Importing a hotfix into WSUS 3.0 "David Chadwick" <david[ at ]opticsenses.com> 11/11/2008 11:09:56 PM Hi, One of the features I read about for WSUS 3.0 is the ability to import hotfixes into WSUS from the Windows Update Catalog. However - every time I have tried to use this feature, the hotfix I want to import is not available in the Windows Update Catalog and therefore I cannot do it. I am trying to understand what kind of patches are available to import from the catalog which are *not* already automatically in WSUS. So far I have actually found no patches that I could import which weren't already in WSUS in the first place automatically - which makes me confused about what the point of this import option actually is. To my knowledge Microsoft has always had two types of patches - updates and hotfixes. Updates are available on Microsoft Update and in WSUS. Hotfixes must be manually downloaded and installed (often requested from PSS). Obviously hotfixes can be deployed with logon scripts and SMS etc. Is there a third classification of patch which is not an update (ie, not offerred on Microsoft Update or WSUS by default) but can be imported into WSUS 3.0 from the catalog? What kind of patches are these and can somebody give an example of one? Thanks in advance. Regards, David

Re: Importing a hotfix into WSUS 3.0 "Harry Johnston [MVP]" <harry[ at ]scms.waikato.ac.nz> 11/19/2008 11:57:05 PM David Chadwick wrote: [Quoted Text] > To my knowledge Microsoft has always had two types of patches - updates > and hotfixes. Updates are available on Microsoft Update and in WSUS. > Hotfixes must be manually downloaded and installed (often requested from > PSS). The actual distinction between updates and hotfixes is more complicated than this. Some hotfixes can be downloaded directly, and not all of these are published to WSUS. Some updates are not published to WSUS either. A hotfix that has not been publically released, i.e., one that needs to be requested from PSS, cannot be installed via WSUS. Harry.

Re: Importing a hotfix into WSUS 3.0 "David Chadwick" <david[ at ]opticsenses.com> 11/23/2008 2:26:13 PM Hi Harry, Are there any hotfixes which aren't in WSUS by default which you can import into WSUS via the catalog? I am just trying to work out exactly what the point of this import feature is. It was much touted when WSUS 3.0 was released that you could "import hotfixes" into it - but I have never seen it defined exactly what type of hotfixes can be imported. I have had the need to import a hotfix about 10 times since WSUS 3.0 came out, and not once has the hotfix I wanted been available in the WU catalog for importing into WSUS. I actually like to understand how these things work internally at Microsoft. Is there a class of patch which is not synced to WSUS by default but which can actually be imported into WSUS from the catalog? Can you give a single example of a hotfix which can be imported which otherwise isn't in WSUS? Is there a large number of these hotfixes such that the import feature is actually useful? Have I just been unlucky that a hotfix I have wanted to deploy has never been available to import? :) I am just curious whether these "importable hotfixes" actually exist and how Microsoft determines whether a hotfix will be blessed with the ability to import it into WSUS (which so far I have never seen). :) Cheers, David "Harry Johnston [MVP]" <harry[ at ]scms.waikato.ac.nz> wrote in message news:%23RN0HKqSJHA.4148[ at ]TK2MSFTNGP03.phx.gbl... [Quoted Text] > David Chadwick wrote: > >> To my knowledge Microsoft has always had two types of patches - updates >> and hotfixes. Updates are available on Microsoft Update and in WSUS. >> Hotfixes must be manually downloaded and installed (often requested from >> PSS). > > The actual distinction between updates and hotfixes is more complicated > than this. Some hotfixes can be downloaded directly, and not all of these > are published to WSUS. Some updates are not published to WSUS either. > > A hotfix that has not been publically released, i.e., one that needs to be > requested from PSS, cannot be installed via WSUS. > > Harry.

Re: Importing a hotfix into WSUS 3.0 "Harry Johnston [MVP]" <harry[ at ]scms.waikato.ac.nz> 11/23/2008 10:56:25 PM David Chadwick wrote: [Quoted Text] > Are there any hotfixes which aren't in WSUS by default which you can > import into WSUS via the catalog? I presume so. There was a period during which IE7 wasn't available in WSUS but could be imported - although if I remember correctly some people who had done so then had trouble when IE7 was added to WSUS officially. For this reason, I personally don't recommend using this functionality unless you really *really* need it. > Have I just been unlucky > that a hotfix I have wanted to deploy has never been available to > import? :) Hotfixes that haven't gone through the full testing process won't be available from the catalog; I'm told this is because Microsoft want to keep contact details in case problems are discovered during testing. Any update that appears in Windows Update but not in WSUS is a likely candidate for importation. I don't think that happens often anymore, but it used to be more common. Harry.

Re: Importing a hotfix into WSUS 3.0 Dave <Dave.The[ at ]teleatlas.com> 12/10/2008 12:57:52 PM This is a pain in the ... I'm facing the same problem. MS released a security patch (KB954221 - http://support.microsoft.com/kb/954211) which results in a few thousand clients with problems (daily bluescreens which results in dataloss). This has been recognized by MS ( http://support.microsoft.com/kb/959252/ ) and they already made an update to fix it but the problem is thea the update isn't present in the WU catalog how can we deploy this update to our clients? (Why creating a fix and not release it on WU catalogue?) It is really unacceptable to install this update manually on (we have offices spread all over the world) What is the use of WSUS if you can't rollout really nessessary update fixes with it? My 2nd option was uninstalling the culprit patch but I only have the option "Unapproved". "Approved for removal" is grayed out while it is removable locally via "Add Remove Programs"? Why not removable vie WSUS then? It is unacceptable that MS (WSUS) gives you the opportunity to deploy culprit patches but not the opportunity to deploy the fixes and I'm sure we're not the only one with this same issue. regards Dave On Mon, 24 Nov 2008 11:56:25 +1300, "Harry Johnston [MVP]" <harry[ at ]scms.waikato.ac.nz> wrote: [Quoted Text] >David Chadwick wrote: > >> Are there any hotfixes which aren't in WSUS by default which you can >> import into WSUS via the catalog? > >I presume so. > >There was a period during which IE7 wasn't available in WSUS but could be >imported - although if I remember correctly some people who had done so then had >trouble when IE7 was added to WSUS officially. For this reason, I personally >don't recommend using this functionality unless you really *really* need it. > >> Have I just been unlucky >> that a hotfix I have wanted to deploy has never been available to >> import? :) > >Hotfixes that haven't gone through the full testing process won't be available >from the catalog; I'm told this is because Microsoft want to keep contact >details in case problems are discovered during testing. > >Any update that appears in Windows Update but not in WSUS is a likely candidate >for importation. I don't think that happens often anymore, but it used to be >more common. > > Harry.