides a one-on-one update service This means each computer must connect to the Windows Update Web site individually to retrieve updates. In organizations with hundreds or thousands of computers, this technique is inefficient and unreliable. It's mainly a waste of Internet bandwidth because each computer must individually download the same updates. -
Windows Update isn't automatic Windows XP did introduce a new feature called Automatic Updates (which was released for Windows 2000 in Service Pack 3); this feature automatically checks for updates, downloads them, and asks for permission to apply them. Windows Update also includes the Windows Update Catalog, which allows administrators to access the entire update library. Using the Catalog, administrators can download individual updates for any operating system. Unfortunately, there is no tool to easily distribute the downloaded updates. SUS is designed to fix all of that. Essentially, SUS is your very own version of Windows Update, which you install on one or more servers within your environment. Each SUS server can be configured to download updates from Windows Update (which serves as the central worldwide source for updates) or from another SUS server. Client computers and other servers running the Automatic Updates client (also referred to as the SUS client ) can be directed to a SUS server for their updates. This architecture allows you to create your own internal, distributed update infrastructure, such as the one shown in Figure 14.1. Figure 14.1. A SUS infrastructure utilizes your network resources more efficiently than Windows Update. SUS is available as a free download from Microsoft's Web site. It can be installed on any Windows 2000 Server or Windows Server 2003 computer, except domain controllers. During the installation, you specify where you want downloaded updates to be saved, as shown in Figure 14.2. Updates can be saved to a local folder, or they can be retained on the Windows Update server. Generally, you'll store updates locally; if you leave them on Windows Update, each client will have to use your Internet bandwidth to download its updates. Figure 14.2. Saving updates to a local folder can take quite a bit of space, so make sure your server has plenty to spare. Caution Unlike Windows Update, which offers updates only for the operating system of a single computer, SUS downloads all available updates for all operating systems. That's a lot of updates, and you'll need to ensure that your SUS server has ample disk spaceat least 20GBto store current updates while allowing room for future updates. | After you install SUS, you configure its synchronization schedule. To do so, click the Synchronize item in the left menu bar and then click the Schedule button. The dialog box shown in Figure 14.3 appears, allowing you to tell SUS when to download recent updates from the Windows Update servers. We recommend a weekly synchronization during idle hours, such as Sunday mornings at 3 a.m. Figure 14.3. Your initial synchronization can take several hours because SUS has a few years ' worth of updates to download. Keep in mind that you can change SUS's operating options at any time by clicking the Options menu item. As shown in Figure 14.4, you can choose to store updates locally, automatically approve new versions of updates, and select the languages supported in your environment. (You'll read more about automatically approving new versions of updates a little later.) Language support is useful in large, multinational corporations because it allows SUS to maintain updates in multiple languages, supporting all of a corporation's users. Figure 14.4. Changes to SUS options take effect immediately. Because your first SUS synchronization can take several hours, you might want to start it manually, so that you can keep an eye on it as it downloads the available updates. Simply click the Synchronize button to start the synchronization process and, as shown in Figure 14.5, SUS will display progress bars indicating how it's doing. As we've mentioned, your first synchronization will include every available update for the products SUS supports: Internet Explorer 5.0x, Internet Explorer 5.5x, Internet Explorer 6.x, Windows 2000, Windows XP, and Windows Server 2003. Figure 14.5. Your first synchronization will include well over 1,200 updates. Note Before Windows Server 2003 was released, more than 1,200 updates were available to Windows 2000 and Windows XP, so expect your first synchronization to take quite some time, no matter how fast your Internet connection is. | Microsoft recognizes that not all organizations will want to deploy every single update to their computers. For example, one of the updates available for Windows XP is the Windows Movie Maker, which probably isn't a major line-of-business application for most companies. To give administrators maximum control, SUS doesn't make any of its updates available to your network until you approve them. To approve updates, click the Approve Updates menu item. You'll see a list of all updates, as shown in Figure 14.6. Figure 14.6. Updates must be manually approved one at a time before being made available to your network. The list of updates includes several pieces of valuable information: -
