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Hi All:
I'm using WSUS 3.0 and its working great. I've noticed that as you
scroll down the list of client machines in WSUS 3.0, in the details
for the machine, the service pack level for the operating system is
shown on the main screen.
Is there some place in WSUS where the Office version and service pack
level are shown for a particular machine? If not, is there an ability
to turn this feature on?
Or is there some sort of a plug in I can get to tell me the Office
version and service pack level? All of our clients are Office 2003
but with varying SP levels so that's what I'm wanting to be able to
check.
As a related aside, I'm also looking for a tool I can use to scan the
network and see what version of Adobe Acrobat Reader that workstations
have. I'm sure WSUS can't do that one for me.
Any help is appreciated.
Thanks!
Drew
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"Drew" <drew[ at ]drew.com> wrote in message
news:2o5863prphe0s3e771g05coi0m9jgdscon[ at ]4ax.com...
[Quoted Text] > I'm using WSUS 3.0 and its working great. I've noticed that as you
> scroll down the list of client machines in WSUS 3.0, in the details
> for the machine, the service pack level for the operating system is
> shown on the main screen.
>
> Is there some place in WSUS where the Office version and service pack
> level are shown for a particular machine? If not, is there an ability
> to turn this feature on?
>
> Or is there some sort of a plug in I can get to tell me the Office
> version and service pack level? All of our clients are Office 2003
> but with varying SP levels so that's what I'm wanting to be able to
> check.
Maybe I'm missing something obvious, but it should be as easy as checking
the status on the Office =SP= update to answer that question.
All computers reporting Office 2003 SP2 as "Needed", don't have it
installed. They're either Office 2003 RTM or Office 2003 SP1.
All computers reporting Office 2003 SP1 as "Needed", don't have it
installed. They're Office 2003 RTM systems.
Thus, if a computer reports *both* as needed, it's an Office 2003 RTM
installation.
> As a related aside, I'm also looking for a tool I can use to scan the
> network and see what version of Adobe Acrobat Reader that workstations
> have. I'm sure WSUS can't do that one for me.
Correct. But if you're looking to manage third party applications, as well,
you might be a candidate for System Center Essentials.
--
Lawrence Garvin, M.S., MCTS, MCP
Independent WSUS Evangelist
MVP-Software Distribution (2005-2007)
https://mvp.support.microsoft.com/profile=30E00990-8F1D-4774-BD62-D095EB07B36E
Everything you need for WSUS is at
http://technet2.microsoft.com/windowsserver/en/technologies/featured/wsus/default.mspx
And, almost everything else is at
http://wsusinfo.onsitechsolutions.com
.....
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Thanks Lawrence!
Ahh..that makes sense. In my case, I just have WSUS synchronizing and
getting security and critical updates only. There's an IT policy that
says I'm not to push entire service packs (OS or Office) via the WSUS
server, but only the security updates and critical updates. So,
that's all I'm even synching with.
I guess the result of this is that there isn't a Office 2003 SP2 to
check the stats on.
I guess I could set WSUS to get Service Packs when it synchs and then
just not approve them. Or wouldn't the result of that also be no
stats on it?
Was hoping there might be an easy way to see the Office SP level
outside of this but makes sense that there isn't.
One thing I like about WSUS 3.0 is that I can just arrow down all of
the machines in a particular computer group in WSUS 3.0 and
immediately see the OS service pack level on the bottom panel. I can
jot the machine name down and know that I need to visit that PC to
update the service pack.
Thanks!
Drew
On Mon, 4 Jun 2007 20:56:30 -0500, "Lawrence Garvin \(MVP\)"
<onsitech[ at ]community.nospam> wrote:
[Quoted Text] >"Drew" <drew[ at ]drew.com> wrote in message
>news:2o5863prphe0s3e771g05coi0m9jgdscon[ at ]4ax.com...
>
>> I'm using WSUS 3.0 and its working great. I've noticed that as you
>> scroll down the list of client machines in WSUS 3.0, in the details
>> for the machine, the service pack level for the operating system is
>> shown on the main screen.
>>
>> Is there some place in WSUS where the Office version and service pack
>> level are shown for a particular machine? If not, is there an ability
>> to turn this feature on?
>>
>> Or is there some sort of a plug in I can get to tell me the Office
>> version and service pack level? All of our clients are Office 2003
>> but with varying SP levels so that's what I'm wanting to be able to
>> check.
>
>Maybe I'm missing something obvious, but it should be as easy as checking
>the status on the Office =SP= update to answer that question.
