Trying to add optional patches

[harry]

I'm setting up a uniform collection of laptops donated to a school with a clean
version of XP SP3, & need to get all the patches done offline[*].

I found some optional patches missing after testing the WSUS Offline process, &
I'm trying to add them to the list so that they're done too. I have 2 questions:

(1) I followed the directions (somewhere) for finding the URLs of the patches,
doing the WGA test to do so, & then I added them to

\wsusoffline\static\StaticDownloadLinks-wxp-x86-enu.txt

Code: Select all

http://download.microsoft.com/download/a/5/6/a56b2342-8ebe-46ff-85f7-d9a9ca887bfa/WindowsSearch-KB940157-XP-x86-enu.exe
http://download.microsoft.com/download/5/6/1/561AB4E7-36DB-47DB-9040-7163FD4FC478/IE8-WindowsXP-KB2598845-x86-ENU.exe
http://download.microsoft.com/download/4/3/A/43A4932D-E56C-4771-BA5F-F8B5A045EFAE/IE8-WindowsXP-KB2632503-x86-ENU.exe
http://download.microsoft.com/download/B/7/B/B7B5F38D-2A53-4371-ABA8-196EF90C360C/WindowsXP-KB2492386-x86-ENU.exe


But none of them were downloaded & no notation in the log files. I didn't find an obvious blacklist for them, but maybe I missed it.
What did I miss? Is there a way to do this?[*] Is "StaticDownloadLinks-" something that isn't rechecked, or are they in the wrong place?

(2) Windows update reports a couple of hardware patches. How do I find the download URLs for them? I'd like to add them to #1 also.
I have obtained them directly from the update site, but I want to make sure they're added properly and disappear from the windows
update list - any suggestions appreciated.

[*] I've read some other material in the forum about this. It happens that it's _very difficult_ to run windows update at the site,
and installing optional patches will be erratic. Better that all the computers be consistent.

[aker]

The files should be in .\client\wxp\enu because wsusou checks the files in static each time you start download.

If you know how to work with vbs files you can look at .\client\cmd\ListMissingUpdateIds.vbs and rewrite it to list the patches Windows Update lists.
When I have time, I'll rewrite the script to write down the URL's tomorrow.

[boco]

(1) Note it is better to use a file of the same name, but in the ./static/custom subdirectory. That's needed because an update of WSUSOU may overwrite the main txt file. No WSUSOU update will ever overwrite the files in custom!

These custom entries of yours are treated as static updates. So the number of the static updates reported as downloaded/validated should have been increased in the log. Please be aware to have them installed you further need to enter their KB numbers into the corresponding file under the ./client/static/custom (or ./client/static).

(2) If there's no place to download them directly in the MS download center you cannot obtain the URLs, sorry. Whatever the MS Update feature uses as reference isn't public.

[aker]

There is a way to obtain these URL's using the UpdateSearcher class in VB.NET.
I rewrote the script ListMissingUpdateIds.vbs in VB.NET and were able to read out the URL's Windows Update listed.
I'll try to put these changes into the vbs-script.

[harry]

I got some response by following this "custom" suggestion, but something went
wrong:

Code: Select all

Sun 09/23/2012 22:37:04.09 - Warning: Download of http://download.windowsupdate.com/msdownload/update/software/secu/2011/09/windows-en-us-kb2564958_65c98e33d275c4410dd2dec71cf39e4e81bf530a.exehttp://download.microsoft.com/download/a/5/6/a56b2342-8ebe-46ff-85f7-d9a9ca887bfa/WindowsSearch-KB940157-XP-x86-enu.exe failed


It seems to be running together the last line of
\wsusoffline\static\StaticDownloadLinks-wxp-x86-enu.txt
and the 1st line of
\wsusoffline\static\custom\StaticDownloadLinks-wxp-x86-enu.txt

I added a blank line to the beginning of the latter, & now I do see the 4 downloads in
\wsusoffline\client\wxp\enu

Now we'll see if they install....
Thanks!

[aker]

I was not able to translate it back to VBS, but this is a working VB.NET Code

Code: Select all

    Public Sub ListMissingUpdateIds(Optional ByVal all As Boolean = False)
        Dim us As New UpdateSession
        Dim updates As New UpdateCollection
        Dim usearch As IUpdateSearcher
        Dim usresult As ISearchResult
        Dim patch As IUpdate
        Dim userviceman As New UpdateServiceManager
        usearch = us.CreateUpdateSearcher()
        userviceman = us.CreateUpdateServiceManager()
        usearch.ServerSelection = ServerSelection.ssWindowsUpdate
        If all = True Then
            usresult = usearch.Search("Type='Software'")
        Else
            usresult = usearch.Search("IsInstalled=0 and Type='Software'")
        End If
        For a = 0 To usresult.Updates.Count - 1
            patch = usresult.Updates.Item(a)
            updates.Add(patch)
        Next
        Dim test As IUpdateDownloadContentCollection
        Dim OneContent As IUpdateDownloadContent
        For a As Integer = 0 To updates.Count - 1
            patch = updates.Item(a)
            test = patch.DownloadContents
            For b As Integer = 0 To test.Count - 1
                OneContent = test.Item(b)
                If txt_MissingUpdateIds = "" Then
                    txt_MissingUpdateIds = OneContent.DownloadUrl
                Else
                    txt_MissingUpdateIds = txt_MissingUpdateIds & ";" & OneContent.DownloadUrl
                End If
            Next
        Next
    End Sub


[harry]

It seems to be running together the last line of
\wsusoffline\static\StaticDownloadLinks-wxp-x86-enu.txt
and the 1st line of
\wsusoffline\static\customeStaticDownloadLinks-wxp-x86-enu.txt

I added a blank line to the beginning of the latter, & now I do see the 4 downloads in
\wsusoffline\client\wxp\enu

That's the wrong way!
Don't forget the CR/LF after the last entry in each *.txt file, other blank lines are not allowed!
(When updating WSUSOU your solution would lose the function.)

[boco]

Exactly, the text files must be terminated with a final CR+LF.

Maybe the drivers could be found at the MS Update catalog?

MUST USE IE 32bit: http://catalog.update.microsoft.com/v7/site/