WSUS console & duplicate (workgroup) computer names

[PiqueABoo]

Scenario: Multiple machines in different places with different IPs, different Sus IDs, but same NETBIOS name e.g. "Alice" and the name can NOT changed. You only get one entry for Alice in the WSUS console, and the info probably relates to the last Alice that reported (don't know).

 

Couple of questions then:

 

1) Can anything be (easily) done in this scenario e.g. persuade MS client-side to report the client with a FQDN? Would fiddling with the Primary DNS Suffix help?

 

2) If not, then will all the Alices's still get (approved) updates OK i.e. is this essentially just WSUS console issue?

[AngryTechnician]

I haven't ever tested it myself, but yes, this scenario should be possible if you specify the primary DNS suffix on the machines so that every client knows its own distinct FQDN. To my knowledge the NETBIOS name is not important to WSUS, but WSUS doesn't do its own DNS lookups, and relies on the client to tell it what its FQDN actually is.

[PiqueABoo]

I've just finished testing that: If you set the Primary DNS Suffix it does get used with WSUS e.g. set that to "example.local" and a standalone box DOES now show in WSUS console as "alice.example.local". Or at least it did for me fairly quickly after a wuauclt /ResetAuthorization /DetectNow.

 

Next trick I need then, is how to set a Primary DNS Suffix from the command line. Still working on it, but it looks like it might be a case of setting the tcpip\parameters registry values "Domain" and "NV Domain" & restarting. Unless anyone knows of an 'official' MS util that can do it?

[AngryTechnician]

Give these options a whirl: Change Primary DNS Suffix