>
>All computers reporting Office 2003 SP2 as "Needed", don't have it
>installed. They're either Office 2003 RTM or Office 2003 SP1.
>
>All computers reporting Office 2003 SP1 as "Needed", don't have it
>installed. They're Office 2003 RTM systems.
>
>Thus, if a computer reports *both* as needed, it's an Office 2003 RTM
>installation.
>
>> As a related aside, I'm also looking for a tool I can use to scan the
>> network and see what version of Adobe Acrobat Reader that workstations
>> have. I'm sure WSUS can't do that one for me.
>
>Correct. But if you're looking to manage third party applications, as well,
>you might be a candidate for System Center Essentials.
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"Drew" <drew[ at ]drew.com> wrote in message
news:3km963p31jvc2m4141dh6fkqve6fdlq0nt[ at ]4ax.com...
[Quoted Text] > Ahh..that makes sense. In my case, I just have WSUS synchronizing and
> getting security and critical updates only. There's an IT policy that
> says I'm not to push entire service packs (OS or Office) via the WSUS
> server, but only the security updates and critical updates. So,
> that's all I'm even synching with.
Well.. in that instance, it would be impossible to use WSUS to make any sort
of determination, even if there were a custom report "Office Service Packs
not installed in your network". :-)
If the WSUS server doesn't have the updates to detect against, the WUA won't
report any useful information about the status of applications needing those
updates.
> I guess I could set WSUS to get Service Packs when it synchs and then
> just not approve them. Or wouldn't the result of that also be no
> stats on it?
With WSUS 3.0, since everything is "Detect Only", you certainly could
synchronize the content but never approve it for installation. That would
give you status information on the WSUS Admin Console, without violating
your policies.
> One thing I like about WSUS 3.0 is that I can just arrow down all of
> the machines in a particular computer group in WSUS 3.0 and
> immediately see the OS service pack level on the bottom panel. I can
> jot the machine name down and know that I need to visit that PC to
> update the service pack.
The WMI interface exposes this information. I'm not a WMI guru, so I don't
know to what extent it exposes application-level information. It may be
possible to use the WUA API to obtain this sort of information through a
script.
--
Lawrence Garvin, M.S., MCTS, MCP
Independent WSUS Evangelist
MVP-Software Distribution (2005-2007)
https://mvp.support.microsoft.com/profile=30E00990-8F1D-4774-BD62-D095EB07B36E
Everything you need for WSUS is at
http://technet2.microsoft.com/windowsserver/en/technologies/featured/wsus/default.mspx
And, almost everything else is at
http://wsusinfo.onsitechsolutions.com
.....
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Thanks Lawrence!
By the way, does Microsoft issue patches for Office the same way as
they do for XP?
That is, I know that Windows XP and Windows XP SP1 no longer have
support. I think this thus means that Microsoft doesn't release
critical updates and security patches for them.
Is the same truee with Office Service Packs? If a client is at Office
2003 Service Pack 1, will they not get some needed security fixes
until the machine has the Office Service Pack 2 installed?
I guess overall, Office updates and security patches are just as
important as operating system updates and patches?
Thanks!
Drew
On Tue, 5 Jun 2007 08:01:04 -0500, "Lawrence Garvin \(MVP\)"
<onsitech[ at ]community.nospam> wrote:
[Quoted Text] >"Drew" <drew[ at ]drew.com> wrote in message
>news:3km963p31jvc2m4141dh6fkqve6fdlq0nt[ at ]4ax.com...
>
>> Ahh..that makes sense. In my case, I just have WSUS synchronizing and
>> getting security and critical updates only. There's an IT policy that
>> says I'm not to push entire service packs (OS or Office) via the WSUS
>> server, but only the security updates and critical updates. So,
>> that's all I'm even synching with.
>
>Well.. in that instance, it would be impossible to use WSUS to make any sort
>of determination, even if there were a custom report "Office Service Packs
>not installed in your network". :-)
>
>If the WSUS server doesn't have the updates to detect against, the WUA won't
>report any useful information about the status of applications needing those
>updates.
>
>> I guess I could set WSUS to get Service Packs when it synchs and then
>> just not approve them. Or wouldn't the result of that also be no
>> stats on it?
>
>
>With WSUS 3.0, since everything is "Detect Only", you certainly could
>synchronize the content but never approve it for installation. That would
>give you status information on the WSUS Admin Console, without violating
>your policies.
