Operating Instructions

[jrodela]

I am new to utilizing this great product, I searched for a topic pertaining my question but couldn't find anything.

I have a mixed environment of mobile workstations that need to be updated on a monthly basis. They are all Windows 7, some are 32 and some are 64bit versions. My question is, when you run the WSUS Update Generator, does it download only required updates targeted to the reference machine? The reason I ask this is because the workstations are not all updated to the same date. I would like to have a updates library (x86,x64)all Windows 7 Updates/Patches so I could be able to cover all of my workstations. Would I have to have a clean install of Windows 7x64, x86 machine to reference from?

Thank you,

J.

[aker]

wsusou is designed to update multiple machines with different patches installed. You are able to select, which OSes should be downloaded. The download system is NOT relevant. Just the one, you run UpdateInstaller on.

[jrodela]

Great! Thanks for clarifying.

[DougWa]

I am another noob. The usage instructions on /docs/ are skimpy, so if some wise person could help me (perhaps by pointing me to a wiki somewhere) it'd be great.
Since M$ is doing a terrible job serving me through Windows Update (searching for 72 hours before starting downloading?!!) I'd like to use wsusoffline on all my Windows 7 reformats.
Question 1: Should I have checked BOTH x86 and x64 when I generated? (i only did x64 since that was the laptop i was working on this week).
Question 2: If so, can I just generate again with both boxes checked?
Next, I was shocked at what got created. The wsusoffline folder is now 13.7 gb! And I had checked "usb medium" and sent that to a folder named "Windows 7 updates 64 bit 2016 07", which is now 2.51 gb. So:
Question 3: Is the "usb medium" 2.51 gb folder all I need to keep? If so:
Question 4: If I generate again, and again check "usb medium" pointing it to the same folder, will the contents of that folder be correctly updated? and finally:
Question 5: Those new large .iso files inside the wsusoffline/iso folder... do I need those and if so how do I use them? They are:
wsusoffline-ofc-enu.iso
and
wsusoffline-w61-x64.iso
I would venture a guess that to use them I'm supposed to burn a dvd and boot to it?
I know these are extremely basic questions so if there's a "usage basics" wiki somewhere please point me to it. Thanks!

[boco]

WSUS Offline update is designed to update any number of target systems with different patch levels. You can use it for only one system, but that's not what it's made for. Note that WSUSOU uses Windows Update and thus suffers from the same issues (although there are mechanisms in place to shorten the wait time).

1. Only if you want to update both 32bit and 64bit target systems.
2. Download runs can be repeated at anytime.
3. That directory is what you need to take to the target systems. Don't delete the repository (./client/*) or you'd need to download everything again.
4. No idea, someone else needs to answer that.
5. Those are ISO images of optical media. You can burn them, but there's no need to. Many software exists to emulate a virtual optical drive.

Finally, if you use Copy to USB, you don't need to create ISOs and vice versa. They both contain the same data for updating the target systems. Oh, btw, if you only want to update the same system you're downloading on, you do not need to create any of the media - just run the Installer from the client subdirectory, directly.

[aker]

4) wsusou will compare the files in it's repo with the ones stored on the USB device. As it does with its own repo, it will copy new files and delete superseded ones (if you enabled the cleanup-option).

[DougWa]

Thanks boco and aker, very helpful!