The name of the update and the date on which it was released. -
The size of the update. -
Whether the installation of the update requires a reboot. -
The operating systems to which the update applies. Note that SUS doesn't support Windows NT or Windows 9x operating systems; only Windows 2000 and higher are supported. -
The language of the update. If you're downloading multiple languages, you'll find each update listed multiple timesonce for each language you support. -
A brief description of the update. A Details link pops up a new window with a more complete description of the update. Note Because SUS is available as a download, Microsoft will probably make minor changes and improvements to it more frequently than it would with features built right into Windows Server 2003. As a result, the version of SUS you're using might differ slightly from the one shown here, but it should operate in substantially the same way that we're describing. | After you approve an update, it becomes available to clients running Automatic Updates. Where do your computers get Automatic Updates? A version of it is included with Windows XP, but that's not the latest version and it isn't SUS compatible. The correct version can come from several places: -
You can manually install the client by using the Windows Installer package you download from the Windows Web site. -
Any Windows XP computers that have been using the built-in Automatic Update have probably already downloaded and installed the new version. -
Windows 2000 Service Pack 3 contains the new version of Automatic Updates. -
Windows XP Service Pack 1 contains the new version of Automatic Updates. -
All editions of Windows Server 2003 ship with the correct version of Automatic Updates. Administrators can use group policies to centrally configure Automatic Updates within a domain; doing so enables you to create a consistent update configuration for all computers in a domain. You can also manually configure Automatic Updates on each computer. On Windows XP and Windows Server 2003, right-click My Computer and select Properties from the pop-up menu. Locate the Automatic Updates tab, shown in Figure 14.7, and select the desired update option. Figure 14.7. The SUS Client (Automatic Updates) appears similarly on Windows XP, Windows 2000, and Windows Server 2003. Tip Don't forget to configure Automatic Updates on your SUS servers, too. SUS only downloads updates; it doesn't apply them to the local server. Also, don't let the term SUS Client confuse you: This software should be installed on all corporate computers, including servers. | It's important to remember that Automatic Updates is configured by default to use only the Windows Update Web site to obtain updates. If you've deployed SUS on your network, you must reconfigure Automatic Updates on your client computers to use your SUS server. This configuration must come from a centralized group policy, which means your computers must all belong to a Windows 2000 or Windows Server 2003 Active Directory domain. Caution Note that you can reconfigure Automatic Updates by manually editing the Registry of each client computer, but this method is time-consuming , can be error-prone , and is definitely not recommended. | Automatic Updates uses new group policy settings that aren't included in Windows 2000 domains by default. The new settings are specified in the WUAU.adm file, which is added to the %windir%\inf folder when you install Automatic Updates. To create a group policy object (GPO) that configures Automatic Updates, first install the newest Automatic Updates client on an administrative workstation (any Windows 2000 or Windows XP computer with Active Directory Users and Computers installed). Then, follow these steps: -
Open Active Directory Users and Computers. -
Right-click the organizational unit (OU) to which you want to apply your Automatic Updates configuration. You can also right-click the domain to apply the configuration to all computers in your domain. -
Select Properties from the pop-up menu, and select the Group Policy tab. -
Click New to create a new policy. -
Specify a name for the policy, and click Edit to open the Group Policy Object Editor. -
Under Computer Settings, right-click Administrative Templates . -
Select Add/Remove Templates from the pop-up menu, and then click Add . -
Specify the WUAU.adm file. If it's not present on your computer, you can copy it from the %windir%\inf folder on any server with SUS installed. -
Click Open to load the template, and click Close to close the dialog box. -
Expand the Computer Configuration section, and then expand Administrative Templates . -
Expand Windows Components , and then click Windows Update . -
Two policy settings will be shown in the right pane of the console: Configure Automatic Updates and Specify Intranet Windows Update Server Location. Double-click either policy to configure it. -