>
>> One thing I like about WSUS 3.0 is that I can just arrow down all of
>> the machines in a particular computer group in WSUS 3.0 and
>> immediately see the OS service pack level on the bottom panel. I can
>> jot the machine name down and know that I need to visit that PC to
>> update the service pack.
>
>The WMI interface exposes this information. I'm not a WMI guru, so I don't
>know to what extent it exposes application-level information. It may be
>possible to use the WUA API to obtain this sort of information through a
>script.
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Hey Lawrence:
A bit of googling found this for me:
http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/ork2003/HA011402491033.aspx
Something called Office Update Inventory Tool version 2.2
And a quick descriptive blurb:
The Office Update Inventory Tool version 2.2 allows administrators to
check one or more computers in their organization for the status of
Microsoft Office 2000, Office XP, and Office 2003 updates. From a
central location, administrators can run the tool to report on which
updates have been applied, which updates are available to be applied,
and which updates can be applied only to an administrative image
I'll try this tool out soon. It sounds like a good way to check out
the Office versions and SP levels!
Drew
On Tue, 5 Jun 2007 17:29:20 -0500, "Lawrence Garvin \(MVP\)"
<onsitech[ at ]community.nospam> wrote:
[Quoted Text] >"Drew" <drew[ at ]drew.com> wrote in message >news:t1ib631vih6teditq2s346g441abdptpm5[ at ]4ax.com... > >> By the way, does Microsoft issue patches for Office the same way as >> they do for XP? That is, I know that Windows XP and Windows XP SP1 no >> longer have >> support. I think this thus means that Microsoft doesn't release >> critical updates and security patches for them. > >Correct. All Service Pack products have a lifecycle on the service pack >level. Generally it's one year after the release of the subsequent service >pack, but you should check at http://www.microsoft.com/lifecycle for >specific details. |
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Drew wrote:
[Quoted Text] > As a related aside, I'm also looking for a tool I can use to scan the
> network and see what version of Adobe Acrobat Reader that workstations
> have. I'm sure WSUS can't do that one for me.
The psinfo tool from sysinternals (now owned by Microsoft) will tell you which
version of Adobe Reader you have installed on a particular remote machine. If
you have a list of machine names, you can run it in a loop with a command line
something like this:
for /F %i in (computers.txt) do cmd /c "psinfo -s \\%i > %i.txt"
findstr Adobe *.txt
Of course there are plenty of commercial tools which will do this more
elegantly, but if this is a one-time deal and you don't want to spend money
psinfo might be your friend.
Harry.
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"Harry Johnston" <harry[ at ]scms.waikato.ac.nz> wrote in message
news:eBTYMbHqHHA.3888[ at ]TK2MSFTNGP05.phx.gbl...
[Quoted Text] >> As a related aside, I'm also looking for a tool I can use to scan the
>> network and see what version of Adobe Acrobat Reader that workstations
>> have. I'm sure WSUS can't do that one for me.
> The psinfo tool from sysinternals (now owned by Microsoft) will tell you
> which version of Adobe Reader you have installed on a particular remote
> machine. If you have a list of machine names, you can run it in a loop
> with a command line something like this:
> for /F %i in (computers.txt) do cmd /c "psinfo -s \\%i > %i.txt"
> findstr Adobe *.txt
>
> Of course there are plenty of commercial tools which will do this more
> elegantly, but if this is a one-time deal and you don't want to spend
> money psinfo might be your friend.
Ya know.. for that matter.. the Belarc Advisor will also list *every*
software package installed and its version as recorded in the registry, as
well as every OS update installed.
Unfortunately, I don't believe the Belarc tool supports remote execution.
--
Lawrence Garvin, M.S., MCTS, MCP
Independent WSUS Evangelist
MVP-Software Distribution (2005-2007)
https://mvp.support.microsoft.com/profile=30E00990-8F1D-4774-BD62-D095EB07B36E
Everything you need for WSUS is at
http://technet2.microsoft.com/windowsserver/en/technologies/featured/wsus/default.mspx
And, almost everything else is at
http://wsusinfo.onsitechsolutions.com
.....
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Lawrence Garvin (MVP) wrote:
[Quoted Text] > Ya know.. for that matter.. the Belarc Advisor will also list *every*
> software package installed and its version as recorded in the registry, as
> well as every OS update installed.
>
> Unfortunately, I don't believe the Belarc tool supports remote execution.
Depending on how Belarc works you might be able to run it remotely using psexec,
again from sysinternals.
<http://www.microsoft.com/technet/sysinternals/default.mspx>
Harry.
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