WSUS clients false reporting of install status

[randle]

I have recently approved XP SP3 for allocation via WSUS and this has been installing on the clients fine however once installed they report the status back as "Not Applicable" rather than "Installed" This to me is not good reporting and can lead to wrongly declined updates...it's obvious with the XP SP3 update that it's needed but i've been declining other less descriptive updates in the past thinking they're no longer needed (Not just superseeded updates) which have also reported back as "Not Applicable" but this has now made me question whether i should have declined these!!?

 

Can anyone help?

[Michael]

I currently have just the one laptop running XP SP3 at one site I support. In WSUS 3.0 it does successfully inform me the laptop is running SP3. The only difference however is I never deploy service packs via WSUS.

 

The results are usually much better when I re-create and re-image workstations which include the latest service pack.

 

You could try running this script on a few workstations:

 

@echo off
Echo Save the batch file "AU_Clean_SID.cmd". This batch file will do the following:
Echo 1.    Stops the wuauserv service
Echo 2.    Deletes the AccountDomainSid registry key (if it exists)
Echo 3.    Deletes the PingID registry key (if it exists)
Echo 4.    Deletes the SusClientId registry key (if it exists)
Echo 5.    Restarts the wuauserv service
Echo 6.    Resets the Authorization Cookie
Echo 6.    More information on http://msmvps.com/Athif
Pause
@echo on
net stop wuauserv
REG DELETE "HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\WindowsUpdate" /v AccountDomainSid /f
REG DELETE "HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\WindowsUpdate" /v PingID /f
REG DELETE "HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\WindowsUpdate" /v SusClientId /f
net start wuauserv
wuauclt /resetauthorization /detectnow
Pause

 

Please note you will find duplicate entries will be created, so I would recommend you delete the old existing accounts in WSUS first.

[randle]

Sorry i should have been clearer. The WSUS console reports that a station is running xp sp3 but the install status for this update shows as "Not Applicable" rather than "Installed" like all other updates i have approved.

 

If the WSUS console is reporting this incorrectly then how am i meant to have any faith in it's reporting for other updates. I may have declined updates in the past that were actually needed!!!

[Michael]

That is a little strange I have to say. Have you tried stopping and starting WSUS services?

 

Within WSUS you can search for All, Critical, Security and WSUS Updates. Within All Updates, try searching for KB936929 and make sure it is applicable to all workstations and that it is being inherited for all WSUS groups you may of setup.

 

Within Options > Automatic Approvals, it might be that Service Packs are not automatically approved for all computers/groups?

[randle]

This problem is after i've approved KB936929 for install so this has been allocated to all computers. Also it is installing so it's just a case of false reporting

 

Service Packs weren't added to automatic approvals but even so i can't see why this would make a difference as this only changes how it's approved and not how it reports it's status after approval!?

[randle]

I've just noticed that One station is reporting this as "Installed" whereas the rest all report "Not Applicable" even though they also have this installed!!! How on earth does this make sense!? Edited June 9, 2008 by randle

[Michael]

It doesn't make sense I agree. Have you tried deleting a few workstations from the console then re-detecting them? Alternatively contact Microsoft with your findings.

[randle]

I did get some feedback from the WSUS forums saying that it's just the way it is but personally i don't think this is good enough! What happens if i decline a hotfix that reports as "Not Applicable" when in actual fact it is needed!? How is this meant to be a reliable source of information? Btw it's not just this update that this has happened on otherwise me going on about it like this could not be justified.

 

I have tried deleting and re-detecting to no avail