Use the Configure Automatic Updates policy to define the behavior of the Automatic Updates client. Generally, you should select the Auto Download and Schedule the Install option, which provides the most automatic operation. -
Use the Specify Intranet Windows Update Server Location policy setting to specify the name of your SUS server. Tip Because you can specify a different group policy for an OU, or even for each site, you can implement a distributed SUS infrastructure. For example, you might deploy a SUS server to each branch office and use a site-based group policy to configure all computers within that site to use their local SUS servers. All your SUS servers can be configured to pull their updates from a centralized SUS server at your main office, helping to reduce the use of your Internet connection. | The Automatic Updates client runs at all times, even when no user is logged on to the computer. If you've configured the client to automatically download and install updates, its behavior is as follows : -
If no user is logged on, updates are automatically installed. If a restart is required, the computer is automatically restarted. -
If an administrator is logged on, updates are automatically installed. If a restart is required, a warning is displayed before installation begins, giving the administrator time to shut down any critical processes. Administrators can cancel the update, which will remain pending. The update will automatically apply at a later time, even if cancelled. -
If a non-administrative user is logged on, a countdown is displayed before updates are automatically installed. If a restart is required, the computer is automatically restarted. The countdown is designed to give users time to shut down their applications without allowing them to interrupt the update process. You should be aware of how Automatic Updates functions when configured via group policy, and when other group policies exist that define Windows Update behavior: -
If you've enabled the Remove Access to Use All Windows Update Features policy setting, Automatic Updates continues to function but displays no notices to logged-on users. This policy setting is available only on Windows XP. -
If you've enabled the Remove Links and Access to Windows Update policy setting, Automatic Updates continues to operate if configured to download updates from an intranet SUS server. If you don't enable this policy, users can still manually access Windows Update. We recommend enabling this policy in conjunction with SUS to ensure that users' computers obtain updates only from your SUS server or servers. After your clients are configured, they'll contact your SUS server according to the schedule you set. If you've configured them to automatically download and install updates and configured your SUS server(s) to automatically download new updates, you'll have an almost hands-off system for managing software updates in your environment. The only regular task you'll need to perform is approving new updates for deployment to your clients. Tip Microsoft sometimes releases new versions of specific updates. You can configure SUS's options to automatically approve new versions of an update you've already approved, or you can configure it to treat new versions as unique updates that require separate manual approval. | Managing and Monitoring Updates SUS provides two tools for managing and monitoring updates: the Approval Log and the Monitor Server link. Both are accessible as menu items from the main SUS administration screen. The Approval Log, shown in Figure 14.8, simply lists the approval actions that have been taken on the server. This log enables you to review which updates might have been approved by other administrators, and it can be useful when troubleshooting problems with package deployment. The Monitor Server page, shown in Figure 14.9, displays a summary of updates available from your SUS server broken down by operating system or product. Clicking a product name displays a complete list of packages, including their globally unique identifiers (GUIDs), file sizes, and other information. Figure 14.8. A regular review of the Approval Log lets you catch any undesired updates that have been approved by another administrator of your network. Figure 14.9. The Monitor Server page summarizes the available updates and provides a link to a more detailed list. Inventorying Updates Sadly, Microsoft has provided better free tools for deploying updates than for finding out which ones have already been deployed. Unfortunately, SUS is designed only to make updates available; it can't force client computers to download updates unless they're properly configured, and SUS can't help you determine whether all your clients have successfully downloaded and applied a particular update. Microsoft SMS can do all of these things, but it represents a significant additional investment in both time and money. The best you can do for free is a downloadable tool from Microsoft called Hfnetchk .exe . This tool, combined with an XML-based