WSUS deployment: Step 3

Configuring WSUS

WSUS offers countless options, and I don't have the space to talk about all of them. But I will at least explain the minimum configuration necessary to get WSUS up and running.

1. Begin by going to the WSUS Admin console. To do so, open Internet Explorer and navigate to http://servername/WSUSAdmin.

2. Next, click the Options button, followed by the Automatic Approval Options link.

   By default, WSUS is configured not to automatically install anything. You can change this by clicking the Add/Remove Classifications buttons in the Approve for Detection and Approve for Installation sections, and then selecting the types of updates that you want to automatically install.

3. Click the Save Settings link and then click the Home button.

4. Once you arrive on the console's Home page, click the Get Started by Synchronizing Your Server link.

5. You will now see a page filled with options pertaining to downloading updates to your server.

   I recommend beginning by selecting the languages for which you want to download patches. After all, there is no reason to download the same patch a dozen different times if you only need one language. I also suggest checking the Products and Update Classifications sections to make sure that the appropriate types of patches will be downloaded.

   You won't see Exchange Server on the list right now, but it will appear later after you synchronize the server. For now, I recommend selecting the Microsoft checkbox in the Products section to ensure that Exchange patches are downloaded.

6. Finally, set the synchronization schedule and click the Synchronize Now button. The initial synchronization will take a long time because there are numerous patches to download. You can watch the synchronization process from the console's Home page.

WSUS deployment: Step-by-step guide

  Step 1: The prep work
  Step 2: Installing WSUS
  Step 3: Configuring WSUS
  Step 4: Configuring clients

Brien Posey

About the author
Brien M. Posey, MCSE, is a Microsoft Most Valuable Professional for his work with Windows 2000 Server and IIS. Brien has served as the CIO for a nationwide chain of hospitals and was once in charge of IT security for Fort Knox. As a freelance technical writer he has written for Microsoft, TechTarget, CNET, ZDNet, MSD2D, Relevant Technologies and other technology companies. You can visit Brien's personal Web site at http://www.brienposey.com.

This tip originally appeared on SearchExchange.com.