WSUS and force reboot

[mdillard24]

I am currently using WSUS to update 2500 + servers running W2K - W2k8
My manager now wants to ensure that every server is rebooted each month
even if the patches do not require a reboot.

We have designated "patch windows" for each server so we would like t
reboot them inside this time frame.

With a different patching solution, we were able to modify the templat
for applying the patches and force a restart.

Does anyone know of a way to force this action using WSUS?

Thanks in advance,

Michael Dillar

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[Lawrence Garvin [MVP]]

Post by mdillard24
Does anyone know of a way to force this action using WSUS?

No. WSUS is an *updating* methodology, not a systems management tool. The
Windows Update Agent only does reboots when required, though I think I can
count on one hand the number of times in the past two years that a Patch
Tuesday has not included server updates that require restarts, so unless the
once-a-month is written in stone, you're probably okay with normal patch
publications.

As for server stability . . . it's been a very long time since rebooting a
server "once a month" has been a Best Practice, and my servers only get
restarted when they're updated (or the facility has a catastrophic power
failure -- UPS capacity is somewhat limited in my "data center". <g>)

However, if you absolutely need server restarts once-per-month, the WSUS
Extension Pack from Eminentware (http://www.eminentware.com) does have the
capability to schedule server restarts "just because".

Of course, a simple script with a 'shutdown /r /t 0 /m \\%MACHINENAME%' run
from a PC using a text file of all your servers will do the same thing. :-)

[Harry Johnston [MVP]]

Post by Lawrence Garvin [MVP]
Of course, a simple script with a 'shutdown /r /t 0 /m \\%MACHINENAME%'
run from a PC using a text file of all your servers will do the same
thing. :-)

Or you could use the Windows Scheduler (AT command) to schedule reboots on each
machine individually using either shutdown.exe or (my own favorite) psshutdown.exe.

Harry.