Microsoft receives quite a bit of flak for their monopolistic tendencies and uninspiring software but to their credit, from time to time they release some useful products. One piece of software that is quite useful is Windows Server Updates Services or WSUS. In this article I’ll cover some requirements and go through an install using VMware Server Console.

This is part one of a two part article.

WSUS 3.0 SP1 Requirements on Windows Server 2003 SP1

1. Microsoft Internet Information Services (IIS) 6.0.
2. Update for Background Intelligent Transfer Service (BITS) 2.0 and WinHTTP 5.1 Windows Server 2003.
3. Microsoft .NET Framework Version 2.0 Redistributable Package (x86).
4. Microsoft Report Viewer Redistributable 2005.
5. Microsoft Management Console 3.0 for Windows Server 2003.
6. System and WSUS install partition must be NTFS.
7. Minimum 1GB of free space on the system partition.
8. Minimum 20GB of free space in recommended for the volume where WSUS stores updates - 30GB is recommended. For purposes of demonstration, I will use 8GB.
9. A minimum of 2GB of free space where WSUS setup installs Windows Internal Database.

Please check the WSUS 3.0 SP1 page for Windows Server 2008 requirements, there are some differences. I would also suggest browsing through Deploying Microsoft Windows Server Update Services and Step-by-Step Guide to Getting Started with Microsoft Windows Server Update Services 3.0 for in depth information regarding the following installation.

A few other points to note, you cannot upgrade from WSUS 2.0 to WSUS 3.0. You must uninstall the previous version before installing WSUS 3.0.

Prepatory steps to installation

Before commencing with installation, two elements in your network need to be considered, if you have them. The first is your Proxy Server, the second is your firewall.

Proxy Server considerations

1. What protocols are supported by your proxy server? WSUS uses HTTP and SSL so your proxy server will need to support both.
2. The authentication method used by the proxy server (basic vs Windows authentication).

Firewall considerations

1. Your firewall must allow traffic thru port 80 (HTTP) and 443 (SSL) - this is not configurable.
2. If those ports are opened but restricted to certain sites, please see Deploying Microsoft Windows Server Update Services for an exhaustive list of required domains.
3. Corporate firewall configuration is separate from Windows firewall on the WSUS server.
4. Any downstream servers can be configured to use ports other than 80 and 443, however this does not apply to the upstream server communicating directly with the Microsoft Update site.

Required Software

So, first I’m going to install and configure IIS 6.0

1. Click Start, select Control Panel and then click Add or Remove Programs.
2. Click Add/Remove Windows Components
3. In the Components list select Application Server. Click Details and make sure that ASP.NET is selected
4. Click OK , click Next, and then follow the instructions on the screen.

After IIS is installed, download and install the following:

1. Note: If the server you are installing WSUS 3.0 on hasn’t been updated you may need to download and install Windows Installer 3.0 Redistributable first. Also, I went ahead and installed Server 2003 SP2 because MMC 3.0 wouldn’t install without SP1 or higher.
2. Microsoft .NET Framework Version 2.0 Redistributable Package (x86).
3. Background Intelligent Transfer Service (BITS) 2.0 and WinHTTP 5.1 Windows Server 2003.
4. Microsoft Report Viewer Redistributable 2005.
5. Microsoft Management Console 3.0 for Windows Server 2003.

Installing WSUS 3.0

Now that all the prerequisites are out of the way we can go ahead and install WSUS 3.0.

1. Double click the installer file.
2. On the Welcome page, click Next.
3. On the Installation Mode Selection page, select the Full Server installation including Administration Console check box, and then click Next.
4. Accept the license agreement and then click Next
5. On the Select Update Source page, you can specify where the updates will be stored. I added an additional virtual 8Gb hard drive to store updates so that the location read: E:\WSUS\. Make sure that the check box Store updates locally is checked otherwise clients will update directly from the Microsoft Update site.
6. Click Next
7. On the Database Options page, select the software used to manage the WSUS database. I chose the default Microsoft SQL Server 2005 Embedded Edition and then clicked Next. The location should be the same as the step above E:\WSUS\
8. On the Web Site Selection page, you specify the Web site that WSUS will use to point client computers to WSUS. Unless you already have a website using port 80 on the server you are installing WSUS on, go with the recommended selection. Choose the second option to install WSUS using the alternate port 8530. Click Next
9. On the Ready to Install Windows Server Update Services page, review your choices and then click Next
10. The final page of the install wizard will tell you whether or not WSUS 3.0 was completed successfully. After you click Finish the configuration wizard will be launched

Now that we’re finished with the installation, we can take a break and come back later or go on to the next step, Configuring WSUS 3.0