database, is designed to check for the presence and proper installation of Microsoft security updates. The tool can be run against remote computers, providing a rudimentary centralized update inventory. Unfortunately, the tool is designed for use only with security updates, not other hotfixes, and not for service packs in general (although the tool does properly detect security updates installed as part of a service pack). Need More Hfnetchk Power? Hfnetchk is a command-line tool that works with Windows NT 4.0, Windows 2000, IIS 4 and 5, SQL Server 7 and 2000, Internet Explorer 5.01 and later, Windows XP, and Windows Server 2003. Microsoft didn't write Hfnetchk; it's actually a scaled-down version of a commercial tool developed by Shavlik Technologies. Shavlik produces a full GUI-based version of Hfnetchk and a more advanced command-line version; both can be downloaded from www.shavlik.com. Detailed information on Microsoft's version of the tool, including system requirements and download URLs, can be found at http://support.Microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;Q303215&sd=tech. | After Hfnetchk is installed, you execute it from a command line. For example, running Hfnetchk -v -z -s 1 produces a basic output. The tool is primarily designed to list security updates that are defined in its database but not found on the system that the tool is scanning. The -v switch provides specific details about why an update wasn't found; reasons can range from missing files or Registry keys to incorrect configuration settings on the computer. Hfnetchk always provides a reference to a Microsoft Security Bulletin or Knowledge Base article that provides instructions on how to obtain and properly install each update. You can have Hfnetchk scan multiple remote computers simultaneously by using the -h switch: hfnetchk -h computer1, computer2, computer3 . Alternatively, you can use the -fh switch to point to a text file containing a computer name on each line of the file. For example, hfnetchk -fh computers.txt opens a text file named Computers.txt , looks for one computer name on each line of the file, and scans those computers for security updates. Other Hfnetchk options include -
-I ipaddress, ipaddress This option specifies IP addresses rather than hostnames and attempts to scan the computer using each IP address provided. -
-fip Works similarly to the -fh option, pointing to a text file of IP addresses rather than computer names . -
-r Specifies a range of IP addresses to scan and can be useful when you want to scan an entire subnet. -
-d Specifies an entire Active Directory or Windows NT domain to scan. -
-n Scans all computers on the network. Both this switch and the -d switch rely on the Network Neighborhood to obtain a computer list. Unfortunately, Network Neighborhood isn't the most reliable directory of your network, so you might have greater success using an IP address range of a file of computer names. -
-x Specifies the XML database to use during the scan. This can be an XML filename, a compressed XML in a cab file, or a URL. If not specified, Hfnetchk defaults to using the Mssecure.cab file located on the Microsoft Web site. -
-s Suppresses specific messages. -s 1 suppresses "Note" messages, whereas -s 2 suppresses both "Note" and "Warning" messages. -
-v Lists the reason a particular update was not considered installed, which can help you find out exactly how to go about installing it. -
-f Outputs Hfnetchk's results to a file, which may be easier to review than scrolling through the command-line output. -
-u and -p Allow you to specify an alternate username and password to use during the scan. For example, you may want to specify a domain user account that has local Administrator privileges on all computers that will be scanned. Don't include this switch if you're using Hfnetchk in a batch file; doing so would expose a powerful user account's password to anyone with access to the batch file. Tip Hfnetchk isn't much, but it's the best you're going to get for free. Microsoft has started a public newsgroup to help with Hfnetchk issues. Connect your newsgroup reader to the news.Microsoft.com news server and look for the Microsoft. public.security.hfnetchk newsgroup. Additional Knowledge Base articles describing Hfnetchk include Q305385, Q303215, and Q306460. If you're using Internet Explorer, you can access Knowledge Base articles by entering ? mskb article# in the Internet Explorer address bar. | Microsoft contends that SMS is the ideal method to inventory and manage software updates, including security updates. We feel that this position is unreasonable; asking customers to purchase an entirely separate product to support their base operating systems is asking too much. SUS is a huge step in the right direction, providing in-house automatic updates for service packs and other critical updates. Some equivalent for inventorying updatesand automatically deploying missing ones, perhapsis necessary, and we hope that Microsoft will provide such a tool in the future at no additional charge. |