Windows 10 Update strategy

[sonofsanta]

Now that Windows 10 is deployed and mostly-working (does the treadmill of stupid loopholes ever end?), I'm looking at updates, and wondering what the best strategy for them is.

 

Under Windows 7, I filtered out the cumulative updates and only installed each month's update. By the end, though it took about two days for SCCM to get a PC fully up to date as there were so many, so I was considering switching to cumulative. But then I just checked the file sizes, and the 2018-09 Update for Win10 v1803 for x64 is 13.34Mb, and the 2018-09 Cumulative Update for Win10 1803 x64 is 755Mb, which is... quite the difference. I'm not sure how they manage that given that this is only the 6th patch for 1803, but hey, Microsoft gonna Microsoft.

 

I gather there's this fancy new Express mechanic where your SCCM server downloads the cumulative patch and also a load of delta files so that clients can grab just the subset of files they need, but the recommendation is you plan for 5Gb per update when using this. 5Gb!

 

I know the quantity of Windows updates had gotten a little unwieldy in the past, but it's hard not to feel like this is some rather stupid overengineering to solve a problem they created themselves. They've reinvented individual updates except you need to have every possible combination of updates packaged up because, I dunno, reasons. Progress!

 

Anyway. There doesn't seem to be one obviously superior method, so I'm wondering what others have chosen and why: do you push each month's update, the cumulative update or use Express?

[computer_expert]

But then I just checked the file sizes, and the 2018-09 Update for Win10 v1803 for x64 is 13.34Mb, and the 2018-09 Cumulative Update for Win10 1803 x64 is 755Mb, which is... quite the difference. I'm not sure how they manage that given that this is only the 6th patch for 1803, but hey, Microsoft gonna Microsoft.

 

Take a look at server 2016 1607/windows 10 LTSB 1607 CUs. 1.2GB each last time I looked and take hours to install (feels like days though...).

 

I tend to use the full updates rather than the express/delta ones though.

[free780]

I tried express then there was a bug in SCCM SUP that filled C drives. Bandwidth and disk space don't appear to be an issue as SCCM will delete content automatically if disk space is low enough. It depends on your network and amount of clients.

[FishCustard]

I use a Powershell script and the PSWindowsUpdate module to pull in all available updates when I'm good and ready (i.e. they've been tested!). I can exclude specific KBs if I want to as well. I flip a switch which wakes the script up at next boot, reboot machines with Impero after hours, and they patch away happily. Seems much faster than doing it with SCCM. Yes, I'm basically reimplementing WSUS with a script, but it's fast and does exactly what I want and nothing more.

[Arthur]

I gather there's this fancy new Express mechanic where your SCCM server downloads the cumulative patch and also a load of delta files so that clients can grab just the subset of files they need, but the recommendation is you plan for 5GB per update when using this. 5GB!

There's an even newer type of update for Windows 1809 / Server 2019 onwards which is a lot smaller. Long overdue IMO.

 

Windows 10 quality updates are cumulative, containing all previously released fixes to ensure consistency and simplicity, and are released monthly. As Mike Benson noted in his post last month on “Windows 10 quality updates explained & the end of delta updates,” we are continuing to work to reduce the impact of cumulative update sizes and reduce complexity for IT administrators. That is why, beginning February 12, 2019, Microsoft will end its practice of creating delta updates for all versions of Windows 10.

 

For down-level supported versions of Windows 10, Microsoft will continue to provide express updates in addition to a full update (also referred to as a latest cumulative update, or LCU) each month. Starting with the next major version of Windows 10 and Windows Server; however, there will be only one quality update type—and it will be smaller in size, redistributable, and simpler to manage. This new, single update approach offers benefits over the three existing update types (full, delta, and express):

 

• Organizations that get full updates from Windows Server Update Services (WSUS) or from the Microsoft Update Catalog will seamlessly save network bandwidth thanks to the smaller size of the update.
   
   
  
• Organizations that have been using delta updates to manage the size of quality updates will no longer have to monitor the update status and history of their devices to determine which devices are eligible for delta updates.
   
   
  
• Since this new quality update package will be redistributable, organizations that utilize express updates via WSUS, System Center Configuration Manager (SCCM), or a third-party management solution that supports express updates will experience enormous savings in network bandwidth and cache size on their distribution points or update servers. In addition, devices with the next major version of Windows 10 will be 40% more efficient* while updating since there will be no behind-the-scenes computing of the optimal differentials required to download express updates.
  

 

[gshaw]

Cumulative seem to be the ones that are installing from WSUS (auto-approval for anything Security \ Critical so in theory could get either)

 

The bigger problem is the lack of control of installing updates on Shutdown that I think may hurt us soon (used to have scheduled installs but took those off after issues during the day)

[FishCustard]

There's an even newer type of update for Windows 1809 / Server 2019 onwards which is a lot smaller. Long overdue IMO.

 

Fantastic - guess I'm reimaging everything to 1809 over Christmas now that I have an actual reason to!